Chapter 8
Bright.
Everything was too damn bright, and Braydon cursed the damn sun for shining that morning. He normally didn’t get that drunk the night before work, but Quin had asked for it. What could Braydon do but be the bad influence his mother made him out to be? He’d closed the blinds, but every time he glanced that way, he cringed in pain again.
“What are you doing?” Natalie asked when she entered his dark office. “Vampire phase or something? Jeez, open your blinds.”
“No,” Braydon muttered, but she’d already grabbed the string and pulled.
All the blinds slid back, and he buried his head in his arms as he cursed. “Seriously? You’re that hung over? What the hell did you do last night, boss?”
“Introduced my stepbrother to the world of whiskeys,” he said, a bit muffled. “Did you have to do that? Are you trying to kill me?”
She laughed and set some files on his desk. “The board is calling for an immediate meeting. They want to discuss your abrupt decision on Friday, and you have that three o’clock today that I moved over. Might want to get started. Board looked pretty ticked. It’s going to be a long morning.”
“Mind bringing me a pot of coffee first?”
Natalie said she’d be back in a few, and Braydon got up to close the blinds again. He didn’t want to deal with the board, not when there were so many other things on his mind. Well, one thing—one very sexy, hot, prim and proper thing he wanted to do very improper things with.
Last night, he’d dreamt of Charlotte and their session on the couch, what it could’ve turned into. Sex with Natalie was one thing, but there was something about Charlotte. He wanted her, naked in his arms. There was so much more he wanted her to explore with him as her guide. So much more she needed to experience… and Braydon was just the man to show her.
But there was someone in his way. Quin. His damn fool of a brother had blubbered on and on last night about how much he really loved Charlotte. How he wanted to be with her and why didn’t she want him? What was wrong with him? Braydon could’ve told him what was wrong. Quin was boring, a nothing, just another rich suit.
Charlotte had been exposed to something much more entertaining, and she wanted more.
Natalie returned, and Braydon forced his thoughts away from Charlotte. There was no need to walk into the board meeting and flash his desires in front of the old people. It might give them heart attacks.
“Here, made it extra strong. Drink it, then get moving before they come looking for you.”
Braydon shot her a look and chugged the burning liquid. It warmed his stomach, and he felt a bit better—which meant he felt like he wasn’t going to die if he stood upright. He thanked Natalie, grabbed the files off his desk, and headed out the door when her hand snaked over his shoulder.
“Maybe later, I can make you feel a whole lot better, if you can squeeze me in.”
“Oh, I’ll squeeze you in,” he said with a wink and hurried to the conference room.
But as he headed away, he realized he hadn’t meant that at all. Having sex with Natalie suddenly did not sound even vaguely appealing. He was always in the mood for a good lay, but now? He tried to picture Natalie’s face and only saw Charlotte’s.
“Mr. Keagan, are you ready to begin?” a man’s voice called, and Braydon realized he’d made it to the conference room and was holding open the door, just standing there. “Mr. Keagan?”
“Yes, sorry,” he said and hurried inside and took the chair at the head of the table.
“Now, then,” Todd began, an aging, balding man who tended to be on Braydon’s side. Most of the time. Braydon’s main worries were the three D’s: Don, Dean, and Darrell, the three stingiest and most overbearing men Braydon had ever met in his life. They fought him at every turn, no matter what the issue. “We are holding this meeting today to go over your reasons for turning down the deal on Friday.”
Braydon nodded as he flipped open the files in front of him. “I don’t fully understand the necessity of this meeting, but I will amuse the board by attending.”
“The necessity is that you may have very well turned down what could be the next big step for our company,” Margaret replied. She pointed her wrinkled finger in Braydon’s direction and shook her head. “The numbers were solid, as was their plan to help us grow. It would have created at least five hundred jobs and allowed us to expand into the Midwest, not to mention into England and France. Maybe even China. We would have been global.”
“Yes, I understand that, but as I said on Friday, I will not do business with a known associate of the Irish mob.”
“And where’s your proof of this? The man has never been convicted of any crimes that we can find,” Don said, waving him off. “We had a few shady characters when you took over the firm, but the company has come a long way since then.”
Braydon’s hand curled into a fist on the table. “Which is why I will not let this company become sullied again because of a deal that sounds too good to be true from a man with an uncertain past.”
Don sighed. “You have no proof of that,” he repeated, growing angry. “Hence the reason they are still doing business, as we should be.”
“Not with them.”
“I think Mr. Keagan has made his point,” Todd said.
“Not good enough. We are passing up a great opportunity here, and I have called in someone who might be able to make you change your mind.” Don waved at someone outside the conference room, and everyone turned to stare.
The second Braydon saw the man, he felt a sharp pain shoot up his arm, and he cursed under his breath. He watched the man in a perfectly tailored, flashy, black suit out of the corner of his eye as he greeted everyone. His hair was slicked back, and all Braydon wanted to do was walk over and punch him in the face and have him arrested. But he couldn’t, because there was no proof this was the man who had shot him.
“Mr. Keagan, I am so glad I could come and meet with you and your board members this morning,” Ronan McKinley said as he approached Braydon’s chair.
Braydon stood and smiled through gritted teeth. He forced his hand out to take Ronan’s. “Mr. McKinley. The man of the hour, or so it would seem. I did not expect to ever see you again, let alone be dangerously close to working with you.”
“Is that why you turned down the proposal?”
