by Lucy Monroe
The Madison that Viktor had known for ten years was in no way reflected in the harshly dismissive woman in front of them.
Despite the implication of her words, she loved her father. In the past, she hadn’t been able to hide her need for his attention and approval. Her mistake had always been how she went about getting it.
She’d followed in her mother’s footsteps, not realizing Jeremy Archer had been too traumatized by the loss of his wife to want to see her audacious nature reflected in their only child.
“Do you think Ramona sees it that way?” Jeremy asked. “Or perhaps she would prefer a father not lost in a bottle.”
Madison shrugged. “It’s not something we discuss.”
“Nevertheless, the destruction of her father’s business, followed by him losing everything to bankruptcy, would hurt her a great deal. Don’t you think?”
Madison pulled her phone from her purse with an almost negligent move belied by the blue fire in her gaze. “You have exactly fifteen seconds to take that tactic for coercion off the table.”
“Or what?”
“Ten.”
And for the first time in Viktor’s memory, infallible businessman Jeremy Archer made a mistake in negotiating. He silently called his daughter’s bluff.
He believed that because she had no interest in business, Madison was not capable of the same level of ruthlessness as he was.
Viktor knew from personal experience that just because a parent and child lived very different lives, it did not mean that they shared no common personality traits.
Madison pressed her phone to her ear.
“Don’t,” Viktor said.
Madison just shook her head. “I’m sorry, Viktor.”
There would be only one reason for her to apologize to him. Whatever she had planned would have a detrimental effect on AIH and, by default, Viktor’s job and livelihood.
The possible implications were still firming in his brain as she made contact with the lawyer in charge of the Madison Trust. “Hello, Mr. Bellingham. I need you to draw some papers up for me. I’m texting you the instructions now.”
Seconds later the lawyer’s agitated tones came through her phone.
Madison listened for a moment in silence and then replied. “Yes, he knows. He’s sitting right here. In fact, he’s the one who put this in motion.”
The fact the unflappable Bellingham was still speaking loudly enough for Viktor to almost make out his words said something about the nature of Madison’s instructions.
“I am absolutely certain, and Mr. Bellingham? If your firm wishes to keep the Madison Trust as a client in sixty-five days when it falls under my control, I suggest you have those papers ready for me to sign when I stop by your office later this afternoon.”
Another spate of conversation, this time quieter.
“Thank you, Mr. Bellingham.”
Madison tucked her phone back into her purse and faced her father, her expression daring him to ask what she’d done.
Jeremy remained stubbornly silent, or maybe he was in too much shock to react. He had to realize the likely content of those papers, or maybe he didn’t.
Maybe Jeremy Archer was under the mistaken impression that Archer International Holdings was important enough to his daughter that she would not do what Viktor was almost positive she had done.
“What do the papers say?” Viktor asked, unwilling to make decisions based on assumptions.
“As you know, because of the financial deal Grandfather Madison made with Jeremy upon his marriage to my mother, the Madison Trust holds twenty-five percent of the privately held shares in Archer International Holdings.”
“Those shares are your heritage,” Jeremy said.
“Romi is my friend.”
“So you gave her some of your shares?” Viktor asked with no real hope it could be that simple.
“If Mr. Grayson’s company is under threat from AIH or any company remotely affiliated with it, at one minute past midnight on my twenty-fifth birthday, all of those shares will be signed over to Harry Grayson personally. Not his company.”
“You cannot do that!”
“I can.” Madison looked more like her father in that moment than at any other time Viktor had known her.
“And if his company is not under threat?” Viktor asked, suspecting that Jeremy’s calling his daughter’s threat had precipitated some kind of permanent action on her part.
“Half of my shares will be signed over to Romi.”
Jeremy stood up, his face flushing with color, his eyes narrowed in fury. “You will not sign those papers.”
“I will.” Conversely, Madison relaxed back into her chair. “You had your chance to take my friend’s happiness off the table as a negotiating point, but you refused to take it.”
“That’s insane,” Steven Whitley said, speaking up for the first time since his introduction to Madison. “Even half of your shares are valued at tens of millions.”
“Romi won’t have to worry about her drunk of a father ruining her life, will she?” Madison asked her father, as if he’d been the one to bring up the point of the shares’ value.
Jeremy slammed his hand on the table. “I am not ruining your life, Madison, you’ve done a fair job of that yourself.”
“No, I haven’t, but I don’t expect you to believe me.”
“You are not giving away twelve and a half percent of my company!”
Viktor didn’t know if Jeremy realized he’d just effectively taken the third prong of his threats off the table. No way was he going to allow Harry Grayson Sr. to own twenty-five percent of AIH.
Jeremy and Madison were too much alike. Both would go to extreme measures for what was most important to them. The problem was that while Madison was very important to Jeremy, she did not believe it and Jeremy was willfully blind to what Madison needed from him.
Beyond that Archer International Holdings came first with Jeremy, and the people she cared about came first with Madison. Right now, those two priorities were in direct conflict.
