Page 88 of Extradition (Mobsters + Billionaires 1)
JOE
“You’re pacing,”Rand says, grinning at me.
“I’m not pacing. I’m just working out my speech.”
“While pacing.”
I’ve been out on his enormous wrap-around balcony—not pacing—trying to fucking memorize yet another speech. Amusement lights up his eyes.
“What’s so funny?”
“You weren’t nearly this nervous to speak in front of everyone at Wolfe. That was easily twice the number of tonight’s attendees.”
“I knew the people in the crowd at work. But this is a gala. You were the one scheduled to give the speech.”
“Call it payback for going improv on the first speech. Maybe that’ll teach you.”
I narrow my eyes at him and resume the not-pacing.
We’ve spent the last few weeks focused on putting policies in place and finalizing a schedule we can share with the team. It’s been exhausting and frustrating, and the most fulfilling work I’ve ever done.
More importantly, things have settled down on the security front. No other families have come sniffing around, and even though the extradition order is still active, I think my father is willing to let me be. At least for the time being.
Meanwhile, I don’t sleep in the guest suite anymore, and when I wake up, Rand is always wrapped around me.
I can’t tell if it’s just the crazy circumstances or if we would’ve hit it off in a bar. I’m not sure. But the soft touches and shared breakfasts and homemade dinners sure do make me smile. Hell, it’s put my heart in a whole different stratosphere.
But this speech is gonna be the death of me.
Rand shakes his head, his posture relaxed. “Joe, listen to me.” He puts his hands on my shoulders, his eyes focusing on mine, warmth crinkling in at the edges. “You are exactly who they need to hear from. There will be CEOs from fifty of the biggest corporations in the United States, each easily ten times the size of Wolfe Athletics.”
My stomach drops as I look out over Manhattan. We’re so high up that even the sounds of the city are muted. “You’re supposed to make me feel better, not like I want to throw up.”
He shakes his head again. “I’m not saying that to make you nervous. I’m saying it because you make them nervous. That little viral video of ours? It made all of them want to throw up. Because this little uprising has legs. It has meaning. You can help them make sense of it. You can help them navigate it.”
“Who needs help navigating this? Just pay your people enough and treat them like human beings? It’s literally just two things.”
“It’s not just two things, Joe. It’s a million things that distill down to those two things. And when I say they don’t know where to start, it might help you to know that a not-small percentage of American CEOs exhibit psychopathic traits.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s true. I’m not talking about a murderer hiding around the corner with a knife behind their back. I’m talking about people who genuinely have a hard time understanding human emotion. It’s why America loves them in that position. When your focus is only on the money, you don’t have to care about the human element. But now, the money is making them care about the human element, and it’s the one thing for which they are woefully under-skilled. They literally need instructions.”
I shove my hands in my pockets. “It’s like the mob. The most successful people can kill, break the law, ruin lives without remorse. My father has never once been remorseful.”
“So you already know how to work with someone who has these traits. You already know that you can’t appeal to their hearts. You must appeal, once again, to cold hard cash. So when you tell them what to do, don’t forget the numbers.”
“I know. I know. Sherry helped me with the speech. I’ve got it squared.”
“I promise, they need you more than you need them.” Rand reaches out and pushes my hair off my forehead. “Hell, I need you more than you need me.”
I lean in and give him a gentle kiss. “I definitely need you, Mr. CEO. I wouldn’t know the first thing about talking to people at this level. Thanks for calming me down. And for the suit. I can’t believe you spent that much money on me.”
Rand lifts his eyebrow. “I’ll have made more money by the end of this sentence than that suit cost me.”
My eyes nearly bulge out of my head. Shit. I can’t even…I have no frame of reference for any of that. “I just want you to know that I’m not trying to take advantage of you. I appreciate the new wardrobe and that you’ve let me live here, rent-free.”
“During the length of this conversation, my money will have made enough money to pay for the cost of living in this penthouse. For an entire year.”
