Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Matthew

I do a double take, positive I’ve misheard my CFO. “They what?”

Randall props a hip on the edge of my desk and takes his time repeating himself. “McGraw-Hale, our biggest competitor, is sending in a spy.” With a flourish, he checks his watch. “She is on her way here now to interview for the temp position.”

“What temp position?”

He blinks. “Do you seriously not remember firing your secretary last week? She was the fifth one in a month. At the board meeting, we decided you were going to hire on a temporary basis only. Our lawyers are getting sick of dealing with wrongful termination claims.”

“I didn’t wrongfully terminate any of them. They were all horrible. Not fit to greet people at the door downstairs, let alone handle billion-dollar real estate transactions.” Me and my overflowing inbox do not have time for this conversation. “How did you know McGraw-Hale are sending a spy?”

“We have someone on the inside.” His eyes gleam. “Naturally.”

“Well done. But who is the spy?”

“This is the juicy part.”

“I’m on the edge of my seat,” I counter, dryly.

He makes a show of straightening his tie. “They are sending in Hale’s daughter.”

“Wow.” My hands drop from my desk onto my thighs. “She must be expendable. Since I’m obviously going to chew her up and spit her back out.”

“Obviously.” He gestures to the wall of framed photographs. “It’s the Borden Enterprises way.”

I make a sound of agreement and lean back in my chair, perusing ten years’ worth of pictures on the wall. Me breaking ground on new developments. Me standing in a group of men in hardhats on the top of a half-finished skyscraper. At dinner with the mayor, both of us in tuxedos. It only took me ten years to conquer half of this city and no one is going to stop me from claiming the other half.

Especially not McGraw-Hale.

“If those bastards are sending in a spy, they must be desperate,” I remark.

“Why wouldn’t they be? You’ve been buying property out from under them before the opportunity is even made public and they want to know how. If they lose one more investment to Borden Enterprises, we will knock them from their throne. They’ll no longer be the biggest real estate corporation in the city.”

“It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when,” I say smoothly, letting him read the cold, hard promise in my eyes.

Randall flinches, easing off my desk. Whatever he’s glimpsed in my expression has unsettled him—and that’s fine. I’m not here to be boss of the year. I’m here to bring this fucking town to its knees. No one is going to stand in my way of that. Especially the corporation that sent my parents to prison when I was ten years old. I’ve made it my business to dismantle McGraw-Hale, top to bottom. And if they’ve gone low enough to send a spy? One of their own daughters, on top of it? The gloves are finally off. No more pretending to be polite.

“Tell me about Hale’s daughter.”

My CFO nods and reads from his phone. “Kaylee Hale. Twenty-one. She’s been raised by an army of nannies out on Long Island. Kept out of the spotlight. Bored, spoiled and stupid, no doubt. My contact isn’t clear on why she is going through with this plan to infiltrate Borden. They aren’t offering her a board position in exchange for taking the risk. No one over there has even met her.” He lowers his phone. “There are reports of increasing discord among board members. You must be right. They’re sinking. Desperate.” He lowers his voice, glancing over his shoulder toward my closed office door. “They obviously want to know how you manage to buy property that isn’t even for sale.”

“Obviously.” My tight smile lacks humor. “But some spoiled brat in a skirt sure as hell isn’t going to unearth my strategies.” I wave a hand. “Let me see a picture.”

“Of course.” He taps his screen a few times before laying the device down on my desk. “Pretty little thing. And why wouldn’t she be? She probably hasn’t lifted a finger her whole life.”

I hear what my CFO is saying, but the words are bleeding into one another, sounding more and more like an echo. I’m…arrested by the girl looking back at me from the screen. She’s…angry. Her golden eyes are like twin infernos. Chin firm and raised. Shoulders square. It’s a portrait, so I can’t see beneath her collarbone and goddamn, I wish I could. I need to see the place where her long, dark mane of hair ends. At her tits or at her waist?

The girl—Kaylee—is beautiful in an artistic way. Like she’s been painted, instead of born among humans. A full, pillowy mouth that should only be possible to achieve with a paintbrush. A delicate chin. But it’s those eyes. Those eyes keep drawing me back in.

I’m going to annihilate her.

“They are sending her through a temp agency under the name Sarah Grimm. When she arrives, we’ll send her packing with a message for her father,” says my CFO.

“No we will not. We’re going to hire her.”

One of Randall’s gray eyebrows wings upward. “Are we?” His lips twitch. “Care to explain?”

“They want to send in a sacrificial lamb? The wolf will eat her whole. Simple as that.” I slide his phone back across the desk. “Do I need to remind you that her father cooperated with federal agents and sent my parents to prison for fifteen years? When they were finally released, they were broken. Pathetic. If they want to make it so easy for me to return the favor, so be it.”

I’ll send her back broken and pathetic, too.

Kaylee.

Do you know what you’re getting yourself into?

Deep down inside of me, there is a trace of sympathy that I thought had been completely eradicated. It sparks to life now, catching me off guard. Once upon a time, I was bored and hidden away on Long Island, too, no one but nannies to keep me company. I have that in common with the girl. And if she has that fire of anger inside of her, like the picture suggests, then we have a lot more in common than a hometown.

But it doesn’t matter.

Real estate is war. My whole life is war.

And another casualty is about to walk through my door.

This ought to be fun.

“What exactly are you planning?” Randall likes to pretend he has morals, but he’s practically salivating right now, holding on to my desk for balance. “Are you going to…”

“Seduce her?” When my cock stiffens slightly, irritation slithers under my collar. I’m not aroused over a photograph. That’s ridiculous. It’s the promise of revenge that’s getting me worked up. “Yes. I’ll have a little fun with the girl before sending her crying back to daddy. That should be a loud and clear message.”

“Don’t fuck with us, McGraw-Hale. We’re three steps ahead of you. I like it.” Randall is nodding, as if picturing the scenario in his head. “You should have no problem with the seduction part. Women trail after you like lovesick puppies. Wish you could send a little bit of that magic my way. You don’t even take advantage of it.”

“Women bore me unless they have property for sale.” I spare my CFO a quick glance, before opening an urgent email and scanning the contents. “And you’ve been married three times, Randall. Your alimony payments alone should be enough to swear off the opposite sex.”

“Never. Once a dog, always a dog.” He winks at me while backing toward the door of my office. “And it sounds like we’re on the same page now.”

The darker implication in his tone causes my fingers to pause on the keyboard, long after Randall has gone. What did he mean by that? Once a dog, always a dog. And it sounds like we’re on the same page now. Obviously he’s referring to my plan to seduce the girl. At age thirty-one, am I embarking on a whole new phase of evil? There’s part of me that is alarmed by the possibility.

But the strongest, most stubborn part of me says…good.

Life is dark. Embrace it.

As always, make them pay at any cost.

Even if the girl is footing the bill.