Page 45 of Over My Dead Boss
“What is it?” I try to stay calm. “Is he a murderer too? Does he have a dungeon in his castle? He definitely has a castle, doesn’t he? I looked him up after we met him last time.”
“Oh?” Phoenix grins. “And what did you find?”
“Nothing all that special, to be honest. Other than the fact that he’s probably even richer than you are. So, obviously, he must own a castle and not some shabby cabin in the woods like you.”
“He is definitely richer than I am and his family does actually own a castle, yes. But it’s in Germany and I don’t think I’ve seen a dungeon in it or in any other of his homes, though that would explain a lot.”
“Explain what?”
“Well, Ryker is a bit… how can I put this? Distrusting of people that he doesn’t know. And he has this silly rule.” He stops again for no apparent reason other than to tease me, and if he wasn’t driving, I would feel the need to punch him in the arm. Instead, I just stare angrily without saying a word.
“He doesn’t date a person more than once.”
I think about it for a second. “What if he likes the person?”
Phoenix shrugs and drives us up a long, winded, narrow road.
“Sounds like a stupid rule.” We stop in front of what can only be described as a modern palace made of glass and concrete, and I am dumbfounded by the fact that I seem to walk from one film setting to another.
“He has his reasons,” Phoenix eventually says, puts the car in park and, being the gentleman that he can apparently be, rushes around it to open my door. “So, uhh, maybe don’t say anything about that. I probably shouldn’t have told you something so private in the first place.”
“Don’t worry. I can keep a secret,” I assure him when the door opens and Ryker welcomes us with a wide grin.
“So good of you to come, Olivia,” he declares and kisses both my cheeks. “And how nice of you to bring your boy toy along as well.” The two men hug each other like brothers and all of us walk into the foyer, where a tall woman with long hair, full lips and a natural tan greets us. “This is Laura,” Ryker introduces her, while we shake hands. She looks like she just came home from a Vogue photoshoot and, even if she had the personality of an amoeba, I assume most men would still want a second date with her.
“Thanks for having us over. I’m going to need a tour of your house later,” I say as we walk into the living room that gives a good view of the pool, whirlpool, fireplace, and what appears to be a waterfall outdoors. “That includes the dungeon in the basement.”
Ryker laughs and puts his arm around Laura, whose eyes grow big. “She means the dungeon where I host Dungeons & Dragons nights from time to time, I’m sure.”
To my surprise, Ryker is an excellent chef as well. He has prepared a feast of delicacies and while he and Phoenix make the last preparations, Laura and I sit by the pool and have a chat. It turns out she is, in fact, a model who he had flown in for the day after they met during a work event some weeks earlier. The fact that she is also smart and all around lovely makes me feel bad about knowing that this would be the end of their story. On the other hand, she doesn’t seem to be interested in anything too serious either and I get the impression he probably told her his intentions from the get go.
After dinner, our host offers to show me his house while Phoenix and Laura remain seated and have a drink. He leads me through the kitchen, a room that includes a pool table and up some stairs where we have a marvelous view from a balcony overseeing the nature in the distance.
“I have a favor to ask of you, Olivia,” Ryker says as he leans on the railing, apparently checking to see if somebody could overhear our conversation. “I need you to talk him out of it.”
I know exactly what he’s talking about, of course. He must refer to the time we came to his office, and he and Phoenix fought over… something. “Talk him out of what?”
“Possibly the mistake of a lifetime. You know about how CY Publishing came into being, right?”
I shake my head.
“Good old, Phoenix. He does have a flair for the secretive.” Ryker raises both his eyebrows. “Anyway, back in college Phoenix wanted to found his own publishing company but Cyrus Sr., may he rest in peace, wouldn’t pony up the money. Phoenix convinced his dad of investing one third of the funds necessary, if he could come up with the rest. Phoenix was never much of a businessman unfortunately, something, by the way, that lead to somewhat of a strained relationship with his father, although that’s another story altogether.” He sighs and runs his fingers through his hair, much like Phoenix always does. “Anyway, Phoenix had an acquaintance from university — let’s call him Waylon the rat — whose family was just as wealthy. He got another third from him and his family and together they drummed up random investors to fully fund the project. The thing is, those people weren’t random investors, they were mostly friends of the rat. Things went smoothly at first. They turned CY Publishing into one of the biggest publishing houses in the world, after all.”
I listen intently, eager to find out more about Phoenix’s past, until I finally make the connection. “Wait. Waylon? I know a Waylon. Well, I know of a Waylon. He is the husband of our new CEO, Isabella.”
“There you go,” Ryker nods. “That’s the one. What do you think how Isabella came to that position? He probably wanted to keep her occupied. Anyway, Phoenix and him, they had very different opinions about how things were supposed to be run. Waylon was all about the money, Phoenix wanted it to be a more than that. A place where authors are valued and employees not worked to the bone. So after Phoenix’s parents died and Phoenix had given most of his assets away, Waylon saw his chance, called in some favors and, using his third of the votes, together with those of his investor friends, ousted Phoenix from the company completely.”
“Wait,” I interrupt, trying to comprehend what he was saying. “Phoenix had given away most of his assets? What does that mean?”
“Well, after his parents died, he sold most of his shares in the various companies and then donated the proceeds. Except for CY Publishing. That was a hostile takeover.”
“But I’ve looked into Phoenix when I was trying to find him. There’s basically no information about any of this online.”
Ryker laughs and props both arms up on the railing. “He’s no Zuckerberg. His family is old money, and he is the heir. They’re not much spoken about in the press. Most things are handled through trusts, corporations, lawyers. You get the idea. Plus, they have the money, so you only know what they want you to know, and Phoenix does not want you to know anything. He has people on payroll who regularly get rid of anything about him online.”
“That’s a thing?” I ask incredulously.
“Everything is a thing if you’re rich enough, Olivia. I know a guy who bought a lake and then built a lighthouse on the shore. There are no boats there, no rocks he could sail into. He just really wanted a lighthouse.”
