Once the son of a bitch was sitting down, his gaze fell on the woman I couldn’t forget. I never understood how he could’ve so easily forgotten her, as if she didn’t leave a lasting impression on anyone who was near her. Our positions were a power struggle at its their finest.
Except I was a take-charge kind of man.
I was in control.
Always.
Purposely, he unbuttoned his suit jacket and leaned back against his seat, making himself comfortable as if he was the one with the power.
“What is this?” he questioned, gesturing to her.
“Don’t look at Paige,” I ordered. “You look at me.”
He did, tapering his eyes.
“As of this morning, I own fifty-one percent of your company’s stock.”
He jerked back, rendered speechless.
“And my first order of business is,” I didn’t delay adding, “you’re fucking fired. Effective immediately. If you have a problem with that—”
“You bet your ass I do.”
I smiled snidely. “You can take it up with my lawyer.”
Paige’s composure was strained again, and I gripped onto her leg, silently demanding she hold in her emotions. Under normal circumstances, this would be business, not personal, but this takeover was all personal for me.
I pulled the contract out from my briefcase, setting it in front of Paige. Again, without any reservation, I informed him, “My second order of business,I’m signing your company over to her.”
Paige lightly gasped.
I couldn’t blame her.
After all, this was her father I was hostilely taking over.
“You can’t do this,” he roared.
“I already did.” Grabbing Paige’s hand from her lap, I gave her my pen. “Sign right there.”
Her astonished expression flew from him to me. “A little warning would have been appreciated, Adrian,” she softly whispered for only me to hear.
Gripping onto her leg harder, I repeated, “Sign, Cherry.”
“What am I signing?”
“What’s rightfully yours.”
The apprehension she felt was written clear across her face. I pulled the only card I had, insisting, “Trust me.”
She thought about it for a second before her shaky hand signed on the dotted line.
I beamed, loving that she still trusted me. Even after what I put her through.
I looked back up at her father. “You have ten minutes to clean out your office.”
“Or what?”
“Security will throw you out.”
He abruptly stood, glaring at his board members. “You’re just going to let this happen?”
Nobody uttered a word. Instead, they bowed their heads like I knew they would.
“By all means, gentlemen. The door is right there.” I nodded to it. “You have a problem with my order of business, feel free to follow him out.”
No one moved an inch.
I sensed he wanted to go off on his daughter for allowing this to happen and before he could, I warned, “You have nine minutes. I suggest you use your time wisely.”
“You fucking brat—”
The sound of my chair hitting the glass window behind me as I angrily stood, echoed through the room. In five long strides I was clutching onto his collared shirt, escorting him to the door.
Security was prepared for what I was aware would happen. I never expected him to leave of his own freewill. The guards were already standing outside the boardroom as I threw his ass out.
“You can’t do this!” he yelled while they grabbed ahold of him, and dragged him out of the building kicking and screaming. “I’m going to sue you for everything you're worth!”
I declared, “Looking forward to it,” as I slammed the door in his face.
I gathered my composure, adjusting my suit jacket, knowing there was an argument brewing between Paige and me. When I turned around, I found her frozen in her seat.
She was pale as a ghost.
Her eyes were wide, and her mouth was open.
The way she was staring at me, feeling me, hating me, but still loving me was evident in her bright, hazel eyes.
She couldn’t hide her emotions from me. I never allowed it. This wasn’t why I did this for her though. It wasn’t her affection I was after. It was peace of mind. Her future. The life she deserved at his cost.
For years she spent holidays, weekends, and vacations with us. I lost count of how many times I overheard her talking to Cade about how much she felt like she didn’t have a father. All he cared about was his company.
No phone calls.
Letters.
Gifts.
Not one damn thing.
If she wasn’t there when this all went down, I would’ve found a way to sign his company over to her, even if I had to use a silent partner to make it happen. From the moment I saw his corporation was finally open to the public, I jumped at the opportunity to take it from him.
She deserved it.
No matter what.
I made sure of it.
The VP announced, “Your reputation precedes you, Drake. Quite an introduction you showed us today.”
I walked back to my chair and sat down, fully aware of what he was trying to do. I learned at an early age how to read people. I could see who was lying, pretending, bluffing, and who was just full of shit. A person’s body language always told me their story.