I hated that anxiety.
I wanted to keep waking up to the sun, go to work and fight the city sidewalks to get there, sit across from the most beautiful man I’d ever slept with and go head to head with him.
I wanted to feel alive.
I let it creep across my face, the smile that I felt through my whole body.
Jett leaned back in his chair, raised a dark eyebrow and clicked the pen one last time. He searched the room. “Anyone else think it’s a good idea?”
“We need to do some research but it could work,” Jax nodded at me and winked. Brey beamed at him like he had redeemed himself for the conversation minutes ago.
I almost jumped out of my seat when I heard a soft clipped voice from the corner speak up, “Levvetor Pharmaceuticals has outsold competitors for two quarters now. They’re gaining attention and relevance as they are pricing their drugs higher than competitors and still selling. It’s a solid investment.”
Jett watched Gloria as she rattled off more statistics about the company. The company I knew all about. I could have rattled off those statistics along with ten others and given a firsthand story of my experience with them. A Levvetor drug saved my life.
Jett interrupted Gloria. “I’m not interested, Gloria,” he ground out loudly. His perfectly sculpted jaw flexed as he stared at her, daring her to continue. When she closed her laptop and snapped her mouth shut, he eyed the rest of his team. Every single person’s head went down, submitting to their king, not willing to argue, share thoughts, build ideas. This wasn’t Stonewood Enterprises, it was Stonewood Autocracy.
“Jett, we must already be watching them with those numbers and—”
“Whether we are or aren’t watching them, Ms. Blakely, has nothing to do with this meeting. We aren’t backing a company that wasn’t even on the table to pacify you, Sebastian.”
“Then the contract stands as is.” He shrugged and closed his folder, ready to leave.
Jett moved to stand as well. The hardened line of his jaw and cold blue eyes glaring out at no one in particular showed me he was just as ready for them to leave.
Blurting out my feelings hadn’t helped. Pushing Jett’s boundaries definitely hadn’t helped. I knew after this meeting the deal would be dead in the water. I’d overstepped my place.
Yet, I was a Blakely. My mother taught me not to fold even when I encountered the impossible.
I stood and smoothed the soft fabric of my dress. “What exactly do you want invested in Levvetor, Bastian?”
He stopped moving and looked at me with curiosity. “Without Stonewood Enterprises, I can only invest sixty percent of what I’d like. It would give me a share but not the voting share needed.”
I took a deep breath and tried to figure out if we could swing it. “If I had another investor …”
“They want Stonewood.”
“I’ll call Harvey. He’ll consider it.”
“You’ll call Harvey? You have a direct line to the CEO of Levvetor?” Jett sneered from behind me. His breath was hot on my neck. Everyone in the room was watching us as I looked over my shoulder at him. He was closer than he should have been. Too close for a business relationship.
I noted that. Noted that everyone in the room would be speculating on whether we’d had relations after this meeting.
I sidestepped Jett dramatically, hoping our team noticed that too. “Yes, as I said, I’ll call him.”
Bastian outright laughed at our exchange. Then he clapped his hands together. “Well then. You and I have business to discuss. Everyone else can go back to work.”
Jett’s lip curled, his muscles bunching like he wanted to lunge for me. I’d seen them poised that way before, but this stance was filled with rage instead of desire.
“We don’t make deals without my business involved, Victory. There’s a reason we’re in Stonewood Tower right now.” His words dropped rock after rock into the pit of my stomach. The blood rushed through my veins with my heart jackhammering under his stare.
“You don’t want your business involved.” My voice sounded meek and timid. I lifted my chin and flipped my hair once to reinforce my confidence. “I think helping a company even if we can’t invest in them would be the best thing for everyone.”
“So, now the Armanellis are a company to you?” He lifted an arm and extended it to look at his watch. “I don’t have time for you or this. The meeting is over.”
Bastian cleared his throat and the bubble around Jett and me popped. “I’d like a word with Ms. Blakely alone.”
Everyone filed out quickly, nodding or mumbling a thank you to their bosses and colleagues, excited to get out of the room before they got in as much trouble as I had.