“I figured you were thirsty,” she said with a mischievous grin.
“Fuck yes!” I said with more excitement than I was actually feeling, and gulped a healthy swig of bourbon to take the edge off. Her phone rang, and she stepped into the kitchen to answer it.
I glanced through the wall of windows in my living room and spotted some of my media relations team congregating out on the patio with a few other guests. I headed outside with a smile. “Lamont!”
Lamont spotted me and shouted in excitement. Chuckling, I shook his hand. Though he was part of the reason my relationship with Hanna hadn’t lasted, I had no hard feelings against him. He had suggested time and time again that I go ahead and let Hanna go or get serious with her, and I should’ve listened to him when I had the chance. Maybe it could’ve saved me some grief.
“Have I got news for you,” Lamont said with sales-pitch enthusiasm.
“Tell me what you got. Tell me how you’re planning on spinning the kidnapping to make me look like Superman or some shit,” I teased.
“You read my mind. Headlines will read: Dane Foster, Invincible. Like the sound of that?”
I patted him on the shoulder with a laugh. “You’re a media god, my friend.”
“Dane! Daddy’s on the phone!” Selene stepped out and handed me her cell phone as I set down my glass on the ledge of the patio and answered.
My father’s voice spilled over the other end of the line. “Why the bloody fuck didn’t you call me?”
“Cornelius,” I said, grinning. “I’m home. I’m all in one piece. That’s all that counts.”
“I hope you know you almost caused me a coronary,” he sputtered.
“Get outta here. You’re gonna outlive us all. How’s Caroline? How have you been holding up out there?”
“The more of you leave the nest, the more we get to spread our wings. We’re thinking about getting a house in Marseilles. I followed your lead and took the wife out for a little getaway in Paris, did a little shopping around. And don’t think you’re distracting me from the issue at hand. Instead of calling on the help of a stranger, you should have brought the matter to me.”
I turned away from the party and ambled indoors, up the winding staircase to my bedroom loft. Away from the noise, it was easier to hear and speak. “I could’ve done that, Dad, but Hanna wasn’t exactly a stranger. We dated for quite a while. I told you about her.”
“Yes, I got a call from Ettie Danos as soon as Hanna made it home. That’s how I knew you were home, too. Incidentally, son, courting the niece of Ettie Danos is a mite more than ‘dating someone.’ You should bring her around the family. We would love to meet her.”
I swallowed, glad at least Hanna was home safe and well. “Well, we used to date, Dad. We’re not seeing each other anymore.”
“I see.”
“Anyway, it’s been a rough few days. I’m just happy to be alive. Sissy and Darien…” I wasn’t sure what to say to him about my mother.
There was a pause on the other end. “How was she?”
“I left her in Texas with the FBI. Don’t worry. I hired her an attorney.”
“Excellent, excellent,” he murmured. “Well, keep me posted. I love you, son. I’m happy to know you’re well.”
“Thank you, Dad. Love you, too.”
I hung up Selene’s cell phone and sat on the edge of my bed for a minute, listening to the sounds of the party below. I gnawed at my bottom lip, fighting to remain restrained and in control. Several deep breaths had me no closer to feeling steady. My foot tapped the floor in agitation. It was terrible. It was terrible being in love.
CHAPTER 4
I had been in New York three weeks, recuperating and getting my strength back up. There was plenty of work to be done before I could slink off to Prodigal Manor to tough out the emotional upheaval of losing Hanna for the second time. Gervais sat next to me in the Aston Martin. He had spent the night at the penthouse to bring me fully up to speed about the goings-on at Excelsis.
“Are you absolutely certain?” I asked. I accelerated and pushed through the anger that was driving me. I glanced over at Gervais, who looked a tad uncomfortable with the speed at which we were traveling. I was having a blast. It felt great to go full throttle.
“Er, well, yes and no,” he stammered. “He’s pretty good at covering his tracks, but he’s not perfect. He seems to be trying to divide and conquer. Anytime there is drama, Tom is in the midst of it.”
