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The close call had me on edge, and an insatiable need came over me. A warmth scaled my thighs and swirled in my stomach before pooling between my legs.
“I think you should come in here,” I purred out in a low whisper.
5
Connor
Tuesday
I woke to the news of my best friend and construction mogul being accused of sexual harassment. Around Diamond headquarters, it was mayhem, and Alfred and the board were in overdrive. Damage control of a century-old reputation had been tarnished overnight, and all because of Lourde’s relationship with Barrett Black.
I attempted to call Barrett a few times throughout the day, but he didn’t pick up as expected. Neither did Lourde.
If we were in damage control, I imagined Barrett and his team would also be working around the clock to clear his name, hence the silence on his part.
The thing is, anyone who knew Barrett knew he wasn’t the type of guy to do anything like what the woman accused him of doing, but that didn’t matter. But that didn’t put him in the clear. In this day and age, we lived and died by our reputation, and the news had spread like wildfire, syndicated immediately with every online media platform from here to the West Coast. Some of our affiliate companies in the Pacific had also picked up the news, with Australia and New Zealand running the story.
Seeing them together at my place on Sundaymade me realize just how much they actually meant to one another. This still completely blew my mind because I never thought Barrett was the type to be tied down. That’s why this whole thing was a clusterfuck of epic proportions.
I scanned my emails, finding the email containing the transcript of the morning’s emergency crisis meeting. Clicking on the delete button, I huffed out a breath. I didn’t need a reminder of the meeting with the board and Alfred this morning.
In the meeting this morning, I recommended to Alfred and the board not to run the story about Barrett. An argument ensued, and of course, after a vote, they took his side. He had his old buddies in his pocket like a rat hole—every one of them. Each of them had a dick and balls that were likely shriveled up in their wives’ purses.
But Alfred was always about the bottom line, always about the truth, never one to upset the course of justice. From a business perspective, it made sense, but there were other ways. Different ways he hadn’t considered. Where I was more about real old-school investigative journalism, he was all about the clickbait headlines. We couldn’t be more different.
As my emails cleared to a barely manageable inbox and the day turned into night, I looked up and noticed he was staring at me. Glaring back, I shot him bullets.
Fuck!
My leave-me-the-fuck-alone-glare backfired because now he’d closed his laptop and was walking around his desk commanding his way across the floor and toward my office.
Quickly, I pressed the button on my com to my assistant. “Genevieve, I don’t want to be disturbed. By anyone.”
“But, sir, Mr. Diamond is on his way,” she said, her voice low and muffled.
“I don’t care,” I said in a caustic tone I usually reserved just for my father.
“Um, okay.”
“Genevieve.”My father’s brittle voice rumbled through the speaker.
The truth was, I wasn’t afraid of Alfred. Far from it. I loathed the man that was absent for most of my young life, a time when I needed a father and connection. When he decided to notice me after my tertiary studies at the best schools and colleges, he’d only done so to groom me for his replacement—deciding that any fuck-ups on my part would be treated with the harshest consequences.
I wasn’t the best man for the job. I was his son, his blood, so automatically, that made metheperson.
My door swung open, and Alfred stepped in, followed by a distraught-looking Genevieve.
“I’m so sorry, sir,” Genevieve said, blinking uncontrollably, something she did when nervous.
“So much for holding all my calls,” I said, and Genevieve’s shoulders slumped. Then she stepped back, pulling the door closed behind her.
I didn’t need to be such a dick. I knew exactly how persistent my father could be, and nothing Genevieve could have said or done would have prevented him from being in my office. I’d be sure to apologize after this cock leaves me the fuck alone.
He made his way into my office, and I made no move to get up from my seat behind the mahogany desk.
“You’ve been ignoring me all day, and we have a family situation, a family crisis. We are meeting for dinner at the house.”
“We spoke this morning. We had a crisis meeting where you ignored me completely when I suggested we slow down the syndication of the allegations leveled at Barrett. You and your board buddies laughed, remember? Or at your senile age, has your memory completely been swiped?”
