by Sam Crescent
EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2016 Sam Crescent
ISBN: 978-1-77233-994-9
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Editor: Karyn White
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
BASTARD BOSS
Sam Crescent
Copyright © 2016
Chapter One
“If I wanted you for more than a quick fuck, I’d have told you!”
Anya Miller winced as she heard her boss, Xavier Leigh, speak harshly to another woman. She wanted to go in and comfort the woman, but she stayed still. The woman he was talking to could take it. Becky, Xavier’s flavor of the week from months ago, had been telling everyone at the office that she was going to be “the wife”, the one that was going to tame him. She’d been coming around for several months, trying to make them all feel small. Anya had heard the other woman talking about it on the phone as well. Becky wanted Xavier. A lot of women wanted Xavier, but then he was that kind of guy. He was the handsome, downright sexy, dirty, hot millionaire.
He was a total bastard.
“You’ll regret this,” Becky said, storming out of the office.
Staring at her computer screen, Anya did her best to ignore the woman who was the latest in a long line of women running out of the office looking embarrassed. He seemed to be sending more off than usual.
For once there were no put-downs, no preening, just a gap of silence while Becky left the building. Biting her lip, Anya continued to type the latest batch of correspondence that Xavier wanted.
“Anya, get your ass in here.”
Jumping at the sudden bark, she quickly got out of her seat and made her way toward the office door. “Yes, sir.”
“Why the fuck was that witch in my office?”
“Witch?”
“Becky! Why was she in my office believing that I was about to give her a damn wedding ring?”
Anya jerked back. “I really don’t know. She was your girlfriend.”
“No, she wasn’t.”
Xavier sat back in his chair. The jacket he’d worn that morning was thrown onto the floor. Bending down, Anya picked up the jacket and folded it neatly before placing it on the sofa in the far corner of the office.
“I don’t understand. She came in and wouldn’t listen to Martha the receptionist downstairs. She told them all they were nothing more than grunts, and that you’d want to see her right away.”
“I expected to be notified so I could stop her.”
“She was already here when Martha alerted me.”
Pressing her hands together, she looked over at her boss, Xavier Leigh: imposing asshole and bastard wrapped all in one neat package. He put his hands behind his head, assessing her. The one thing about Xavier was the fact he was a closed book. No one knew what he was thinking, what he was feeling, and most of the time, you only found out seconds before he struck.
“Well, she’s done and served her time.”
“Was there anything you wanted from me?” Anya asked.
He stared at her. “What were you doing?”
“Typing up the letters you wanted so that you could sign them.”
“You’re such a good worker for me, Anya.”
She had gotten the job by accident.
Five years ago she had been working for Xavier’s Industries as a receptionist at the front desk. She had never known anything about the man himself. He didn’t believe in putting his face on his logo, or by being advertised everywhere. She’d heard he liked to date beautiful women, models, actresses, and such. Still, she was completely oblivious to who he was. Then one morning, a man approached the desk, and he was nice, kind, and she talked him through where to go, even escorting him upstairs.
Anya wasn’t the kind of person to do things by halves. She had learned as much about the company as possible, though still without seeing the picture of the guy who ran the company. Within the first four months of her working there she encountered Xavier. Of course on the day she hadn’t known it was him.
Then one day she was called into the office, and lo and behold, the man she’d tried to help was in fact the boss-man himself.
“I’m sure you weren’t expecting me,” he said.
“No.” She said the word slowly. Glancing around the office, she saw everyone just working normally. “I don’t get it.”
“It’s simple. I was on my way into the office when you stopped me. Instead of questioning me, gushing about who I was, you simply asked if you could help. I was intrigued, and imagine my surprise to learn that you knew more about the company than my very pregnant PA.”
Anya looked out of the door to see his pregnant PA.
“Then I get your file and discover that Anya Miller is more than qualified to have the exact same position. Tell me, Anya, did you know who I was?”
“No. If I did, I wouldn’t have gone into great detail about what the company did. I don’t believe in wasting my time.”
“Then why did you?”
She took a deep breath. “You were dressed in a suit, and this company is known for investing in other companies that have a mutually beneficial path for the future. I thought you were perhaps a client. Besides, civility goes a long way in this day and age.”
Anya pulled out of the memory. It had been over four and a half years that she did that. Once his PA went onto maternity leave, Anya was once again called into the office, and forced into the job.
There was no choice on her part. She either accepted it, or didn’t. In the beginning she’d had to take a lot of stick from fellow colleagues who didn’t think she deserved the role. Some thought she was sleeping with the boss. Others didn’t believe it. Xavier was known for screwing models, beautiful women all over the world, and the last time Anya looked in the mirror she didn’t even compare to them.