“Maybe he’s doing his job. Maybe he’s stepping in to resolve disputes,” I said. Had to give the guy the benefit of doubt.
“At first I thought the same thing, so I did a little experiment to test that theory. I fed Tom a false story about a potential merger and told him not to tell anyone else because only he and Melissa knew. Sure enough, employees were panicked left and right thinking Excelsis must be going under.”
“That was a risky fucking rumor, Gervais,” I said, not sure I liked it.
“It was worth it. I needed something serious enough to shake Tom, and I didn’t tell Melissa anything about a merger. Under pressure, Tom showed his true colors. He has a close an eye on the books. He knew there was no way we were close to a merger or anything of the sort, but the story worked to his advantage because, in the retelling, he leveraged it against you. Sir, he’s trying to make you look incompetent. He wants the CEO position.”
“Ambition is a bitch,” I growled, pulling the Aston into the parking garage and killing the engine.
I got out of the car and adjusted my suit, ready to take on the world.
I met Tom in my own conference room in my office suite, happy as hell to be back at the helm. He walked in with confidence that reeked of false bravado. “Back so soon?” he said. I gestured to the seat across from me. His extended hand was ignored. I stared at my tablet and scrolled through the notes Gervais had been compiling on Tom.
“Am I reading this right?” I said. I glanced at Tom. “So, you’ve been meeting with Glen at AmerExpand?”
He cocked his head to the side and laughed. “How’d you come by that lie?”
“You sure it’s a lie?”
He chuckled nervously, dimples digging into his soft, babyish face. He was a handsome, geeky-looking guy. He looked totally harmless. I wasn’t in the habit of underestimating my opponent.
“Tom, where do you see yourself at Excelsis in the next five years?” I asked.
His eyebrows rose up above his dark brown eyes. He opened his hands and shrugged. “I’m happy where I am as chief operations officer. Not much higher than that to go.”
“Ha! Well, there’s always my spot, right?” I leaned across the wide conference table and pasted on a smile. “Tom, I don’t know if I see you at Excelsis in the next five years. Here’s what I think. I think it’s incredibly damning that you’ve been seen meeting with our rivals. Yes, rivals, as in more than AmerExpand. I know about the other meetings, too. You know, I hate to seem like the bad guy here, but—well, fuck it, I’ll be exactly what I am.”
I stared at him intensely, smelling the fear rolling off him like too much cologne. It made me laugh, a dry rumble in my chest that held not an ounce of humor. I lowered my voice. “I’m a wolf, Tom. This is what I do. I eat lambs like you and I digest you, and I shit you out. Don’t end up being shit, Tom.”
“Okay, you’re insane,” he scoffed. He nervously laughed and shifted in his chair, straightening his tie. His tense smile faded when my glower didn’t change. He surveyed me. I studied him just the same. He said, “Uh, in case you forgot, your father put me in this position. If Cornelius Foster doesn’t want me to do my job, then he can tell me that himself.”
His smug tone caused me to lose my temper, and my voice went deadly calm as I leaned forward. “You arrogant fuck, pay very close attention. This is my company, and you play by my rules.”
“No, you listen.” He leaned forward as well and pointed a shaking finger in my face. “I’m here because of what I can do. You kick me out of
Excelsis, and you’ll be writing your own death sentence. You think we’re the best-known corporate real estate company on the East Coast because of your doing?”
“My business model. My attack plan. My dedication got us here. You can’t honestly think you did this alone.”
“I’ve invested my energy, heart, and soul into this company that you got handed to you by virtue of being Cornelius Foster’s son. But, rest assured, he’s aware I’m an asset, even if you aren’t. Now, you want to tell me how you plan on getting me out of here? Or you want to stop being so paranoid and let me keep Excelsis being at the top of every list like I’ve been doing for the past year?”
“You have an inflated sense of importance around here, Tom.”
“I know my worth.”
