by Amy Brent
That report, and my own actions, had ruined Candice’s life. And there was no one to blame but me.
If I had just listened to Henry, if I had just kept my dick in my pants, Candice would be sitting across from me now, pretending to ignore me.
“So, let’s begin with our review of the financials,” Stan said, flipping through the report. “That starts on page 5.”
Before he could continue, the conference room door opened and a large black man wearing a dark suit and tie appeared. Behind him were two other men who sported equally-serious looks on their faces. Behind them was a woman with a short-cropped haircut and a pinched face. I immediately took her as someone from the government.
“What the hell is this?” Henry asked.
The first man held up a badge that made Henry’s mouth clap shut. “I’m Agent Richter with the FBI. These are my associates, Agents Brent and Kline. And this is Helen Walters from the Securities & Exchange Commission. We’re looking for Henry Costas and Tanner Wright.”
“I’m Henry Costas,” he said. Henry glanced at me. “This is Mr. Wright. What’s this about?”
The FBI agent pulled a folded sheet of paper from inside his jacket and handed it to Henry. Henry opened the paper and scanned it without his glasses. The color drained from his face.
The G-man said, “Gentleman, we have a warrant to seize all files and documentation from these offices and your personal possession pertaining to the pending acquisition of Anderson Telecommunications by Wright Enterprises.”
“For what purpose?” Henry said. He glanced at me again. I’d never seen him look so nervous. His reaction to this little raid was interesting, to say the least. I sat back and crossed my arms over my chest and kept my mouth closed.
The woman from the SEC moved to stand next to the FBI agent. She said, “It has come to the attention of the SEC that an off-shore company called Creative Investment Partners has been buying an unusually high number of put options pertaining to Wright Enterprises and Anderson Telecommunications stock.”
“People buy puts all the time,” Henry said.
“That’s true,” she said, “But when the person behind the company acquiring all those puts is an officer of one of the companies involved in acquiring the other, that is called stock manipulation and is against the law.”
I tapped the rubber ball to my chin and asked, “And who is this mysterious person behind Creative Investment Partners?”
Agent Smith nodded at Henry. “Henry Costas.”
“Our initial investigation suggests that Mr. Costas was buying up large numbers of puts because he expected the stocks of both companies to crash after the news that the financial reports of Anderson had been altered by management consultants from Goldman & Stern.”
“What?” Stan looked like he was about to shit in his pants. “We didn’t alter any financial data.”
“Are you with Goldman & Stern?”
Stan slowly nodded.
“Our suspicion is that Mr. Costas was going to claim that you altered the data in exchange for a large contract to do due diligence on the deal,” she said, handing him her card. “We’ll need to interview everyone who worked on the project.”
Now I understood the reason Henry insisted on hiring Goldman & Stern in the first place. He would need a scapegoat when the shit hit the fan.
Poor Stan looked like he was going to have a coronary. The rest of the Goldman team sat wide-eyed with their mouths hanging open as their eyes darted between one another.
I must admit, I would have enjoyed the show if it hadn’t meant that my mentor and best friend was trying to screw me. I swiveled my chair to face him.
“Henry?” I said, the rubber ball flexing in my hand. “Why would you do such a thing?”
“You have the right to an attorney, Mr. Costas,” the FBI man said.
“And I have the right to know why he would betray me,” I said. “Why Henry?”
Henry looked down and shook his head. “I’ve been trying to get you to grow up for years, Tanner,” he said, rubbing a knuckle under his nose. “I’ve watched you get rich while the rest of us worked our asses off to build this company. You’ve made billions of dollars while the rest of us fed off your scraps.”
“You’ve made hundreds of millions of dollars, Henry,” I said. “Was it not enough?”
“I’m tired of playing nursemaid to you,” Henry said, looking away. “It’s time I got what was coming to me.”
“Well, I’m pretty sure you’re going to get that,” I said. I looked at the lady from the SEC. “Can I ask how all this came to light?”
“Our office was contacted on Monday by a Ruth Bennett,” she said, reading the name off a notepad in her hand. “She’s a money manager with Smith-Barney here in Chicago. She was alerted to potential improprieties in the Anderson books by a client of hers. A Miss… Candice Carlson. Miss Bennett contacted our office and we fast-tracked the investigation given the pending acquisition of Anderson Telecom by your company.”
“I assume that acquisition is now on hold?” I asked with a smile, already knowing the answer. Fine by me. I didn’t want to buy Anderson anyway. This was Henry’s baby all the way, and now I understood the reason why.
She said, “Yes, we have an order from a federal judge halting the acquisition. The SEC and the state attorney general’s office will be conducting a full investigation.”
“Fine by me,” I said. I set the rubber ball on the table in front of Henry. “Here, you might need that.” I held out a hand to the feds. “Officers, take him away.”
“We’ll need you to come down and speak with us as well, Mr. Wright,” the SEC woman said, handing me her card. “We have no reason to suspect that you were involved in anything inappropriate, but you’ll probably want to bring an attorney along just in case.”
“I’ll have my attorney set an appointment for Monday,” I said, slipping the card into the back pocket of my ratty jeans. “I have something extremely important to take care of first.”
