The Merger

by Loni Ree

  Arriving early at Lukas’s estate, I check the security set-up with Nate and Garrett. They assure me everything is in place, so I inform Max and Lukas everything is good to go. As I walk through the hall, the gorgeous sight at the bottom of the stairs stops me, and my heart hurts as I stare at her beauty. Seeing my chance to make her listen, I grab her hand and pull her into the first room I find.

  “What are you doing?” She tries to pull her arm from my grasp.

  “If you would act like a grown-up and talk to me instead of blocking my number and hiding, we wouldn’t have to do this shit at your brother’s wedding,” I snap and drag her over to the sofa before gently pushing her onto it.

  I kneel in front of her and look right in her eye. “Look, I know what I said was shitty, but you are being childish, not letting me apologize.”

  Her eyes narrow and fill with tears, and I reach up to wipe them, but she jerks her head back out of my reach. “No, Drew, what you said was the truth. You don’t want a serious relationship, and I do. It’s better if we end it now.”

  When she tries to stand, I block her. “Stop and listen to me. I don’t want to get married right away, but I do want a serious relationship with you.”

  “Then that is a problem. I want to get married and have children. I want what my brother and Madison have, and you don’t.” The tears break free and fall down her face, and I want to vomit.

  “Fuck, why do you have to be so goddamn unreasonable. I’m doing the best I can. I’m offering you more than I ever would anyone else. Why can’t that be enough for you?” I sit back on my heels and rub my face. This shit can’t be happening.

  “I know, but I deserve to be happy and have the family I want. I can’t settle, no matter how much I care for you. Goodbye, Drew.” She skims by me and walks out the door.

  Throughout the wedding ceremony, I fucking watch several men stare at Annie. Surely, they know the bride is supposed to be the focus of their attention. My fucking nephew has a smug look on his face, but I’m too upset about my break-up with Annie to care. By the time the ceremony is over, my blood pressure is sky high, and I need a goddamn drink. Of course, the liquor does little to cool my blood. The dancing starts, and Annie dances with every son of a bitch with a dick she can find.

  The night finally comes to an end, and I'm so glad for this shit to be over. As I walk through the patio doors, I follow the laughter and find Annie in the back hall with her hand on Garrett’s arm. Her cheeks are pink, and her eyes are a little glassy from all of her partying. Garrett is smiling, clearly enjoying her attention, and I walk up to put an end to that shit real quick.

  “You must want to end up unemployed and wheelchair-bound, boy,” I snarl at the motherfucker, and he jumps before holding his hands up in surrender.

  “No, sir, I was just offering Annie a ride home since she looked a little inebriated,” he defends as sweat beads across his forehead. The slight tremor in his hands calms my anger some.

  “Don’t worry, I have a ride home, thanks.” She smiles sweetly at Garrett and pats his arm again. Fury rushes through my body, and the urge to rip his arm off and beat him with it is powerful. Sensing danger, he makes a quick getaway to avoid my wrath.

  “Stop fucking flirting with men to get a reaction out of me.” I explode as soon as we are alone.

  Annie flings her hair behind her head, and her eyes flash. “I thought you left already. Stay away from me.”

  When she turns to stalk away, I grab for her arm, but a voice stops me. “Drew, my granddaughter is done with you. I’ll make sure she gets home. It’s time for you to leave.” George Ryan walks in from the kitchen door. He puts his arm around Annie and leads her in the opposite direction. As I watch her walk away, I feel like she’s taking a part of myself with her.

  29

  Annie

  The pain of walking away from Drew feels like knives slashing through my chest. But I have to move on from my relationship with him, and staying here makes that impossible, so I decide to leave town for a while. La Femme is running great without me, and I need to recharge; therefore, when my brother, Nikolas, invites me to stay in California with him, I jump at the chance. Mr. Whiskers won’t enjoy a cross country trip, so Aiden agrees to watch my furry baby while I’m away.

  The first week, I bum around and hang out at the beach, reading and doing almost nothing. Gramps George talks me into golfing with him and Nikolas one day, which turns into a circus. They are trying to take my mind off of Drew, and I appreciate their efforts, but healing is going to be a long, slow process.

