Fyre & Revenge by Mina Carter Page A

“Also my recruitment officers are placed at all the exits
so, if you fancy a change of career, I could do with people like
you.”
    It was a joke
but, from the back of the room, Zette had to admit he did it well,
his easy charm drawing the crowd in. She could understand why he
dominated business meetings and the like; he had a presence and an
ability to work a group of people she’d only ever seen before on
stage. It wasn’t unlike the way a singer or other entertainer had
to work a crowd, sensitive to their moods, their reactions.
    “…now, moving
on from business, I have an announcement I’d like to make.”
    Zette’s ears
picked up, a frown settling between her brows. What would JJ want
to announce to these people? Her support crews and admin staff
didn’t move in the same circles as his business associates or even
the social circle he moved in. Racking her brains, she moved a
little closer, interested to see what he had to say.
    “Since Zette
has now managed to join us, that woman is a tower of strength I
tell you… I’ve been amazed during the run up to this concert. I’d
swear if I hadn’t made her, she wouldn’t have slept in the last
couple of weeks.” He smiled, looking through the crowd directly at
her. So much for thinking he hadn’t noticed her.
    “Anyway, enough
of that. I’d like to announce something very important to me. Zette
Matthews has made me the happiest man in the world and done me the
honour of agreeing to become my wife.”
    Seeing her face
at his announcement, JJ thought it best to get her out of there as
soon as possible, preferably before the eruption he could see
coming. His hand under her elbow, he hustled her out of the party
amidst the cheering and congratulations. The crowd parted easily,
recognising a man who wanted to get his beautiful fiancée to
himself for a while. He breathed a small sigh of relief as they
made the doors to the terrace and stepped out into the cool night
air. It wasn’t a moment too soon, Zette rounding on him with
fury.
    “Okay, what the
fuck
do you think you’re playing at?” she hissed, her eyes
blazing. She was gorgeous when she was angry, one reason JJ
couldn’t resist winding her up at times. She rose to the bait
spectacularly, her tail fanning out in an instant when he stepped
over the line.
    He played
innocent. “Announcing our engagement, what else?”
    She speared him
with a direct look. “
What
engagement? We’re not engaged.
We’ve never been engaged.”
    Okay, this was
going to be a little harder than he expected, JJ admitted to
himself. Usually you mentioned the ‘M’ word and women went a little
gaga, easily manipulated. Or at least, that’s what he’d observed in
his colleagues who had married. Of course, there was the flipside
of the coin as well. Those self-same colleagues, usually
hard-bitten, ruthless men, soon found themselves tied to the apron
strings and led around by the balls. But that was because they’d
made one fatal mistake.
    They’d fallen
in love with their wives.
    JJ didn’t
intend to make that mistake. He never intended to make that
mistake. No way was he giving a woman that sort of power over him.
But he could play the game, whilst it suited him. He dropped his
voice a little, moved in closer and crowded her against a wall
between two windows, out of sight of the main function room. She
didn’t give an inch, looking up at him with that look. The one he
knew meant she was pissed off.
    “Where did you
think this was going Zette?” He tucked a stray strand of hair
behind her ear, nothing more than an excuse to touch her. Create a
connection. His fingertip trailed down her cheekbone. He could feel
the tension in her slender body, wanted to divert that anger into
something more…productive.
    “Where did I
think it was going? What do you mean?” Her voice was hard, giving
no quarter. “If this had been a
real
relationship then
yeah, maybe I’d think this was going someplace. But you conned me
into bed