Over time she’d proved herself to everyone, even herself.
“Was there anything else?” she asked.
“Sit, sit.”
Taking a seat she smoothed out her skirt and looked over at him.
“How are you liking your job?” he asked.
“I enjoy it very much. I’ve been working for you for over four years.”
“Then call me by my real name.”
She rolled her eyes. “Xavier.”
“Whoop, whoop, how hard was that?”
“You know you’re very confusing, right?” She stared across at her boss, always finding this side of him … interesting. For the most part he was serious, always barking out orders, telling her what to do. Then on rare occasions she’d see this playful side of him, which she found hard to handle. The guy had multiple personalities. In all the time she had known him, he’d never shown this side of him to anyone else.
“Always be one step ahead of your enemy.”
“Your clients?”
“And the women who think they can come in and tame you. That’s not the case, and that will never be the case.”
“Okay.”
Xavier didn’t have any family, nor did he have any close relatives. He was the guy that had pulled himself out of the gutter, and worked until he owned a billion-dollar corporation, and of course earned the reputation of being a bastard boss.
“You’ll not be settling down soon? Starting a family?” Anya asked. He was forty this year
. She didn’t know if men had the same feelings of broodiness that women did.
“One day. So, what about you, Anya? Settling down? Starting a family? Leaving me to find another person to replace you?”
“I didn’t even ask for this job. No on all fronts. No one to replace me. I’m happy in my job.”
Xavier laughed. “You may not have chosen it, but you’re damn good at what you do.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You should. I don’t give them out often.”
She chuckled. Glancing at the watch on her wrist, a present last Christmas, she saw he had an appointment in fifteen minutes.
“I better get started. Becky will be the talk of the office today.” She got out of her chair and headed toward the door.
“Makes a change from being about us,” he said.
She froze, turning back to look at him. “Sorry?”
“You don’t think I know what is going on in the office? What they talk about?”
“It’s just a rumor. I’ve not done anything about it. Would you like me to?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Are you seeing anyone?”
Anya frowned. “No. Why?”
“Just curious. Getting to know my staff. When was the last time you went on a date?”
Xavier Leigh had always been unconventional. His questions were always a little personal, but she found he was that way with everyone. Always prying, always getting to know someone.
“A little over a year ago.”
It had been a blind date set up by her mother. Of course, it was a total disaster. When it came to dates she struggled. Shyness was a huge problem. Working for Xavier was her hope to combat that shyness. Working at the reception, she’d spent a great deal of time shaking. Of course, that had changed once she worked for him, and had no choice but to follow his orders.
Still, dating men was a big challenge for her.
“Would you like a coffee?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Yes. Love one.”
****
Xavier watched his little PA leave the room. As always she closed the door, offering him privacy. Anya had always intrigued him, from the first moment he’d met her over four years ago, to this day. She wasn’t the kind of woman who tried to gain his attention. It was one of the reasons why he’d hired her.
For four years they had enjoyed a professional relationship. He was the one constantly crossing the boundaries in order to get to know her. Yes, he had a bad reputation. In the past year he’d not had many partners because these feelings he had for Anya were not going away.
The reputation he’d gained as a ladies’ man had been well earned. In the early years of his life he’d not cared about anything but making money and fucking. It was what he did, leaving a trail of women behind him in his wake. Business and sex for him came hand in hand.
Running a finger along his lip he stared down at the image of him opening this place. It was taken many years ago by a friend who had since passed. In a few weeks, Xavier would be turning forty years old. He had an empire that would be handed down to no one. Yeah, he was a guy who had everything, apart from the fact he didn’t.
He didn’t have anyone. No family, no more friends, not even a dog. He had no one. Business, making money, and that was all.
All of his life he’d fought for everything he ever wanted. Son to a crack whore, pulling himself out of tricky situations through foster homes, he’d done everything, hated it all, and fought every single second of every day. Right now, this very second he was earning money. Millions of dollars going from A to B then back again. Whatever he touched turned to gold.
What was once a challenge was now as simple as falling asleep.
Xavier wanted a family. He wanted a child; son or daughter, he didn’t care. There were no plans for gaining a family. In the past few months he’d been going to events wondering if a past flame would be the right one for his future, but none of them were a good fit for him. They had the same hunger for power, for their place in the world. None of them fit into the role of being a mother. They may make good mothers to someone else’s child, but not to his.
Anya knocked, gave him a second to decline, then walked in.
