He leans back in his seat, eyes narrowing slightly, and taps his fingers against the polished wood of his desk. ‘No, I don’t suppose you have.’
‘If you tell the board about us now, they’ll just say the relationship is too volatile. They won’t trust that it’s stable enough to justify a merger with Vouvalis Resorts.’
His brows furrow slightly and I know I’ve piqued his interest. I just need to finish the job and reel him in.
‘We need to show them that we’re in a stable and loving relationship,’ I say. ‘We can’t risk the board thinking we’re rushing into this. If they see us as unstable or too volatile, they’ll never agree to it. The timing has to be right. You have to wait until Asher and I look unshakable in public. Once we’ve proven we can be in a room together without things going to hell,thenyou can float the idea of a merger with the board.’
His frown deepens. ‘You’re suggesting we wait?’
‘Yes,’ I say, trying to keep my tone flat and businesslike even though my stomach is churning with anxiety. Emotions won’t help me here; I need to make it seem like I’m coming at this from a business perspective. I’ve realised that that’s where I went wrong the first time. I tried to get him to see reason as my father, when really I should’ve been appealing to him as Malcolm Davies the businessman. ‘Not forever. Just enough time for us to make this look real.’
He presses his lips together and hums thoughtfully. Finally,after what feels like an eternity, he leans forward again. ‘I suppose,’ he says slowly, leaning back in his chair, ‘that there’s some merit to that line of thinking. With the merger already likely to cause trepidation among our shareholders, we don’t want to rush and give them cause for concern. Fine. We’ll wait.’ He nods to himself like this whole thing was his idea in the first place.
Relief floods through me. I’ve managed to buy myself some time. My father was close to pulling the plug on this plan once – I’m sure we can get him to do it again.
‘Great,’ I say brightly. ‘Thank you for—’
He suddenly snaps his fingers, looking like Christmas has come early. ‘I believe Georgios is opening a new location in France next week. What better opportunity to showcase yourstablerelationship and put on a show of unity than that?’ He nods again, and I know there’s no point in interrupting. ‘You’ll attend the launch and be seen with Asherromantically. No arguments. No drama. A united front. It should be easy. Just build on what you started last night.’
Heat erupts inside me again as my thoughts drift towards last night.
‘Got it,’ I say through gritted teeth, praying to all that is holy that my neck isn’t as red as it feels.
Just build on what you started last night.
He has no idea what he’s asking for.
CHAPTER SIXTEENAsher
‘… and he’s not even listening.’
A pen flies across the room and lands squarely on the middle of my head, pulling me out of an Imani-induced daydream I hadn’t even realised I was drowning in.
Teddy grins at me from across the table. ‘Now he is.’
Next to him, Andreas runs a hand down his face and sighs. ‘Yes, thank you, Teddy.’
Teddy gives him a mock salute.
‘Asshole,’ I mumble, lobbing the pen back in his direction. He catches it deftly and winks. ‘And I was listening. The new French location is opening next week and our head chef is still refusing to sign his contract until his fee gets renegotiated and has yet to settle on a menu for the launch night. Our father is currently losing his mind andyou’re,’ I point to Andreas, ‘meeting with three other potential chefs to replace him over the next two days. Andyou,’ I nod inTeddy’s direction, ‘are meeting with the original chef to see if there’s any chance you can convince him to sign without having to increase his fee. Did I miss anything?’
‘My bad,’ Teddy says, not sounding at all apologetic. ‘I guess he was listening.’
Andreas doesn’t look convinced, but he mercifully decides to let it slide and turns his attention back to his laptop where a PowerPoint presentation about the launch of the newest addition to the Vouvalis Resorts empire is up on the screen. As soon as his gaze dips to his screen, my attention starts to wander again.
I should be paying attention. I know that.
Though my father will undoubtedly take all the credit, this particular hotel has, from the very beginning, been Andreas’ baby. He spent months scoping out the location, negotiating with government and local officials to get the right permits, drawing up marketing and publicity plans, and hiring staff. It’s the biggest launch of his career and I can see the pressure eating at him. His jaw is clenched tighter than usual, his eyes are bloodshot and sunken from late night after late night, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen the usually clean-shaven and immaculately dressed Andreas with this much five o’clock shadowandwearing a crinkled shirt in my life.
I swallow down the instinctive brotherly concern that rises within me. Before, I would’ve done just about anything to help him out and try to take some of the stress off his shoulders. Now all I can think about whenever I look at him is how easily he stood in that office and let our father tear me apart without even one word in my defence.
I feel like I’m looking at a stranger when I look at him, so maybe it’s a good thing that I’m utterly distracted by thoughts of Imani and last night.
The way she gasped into my mouth, how soft andperfecther body felt against mine, even the perfume she was wearing has embedded itself in my memories and I keep getting phantom whiffs of it that send a rush of blood straight to my dick.
I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anyone as badly as I want Imani Davies.
And so of course, I’m doing everything in my power to make sure wedon’tend up together. Life is funny sometimes.