Still smiling, Braydon said, “As a matter of fact, yes.”
Don glared at Braydon and motioned for Ronan to have a seat. “I would like you to set to rest any doubts that Mr. Keagan might have. He feels that you still have ties to the Irish mob, and I want him to understand you don’t.”
Ronan nodded as he sat, tucking his coat over the back of his chair. Braydon retook his seat stiffly, though his eyes did not move from the man’s face. He didn’t trust him. And now he knew he couldn’t trust Don. He wondered if the other two D’s were in on it too. Braydon glanced around the table, trying to gauge everyone’s reactions. Margaret did not seem happy, but Francis kept smiling at the young Irish man. She was a sucker for men with charm.
“Now then, what I am hearing is that you believe rumors that have been circulating around the business world for many, many years,” Ronan said with a smile. “I have never, nor has my company, had ties directly to the mob.”
“Really? Rumors? That is what you’re going to bring to the table?” Braydon snapped. “That it was all just rumors?”
Ronan smiled even wider, as if he was speaking to a child. “Yes, rumors. My associate, Hilary, was supposed to show you all the appropriate paperwork. Did she not do so?”
“She did, but I failed to see the benefits of accepting such a deal with you tied to it,” Braydon answered. “I will not put this company at risk unless you can give me solid evidence that you are not affiliated with the mob in any way, shape or form. If you do not, you will take your business elsewhere.”
Braydon glanced around the table. From the looks on their faces, most of them were against his decision. Though he was CEO, his power was not always absolute. In certain instances, if it was deemed beneficial for the company as far as profitability and growth were concerned, the board could take a vote to overturn his decision. He knew from looking around that he had Todd on his side and that Francis and Margery were numbers-based. All he had to do was find someone else to do business with who was just as good. It would be hard to get any of the others to turn, but it appeared Don was trying to do just that by dragging Ronan into the meeting. Unless there was something else going on that Braydon didn’t know about yet.
“Do you have proof that I do?”
Without realizing he was doing it, Braydon grabbed his left elbow and rubbed it. Ronan followed his move, and the slightest of smirks crossed his face.
“No, I do not,” Braydon said, trying to find a way around this, but at the moment, his hands were tied.
“What is your decision then?” Todd asked after a few tense moments of silence.
Braydon tapped his fingers on the table, then smiled. “Well, since Mr. McKinley has come in person to assure me of his company’s virtue,” he answered, “I guess I have no choice but to accept the deal and trust this man at his word. Todd, will you see the paperwork drawn up so we can get this started?”
Todd nodded, a bit surprised, and said he’d get right on it. Everyone else stood as well and shook hands with their new partner. Braydon was the last to go to Ronan. He made sure to grip the man’s hand hard enough that he flinched.
“I will be watching every move you make,” Braydon whispered, “very, very closely.”
“You know,” Ronan hissed back, “if I were you, I’d be more worried about what you had to do to get here and the price that may or may not still be on your head. Good day, Braydon.”
Braydon stood rooted to the spot. There was a price on his head still? He felt his stomach sink to the floor, and he hurried out of the conference room, past everyone, and straight into his office. Natalie tried to talk to him, but he waved her off as he closed and locked the door. He had been told he would be safe. They had sworn no one would come after him, that they’d taken care of it. Apparently, they were wrong. Everything he’d done wrong in his past threatened to catch up to him.
Braydon took a deep breath to steady himself. Ronan was bluffing, had to be. Everyone knew where Braydon was. If they wanted to take a shot, they would have, and he’d be gone. He’d already taken down the men he’d needed to, which was how he’d wound up being the CEO of this company.
“It’s fine, he’s just trying to make you panic,” he muttered to himself. “Just calm down.”
Braydon walked to his chair and sat down, staring out over the bustling streets of Boston. He pulled out his cell and randomly opened and closed apps, trying to get his mind to stop imagining his own gruesome death. His thumb tapped open his contacts, and he stared in surprise when a certain name scrolled to the top.
“Charlotte? How did I get her number?”
He didn’t remember her giving it to him. Maybe last night? He tried to remember and smirked when he finally realized what he’d done. Quin had passed out, and Braydon had taken his cell and retrieved Charlotte’s number. His thumb hovered over it now, wanting to press it but not sure what he would say. That he wanted to have sex with her again? After all, the proposition had worked the first time.
Not giving himself another second to think about it, he dialed her number. It rang a few times, then went to voicemail, and Braydon was extremely disappointed that she didn’t answer. It beeped, and he left a very quick and brief message, doubtful she’d call him back. As he hung up and tossed his cell on his desk, Natalie called through the door. Braydon hung his head, but he had too much pent up energy at the moment and wasn’t sure what to do with it.
“Want to tell me what’s going on?” she asked after he’d unlocked the door to let her in.
“Not really,” he growled as he relocked the door and pulled her close. But it didn’t last. Braydon pulled back slowly and turned away. “I’m sorry, I just… I’m not really in the mood today, after all.”
She stared at him with an odd look, more confused than hurt, and nodded. “You sure you’re all right?”
“Sorry, I was a bit thrown off during the meeting. Decided to take the deal.”
“You did what?”
“I’ll explain later. I have some work to finish before my three o’clock.” He sat down behind his desk and breathed deeply, trying to calm the storm raging through him. The second his lips had touched Natalie’s, he knew it was wrong. He didn’t want her anymore. He wanted Charlotte.
Natalie didn’t say another word as she turned and left him in peace.