CHAPTER ONE
The soft beep from my watch bounced off the walls of my office and I let out a breath. "Okay, Ellen," I coached myself, climbing to my feet. "You've got this. Be poised, be humble and don't smile too hard. You know you look terrifying when you smile too hard."
Smoothing down my outfit I'd bought specifically for the occasion, I gave myself a quick mirror check. Maybe it was vain to keep a mirror on my desk but after giving myself a once over, I really didn't give a shit. My eyeliner was perfection, giving my deep brown eyes the perfect sparkle and my skillfully shaped and colored eyebrows softened the sharp angles of my face. I looked good. My curls sat neatly on my head, highlighted at the ends to accent my natural coils. I looked like managing partner material.
Knowing I looked fierce eased me as I headed out of my tiny office. I was on my way to bigger and better things. I could feel it in my blood. I'd be seeing my name go up on a corner office by the end of the day.
I stopped short of the conference room. Sure that I'd given myself plenty of time to spare before the meeting started, I made a sharp turn on black and beige Louboutin's and headed into the intern's office—or more commonly referred to as The Sweat Shop. I did not miss my time there, but I also didn't make it easy for the newbies. If they were going to work for Elion Banks, they needed to be tough and razor sharp.
As I clicked into the room, all heads turned, a dozen interns completely silenced with their eyes on me. It was the ultimate combination of fear and respect. I relished in it. Hell, Lord knows I'd worked my ass off for it. I hadn't had a full night's sleep since I was sixteen years old.
"As you all know, I have a conference with Mr. Banks this morning and I'm not sure how long it will run but I still want each and every assigned case strategy on my desk by one. Not thirty seconds after one, not one-and-a-fraction-of-a-second, but one sharp. I'll know if you're late. I see everything," I said firmly, my voice steady and no nonsense. I could practically taste their fear in the air. "Understood?"
I was met with three frantic nods, a 'yes, ma'am' and two mumbles of 'yes, Miss Carp'.
"Good." I brought my wrist up and made a show of setting my watch. It was a more masculine watch than I'd have preferred and it did nothing to compliment my skirt and blouse— for some reason Chanel didn't believe that women watches needed timers. But I did. I was feminine and sexy, but I was a goddamn shark and sharks needed watches that said, "Wake up motherfucker, the day has begun." Unfortunately, those watches only existed in the men's section.
"One o'clock," I reminded as turned to leave the room.
Truth be told, after I made managing partner, I'd be on cloud nine. I wouldn't be looking at strategy reports, I'd be neck deep in a bathtub of champagne. I'd never tell them but the interns had a free pass to be as late as they wanted on this day, the day of my coronation.
Stopping in front of the double doors to the conference room, I sucked in a deep breath. Alright, here we go. Today, everything changes.
*~*~*
I strummed my fingers on the hard wood of the large conference table, waiting impatiently for the meeting to begin. The thing about Elion Banks was, although he ran a tight ship, he was notoriously late for almost everything. He was a man that had worked his way to the top and made a show of the fact by making everyone wait for him. The world ran at Elion's convenience, and God help anyone who questioned that.
So, as irritated as I was when Elion finally strolled through the door nearly twenty minutes late, I still smiled, rose from my seat and greeted him like I was happy to wait. It was all part of the game and I planned to win.
Settling back into my chair, I watched as Elion headed to the front of the room. He stopped at the head of the table, placing his hands on the back of the seat instead of sitting in it. "Good. I'm glad to see everyone is here," he started. An unnecessary introduction since no one would dare to miss a meeting called by the boss. "I know you've all been waiting for me to make an announcement—"
The door swung open, cutting Elion off. I sucked in a breath as a tall, clean-cut and entirely too confident man strolled into the conference room. I waited for Elion to cut him down, to strip away that self-assured grin in a barrage of insults and reprimands but he didn't. Instead, Elion pulled out his chair and gestured at it for the guy to take a seat.
I blinked in disbelief as I watched the man stroll across the room, a smile still on his lips. It was unbelievable. Not only was he late but he was cocky about it.
