This Friday,” he said. “WindTech is out of money and your husband is out of time. God only knows what he’ll do next and I need an answer.”
I gulped even though my throat was scorched dry.
“One more thing, before you go,” he said. “You must understand that our agreement is private and confidential. I’ll need a concrete, enforceable instrument to assure that you—and especially Martin—will act in good faith for the duration and thereafter.”
He spoke in legalese again. “You mean you want me to sign a contract or something?”
“Your husband and I will execute a detailed business contract that will tie him irrevocably to Phoenix Prime,” he said. “But a contract would be worthless if you decided to misbehave.” He placed a brand new, state-of-the-art smart phone on his desk and pushed it toward me. “Let me explain.”
Chapter Five
Josh
The rest of my Monday flowed slow as molasses. Tuesday wasn’t any better. Wednesday, as I sat in my office working through a heavy load, the hours turned to days. Although Martin kept calling my office, I hadn’t heard a word from Lily. At times, I was afraid for her. She’d looked frail and delicate when she left my office, shocked, shaken, but brave.
I felt guilty about everything I had asked of her. It was a hell of a lot. But, as our conversations had revealed, she was too proud, wary and self-reliant to accept help and I needed time to figure out what Poe held over her. WindTech had a month to live, maybe less, before its creditors descended on it like wolves. Martin knew it. But if I had WindTech, I had Martin. If I had Martin, I could keep Lily safe.
I hadn’t lied to her when I told her I thrived on challenges. The idea of this one in particular thrilled me. My pride was also in the way. Nobody screwed with me. And my lust... Fine, I couldn’t deny that the dark part of me was in full play, but I’d been truthful about that too. I wanted Lily, I believed she wanted me, and once I set a goal, I always hit it.
Martin claimed Lily hadn’t come home since our meeting. I, of course, knew exactly where Lily was. She’d stayed with her girlfriend for the last two nights. Monday and Tuesday she had gone to work at the coffee shop and then the restaurant. Today, Theon Riker, my chief security officer, reported she was teaching at the community center.
Riker had conducted further research and surveillance on Lily. It was part of his standard security protocol, but I also wanted him to assess her situation. He confirmed her financial liabilities, but no criminal or civil offenses, nothing that could explain Poe’s stranglehold. I’d asked him to keep eyes on Lily in addition to gathering info. I needed to know she was okay.
I’d been rough on Lily. If nothing else, the panic attack was confirmation of that. I’d gone after what I wanted in the only way I knew, using all the resources at my disposal, a frontal attack. But Lily was a fundamentally decent person with a strong set of values. I couldn’t expect her to understand the merits of my proposal or how my world worked.
And yet despite her initial reaction, Lily had impressed me. She had the mettle of a combat swimmer and the mental toughness of a trained operator. She’d surmounted her fears and listened to everything I had to say. She had even overcome a panic attack. Her courage was real and unusual.
My cell beeped again. Emails and texts flew on all fronts. I was closing three mergers, juggling negotiations for several acquisitions, and evaluating no fewer than a dozen projects. And yet my mind wandered, daydreaming about the possibilities, caught in a sequence of erotic mirages that would have sent prim and proper Lily screeching out the door.
The odds were against me on this one and yet when I thought of Lily, something old and battered heartened in me, echoes of the optimist I’d once been. In that spirit, the contingency thinker in me shot off a few emails giving directions to make
I gulped even though my throat was scorched dry.
“One more thing, before you go,” he said. “You must understand that our agreement is private and confidential. I’ll need a concrete, enforceable instrument to assure that you—and especially Martin—will act in good faith for the duration and thereafter.”
He spoke in legalese again. “You mean you want me to sign a contract or something?”
“Your husband and I will execute a detailed business contract that will tie him irrevocably to Phoenix Prime,” he said. “But a contract would be worthless if you decided to misbehave.” He placed a brand new, state-of-the-art smart phone on his desk and pushed it toward me. “Let me explain.”
Chapter Five
Josh
The rest of my Monday flowed slow as molasses. Tuesday wasn’t any better. Wednesday, as I sat in my office working through a heavy load, the hours turned to days. Although Martin kept calling my office, I hadn’t heard a word from Lily. At times, I was afraid for her. She’d looked frail and delicate when she left my office, shocked, shaken, but brave.
I felt guilty about everything I had asked of her. It was a hell of a lot. But, as our conversations had revealed, she was too proud, wary and self-reliant to accept help and I needed time to figure out what Poe held over her. WindTech had a month to live, maybe less, before its creditors descended on it like wolves. Martin knew it. But if I had WindTech, I had Martin. If I had Martin, I could keep Lily safe.
I hadn’t lied to her when I told her I thrived on challenges. The idea of this one in particular thrilled me. My pride was also in the way. Nobody screwed with me. And my lust... Fine, I couldn’t deny that the dark part of me was in full play, but I’d been truthful about that too. I wanted Lily, I believed she wanted me, and once I set a goal, I always hit it.
Martin claimed Lily hadn’t come home since our meeting. I, of course, knew exactly where Lily was. She’d stayed with her girlfriend for the last two nights. Monday and Tuesday she had gone to work at the coffee shop and then the restaurant. Today, Theon Riker, my chief security officer, reported she was teaching at the community center.
Riker had conducted further research and surveillance on Lily. It was part of his standard security protocol, but I also wanted him to assess her situation. He confirmed her financial liabilities, but no criminal or civil offenses, nothing that could explain Poe’s stranglehold. I’d asked him to keep eyes on Lily in addition to gathering info. I needed to know she was okay.
I’d been rough on Lily. If nothing else, the panic attack was confirmation of that. I’d gone after what I wanted in the only way I knew, using all the resources at my disposal, a frontal attack. But Lily was a fundamentally decent person with a strong set of values. I couldn’t expect her to understand the merits of my proposal or how my world worked.
And yet despite her initial reaction, Lily had impressed me. She had the mettle of a combat swimmer and the mental toughness of a trained operator. She’d surmounted her fears and listened to everything I had to say. She had even overcome a panic attack. Her courage was real and unusual.
My cell beeped again. Emails and texts flew on all fronts. I was closing three mergers, juggling negotiations for several acquisitions, and evaluating no fewer than a dozen projects. And yet my mind wandered, daydreaming about the possibilities, caught in a sequence of erotic mirages that would have sent prim and proper Lily screeching out the door.
The odds were against me on this one and yet when I thought of Lily, something old and battered heartened in me, echoes of the optimist I’d once been. In that spirit, the contingency thinker in me shot off a few emails giving directions to make
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