Van
Present day
Istared at the text message I’d just received.
I’m ready to go to Ashland.
I should be pleased.
I was.
Julia wanted to go back to our home. I wasn’t forcing her; she wanted to be there. Then again, I had the gut-wrenching sensation that things didn’t go as well as she’d hoped with her mother. I sent a text back.
Come to the hotel.
My current meeting was proceeding without my full attention. Oscar Fields and one of his associates were doing most of the talking for my side. The screen before me was divided into squares. In the top right corner, the CEO of a failing logistics company was extolling the company’s attributes. He was going on and on as if my team and I couldn’t read a fucking profit-and-loss sheet. The company had potential. Hell, it was a booming industry getting shit from here to there.
Yet this company was losing money.
Someone had been skimming.
Is it the CEO in the top right corner?
As I listened to him speak, I found that something nefarious was the only viable answer for the loss of revenue. After all, the trucks were running. The trailers were full. There were issues with supply chain shit, but everyone was dealing with that.
The cause was inside.
If I bought this company, I’d fire everyone from the top to the damn janitor and start over. At the moment, I wasn’t in the mood to figure out why this company was losing millions when it should be in the black. I quickly typed out a message to Oscar Fields, telling him to settle this deal.
Make an offer, make it low.
No guarantee on retaining employees.
No promises of fulfilling early release bonuses.
I’ll pay for the damn bones.
That’s all I’d commit to doing.
This CEO would argue and counteroffer. That went without saying. Nevertheless, he’d take the deal. He’d sacrifice every damn employee to free himself from the albatross around his neck. I saw it in his beady little eyes in the little square.
If this meeting were in person, I’d see the perspiration on his brow. As it was, his shaking hands were visible whenever he brought them before the camera.
I turned off my camera, eliminating my square from the screen.
My phone vibrated.
I’m on my way. First, I’m stopping at my parents’ and making a list for the movers.
The hairs on my arms stood as if ready for a lightning strike. I told myself to be calm. She was with Michael. He’d already texted me before she did, telling me that Julia had sent a message to pick her up.
Hoping to make Julia smile, I replied.
Don’t forget the item in the bedside stand.
She sent back an eye-rolling emoji.
I couldn’t help the place my mind went. I adored Julia’s spunk and her confidence. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t like to punish her for rolling her eyes. I had images of her, satin around her wrists, as I used the vibrator she didn’t want to show me. I’d bring her to the brink and back, keeping her orgasm out of reach.