Page 65 of Takeover-
William snorted. “You wouldn’t know fun if she bit you.”
Sam gave William his best banal smile before setting down his coffee and donning his suit coat.
William turned to Michael. “What about you, Mike? Want to see what real men like?”
Sam’s blood turned to ice.Holy shit.He hazarded a look to his left. Michael still had his coat tossed over his arm. He looked down at William and the difference between their heights was breathtakingly apparent. Michael’s expression was completely neutral. “I’m not going to answer that.” He shifted his attention and looked over William’s head. “Good morning, Dr. Bachman.”
“Good morning, Michael, Sam.” Greta stood behind William, with an expression that was only half as blank as Michael’s. The other half was disgust.
Sam saluted her with his coffee. Thank God that was over. Fucking William. He owed Greta, even if she didn’t know it. Like old times.
She cleared her throat. “Are you ready, Michael?”
“Yes.” He finished the last of his coffee, tossed the cup, and put on his jacket. Another gray suit, but this one lighter than the previous day’s. The tie had the bright color of the tropics, but without feathers and beaks.
Pity. He was growing fond of tacky parrots.
Michael gave a nod before following Greta toward the main conference rooms.
William stayed, an angry flush creeping up his neck.
“Well, that wasn’t most graceful conversation to have first thing in the morning,” Sam said. “What the hell is wrong with you? Need more of that coffee to clear your head?”
William took a sip and twisted his face. “You weren’t drunk last night, or tired. You’re not interested in women, are you? Are you like him?” He thumbed in the direction Michael had walked.
Sam’s heart thudded hard, but he shrugged, mimicking nonchalance and ignoring the last part. “It’s not a secret I’m not interested in strip bars.”
“Coffee with your employee in the morning? You into that?”
Oh damn it.This better not be going where he thought it might. “We met to talk about Sundra and his potential role there.” He gestured in the direction Michael and Greta had gone. “They’re obviously interested in him, and the self-serve coffee over there is terrible.”
“All the right answers, huh?” William was smiling in a way that turned Sam’s blood cold.
What the hell did William know? And how? Sam racked his brain. “What are you talking about?”
William set his cup down on the table before replying. “On one of my visits to Four Rivers, I checked out the gym.”
Fucking hell. Sam forced himself to breathe normally, to remain relaxed. He hoped to God it worked because showing panic now would do no good. “And?”
“And I heard you. With him.”
William knew. He had known for more than a month. Sam’s fear—all the voices from his past—yelled and screamed, then twisted, cracked, and melted away. He couldn’t afford that emotion, not with William. “And?” He spoke softer than before, but that single word made William step back.
Sam smiled. This role—the asshole CEO—he could do. “Are you trying to blackmail me?” William might be ignorant of technology, but he played politics as well as anyone at his level.
“That depends on whether you actually care about Mike Sebastian.”
“Perhaps I do. Perhaps I don’t.” Sam spoke through the dizzying panic that dwelt in the back of his mind. “How much are you willing to risk your reputation to find out?”
“My reputation? I’m not the one fucking my employee.”
Sam chuckled and swirled the coffee in his cup before taking a drink. “If he were a woman, you’d be patting me on the back and asking for details.”
William face reddened. “That’s different.”
“No, it really isn’t.” And it wasn’t. Like it or not, Sam’s relationship with Michael wasn’t proper or ethical, even if he had fallen for him. “And knowing you, you’d congratulate me, then stab me in the back with it, just like now. What is it that you want?”
“Four Rivers.”
