by Adair Rymer
This was horrible.
I immediately thought of Claire. She'd been in class all day and it was only a matter of time until she was hounded by either reporters or inconsiderate assholes looking to cause her trouble. I needed to protect her from all of that.
I called Claire. No answer. I texted her that I was on my way.
A few seconds later she replied with Hurry.
“Have the meeting notes emailed to me.” I declared loudly to the room, then pocketed my phone. I glared at everyone for having indulged in their twisted curiosity and shook my head. I didn't blame them too much for looking but someone should have told me before I arrived. “I'm leaving.”
“So soon?” Asked an unfortunately familiar snide voice that had just walked in. It stopped me dead in my tracks.
Anthony wore a blue suit and broad self-satisfied smile.
It only took two words from him to make my fingers clench into fists. I had gone hunting for him in Chicago after I left Claire's parents', but he was nowhere to be found. And now here he was.
“You.” I stalked toward him. Every muscle in my body tensed like a viper ready to strike. I was going to tear his fucking head off. “First the images from your party and now you release an old video of Claire.”
“I'm appalled and insulted and...” Anthony's feigned outrage melted away. He shrugged carelessly, then addressed the shareholders. “Yeah, it was me.”
“Why?” Adam asked. The old man had a disbelieving look on his face. “This affects the entire company negatively, why would you—”
“Those images and videos exist! That's the point.” Anthony swept his arms out to illustrate his point, then he circled the long way around the conference table. He was putting as much distance between us as possible. “They were bound to surface eventually, that's the nature of things. Ladies and gentlemen the Cooper family is a dying entity. Hate to break it to you but you've all backed the wrong horse.”
“So as a shareholder and a friend,” Anthony paused to place a gentle hand over his heart. I was going to break that hand off and shove it so far up his ass that he'd choke to death on it. “I've come here today to offer a solution.”
“What's this all about, are you vying to be made CEO?” One of the shareholders shouted, indignantly.
“Of this shitshow?” Anthony scoffed, pulling out his phone absently. “God, no! I have my own better company to run. No, no... It's time we put this lofty corporation out of its misery. That's why I'm here actually. I've had my lawyers draft up buyout plans for you all.”
“You're talking about a hostile takeover.” One of the female shareholders yelled. “That's outrageous!”
“What's outrageous is how much you'll all stand to make when you sign on.” Anthony looked up from his phone and winked lewdly at the woman. “I've just emailed you all our proposal. I think you'll all find it more than generous, well, given the state of the company at the moment.”
“It'd be a cold day in hell before I let you cannibalize my family's legacy.” I spat the words. I tried to cool my head enough to address this motherfucker. “As president I get the final say in all this, and I can't be removed for at least the next three months until the biannual meeting.”
“Alas, you make a valid point.” Anthony looked comically stumped as if I had just given him an extremely difficult math problem. “The only way you can be removed is if you are unfit or unable to maintain the position.
“Is that a threat?” I'd have leapt over the table then and there to get at my former friend but he saved me the trouble. Anthony had walked fully around the long U-shaped table back toward me. Was he insane? He knew I was always stronger and faster than he was. He'd need a gun to stop me.
“I would never dream of it, Mayday!” Anthony smiled again, stopping within easy arms reach of me. “You know, I used to go to that strip club. The one Claire danced at. I remembered her. She used to go by the name of Star.”
Blood was boiling in my ears. My vision was full of red. Somewhere in the back of my head a buried voice of reason screamed for me to leave but I couldn't think straight.
“Star wasn't that great a dancer—granted none of them were headed to Broadway— but...” Anthony glanced past me then smiled and licked his lips “That whore could suck a mean cock—”
The next fifteen seconds were a blur for me. I had never been so angry in my life. I could deal with insults, I had grown up with them from the media, but hearing lies about Claire was too much for me.
I knew that Anthony was full of shit because I trusted Claire. I knew that. But it didn't matter, I went completely unhinged. I couldn't stop myself. It was almost like my brain flicked off and my fists took over.
I was pried off Anthony right away, but not until after I'd broken his nose and knocked out at least a few teeth. I'd have caved in his goddamn skull, but security was all over me. How did they get there so fast?
Shit.
When I saw Anthony's bloody broken smile I knew. He had them waiting for me. He knew this would happen and of course he would be pressing charges. I shook my head, disgusted that I played right into his hands. Anthony didn't have to remove me as CEO: he knew I'd do it for him.
This was all part of his plan! !hat devious little fuck!
It took four men to drag me off Anthony, but once I realized my mistake, I let them take me to the security office without a fight. I was fucked and I knew it. They walked me through their office and into an empty white room, then they sat me in a chair and zip-tied my hands behind me. Most big corporations had these holding rooms, it allowed for quiet removal of disorderly guests while the police were called.
I wasn't going anywhere for a while. When it wasn't an emergency the police took their time. Cooper Corp also had a deal with NYPD to handle matters like these as discretely as possible for fear of bad publicity so they would be waiting for a plain-clothes unit to take me in.