“Yeah? I hope you take this little meeting to heart because I’m being very generous by having a sit-down, face-to-face, friendly chat with you instead of having you escorted off the premises with your office in a box in your hands. You’re still here because I’m being generous. I’m giving you a heads-up. My people don’t meet with the enemy. They don’t fan the flames of discord around the office at every chance they get. And my people don’t undermine my authority. If you’re not my people, there’s the door.”
I jabbed a finger in the direction of the door, breathing heavily as my ire rose. The fact he was staring me in the face and acting like he had leverage made me want to break his smug smile in half. He clasped his hands together on the top of the table. “Whoever your source is, tell them get their facts straight. Am I free to go?”
I got up from the table and opened the door, walking out and leaving him sitting at the table wondering how to do damage control. His career had just shit the bed. I stormed into my office, where Gervais was waiting for me. “I want to know why he’s been meeting with the competition. I want a list of our top five percent on my desk before lunchtime, and I want to know who’s handling each of those accounts. Get me names, addresses. I need to contact people personally to make sure they know who runs things around here.”
“What about Tom? You still want eyes on him?”
“Like a hawk. I have a hunch ole Tom is gonna try to jump ship, and I want to be waiting in the waves like a shark to rip his fucking ass to shreds.”
The entire day was spent taking care of Excelsis business and getting my crew back in line after the brief lapse under Tom’s questionable command. It wasn’t his arrogance and ambition that pissed me off. It was the fact that I couldn’t trust him. I couldn’t work with anyone I couldn’t trust. It was time to let Cornelius know what was going on, because Tom had worked for FVC for years before being sent over to work for me. I needed to get my father’s advice on how to move forward now that I knew what I knew.
The day leaned to dusk as I sat at my desk, massaging the bridge of my nose. The phone pressed to my ear, I listened to the buzzing ring and waited for Cornelius to pick up. He finally answered, warm voice brightening at the sound of my voice.
“At the office?”
“Yeah, I’m in a bit of a bind, Dad. I have a situation over here that I could use your guidance on making a decision about.”
“Fire away.”
“It’s Tom. I know he’s your guy. You sent him with Excelsis when you put me in charge because we both knew he had more experience, right? I have intel that Tom has been meeting with some of our competitors, and my guess is he’s got something shady up his sleeve. Right now it’s just a suspicion. I didn’t think anything of it when we lost a big account a few months back over a legal technicality, but now I’m not so sure it was a coincidence.”
“Put a tail on his ass. If he takes a piss, you need to know the force of his stream. Find out who his friends are, at the office and away from the office. And, while you’re at it, drown him under some busywork until you have enough to cut him loose.”
“So, you think I should sever ties if he turns out to be up to something? I had to ask, ’cause he’s one of your people.”
“My people? Nah, this is hardball, son. There’s no holding hands and being BFFs in business.”
“I’m glad you see things my way. Tom seemed to think you’d be on his side, given that you hired him.”
“Need me to fly out and give him what’s what? I can, but I could’ve sworn I put your ass in charge, right?”
“I’ve got things under control. I had plans to move back out to the country, but I think I’m gonna linger around the city for a while instead of holing up in the manor. I have trusted eyes and ears reporting back every suspicious move.”
“Every move, whether you think it looks suspicious or not.”
“Right, every move. I plan on nipping this in the bud before it gets out of hand.”
I hung up the phone and stood from the desk where I had been sitting for hours. My bottom was sore. I walked over to the massive wall of windows and stared out at the city, my city skyline. The sky was darkening and the lights were coming on like stars waking up in the night sky. I was able to see clear out to the bridge, and the whole expanse reminded me why I had fought so hard to make it out of the ordeal with Darien and Sissy alive. I was born to conquer my obstacles. Tom didn’t stand a chance.
Which made me think of Hanna and how easily I was letting her make a reactionary decision instead of fighting harder to make her understand my intentions. The thought had me walking out of the office and heading to the elevator bay, where I punched buttons to the garage. I skipped out to my Aston, knowing Gervais would be in his office another hour or so if anything came up that needed me. I sat in the driver’s seat and shot him a text to let him know I was leaving.
