Sitting across the table from me is the devil himself.

Okay, not really, but this guy is such an asshole. I don’t know why I ever greed to get into business with Rick Fisher. I thought this would be an easy deal and we’d both profit from it, but apparently nothing is easy.

“I want to stay on with the company,” Rick is saying, which just pisses me off.

“That’s not what we agreed on,” I say.

He shrugs a little bit. “I changed my mind. I don’t like the direction of these negotiations and I’m beginning to think you can’t handle my company.”

I stare at him, totally taken aback. The room is full of people, representatives from both sides, including lawyers, upper-level management, and a few other people that I don’t recognize. And this fucking guy has the gall to insult me right to my face.

I stare at him hard, trying to figure out what to say next.

“Maybe we should take a break,” James suggests, looking nervous.

He probably knows I want to fucking murder this cocksucker. “No,” I say. “Listen, Rick. I want this deal to happen. You stand to make a lot of money from it.” I lean toward him. “But I’m tired of your fucking bullshit.”

The awkward silence turns into a shocked one. You’re not supposed to talk like that at a meeting like this, but I’m so sick of playing nice.

Rick just smiles at me, clearly enjoying this moment. “I didn’t mean to upset you, Griffin,” he says.

“You didn’t upset me. You’re wasting my time, and that’s unacceptable.”

“What’s unacceptable is the way you’re attempting to strong-arm these proceedings,” he says, looking around. “This room full of people just witnessed you speaking to me in a very disrespectful manner.”

I clench my jaw. “If anyone was offended by what I said, please leave right now.” I pause and look around, but nobody moves.

“Who’s going to respond to that?” Rick asks, laughing slightly.

“Actually, everyone, get out.”

Rick narrows his eyes. “You don’t get to order my people around.”

“Maybe.” I look at my side of the table. “I said, out.”

Slowly, my people stand and start to filter out. I put my hand up and James pauses then sits back down while everyone else leaves. Finally, all the lawyers are gone, the fucking managers, the annoying assholes that get in the way. It’s just me and James staring down Rick and his army.

“Talk to me man to man,” I say to him.

He sighs. “This is not impressing me,” he says. “You want this deal to happen? Grow up.”

“Okay then. Clearly you’re afraid to be in a room alone with me. Here’s the truth: you’ve been stalling these negotiations since the start. I don’t know why.” I lean back in my chair and cross my arms. “Everyone knows you’ve been making more and more unreasonable demands. You’ve nitpicked every single line of our agreement. And now you’re trying to change the fundamental terms at the last second. Rick, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were up to something.”

He watches me for a second after I finish speaking. I can tell his people are really uncomfortable. One of his lawyers whispers something in his ear and he just shakes his head.

“You want the truth?” He smirks at me. “This is my business. My life’s blood. If I’m going to sell it to you, I want to make sure it’s going to be taken care of. And so far, I haven’t been impressed by anything.”

I have to take a deep breath to calm myself. He’s such a condescending prick, but we’re so fucking close. We’ve locked down a price, one that’s extremely fair if I’m being honest with myself, though on the high side. Rick stands to make millions off this deal, enough money so that he can do whatever he wants for the rest of his life and be totally set financially.

And yet he’s stalling and pushing and acting. I don’t know what his angle is. Maybe he wants more. But I don’t know that I have any more left to give to this merger.

I stand up. “We’re done here,” I say

Rick looks surprised. “You’re giving up?”

“No,” I say. “I’m walking out. When you’re ready to have a real negotiation, let me know, but right now you’re just wasting everyone’s time.”

I stalk out of the room, followed by James.

“Are you sure that was the right move?” he asks.

I shrug. “Who knows, but that guy pisses me off either way. I can’t keep looking at his smug face.”

“Listen, Griffin. You know how important this is.” He grabs my arm and stops me in the hall. “Don’t fuck this up.”

I look at him, eyes narrowed. “You heard him in there. He’s pulling more bullshit power plays.”

“I know that,” James says. “But think about why we’re doing this to begin with.”