  My second week in California, I meet Bailey Marshall, the woman who lives across the hall. Bailey is tiny, standing about five feet tall, with long brown hair and bright green eyes. She has the most adorable dimples in her cheeks and doesn’t look a day over sixteen, but I soon find out she teaches math at the high school down the road. Bailey lives with her sister, who is a social media darling.

  We become good friends and work out in the downstairs gym often. One day while we are working out, I share with Bailey the whole tale of my doomed relationship. She shares her woeful romantic story with me. Her famous sister is engaged to the man Bailey has been in love with since high school, and Bailey is forced to hide her feelings.

  We decide on a night out to help us forget our problems. Baileys’s sister, Brooke, can get us into the most famous nightclub around, so we decide to have a girl’s night out.

  I have the perfect dress to wear. The strapless lace sheath is nude and one step above indecent, and hopefully, we can drum up some male interest to help soothe our broken hearts.

  The club is packed as we push our way to the back where Brooke has arranged for us to have a table in the VIP section. Once we are seated, Bailey talks me into trying a crazy concoction called a Brain Twist, which almost knocks me on my ass. Something brushes up against my side, and I turn to find a tall, good-looking man standing next to my chair. He is at least six and a half feet of masculine beauty wearing a suit that doesn’t hide his muscular build. His sandy blond hair is wind-blown, and his green eyes are striking. When he smiles and reaches for my hand, I slip my palm into his, and he places a light kiss across my knuckles.

  “My name is Clarke Morgan. I needed to come over and meet the two most beautiful ladies in the club.” He smiles.

  Throwing my head back, I laugh before I ask him, “Does that line work often?”

  “It’s not a line,” he assures me and points at the empty chair next to me. After I nod yes, he slides into the seat.

  “I’m Annie Ryan, and this is Bailey Marshall. Nice to meet you.” I introduce us. We sit and talk for a while, and while he is nice to look at and easy to talk to, my heart still hurts over Drew. When a waitress comes to take our orders for more drinks, I glance over her shoulder and get the shock of my life. One of Drew’s employees is sitting at the table not far from us. He is with one of the clients that Drew was continually complaining about in the short time we dated. Marcus’ eyes roam over our table, and I see his eyes widen slightly when he recognizes me. I look away, hoping Marcus develops selective memory and forgets he saw me tonight.

  Clarke owns the Stage Coach Bar, so we are treated very well throughout the night. When he asks for my number, I give it to him, doubting anything will come of our encounter.

  When I get back to the apartment, Nikolas is waiting in the living room for me. “You have your phone turned off,” he tells me as soon as I walk in the door.

  “Oh, God. Was there an emergency?” I panic.

  “You could fucking say that. Drew fucking Steele has been causing one hell of a stink. He got word that you are out trolling for dick, and he is threatening every member of this family if we don’t rein you in,” Nikolas explains before he holds his hands up in surrender as I explode.

  “He what?”

  “His exact words. ‘Rein you in.’ I have to agree that you do look like you’re looking for some action in that outfit. I mean, you are almost wearing the dress.” Ni
kolas laughs, and I want to kick him in the balls.

  “Did anyone tell him to fuck off?” I ask after I drop onto the sofa.

  “Yep, Lukas told him to move on and let you do the same. He didn’t take it well. I expect a visit from him shortly, so I let building security know he isn’t on our approved list.” Nikolas pats the cushion next to him on the sofa.

  “Why is acting this way? He told me flat out that he doesn’t want to get married and have kids, but he freaks out when I try to move on.” I lay my head on Nikolas’ shoulder and cry.

  “The stupid asshole is confused. I hope I never fall in love. It has turned every man I know into an idiot,” he declares with a shudder.

  “I seriously doubt Drew loves me. He is spoiled and wants his own way.” I try to correct Nikolas, but he looks at me with raised eyebrows and an unconvinced expression.