"Good, Arieon, I'm glad you're here."
I bit back the urge to scream. I'd been working my ass off for years for the tiniest of acknowledgments and here came this asshole, showing up late and strolling up to a seat at the head of the table. I tapped my foot under the table as I waited impatiently for an explanation.
"Everyone, this is my nephew, Arieon Banks," Elion announced, placing an affectionate hand on to the man's shoulder. "Arieon will be taking over the business from here on out."
Say what, now? My mouth dropped to my chest and it took me a long moment before I recovered.
Elion went on, making a speech about retirement and passing on his legacy but I barely heard any of it. My mind just kept swirling around the fact that everything was changing and not in the way that I'd hoped.
I swallowed, trying to remove some of the dryness from my throat as I turned my attention back to Elion and his grinning nephew. There was something about that grin. It was perfect and glistening but it was smug. Very smug. The smugness rolled off of him in waves that worked their way under my skin and immediately made me dislike him.
Perhaps, I was biased. My experience with men as gorgeous as Arieon was not good. I often found that strikingly attractive men thought the world revolved around them. That because their parent's spunked together the right genetic material, it somehow made them better than everyone else. It didn't help that he was the nephew to greatness. To a man who'd started on the bottom rung. To a man that had been disparaged, spit upon and looked down on for being black and wanting to be great. And Elion Banks was a great man. He'd kicked and clawed for everything he had and I respected the hell out of him. I thought I'd understood him. But as I watched him hand over the reins to his thirty-something, blue-eyed, pretty-boy nephew, I couldn't help but feel disappointed. I felt betrayed somehow. Discounted.
I cleared my throat. "Mr. Banks," I started, trying not to be annoyed that Arieon looked up at the name as if I were addressing him instead of his uncle. "Will you still be announcing managing partner today?" I asked, trying my hardest to hide my irritation and still seem humble.
Elion dropped his eyes to the ground and my stomach sank. He frowned as he moved around the table toward me. "I actually wanted to talk to you about that in private—"
"I'll be taking over announcements as well," Arieon announced, cutting off his uncle. "And I'm not ready to change captains until I see how this ship is run."
My eyes flickered between the two men, waiting for Arieon to recant or for Elion to speak up on my behalf. I deserved that promotion and whatever had prompted Elion to shift gears should not have taken it away from me. I could feel my blood boiling, could hear it as it rushed in my ears. I was so angry that I felt nauseous and I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it together much longer.
I pushed myself away from the table. "Excuse me," I said, climbing as gracefully as I could manage to my feet.
"Actually, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to go over a few points first." Arieon met my eyes, that smug grin of his suddenly seeming menacing. It was clear, it didn't matter if I minded. I was obligated to listen.
As I slipped back into my seat, I felt everyone's eyes on me. It was as if I'd been publicly shamed. I was no longer in charge. With Elion at the head, I was his right arm, his second in command but with Arieon, it was obvious that he had no intention to stay true to the established hierarchy. It was a free-for-all and he was tossing me back into the rat race.
"I don't want to come in here and disrupt the way that you all do business," Arieon started and I rolled my eyes. Bullshit. "But things will change as I see fit. My uncle has built a wonderful company and a strong Banks brand. I know that I have some large shoes to fill and I thank you to help me along as I go. It is my hope that this will be a smooth and pleasant transition."
I bit down on my lip, fighting to keep silent. This guy was a class-A douchebag. I gave one last look at Elion, who gazed upon his nephew like the coming of Jesus and instantly made up my mind.
Taking a glance around the room, I could sense everyone else's unease. I could see reluctance in each and every pair of eyes at the table and I resolved to use it. Arieon Banks couldn't just waltz in, snap his fingers and think everything was going to fall into place. He couldn't snatch away my promotion and think, just like that, he'd be in power. They were my people. This was my firm.
I smiled as Arieon went on talking, my body finally calming as I remembered how much power I really had. Arieon Banks, you just crossed the wrong bitch.