Chapter 9

9

JJ

"You could start by being a little more polite toward me. I do pay your salary."

"Like I could forget," she mutters under her breath.

"What was that?" I scowl.

She clears her throat. "I meant, is there anything I can help you with?" She smiles sweetly.

"Anyone ever tell you you're a terrible liar?"

She grimaces. "Something you need my help with? Else..." She turns back to her computer.

"Lunch." I rise to my feet, then walk around the desk. "I have a lunch meeting with some of the partners of 7A Investments and I need you there."

"Okay." She trails me as I head for the exit. I hold the door open for her, and she breezes past. The scent of strawberries and passionfruit singed with something spicy fills my senses. I'm instantly erect. Goddamn. Somehow, I've managed to keep my attention off of her and focused on my work thus far. I almost changed my mind about having her seated in my room, but convinced myself that I could hold out against her appeal. Now, I wonder if I made a mistake.

Of course, I had intended for whoever was my EA to work out of the same room as me, and I wasn't lying when I said it was for the sake of convenience. I'd hoped it would be my son and that I could use the time to repair my relationship with him. Now I know what a bad idea that was. It would have been even worse to have Isaac seated where she's been and glowering at me. We couldn't have gone ten minutes without disagreeing on things, forget an hour.

And with her? I'm not sure I can ignore how her presence lights up the space or just how aware I am of her every move—of how she squirms around in her seat trying to get comfortable, how she sighs when she's focused on reading something, how she ties her hair up with a hair restraint when she wants it out of the way, then stabs a pencil through the mass of hair when she's trying to figure out a problem. Yeah, you see what's happening here? I ended up studying her more than reading my documents over the past hour. I tried and failed to keep my attention off of her, so sue me. Following her out, I raise my hand when my other assistant tries to tell me something.

"Not now," I mutter in her general direction, then follow the vixen who's walking forward with that twitch to her hips that's guaranteed to drive me crazy. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to have her take on this role? Maybe I should have simply allowed her and Isaac to move into the house and asked them to keep their distance from me. But that's not me. I don't just give people what they want without getting something in return. I'm too hardwired to not strike a deal when I see an opportunity.

No, this is the best way forward. This way, I have Isaac doing what he loves, while still under the umbrella of my company, and I have his girlfriend—and I need to keep reminding myself of that—filling in for him while getting much-needed experience out of it. No, I simply need to keep my perspective and my distance from her. And I can do that much, can't I? After all, I've negotiated mergers, and I struck a deal with the Bratva and the Cosa Nostra to launch my most successful company in Trinity Enterprises. I even managed to lock down a meeting with the notoriously reticent owners of 7A Financial Services. It's going to my biggest coup to date when I get them on board for my newest enterprise. And I need my executive assistant in on the details. It's the only way to ensure that I stay on top of her—I mean on top of day-to-day decisions.

With the proliferation of my business interests, even I have to admit that I can't be in two meetings at the same time—imagine that—and I need to delegate. Hence, the creation of the position of my Executive Assistant. The position really is more of my Chief-of-Staff, as I mentioned to her, but I'll hold back the title until she proves herself, starting with the meeting we're headed for now.

I join her as the lift to my private elevator arrives. She steps in, I follow and punch the button for the lobby level. The silence stretches as the numbers count down on the indicator. That's when her stomach rumbles.

She gasps, them murmurs, "Sorry."

"You're hungry, I take it?"

"I didn't have breakfast because someone was in too much of a hurry."

I shoot her a sideways glance and find her watching the indicators with a look of complete focus.

"Make sure you are ready by 6.30 a.m. tomorrow," I retort.

She winces. "Don't you ever sleep?"

"Sleep is for losers." I scoff.

She shakes her head. "You do realize Gordon Gekko went out of fashion in the nineties, and The Wolf of Wall Street is considered in bad taste by those of our generation."

I shoot her a sideways glance when my phone buzzes. I pull it out of my pocket, then listen to the head of my US office tell me why it's a bad idea to expand into financial services. I interrupt him halfway through the conversation, "Winnie, the difference between you and me is that I have the long game in my sights, while you're not able to draw the most obvious conclusion from what is right in front of your nose."

I disconnect before he can respond. The indicator dings and I indicate for her to precede me.

"Do you talk like that to all your employees?"

"Like what?" We exit through my private entrance to one side of the lobby as Leo brings my car around.

"Like you don't give a damn about retaining them."

"They are grown men. I pay them well enough and give them enough responsibility that they'd never get such plum positions anywhere else. On the other hand, if they leave, I have ten other people waiting in line to replace them; so, if they want to leave, they are most welcome to do so."

She firms her lips. I pull the door open, indicating for her to get in, then walk around to slide in next to her.

"I did have one more question," she murmurs.

"What's that?"

"Why do you use a dumbphone?"

"A what?" I frown.

"A non-smartphone." She gestures to the phone I'd just pocketed.

"Because I have an executive assistant who is supposed to screen my emails. And this way, I can focus on the more important decisions, rather than getting dragged into the nitty gritty of everyday operations."