Fortunately I recognized a few of the security team members and easily convinced one of them to tell Christian to pick Claire up. It was a half an hour later when the door was opened, but it wasn't my lawyer or the police.
It was Anthony.
“Hey, buddy.” Anthony had finally won in a competition against me and there was no way he'd pass up the opportunity to gloat about it. He had a ruined, reddened handkerchief covering the lower half of his face.
For as fucked as I was, I was glad to have caused him at least that much pain.
Anthony made sure that I was fully restrained then dismissed the guards to the adjacent room. We both knew that they would be watching us through the room's live camera feed, but they wouldn't be able to hear what we were saying. If there was any trouble they would be in here in seconds.
I had figured out most of his plan as I sat quietly, but a few things nagged at me.
“Why convince me to become CEO after Bianca?”
“Are you joking?” His abrupt laugh ended in a cough. I had really done a number on him and was surprised that he stayed conscious. “By the time I could arrange for Bianca to be removed, you'd just doubled the cost of shares that bullshit charity stunt! I needed you in there as CEO so when I destroyed your image your company would take the hit publicly. That, in turn, would lower the value of your stock. Only then would a takeover even be possible.”
“So you planned all this to ruin me just so you could buy my company on the cheap.” I shook my head at how petty this all sounded. I couldn't have been more wrong about Anthony. He did change but for the worse. “You're proud of yourself, aren't you?
“You're goddamned right I am. You can't even imagine how good it feels to have beaten you!” He went to plunge a finger into my chest but caught himself. If he laid even that finger on me he might jeopardize his case. “My cock is so hard right now.”
“Beat me at what exactly? Once news gets out about today, the company will be worthless on the stock market. Why would you even want it?”
“You have no idea how Wall Street works do you?” Anth
ony raised his eyebrows. “We'll hold onto all your assets, lay off the majority of your workforce, and then rebrand Cooper Corp. as something else. In a year no one will even remember a former disgraced billionaire family.”
There was a knock on the door and the police were finally let in. The zip-ties were cut, and were then replaced with more traditional handcuffs.
On my way out of the room Anthony said one last thing under his breath that really put everything into perspective for me.
“My family always hated yours.”
Chapter 16
Claire
“What are you doing about all this?!” I nearly shouted the words at Bianca when I stormed into her minimalistic Madison Avenue office. Bianca's secretary was in tow, she was threatening to call security.
Go right ahead.
I was allowed to see Maynard briefly in Central Booking right after his arraignment. For some vindictive reason the judge denied bail for Maynard. So after a sweet kiss and him telling me not to worry, he was quickly whisked off to Rikers Island to wait for his court date.
I was a wreck for weeks. The more research I did about that prison the sicker I became. It was commonly described as one of the worst places in the country. Each time I talked to him he refused to let me visit. The whole thing was so horrible.
Where was Bianca in all this?
Aside from a brief and extremely dismissive conversation I had with Maynard's sister the day he was arrested, Bianca's schedule had been 'too full' to see me. Three months later and she was still 'too busy'. It was insane!
I was done waiting.
She would see me today even if I had to be removed from the building because of it. I couldn't believe I was doing this. I really didn't want to be here. Bianca was such a powerful, intimidating woman. She'd achieved so much in her short career. Who was I to barge in on her?
The mother of Maynard's child, that's who.
Bianca was on the phone when I entered the room. My false bravado wilted when Bianca glanced at me then scowled at her secretary. The woman behind me froze until Bianca dismissed her, then she gestured for me to sit in one of the room's uncomfortable chairs. Maynard's office was so much warmer in theme and tone, whereas Bianca's was one gastrointestinal system poster away from being a doctor's office.
Bianca looked me over with a clinical gaze, her eyes lingered on my stomach. Content with whatever she saw, Bianca turned her chair away from me and continued her phone call.
It was a mid-July heatwave and I wore a tent-y tank-style dress and large breezy hat. I had just hit the six-month mark and wasn't exactly trying to hide anything anymore. Maynard's stripper baby mama scandal had broken in the tabloids the previous month.
All the looks I received from strangers made me feel awful. I hated knowing that so many people had these horrible opinions of me. Every time I stepped outside I felt judged. Being in the limelight was torture. How did Maynard tolerate this?
This last month at college had been particularly hellish. For as much as I wanted to curl up under a blanket and hide in my apartment, I couldn't until my final exams were over. My grades had slipped throughout this circus that was my life, but I checked online and saw that I had passed everything. I had hoped to maintain the Dean's list all the way to the end but that was impossible.
It was all finally over. I was a college graduate now.
One trendy classmate had the gall to ask me if my boyfriend bought my grades for me. I blew her off but I took her comment home with me. There was no truth in it. I earned that diploma. It still cheapened everything I worked so hard for. I could only hope that employers didn't think the same way that girl in my class did.
Several long minutes later Bianca hung up her phone and turned back to me. You'd never know that she was no longer a CEO to look at her. Bianca was technically unemployed but still looked every bit the professional in her pencil skirt and matching two-button jacket.