  Drew

  Working from sun-up until late at night helps to keep Annie at the back of my mind part of the time. While Lukas is on his honeymoon, we are investigating the problems at Sterling-Ryan. We're close to figuring out who is stealing from the company, thank God. Right now, DRS is buried under so many cases, we barely have time to keep up. I'm about to drop the airhead starlet in Hollywood who keeps firing my guys because they won't bow down to her.

  When Teddy Weston informs me he has figured out who has been stealing from Sterling-Ryan, I am shocked at who it is, to say the least. Lukas’ fucking ex-assistant, Marta, doesn’t seem smart enough to pull this off. I'm sure this will shock and devastate him. I instruct Teddy to meticulously gather evidence against Marta for me to present to Lukas.

  Since Lukas is back, I have a meeting to let him know about our findings. After my appointment with Lukas tomorrow morning, I will head to California and rein the little princess in, or she’ll need to find new security.

  While I’m in California taking care of a huge pain in my ass, Blake informs me Madison pulled a disappearing act on Lukas, and the entire family spent an afternoon and evening searching for her. Evidently, I missed quite a fun time.

  Once the little princess, my California pain in the ass Sissy Spain, and her management team are well aware of how I do business, I make sure her security detail is in place, and I make arrangements to fly home.

  Lucy gave birth to a little girl last night, and now I have to somehow deal with all my twenty-thousand jobs without my number one employee. Blake is taking time off to help Lucy, and I’m drowning. I hate to be a selfish bastard, but what the fuck? Can the universe throw any more shit at me right now?

  When I get to DRS the next morning, I tell Jessica I’m not to be disturbed. I need to get as much shit done as possible. Evidently, Blake doesn’t listen to orders because his ass comes striding in first thing.

  “Look, I’m running on no sleep, and I won’t deal with any shit this morning. Jessica was supposed to tell everyone to stay the fuck out,” I snap before he can speak.

  “I ignored her. You’re one stupid son of a bitch. You went after Annie and stole her from your nephew, made enemies of her whole family, and when you finally get Annie, you go and spout off about not wanting anything serious. I honestly think you have something wrong with you,” he rants.

  “You do realize that I fucking employ your dumb ass, right? You can’t come in to do your job, but you can get your ass in here to shove your relationship advice up my ass? Fuck you,” I bellow at him.

  “Right now, I’m talking to you as your friend. Your only friend. I left my newborn baby with my overwhelmed wife to help you because you are my best friend, asshole. Lukas is tired of you stringing his sister along, and all of the Ryan brothers would kill for a piece of you right now. You are really close to permanently burning bridges. Drew, I am begging you, take some time and think hard. You may not be able to come back from this cluster fuck,” he urges.

  “I can’t agree to getting married and having babies. I’m just not cut out for that shit. I thought I made that clear all along, and Annie is being unreasonable, demanding too much from me,” I explain again.

  “When, Drew? When did you tell her you were just fucking, a little longer than you usually fuck woman, but please piss off your family, blow a merger, tell off your asshole brother, and then you’d fuck for a few weeks, maybe a month or two? Where did you think dating and fucking like bunnies would lead? You didn’t make yourself clear. You sent out big time mixed signals. You fucked up big time!” he yells back at me.

  “Well, the only way to fix it is to walk away now. I won’t lie and make promises for a future that I know will never happen. Look how fucked up your situation is. Lucy drags you around by the shorts. I’m not cut out for that shit. I refuse to let a woman tie me down with her shit, and a baby like you let happen.” I glare at him.

  Blake shakes his head and walks to the door. When he gets to the door, he turns to face me. “You’re my best friend, and I hate to see you walk away from something great. By the way, I wouldn’t give up Lucy or Lily for anything, so fuck off.”

  Fuck. I bang my clenched fist on my desk in frustration after he walks out the door. Throwing myself into all the work building up on my desk, I try to forget the cluster fuck of my life.

  One Friday night a few weeks later, Marcus Oakes, my employee who is babysitting the airhead in California, calls me. “Drew, I debated calling you, but I knew you would have my ass if I didn’t report what I saw. I’m at the Stage Coach Bar with Sissy, and Annie is here with another man.”

