I left Jasmine feeling in high spirits. But that only lasted until I got out of the hotel and my phone rang in my pocket and I pulled it out to see the number. I rolled my eyes as I picked up the call and placed the phone against my ear.

“Yes, dad?” I drawled, not at all happy to be talking to my old man so early in the morning, walking slowly as we talked.

“Gabe, where are you,” came his sharp, cold voice. “Are you in the office already?”

“I’m on my way actually,” I said. I couldn’t exactly admit that I made it there and left to fuck the secretary. “What did you need?”

“I just wanted to check in and see if everything was all right.”

I rolled my eyes. “Dad, I’m not a kid anymore, I think I can handle myself.”

“I don’t care about you handling yourself,” he growled. “I care about your green ass handling the company.”

“I know I don’t have your years of experience, but it was always the plan to have me take over the company. The fuck do you think I’ve been doing for the past couple decades, old man? I may be new to this, but I’m not so hopeless that I need you to hold my hand through it.”

Not that he even could. He was still under investigation, after all, though he was lucky he hadn’t been thrown in jail yet with how careless he’d been.

Besides, what room did he have to talk, considering he was the reason for the position we were currently in? I wasn’t supposed to take over until he was ready to retire, and I’d believed I would have to pry his old bones off his CEO seat before that happened.

Then shit happened, and he either gave up his position and got arrested or relaxed at home and let me take care of things before everything went to shit, even more than it had already.

“We’re still in deep shit, kid, so you need to be fucking careful. No doing any stupid shit, you hear me?”

I sneered, irritated that he wasn’t even there to see it, and it was heavy in my voice when I muttered, “Whose fault do you think all this shit is, anyway. I’ve been nice about not asking any questions, dad, but don’t think that makes everything okay.”

He was silent for a moment, and when he spoke, his voice was low and gravelly as he warned, “You will watch how you speak to me, boy. This isn’t another one of your games, Gabe; this is our family’s name and legacy. You will not be careless with this, or you will regret it.”

I tightened my lips, my free hand fisting in my pocket. “Of course, Dad,” I muttered and hung up.

I put my phone away and looked up to see how close I was to the office. I rushed my way inside, cursing myself, knowing it was way past time that I was supposed to be there. I’d let myself get side tracked. I already knew the family wasn’t out of the woods yet, and I was careless because of a pretty face.

That had to stop, or I might just make worse what my dad had already ruined, and my family didn’t need that.

Jasmine wasn’t there when I arrived back at the office. It was expected, but I’d left her at the hotel, after all, but I needed to speak to someone. Thankfully, I had been paying attention when my dad groomed me to take his position, so when I got to my office, I sat behind my desk and used the office phone to call for an emergency meeting.

There was a conference room a few rooms down from my door, and I went there to wait for everyone else. They trickled in quickly, and I stayed seated at the head of the table as I waited for everyone to get inside. Once all the department heads in the company were inside the room, it was closed, and I stood up.

“Good morning everyone,” I started, keeping blunt and to the point. “As you all know, I’ll be taking over the running of the company from now on, my name is Gabe, for those of you that don’t know me. Does anyone have any questions before we start?”

There was a short silence, the managers glancing around at each other before one of them spoke up.

“I do have one question. None of us have spoken to your father since the FBI came knocking here. Would it be possible to speak to him?”

I nodded at the question and made a note of the man’s face. He looked to be in his fifties with a receding hairline and a no-nonsense expression on his face. I couldn’t guess who he was from just his looks, though, and my dad hadn't given me much to go by. I’d have to learn who the important people in the company were. Of course, my dad hadn't explained anything—he probably couldn’t, but I wasn’t so surprised he was leaving me to do his dirty work.

“I’m afraid I can't speak for my father at the moment, but as you know, the Feds still have him under investigation. They did give back all the files they took from the company, though. Now, is there anything else, or can I continue?”

They glanced at each other again, then a few of them nodded at me as a sign I should continue.

“Good,” I said flatly. “Because we’re all going to have our work cut out for us. The files will need to be retrieved for one, but we should be getting them here by today. We’ll need to go through everything, the whole system, make sure everything is clean. I don’t want my father to have any link with the company until further notice.”

“Do we know whether the FBI is finished with the investigation, or found something of interest?” someone else asked. She looked to be in her mid-to-late thirties, with dark hair pulled back into a severe bun and glasses covering her equally dark eyes. She would have been pretty, if not for her shark like gaze that told me she was a woman I needed to watch out for.

“I have a contact with the Feds. They’re not entirely forthcoming with information, but I don’t believe there’s reason to worry just yet. We aren’t to interfere with investigations, but we can't let the company suffer much more, either. If anyone knows something or has something to tell me that they think could be of use, then please come talk to me as soon as possible.”

As the room dissolved into murmurs once more, I decided it was time to end the meeting. I clapped my hands to get everyone’s attention.

“Now. We’re all on the same team here, so please keep that in mind. I only wanted to introduce myself for today, but I will be talking with some of you individually this week, so please expect calls soon. Unless anyone else has something to add, this meeting is over.”

I sat back and waited for everyone else to leave first as I looked them all over. Dad hadn't given me enough information to go on. I vaguely knew what the Feds were looking for, and that was it. I didn’t know if my dad was guilty, if he had an accomplice, or was getting framed, and figuring that out was all I needed to focus on.

Once the room had emptied, I stood up to head out myself, when someone else appeared at the door way. I arched my eyebrows at Jasmine standing there, clothes fixed and fidgeting in place.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a rush. “I didn’t know you would call a meeting; I wasn’t prepared—”

“It’s fine,” I said as I cut her off, voice cold. “What isn’t fine, however, is you getting here late.”

She flinched back from me as if I’d slapped her. I felt something tighten in my chest, but I told myself not to falter. She wasn’t any less sexy than she was an hour ago, but I had my priorities straight, as they should have been the whole time.

Jasmine licked her lips, and I had to force my eyes to look into hers.

“Um,” she began, hesitant. “I’m sorry, sir, but—”

I cut her off again. “I don’t need to you be sorry; I need you to be punctual. I already told you that I like punctuality in my employees. The next time you’re late, Jasmine, I will be making you pay for it, so be warned. I don’t like repeating myself.”

Her brow furrowed. “But that’s not fair. I was with you.”

I shrugged. “That is not my problem. I walked slowly, and I still got back here before you did. That’s a strike against you, Jasmine.” I crossed the length of the conference room to stop beside her. “As for what happened this morning, I need to think with my head instead of my cock. I came here to do a job, and my job doesn’t involve fucking my secretary.”