Things were going to go completely pear-shaped if Viktor didn’t take control.
“Sit down, Jeremy,” Viktor instructed the older man in a tone that was respectful, but firm.
With a glare for his daughter, Jeremy returned to his seat.
“This meeting has derailed and I believe it is time to regroup.”
Jeremy nodded.
Viktor stood and straightened his suit jacket before walking around the table and offering his hand to Madison. “Come with me.”
“What are you doing, Viktor?” Jeremy asked, his expression considering.
The man knew that AIH sat near the top of Viktor’s priority list, too. The company was the conduit for his own plans and no chance was he starting over because of the father-daughter issues of its owner.
“Madison and I have some things to discuss.”
Steven frowned at him. “You are not the only candidate, you know. This contract was offered to four of us.”
“I am the only one who matters.”
An infinitesimal quirk of his boss’s mouth said he knew that was true, but he said, “I believe that is up to Madison.”
The lady in question made a sound of disparagement. “Right. If the decision is mine to make, I assume it’s to be from the men you included in this meeting. One of whom was already engaged, another is old enough to be my father with a history of failed marriages and the other a complete stranger. And then there is Viktor.”
“Maxwell Black is a man worth knowing.”
While it might be true, Viktor didn’t appreciate Jeremy pointing it out. Two half-Russian boys, raised to appreciate a culture not fully American, Maxwell and Viktor had grown up together, their families close, their goals similar.
Friends of a sort, but too alike for comfort, both men were determined to make their mark on the world, to be at the top of the food chain.
Because of the different paths they took to dominant positions in the b
usiness world, Viktor’s and Maxwell’s interests had not conflicted before today.
Thankfully, Madison didn’t look impressed by her father’s words.
She shifted so she could make eye contact with the CEO of BIT. “Mr. Black, do not be fooled by Jeremy’s mistaken ignorance. Those articles are lies made up by a man I believed was my friend. Perry and I never had any sort of sexual relationship, much less a BDSM one.”
The pain underlying her measured tones prompted Viktor to make some plans in regard Perry Timwater.
“I believe you.” Maxwell’s assurance proved he was every bit as intelligent as Viktor had always known him to be.
Madison relaxed infinitesimally. “Good.”
“Regardless of the reason for our meeting, I would like to get to know you, Miss Archer.” Maxwell, damn his hide, smiled charmingly at Madison. “You seem like an interesting person.”
She inclined her head. “Thank you, but—”
“Don’t dismiss the possibility of our compatibility out of hand,” Maxwell interrupted her with another of his lady-killer smiles. “I bet I could teach you to like some of the things you’ve been accused of needing.”
Madison’s gasp said she was shocked by Maxwell’s words.
Whether the words themselves or where he chose to speak them, Viktor didn’t know and it didn’t matter. He wasn’t surprised. Maxwell played to his strengths and exploited the weakness of others.
Turning the lurid headlines into something forbidden but potentially exciting was a solid tactic for handling the current situation and the humiliation Madison had to be experiencing. Though she’d done nothing to let it show.
Unfortunately for Maxwell, Viktor wasn’t going to let the ploy succeed.
Nothing was standing between Viktor and control of AIH. Not even Madison herself, but particularly not Maxwell Black.
Clearly upset with Maxwell’s words, Jeremy made a sound of protest.
Before the older man could say anything Viktor was in front of Black, blocking his line of sight with Madison. “That is not something you are going to discuss here, or with Madison at all.”
“You think not?” Black challenged back.
“I know not.”
“I don’t need your protection, Viktor,” Madison said quietly from behind him.
He turned to face her, but didn’t move so Black would have to stand and sidestep to see her. “Nevertheless, you have it.”
She shook her head, whether in denial, or frustration, he didn’t know.
“I’m nowhere near taking him up on his offer. I’m pretty sure even the mildest form of that kind of relationship requires trust and I don’t have any. Not for men, particularly men with the same priorities as Jeremy Archer. Businessmen.”
She made the word sound like a slur.
Viktor didn’t believe her regardless. Madison trusted him. She always had; even if she no longer realized it.
And while Maxwell’s words hadn’t surprised him, Madison’s willingness to meet them head-on did. But then maybe it shouldn’t have. She’d already shown her willingness to stand against her father.
Maxwell got up, his pose too damned relaxed for Viktor’s liking. Even less did he like the way the other man moved around him to face Madison. “I see.”
“Good.”
“Nothing in the contract states we must share a bedroom.”
Madison’s eyes flared with...was it interest?
Viktor cursed under his breath. “In order to receive the shares stipulated, Madison and her husband must provide an heir for Archer International Holdings.”
Madison gasped, anger shimmering around her like electric currents.
Before she could say anything, Maxwell shrugged. “There is always artificial insemination.”
“While we live two entirely separate lives?” Madison asked in a tone Viktor recognized, but from the reaction of both Maxwell and her father, they did not.
Jeremy puffed up with renewed anger while the other Russian-American nodded with smug complacency. “Exactly.”
