Total pages in book: 224
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
Blake narrows his eyes on me, no doubt looking for things that don’t exist: erratic anger and desperation. I’m focused. I’m driven. I’m done with Elijah and Elijah is about to find that out.
Thirty minutes later, Blake has gotten me past the hell of the press at our apartment and assured me he’ll keep them away from Carrie. Another thirty minutes later, and I’m inside the building that houses Elijah’s corporate offices, where life is calm because he sent the hell to my life, my future wife, my family, and my company.
Leaving Blake in the lobby of the building, I ride to Elijah’s floor and walk into his lobby to stop at the reception desk. “Where’s Elijah?”
“Can I tell him who’s here?” the young blonde behind the desk asks.
“No, you cannot,” I say, cutting right and starting to walk, pausing by a passing woman. “Which way is Elijah’s office? I’m in a rush to get him a stock tip he needs.”
“Of course,” the woman says, pointing down another hallway.
“Sir!” the receptionist calls after me, her voice nearing as she obviously tries to follow me.
I start walking and I keep walking until I’m entering a new lobby that leads to an overstated arched wood door that I assume is the entrance to Elijah’s office. The woman at the desk guarding his door frowns at me. “Can I help you, sir?”
“No,” I say. “But Elijah can.” I close the space between me and her and she stands up, but I pass her by, walk right through his doorway and find him standing at a floor-to-ceiling window. I shut the door and lock it. He turns to face me. “Thanks for the invitation to visit, Elijah, because that’s what that bullshit you pulled with the press was, wasn’t it? An invitation for more of me. Because that’s what you got. More of me. Right here, right now. Let’s do this.”
Elijah smirks. “Yes. Let’s do this.”
Chapter one hundred seven
Reid
Icross the office and stop in front of Elijah’s desk. We stand there, both of us rigid, hands at our sides, staring at each other. “I know you’re behind the bad press this morning.”
His eyes burn into mine and he leans forward, pressing his hands on the desk. “How many times did you fuck my wife?”
I could say about ten things to piss him off right now, but ultimately this isn’t about a woman or he would have come at me years ago. This is about the money and the buy-in that he lost. I know this now. I understand it. He lost money. He blames me. Right now, I have to get him to a place where he knows that’s not the case. I pull the recorder out of my pocket, set it on the desk, and then do what I would never do if I was trying to intimidate him. I sit down in a chair before I punch play.
Tabitha’s voice lifts in the air and everything that was said last night is right here in this room. About halfway in, Elijah sits down in the chair across from me. When the first part of the recording is over our eyes meet. “You still fucked my wife.”
“I didn’t know she was your damn wife, man,” I bite out. “You just heard that on the audio.”
“That’s not what you said when it happened.”
He’s right. I egged him on and did it without guilt. “We’re competitors and you were being a little bitch.”
“Little bitch?” he demands. “You fucked my wife. What if I fucked Carrie?”
“You wouldn’t get the chance,” I say, not taking the bait. “She’s not Tabitha, who’s a bitch, by the way. There’s more on the tape.” I hit the play button again and a number of phone calls between Tabitha and Mick, in which they plot to use me to distract Elijah, follow. Once it’s over, I meet his stare. “She’s the little bitch.”
He scrubs his jaw and stands up, walking to the window to stare out at the city, though I’m doubtful the city is what he’s seeing. More likely it’s red and revenge. I push to my feet and join him, stepping to his side. “We have a decision to make,” I say, and the two of us turn to face each other. “We can remain enemies or we can align and end this.”
“You expect me to believe that Reid Maxwell would align with me after what I did to you this morning?”
“Then you admit you started the press frenzy?”
“Fuck yeah I did it,” he says. “I thought you fucked my wife and my wallet. So, I repeat. Why would you align with me?”
“One word. Carrie. I want this over for her.” I hand him the recorder. “Take it. Use it to get out of whatever fucked up divorce is to follow and as for Mick, I can fuck up that deal he signed. I can get that company back on the market.”