Page 61 of Crushed
“Yes, sir.”
“And follow her.”
The staff moved the brunch inside of the estate, enjoying the plentiful meal, but I still ate my plate in the garden. I wanted to surround myself with beauty, beauty like Scarlett, while I tried to pick through what she had said last night.
I love you, Cormac.
Why did I believe her?
It was a foolish, stupid move to think that she was telling the truth. It was likely a part of her tricks to seduce and murder me. But part of me reached out, argued that itwasreal. That Scarlett did love me. What kind of person would lie about something like that?
An assassin sent to kill me.
As I finished my coffee and the Hollandaise-soaked English muffin, my phone buzzed.Wardenwas on the screen. I swiped it open, reading his message:I’m going to pass on the offer. Thanks for the consideration.
My stomach curdled. Warden was blowing off an offer that would make him ten times wealthier, and yet he wouldn’t agree because of what I had done, or rather, what I hadn’t done. Denying him a taste of Scarlett was a breaking point, but I wasn’t willing to trade Scarlett for the legal chance at his company. She was worth so much more than that.
Wasn’t she?
Had I made a mistake?
I may have questioned the reasoning behind my decisions, but I didn’t regret what I had done. I wasn’t going to share Scarlett, not while she was my property. She may have lied about being in love with me, but damn it, she obeyed like I was a god when it came to serving me.
I didn’t regret it. Nor what I was about to do.
I dialed one of my contacts at the Technology and Science Pharma board of directors. He set up an emergency meeting with the rest of the board for that afternoon. Because of my power, prestige, and the type of information I had on them, I had the entire board of directors under my control already. All it would take was a simple meeting, and Scott Warden would be forced out of his own company.
We met on the grounds of TSP. The sun shined down through the clouds, and the lawn between the buildings was bright. Inside, the concrete walls were ominous. I nodded at some board members as we made our way deeper inside.
“Good news,” one of my connections said quietly before we entered the conference room. “Warden is on his boat today and won’t be anywhere near the campus.”
“You have this confirmed?” I asked.
“My wife is there.”
I raised a brow. The reluctant shrug to his shoulders told the whole story. If Warden’s behavior was anything like it had been the night before, then he was using this man’s wife in the same way he had used Jen. My connection must have been happy to see Warden go.
We opened the doors and the room hushed into silence.
“Thank you for meeting on such short notice,” I said. A few of them bobbed their heads. “I’m afraid I have some terrible news. Scott Warden, your CEO and owner of the company, has been using company funds for Decadence Revelry.”
“What?” someone asked. “But that’s for perverts!”
“And I’m afraid that Wardenisa deviant.” I shook my head. “I don’t judge anyone for their desires,” I paused for effect, knowing the blackmail I had on some of these board members, “but using company funds without the board’s approval? I figured you should know.”
A hush of murmurs sounded through the room. This plan had been in the works, brewing while I tried to give Warden the chance to exit from Technology and Science Pharma the right way. Without a fight.
But I always had another way to get what I wanted, even if it meant using force.
“I make a motion to remove Warden as CEO.”
“I second that.”
And soon, a vote was taken, and all of the board members unanimously agreed.
“And I make a motion to hire Stone as the new CEO.”
“I second that.”