Candice
After getting unceremoniously fired and escorted from the building on Monday morning, I immediately tried to call Tanner, but found that he had blocked my number from calling his phone.
I immediately knew that something was wrong.
Tanner might have put on the bad boy billionaire persona to everyone else, but to me, he was just Tanner, the amazing man that I couldn’t stop thinking about. The man that made passionate, sweet love to me and in whose arms, I fell asleep every night.
There was no way I was just a fling.
I knew it in my heart.
There wasn’t a shadow of doubt in my mind that Tanner cared deeply for me.
And I cared just as deeply – if not more -- for him.
I could feel it in my bones.
I flagged down a cab and climbed into the back and gave the driver my home address. I tried Tanner’s phone again with the same result.
The little electronic voice told me to fuck off, my number had been blocked.
The voice was wrong.
Tanner would not block my calls.
Something else was going on.
My suspicious mind went into overdrive. It didn’t take long for me to realize that Henry Costas was the one keeping us apart. He had blocked me from calling Tanner’s phone. He had ordered Stan to fire me.
But why?
How was I a threat to him?
You’re not a threat to him, the little voice said.
It’s your relationship with Tanner that’s the threat.
Henry Costas, you slimy douchebag cocksucker.
I’d had red flags waving in my mind since the moment I met him…
Little red flags waving in the air…
Little numbers flying by…
I slid open the contact for Ruth Bennett and called her office. “Ruth Bennett, please. Yes, it’s Candice Carlson.” Happy hold music filled my ear for a moment, then Ruth’s cheerful voice came on the line.
“Candi
ce? Hi, what’s up?”
“Ruth, I may have a problem” I said. “And I need your help.
Candice
“Yes, mom. No, mom. I know mom. No, I haven’t found a job. Because I haven’t looked. Mom, it’s only been four days since they fired me. I know. I should sue. I know. You warned me about men. I know. You told me so. Yes, you did.”
My phone was on the bathroom counter and I had the Bluetooth thingamabob in my ear. It was Friday night in one of the biggest cities on the planet, and there I was in my bra and panties, shaving my legs in the bathroom sink.
I know, it was sad, the things you did when you were an unemployed, unattached, single girl in the big city.
You shave your fucking legs in the bathroom sink, you eat a gallon of Haagen-Dazs chocolate chip ice cream, and you cry yourself to sleep watching a rerun of Bridget Jones Diary on cable.
I tapped the soap off the razor and picked up a towel to dry my leg. The call waiting tone pinged in my ear. Thank god, a reason to get off the phone with my mother.
“Mom, that’s someone calling. No, I don’t know who it is. Mom, if you’ll let me hang up I’ll find out who it is. Okay, love you to. Kisses to daddy.”
I tapped the little button on the Bluetooth without looking at the caller ID on my phone.
“Hello?”
“Hi,” Tanner’s voice breezed softly in my ear.
“Hi yourself,” I said with a sigh. I put a hand over my heart to keep it from pounding through my chest. I lowered myself onto the toilet. My legs were shaking. I didn’t think I could stand.
I asked, “How are you?”
“I’m fine. How are you?”
I struggled to keep the tears at bay. “I’m okay. I heard about Costas being arrested. I’m sorry if I killed your deal. I had to protect you. I hope you understand that.”
“I can forgive you if you can forgive me,” he said. “I was a fool to listen to Henry. I was a fool to let him keep you from me. I won’t ever let anyone keep me from you again.”
The tears began to flow despite my best efforts to keep them locked away.
He asked, “Can I see you?”
I asked, “Yes, where are you.”
He said, “In the hallway outside your door.”
EPILOGUE: Candice
Six months later…
I stood at the bathroom sink, wiping steam off the mirror with the back of my hand. My long hair was wrapped in a towel. My naked body was covered with little beads of water that ran down between my breasts and sluiced through my short pubic hair to my clit.
Tanner appeared behind me, naked, wet, hard and ready. He wrapped his arms around me and cupped my breasts in his palms. He began to gently massage my breasts. He brushed his fingers over my nipples. They never failed to snap to attention at the touch of his fingers or lips.
His hot mouth was on my neck. I leaned my head to the side and moaned as he nibbled his way to my ear. I could feel his hard cock pressing into my back as he pulled me against him.
He moved his hips to slide the shaft up and down against the wet crack of my ass. I could feel his balls mashing into me. I could feel the hot juices pooling in my pussy in anticipation of his cock impaling me. I could feel the juice running down the inside of my thigh and thought, what a waste.
Tanner’s hands slid down my body and found my clit hard and ready beneath the hood. He rolled my clit between his thumbs and slid his fingers into my folds, working his fingers back and forth, soaking them with my juices.
I reached around and took his cock in one hand and his balls in the other. I gently massaged his balls and tugged on his cock. He moaned in my ear.
“I love you,” he sighed.
I opened my eyes to find him staring at me in the mirror.
“I love you, too,” I said.
“You do?” he said.
“I do.”
“Show me.”
I turned to face him. He pressed his lips to mine as my hand slowly stroked his cocked. Our tongues dueled like angry snakes. I rubbed the underside of the head of his cock on my belly, leaving a trail of his salty juice on my skin.