“Doing about what, dear?” Bianca asked. “The part where my emotional brother pummeled a man half to death in a room with nearly two dozen witnesses? Or the part where the judge, who is obviously a friend of the Milspoor family, has suddenly taken a hard stance against the favorable biases the one-percenters receive through the legal system?”
“You make it sound like you're not New York royalty.”
“We might have been that once, while my parents were still alive, and Maynard was too young to take up residence on every front page in the city.” Bianca stood up and straightened her dress. She pressed the intercom button for her secretary. “Tea. Two cups.”
“You're still a billionaire for fuck's sake.” I was nearly shaking because of her cavalier attitude about the whole thing, and also because I was so nervous. I felt like I was over my head but I pressed on anyway. “Get him out of there!”
“After the reckless course he's been on it might do him good to cool his heels for a few months.”
Maynard was her brother, did she really not care what was happening to him?
“Cool his heels? Maynard isn't in a day spa or on a holiday; he's in a prison!”
“I am well aware of my brother's current location.” Bianca's tone took on a harder edge and her eyes narrowed. She made it clear that she wasn't the kind of woman that got screamed at.
I froze in place and started to sweat. Was I really yelling at the most powerful woman in New York? I was twenty-four weeks along, could I blame the baby yet for my temporary insanity?
In the tense silence that followed, the secretary came in quietly, and set a tray down on a side table that looked to be designed for only that function. The woman poured two cups of tea and laid out a variety of sweeteners and creams on the small table. I'd noticed that those additions were only brought for my benefit. Bianca's tea was black and untainted when it was brought to her.
Mine was left on the table. I wasn't important enough to get it handed to me. That's fine, I thought, defiantly. I was a coffee girl anyway. That, and I was too scared to move under Bianca's glare.
Bianca turned back toward the window and tasted her tea. For a woman who was always so busy, she wasn't in any rush now to finish this conversation. Every move she made and every lengthy silence that went unfilled reminded me where I was. This was her house and I was here at her leisure.
“I understand that you're worried,” Bianca said. “What's being done to him is unfair. But trust me when I tell you that I am doing everything I can to expedite his situation.”
“Tell me what you're doing.” I didn't want to be placated. I needed to know that Maynard was really being helped. I swallowed hard and found the courage to press on. He'd have done that for me without a second thought. “You know that I'm pregnant. Maynard is a part of my life forever now. I'm not going to conveniently disappear.”
At least I hoped I wasn't!
No, Bianca always terrified me, but not for those reasons. I honestly didn't know if I would be able to confront her like this. I must have made a hundred excuses why I shouldn't on the ride here alone. She was just a hard woman to be around and she had a way of dominating every situation she was in.
I guess Maynard was the same way, well, not the exact same way. Maynard was more sexually dominant. I felt my temperature rise and my stomach tense at the memory of his touch. I thought I'd be able to deal with not having sex considering my dry spell before and after Chance, but I was seriously aching for Maynard.
The most frustrating part was that we had gotten back together. We were hours away from— I had to shake my head to clear the scorching image of beads of sweat trailing down his muscled torso.
“Our team of lawyers have worked out a plea deal for Maynard. He will be fined, and given one year of probation.” Bianca faced me again and raised an eyebrow.
I stood there for a long moment feeling indecisive. What now? I hadn't gotten this far in my head. I figured that it would be more difficult to get answers out of Bianca or at the very least the conversation would last a little longer.
“Good.” I said, picking up my tea and taking a sip. If she could drink it black then so could I. She was beginning to take me seriously, that made me swell with a little pride. I was able to get something I wanted out of the icy witch—
Oh, god! So bitter! I casually turned my back to her and then let my face scrunch up from the taste of the tea. How did she drink it like this? I added what must have been four tablespoons of honey and turned back around as if nothing had happened.
“Good,” I repeated, trying to fill that damn chilling silence.
“Did you think I was keeping this information from you out of spite?”
“What?” The question caught me off guard. I breathed in a sip of the hot tea by accident and coughed.
“I was going to see you once everything was finalized.” She let the sharpness slip from her voice. “I remember my college finals being very stressful. I didn't want to distract you from your studies.”
I didn't have any reason to believe she was lying, it just felt odd hearing her try to relate to me. What could a billionaire heiress and I possibly have in common?
“Too late for that.” I took another sip to wash down my rough, suddenly dry, throat.
“Apparently.” She frowned, then sighed with a hint of disgust in her voice. “People can be cruel for cruelty's sake. You graduated, yes?”
“Yeah. The ceremony is coming up but I'm not going.” I still needed to find a way to break that to my parents. My father in particular was looking forward to it because I'm the first Tremont to graduate college.
“You're not going?”
“No, thank you. I'm all set with public appearances for a while. I'm not looking for work as a punching bag.” The thought of all the hushed tones, snide comments, and sidelong glances made me shiver. I didn't care how form concealing that black gown was.
“You should go.” Bianca walked closer to me.