  It takes several seconds for my brain to comprehend his words, then my whole body fills with intense fury. I barely resist throwing the fucking phone through the wall.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” I demand, sure I misunderstood him.

  “I’m sending you a picture right now,” he replies and hangs up.

  When my phone chimes, I take several deep breaths, trying to calm down, before I look at it. In the photo, Annie is sitting way too fucking close to some slimy asshole. She is barely fucking dressed, and the soon to be dead motherfucker has his arm around the back of her chair. Her head is thrown back in laughter, and his fucking lips are almost touching her goddamn throat.

  My phone becomes the first casualty of the night when it doesn’t survive the impact with my marble fireplace. After walking over to my desk, I call Jessica at home and ask her to arrange a new phone for me. My next call is to Aiden, but his voicemail answers so I hang up and move on to Nikolas.

  Nikolas answers, and I blast him with all of my anger. “I just received pictures of Annie out looking like a whore, obviously trolling for dick. You better rein her ass in.”

  “Excuse me. Are you fucked in the head? If my sister wants to troll for dick or pussy, or both at the same time for that matter, that’s her business. Fuck off, asshole,” he barks through the line and hangs up on me. I stare at the phone in my hand and want to throw it so bad, but I resist and call Lukas instead.

  He answers on the first ring and starts speaking before I can say a word. “I was waiting for your call, and I’ll be a little more diplomatic than Nikolas since I know what it feels like to have your life turned upside down by a woman. You ended your relationship with Annie because you wanted different things. Your basic goals are completely different. You need to think about what you are doing and stop this now. Our families are going to be linked for a long time, so you can’t keep acting this way. We all know you have strong feelings for Annie, but if you aren’t willing to give her a future, stop torturing yourself and her and move on. Grow the fuck up or grow some fucking balls. Either way, this fucking shit stops tonight.” The line goes dead after his tirade.

  The wall of my study becomes my second casualty of the night when I punch several holes in it, trying to bring myself under control. Vowing to take his advice and move the fuck on, I drink myself into a coma.

  Soon, my dreams start fucking screaming at me. One night while sleeping, I see Annie in a beautiful wedding gown, looking like a gorgeous princess standing at an altar. I
’m standing off to the side and can see everything as it happens, but no one can hear or see me. To my horror, some other groom turns to her, lifts her veil, and kisses her. Fuck me, it’s the slimy bastard from the bar in California.

  When I begin to run toward them, the scene changes, and I am suddenly in a sunny themed nursery. Annie is sitting in a rocking chair holding a baby. Yet again, no one sees or hears me. The same asshole walks into the nursery and holds both Annie and the baby.

  I wake up frantic and drenched in sweat. The thought of marriage and children doesn’t scare me more than the idea of living my life without Annie. I am a fucking moron like both Blake and Lukas called me. Since I can’t fucking get over Annie, I’ll have to figure out how to make the stubborn woman listen.

  30

  Annie

  I come home from California ready to move on and get my life in order. The first thing on my list is tackling the bookkeeping at La Femme. Since Madison has an accounting degree, I beg her to come and help me find a way to fix the messy books. After hiring Madison, life is good. She quickly becomes one of my best friends, and I love having her to work on my pesky accounting nightmare. Lukas got lucky when he found Madison.

  Mr. Whiskers and I are so excited to be home. One night I’m relaxing on the couch with my little kitty on my lap when my phone rings and I’m shocked to see Bradley’s name on the screen.

  “Hey, this is a surprise,” I answer.

  “I don’t have time to go into all the info. Marta took Madison tonight…” he begins, but I must have heard him wrong.

  Mr. Whiskers hisses at my mistreatment because I stand without warning and fling him to the floor. “What the hell do you mean, Marta took Madison? Took her where?”

  “Stop interrupting. I don’t fucking have time. Marta kidnapped Madison and is dangerous. Wait, hold on.” I hear a commotion, then Drew’s voice comes on the line.