Tanner put his hands under my arms and lifted me onto the sink. With my ass on the edge of the counter, I spread my legs for him and he moved in closer. He hooked his arms under my knees to support my legs and ass. I took his cock in my hand and guided him into me. The head slid inside me and we both smiled.
I braced my palms on the counter top. With his arms under my legs, he lifted my ass off the counter and slid fully into me in one thrust. It pushed the breath from my lungs and made me gasp in the most glorious way.
Tanner slid his cock in and out of me, slowly at first, then a little faster, then a little faster still. His cock and balls were quickly covered in glistening juice that filled the air with the tangy aroma of sex.
We both looked down to watch ourselves fuck. I loved to see his cock sliding in and out of me. He loved to watch my pussy lips grab and hold onto his cock as it slid past them.
This was our favorite position because it gave both of us an amazing view of our carnal connection. It was almost like watching your own porno, only better.
Tanner thrust into me and a shudder quaked through my body.
He was pounding into me faster now, harder.
The slap of our flesh joined the sound of our heavy breathing.
I glanced up at Tanner. Every muscle in his body was flexing.
His head was back.
His teeth were clenched.
His eyes were closed.
He breathed through his nostrils like an angry bull.
“I’m… cumming…” he moaned. “Come… with me…”
I closed my eyes and joined him for the ride.
A few more deep thrusts and Tanner pushed his cock into me as far as it would go and growled as he came.
As he filled me with his hot cum, my own orgasm hit.
I threw my head back and squeezed my eyes shut and felt my entire body shake as the orgasm overtook me and sent me over the moon.
When I was over, we opened our eyes and looked down.
We were a hot mess.
And we wouldn’t have had it any other way.
THE END
Blurb
CANDICE CARLSON:
Men are douchebags! I’m sorry, but there’s just no other way to put it and they can’t deny it. They only want one thing from us, girls. Then, just as you’re about to give it to them, they dump you like a hot rock because their mommy says you’re not good enough for their little boy. Seriously, bitch? I’ll show you not good enough with my fist in your nose.
Then I get assigned to work for Tanner Wright, the bad boy billionaire CEO who thinks his money, good looks, and big bulge in his jeans can get him whatever he wants. And what he wants at the moment is to get into this girl’s pants. What he doesn’t know is, that’s a place where no man has gone before.
The guy’s a billionaire douchebag and I’m a reluctant virgin. That combination could make for a very interesting workplace, indeed.
TANNER WRIGHT
It’s a lot of pressure, living up to a reputation like mine. You just try being a billionaire bad boy CEO for a week and see how you handle things. I’ll bet you end up in the press more than I do!
When you have the looks, money, charm, and bedroom skills that I have, the world is your oyster. So many mansions to buy, exotic cars to drive, yachts to captain, and so many women to… well… you know what the ladies want from Mr. Wright.
So, when Candice Carlson is assigned to work on a project for my company, it’s only fitting that I give her a shot at the brass ring. She’s young and brilliant and beautiful. And there’s something mysterious about her that draws me to her like a moth to a flame.
She can try to resist all she wants, but when Tanner Wright wants something, you can bet the bank that he will get it; one way or another.
Candice Carlson
I was sitting at my desk munching on a take-out
salad from the cafeteria downstairs, when the email from my boss came through. I glanced at the large computer monitor sitting to my left, but didn’t bother opening the email. I already knew what it was.
I had been expecting the email since earlier in the day when my boss told me that our company, Goldman & Stern Management Consultants, had won a ten-million-dollar management consulting contract with Wright Enterprises, and that I would be one of the management consultants on the team.
I chewed a mouthful of lettuce and leaned over to read the subject line: Confirmation of Meeting Scheduled with Tanner Wright at Wright Enterprises.
I clicked the link that would automatically add the meeting details to my electronic schedule and went back to eating my salad.
A year ago, I would have been jumping up and down at the thought of meeting with billionaire entrepreneur, Tanner Wright, and his team. Now, this would be just another in a long line of boring meetings with rich douchebags who used Goldman & Stern’s management consultants – like me -- to do their dirty work.
Wow, sometimes I was amazed at how tarnished I had become in just one short year at Goldman. I don’t remember what I expected this job would be, but this wasn’t it.
Still, it was better than slaving away at a non-profit for twenty-grand a year. That was more fulfilling, but this allowed me to buy a lot cooler stuff.
I sighed as I stabbed a cherry tomato and bit it in half with my front teeth. I had already Googled Tanner Wright in anticipation of the meeting. Not that I didn’t already know who he was. Everyone in business knew who Tanner Wright was because he was the stuff of legend.
Thirty-five years old, single, tall, dark, and handsome; with the build of an athlete and the brain of a Rhodes Scholar.
He started Wright Enterprises as a little computer fix-it service in his parents’ basement fifteen years ago, and the company did six billion in revenue last year.
Wright was in to everything now: from computing to networking to cyber-security software to fiber optics. But it took more than generating a ton of revenue for a guy to impress me these days. In my mind, I already had him pegged as just another billionaire playboy who thought he could buy the world and everyone in it.