As if on cue, the new smartphone I'd had waiting for her at her desk and which she'd picked up earlier buzzes. She pulls it out and gasps, "What the?—"

"Problem?" I drawl.

"What? No." She scowls at the phone. The color fades from her features. She gapes at her screen, then gets busy with her fingers flying over it. I'm sure the emails are hitting her inbox. Chances are good there are at least fifty new emails clamoring for her attention in the ten minutes it took for us to get to the car from my office.

Hopefully she's answering the ones she can, and forwarding the rest to me. I'll find out when I get to my office, no doubt.

"We're here," I murmur.

"What—" She glances up and her eyes widen. "Already?"

I push the door open on my side, step out and walk around to find she's already on her feet. She glances up at the building we've come to.

"We're at The Shard ?"

She blinks. Is she impressed? She should be, not only is it the tallest building in London, it also has the most expensive and well-known restaurant in the city. It's also one of the few venues exclusive enough to afford me privacy, which is why I'd chosen it for this upcoming meeting. It wasn't to impress her, not at all.

The security guard at the entrance snaps to attention.

"JJ, good to see you again, Sir."

I clap him on the back. "Good man, how are you, Gerard? How are the children?"

"I'm good, and they're not children anymore. Sabrina's off to university, and Samuel is in his final year of school."

"No way." I stare. "Seems like only yesterday when they were born," I say slowly.

"Tell me about it. Time sure doesn't wait for anyone." Gerard smiles.

"Not even for those who have money. That's why it's best to go for what you want in life. You never know, it might all be taken away tomorrow."

"Wise words, Sir." He holds open the door and Lena precedes me.

"Send my regards to the family." I wave my goodbye then guide Lena past the bank of elevators to the private one at the far side. I press the button and the elevator doors open. I gesture for her to step in and punch the button for the top floor. Yeah, time sure does go by, and we often don't even realize it. I was twenty-four when I had my daughter Tally and twenty-six when I had Isaac. I threw myself into building this business, wanting to give them everything I'd never had. In the process, I ignored my wife and children, and by the time I realized it, my kids were teenagers and I'd already lost them. Then next thing I knew, my wife and I were divorced, and my kids were leaving home. While my daughter was more open to having a relationship with me, Isaac refused to have anything to do with me. Yeah, time sure does fly, especially when you're busy chasing a mirage instead of focusing on what you have under your own roof.

We ride in silence for a few seconds, then she glances at me. "That was a nice thing you did."

"Eh?" I blink then meet her gaze. "What's that?"

"What you did back there—acknowledging the security guard, asking him about his family; that was very generous of you."

"Because I spoke to him?"

She nods. "Not too many people in your position would do that. Plus, you seemed to know a lot about his family."

"He's an old friend," I raise a shoulder.

"Don't know of many billionaires who'd call a security guard their friend," she comments.

"How many billionaires do you know, anyway?" I shoot back.

She glowers at me.

"That's what I thought." I turn to face forward again. "There are fifteen more seconds to go until we reach our floor. You should put them to good use and get through the emails, which I'm sure are hitting your inbox as we speak."

Her frown deepens. She opens her mouth to speak, when her phone buzzes. She glances at me, then a small smile curves her lips. The fuck? Who's messaging her? Is it my son? He has a right to, though, after all. She's his girlfriend. His girlfriend. And my employee. That's all she is.

The elevator slows down and comes to a stop. The doors swish open. I indicate for her to go through, and once more, I follow her to the reception desk in the corner.

"JJ," the hostess greets me. "It's been a while since we last saw you." She walks over to me, and reaches up on tiptoes to press a kiss to my cheek.

Behind me I hear her inhale sharply. Good, she's jealous. I hope she's jealous. Why the hell do I care if she's jealous? This is not like me. So focused on a woman. And one who belongs to my son, no less.

I wind my arm around the hostess's waist with more gusto than necessary and kiss her on both cheeks. "Daisy, my dear, you're looking as gorgeous as ever."

Daisy blushes, then pats my cheek. "You're a charmer, JJ." She steps back then tilts her head in Lena's direction. "Miss, welcome to H2O lounge. Is this your first time here?"

She nods.

"May I take your coat?" Daisy asks.

Lena begins to take off her overcoat and I step forward. "Allow me."

Lena stiffens, but she allows me to ease the coat off of her shoulders. My fingers brush against her palm, and she shivers.

"You cold?" I frown.

"A little." She glances away.

It's April but the weather has turned chilly the way London often does in early spring. "Could you turn up the heating in here?" I hand Lena's coat to Daisy, then shrug mine off and hand that to her, as well.

"Of course, JJ." She turns and hands our coats to another uniformed girl who has come up to stand behind us. Then, she leads the way to the low table in the far corner with chaises on either side of it. A couple is already seated on one of the sofas.

Daisy smiles at me with more warmth than the situation demands. "I'll leave you to your guests." She turns and leaves.

The man on the sofa rises to his feet. He glances between us, his gaze assessing, then he holds out his hand. "JJ."

"Sinclair," I shake his hand. "Good to see you again."