Again, it was something she always did even when he was alone. She was always considerate. When he first gave her the job, and her colleagues didn’t like it, Anya hadn’t done anything about it. She had taken whatever shit they wanted to dish out. He’d admired her for that. She never fought, never did anything that would be considered aggressive. Even when some of the women from his private life came into the office being all snotty, she dealt with them with kindness.
At times he found her too damn nice.
She placed a cup on his coaster.
“Is there anything else you’d like?” she asked.
To him it was a loaded question. She asked it of him every single day. Is there anything else you want? Anything I can get you? What else do you need? So many questions, and yet today, he wanted something more.
“That will be all.”
She nodded and left, her full hips swinging from side to side. With the height of the summer, the office had the AC on. Anya had removed her jacket, and he got to have a good look at her rounded curves.
The more he thought about Anya, the more he learned about her, he just knew deep down to his very soul that she was the woman he was looking for. Going to his desk, he typed into his computer, pulling up her employment file. Five years ago, standing in front of the camera she’d looked so scared, terrified even. She was twenty-eight years old, with red hair, green eyes, and in her photo he saw the freckles dotting across her nose. Her red hair had been pulled back into a ponytail. She never wore her hair down. It was either in a bun or a ponytail. When the company had parties, she didn’t drink either.
Thinking back over the past four years, Anya hadn’t relaxed. The watch she was wearing, he’d bought her last Christmas, and she hadn’t wanted to take it even though they had been buying little gifts for each other since she’d become his PA.
They were just small things, pictures, books, an album or something. It was a token of memory for someone. He liked it. Then he saw a watch at a jewelry store, and he’d known he had to have it, and that it would be perfect for Anya.
Xavier didn’t like going to the jewelry store, yet he’d been there, looking for a gift. He had originally planned to buy the model he was going to ditch a goodbye gift, but of course she’d ended up with a gift card instead.
Closing down Anya’s file where he learned nothing new, he grabbed the file on his desk and left his office just as his appointment was about to walk through the door.
“Kurtis, good to see you. I’ll be taking him to conference room two, Anya.”
“Do you need me to sit in? Take notes?”
“No. I’ve got it from here, thank you.”
She smiled and made her way toward her desk once again. He saw the work he’d given her earlier was still there, and in the next couple of hours he had several appointments.
Entering the conference room, he gestured for Kurtis to take his spot.
“Is your PA not married yet? She is a peach,” Kurtis said.
“She’s a star.”
Taking a seat, he opened up the file, and got straight down to business. Whenever he needed some facts or statistics, he put a call through to Anya. She brought the files right away. There were no lingering smiles or chats with Kurtis.
“I tell you, man, you are one lucky guy. I’ve been in several meetings, and the PAs can be a damn problem.”
“So can the bosses,” Xavier said. “I’ve been to several meetings where it is clear the man is screwing the PA.”
“You’re not screwing yours though. What’s the problem? She too fat for you?”
Xavier sat back, glaring at the guy he was about to sign a million dollar business contract with. Kurtis was the best when it came to software, and he wanted him on his team.
“I don’t like you insulting my PA. In fact, I would fuck Anya if she even gave me half a chance. She’s worth a hell of a lot more than a quick fuck.”
“I’m sorry—”
“I don’t want your apologies. You will not say something so stupid again, do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
He got through the rest of the meeting without beating the shit out of the guy, even though he wanted to.
Once that meeting was done, he spent the rest of the afternoon between his office and the conference room. Anya stayed at her desk, and when six in the evening rolled around, she came to him with a stack of letters to sign.
“Thank you,” she said, startling him.
“What for?” He continued to sign his name, trusting everything was in order.
“I, erm, I heard what you said to Kurtis. I appreciate your kind words. I know they weren’t true, but I appreciate it all the same.” She forced a smile, and he paused in his writing. Staring into her green eyes, Xavier found it hard to look away.
“What makes you think I didn’t mean it?”
“It’s not something I imagine you’ve thought about. I’m quite uncomfortable right now, so I’m going to be quiet.”
He put his pen down, and stared at her.
“Is there something you’d like me to do?” she asked.
“Sit down,” he said.
“Oh.” She took a seat opposite him, and he noticed how she pushed her skirt down to cover her knees. “I hope I didn’t cross a line. I wasn’t implying sex just, I was thinking about the papers.”
She kept on rambling, and he watched as her cheeks heated.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“I didn’t appreciate his vile words or his tone. I believe you deserve better, and, Anya, I meant every single word.”
She frowned. “That can’t be.”
“Why not? You’re a beautiful woman.”
“I’m not. I’m nothing in comparison to the women you date.”