“We would be married in name only?” she asked, the disgust levels rising enough that the others should have recognized them.
They didn’t.
“No.” Viktor was done with the verbal games.
Madison gave him a look like she was questioning his right to make the pronouncement.
“That sort of relationship would be too uncertain for the health of Archer International Holdings,” Viktor pointed out.
Disappointment dulled the blue of Madison’s azure gaze, but she masked the emotion almost immediately. Viktor cursed silently.
Her father, however, nodded vigorously. “Precisely.”
“I think your daughter has already proven she is more than capable of her own decisions.” Maxwell’s admiration was annoyingly apparent.
“I won’t sign the contract,” Jeremy said in implacable tones.
The BIT CEO didn’t look worried.
Madison’s features had gone smooth with a lack of emotion once again as she stared at her father. “You believe I would agree to that kind of marriage?”
For once Jeremy seemed incapable of speech, perhaps realizing finally how little interest Madison would ever have in such a cold-blooded bargain.
“But then you believed the lies Perry spewed, didn’t you?”
“I never said that.” Jeremy’s voice had an alien quality.
Realization of his colossal error in judgment in the handling of his daughter must be settling in, but being who he was, Viktor’s boss wasn’t going to back down, either.
Madison pulled her copy of the contract from the stack of papers in front of her and stood. “I assume you aren’t going to do anything to mitigate Perry’s lies.”
“I have done it. Do you think this agreement is only about AIH? This is as important for you as it is the reputation of my company.” Jeremy clearly believed what he said, but then Viktor had made sure his company’s president saw things exactly that way. “Once you are married to a powerful man with an impeccable reputation, you can begin to live down your youthful excesses.”
“My life has nothing to do with your company.”
Viktor wasn’t about to let the conversation degenerate further and there was only one direction it was headed if the two kept talking. Down.
“Conrad will put out a press release categorically denying all of Timwater’s allegations,” Viktor inserted before another word could be said.
The media fixer looked up from his tablet. “I will?”
Severely unimpressed with the man’s lack of dedication to the protection of the company president’s daughter, Viktor let Conrad see his displeasure. “You will do a hell of a lot more than that. If you’d been doing your job properly to begin with, this situation would not have happened.”
“Protecting Miss Archer from her own excessive behaviors has never been in my job’s purview,” Conrad claimed in snide tones.
“Did you notice the loss of confidence in AIH articles in the online press this morning?” Viktor asked. “The first of which went live within thirty minutes of that tabloid hitting newsstands. Or did you think that was just a coincidence?”
The media fixer swallowed audibly and shook his head.
Jeremy didn’t look too happy, either. He’d been too focused on using the current situation to bring his daughter into line, and had ignored the bigger picture. Something that was anathema to him.
“Your job is to protect the image of this company and anyone affiliated closely enough with it to impact our reputation in the financial community,” Viktor reminded Conrad in a hard voice.
“Yes, sir.”
“Maybe it’s too much for you. Perhaps you’d prefer to move to a PR position working for a nursing home?” Viktor allowed the implication that was the only type of job Conrad would be able to get to hang in the air between them.
The usually unflappable media fixer paled, showing the man still had some of the intelligence he had or
iginally been hired for. “I’m on it.”
“You should have been on it at four-fifteen this morning after the scandal sheet went on sale.”
Conrad didn’t argue. He’d screwed up.
“I don’t know what you spent this meeting doing on your tablet, but whatever it was, it wasn’t as important as getting ahead of Madison’s situation.”
“I was writing the engagement announcement.”
“I see. Not nursing homes then. Maybe you should be writing puff pieces for online dating sites,” Viktor opined.
Nervous laughter filled the room and Jeremy made a sarcastic sound of approval, but it was Madison’s genuine amusement that Viktor enjoyed the most.
“I’ll need your signature on a civil suit against Perry Timwater,” Conrad told Madison.
“No.”
Viktor wasn’t surprised by Madison’s answer and forestalled any arguments from the media fixer or Jeremy. “The man was her friend. She’s not going to sue him.”
“Some friend.” Conrad snorted.
The tiny wounded sound that Madison made infuriated Viktor. “We have other avenues of influence to bring to bear. I want a retraction from Perry in time for this evening’s news. Play it off as a joke perpetrated by one friend on another.”
Viktor turned to Madison. “For real damage control, you are going to have to do an in-person interview for one of the big celebrity news shows and meet with a journalist with a wider readership than the original article.”
“Whatever I can do,” she said with more conviction and none of the disagreement he expected.
Viktor’s brow wrinkled in thought. Something about this scandal concerned Madison enough that she’d come to her father to ask for help.
While Jeremy might not see Madison showing up for this meeting as that, Viktor was certain of the truth.
Unlike her other escapades, Madison wanted this one cleaned up and her father’s refusal to take it seriously had bothered her. A lot.
Viktor needed to figure out why it meant so much to her.
He put his hand out to her again. “Come with me, we’ll talk your father’s plan through and make some decisions from there.”
She looked ready to argue.