“Which is what, exactly?” I purse my lips and watch him impatiently.

“We’re big and we’re good, but we’re not the biggest or the best.” He hesitates then plunges forward. “We can be the biggest and the best if this deal goes through. We can dominate the whole damn market if we pull this off. But Griffin, we have to swallow our egos a little bit. This is a long-term thing. Deal with some short-term shit to get a long-term reward.”

I watch him, frowning. I didn’t know he cared so much about this deal. I figured he was just half-heartedly into it, just letting me go for this absurd pipe dream. He’s encouraging and helping and working hard, of course, but I didn’t know he genuinely cared.

He’s right about a lot of that. If this works, we’ll dominate the market. We’ll be the best and everyone will know it. But at what cost comes greatness? I don’t know if I’m willing to let a snake like Rick Fisher work in my company, let alone in the same building as my company, even if that means we’ll be the best ever.

“I have to think about it,” I say. I turn and walk back to my office, and James doesn’t follow me.

As soon as I’m back at my desk, I take a deep breath and get a little perspective. I know James is right about a lot of this stuff, and I’m making my decisions based on personal feelings.

That’s not how business works. Personal feelings can’t be a driving and motivating factor. Frankly, I think Rick Fisher is a piece of shit, but this is a good deal. I can’t let my personal distaste of the man get in the way of the business.

As the day progresses, my mind drifts back toward Erin. I keep picturing what we did together, the taste of her pussy, the feeling of her body against mine. I can’t help but smile as Rick Fisher is completely forgotten. Erin is the only thing I really want to think about.

And this deal would be good for me. I could take care of Erin, give her things, take her places, and show her a world she never dreamed of. I can already do all those things, but I can do them even better if I get this company from Rick.

James is right. It’s just temporary and short-term discomfort for long-term gains. I didn’t get to where I am at by having a short-term view on things. I’ve always thought long-term and always made the best moves for my long-term benefit. I built an empire and a business doing that, and I’ll build it even bigger by continuing along those lines.

As the day finally winds up, I finish up my work and head home. It’s not too late this time, so I’ll get to spend an hour with Lacey, which is good. But if I’m really being honest with myself, I’m looking forward to seeing Erin.

I want to see her face again. I want to taste her lips. I know she’s been thinking about what we did, and so have I.

I’m feeling excited as hell as I finally go inside. “Hello?” I call out.

“In here.”

I find Erin and Lacey in the living room. Lacey is playing with her blocks and Erin has the television on, though she’s down on the ground with Lacey. I smile at the two of them.

“How’s it going?” I ask her.

She stands quickly. “She was good today.”

“Good. I’m glad.” I glance at the clock. “I have about forty minutes with her, huh? Think she’ll go down?”

“Definitely.” Erin starts to gather her things.

I watch her quietly for a second. I expected more from her, but she’s acting a little distant. I have to admit, I don’t understand this little yo-yo game she’s playing. One second she’s masturbating with a butt plug up her ass in my bed, and the next she’s acting like nothing happened.

“Come here,” I say to her. She hesitates then walks over to me.

I kiss her softly on the mouth. “Have you been thinking about yesterday?”

“Maybe,” she says, blushing softly.

That’s what I wanted to see. “Good. I know you have been. It’s okay.”

“I should get going.”

“You don’t need to rush out.”

“No, I should give you time with Lacey.” She pulls away from me. “See you tomorrow?”

“Sure,” I say. “See you then.”

She quickly leaves and I watch her go, a little confused and uncertain.

I don’t know why she keeps pulling back from me. I don’t understand it. Something is happening here, something I don’t fully understand. Maybe it has to do with how inexperienced she is. I assumed that meant she’s been with only a few people, and never with an older man. But maybe it’s something else.

I head over to Lacey and crouch down. She throws her arms around me and hugs me, which always makes me feel good.

I try not to dwell too much on Erin or on my job. I haven’t been spending enough time with Lacey lately, and I need to make the best of every second with her. The rest of he night is dedicated to my daughter, and everything else can wait.