I pulled on my seatbelt and listened to the engine purr, then threw the car in reverse and sped out to the interstate. The moon above was a white sliver. Patchy purple clouds obscured the sky, and the breeze through my open windows reminded me that it was getting closer to the tail end of spring. It was still nippy, but not as cold. I pressed my foot to the accelerator and drove faster, reveling in the smooth driving experience of the wheels kissing the road. I knew where I was headed, even if I wasn’t exactly sure of why I was going.
Ettie’s was a few hours’ drive outside of New York City. I took the familiar route with the radio playing to keep my mind off how many more miles to go before I could see Hanna’s face. When we had parted ways, she made it clear that she was angry because I had used her. She felt like I made decisions for other people. What she didn’t understand was that was my job. It was hard to stop doing what came naturally. If that made me an asshole, then I was an asshole, but that didn’t mean I didn’t care about her.
“Hanna, I want you to give me another chance. Hanna, I want… No.” I closed my mouth and drove a few more miles in silence. Another half-hour and the familiar black gate to Ettie’s estate would be right up ahead. “Hanna, I love you and I think you should give me a chance to—motherfuck it all!” I sighed and clutched the wheel tighter. I had no idea what I would say to her.
I didn’t have poems and sweet talk ready on the tip of my tongue. That type of seduction wasn’t my thing. All I could do was finally be honest, and I assumed that was what she wanted—but what if she didn’t want to hear from me at all?
“That’s unacceptable,” I mumbled to myself.
I angrily reached forward and turned up the volume on the radio to drown out the sound of my thoughts. It didn’t do me any good to talk myself down from the ledge now. I was there. The gate eased open. I nosed the car into the circle drive and around to the front of the house, knowing it was late and Mrs. Danos-Monroe might be sleeping, but hoping that didn’t bar me entrance. I killed the engine and climbed slowly from the Aston Martin, looking around uncertainly. I walked up to the door and knocked, waiting for the butler to come to the door.
“Hi. Is Hanna here? I mean, is she available? Can you tell her Dane is here to see her?”
Uncharacteristically, Ettie herself stepped up behind the butler and waved him away. She looked stunning a
s ever, younger than her age, fresh and cheerful. She flashed a sunny smile at me as she held the door. “What brings you here, darling? Pleasure to know you’re still living, by the way. You should’ve called! I’ve been waiting weeks to see you after that harrowing situation that you and Hanna had to endure. Oh, it was dreadful! I’m so thankful you were able to get the both of you home safe.”
I smiled and clasped Ettie’s hand. “It took some lucky breaks, I tell you. Um, Is Hanna…available?”
She drew her head back as she looked me over. “Didn’t you know, dear? Hanna took the job. I thought she would’ve… Well, you’ve been back home for a few weeks, now. I thought she would’ve gotten in touch with you before she left.”
“DC,” I said, jaw tightening. “Yes, of course. How could I forget? I apologize for intruding at such a late hour. Good night, Aunt Ettie.” I turned around and walked across the entrance portico and down the stairs to where my car awaited. I looked back to see Ettie still watching me from the door, a sad look on her face. The golden light from inside spilled out in a wedge across the porch until she finally closed the door and I turned away. I pressed the start button, mind blank.
CHAPTER 5
It took only two more weeks for the shit to hit the fan for Tom. Another lucrative client called me out of loyalty to tell me someone in my camp was gunning hard for them to move their business over to AmerExpand. The sweetener to the deal was that he would be joining that company before the month was out. I marched into Excelsis ready to go to war.
I made the call to the COO personally. When he sat across from my teak desk like he didn’t have a care in the world, I dropped a voice memo recorder on the desktop and played back the entire conversation.
“I guess they’re lying about you, too?”
“It’s not what it looks like,” he said.
I burst out laughing. I threw the recorder across the room, where it smashed into a million pieces, rather than punching him in his fucking smug-ass face, but that didn’t stop me from grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and lifting him out of his seat in a rage. “After everything Cornelius Foster did for you, you pay him back like this?”
Dane - Book 3: A Foster Family Saga Page 4
