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I refused to answer him given the level of anger nearly suffocating me. “And the second piece of advice?”
He snorted, lifting a single eyebrow. “You need to suck up to that young woman in every way you can. As I said, I knew when I hired her that she was a fireball. She’s got your number and you might be surprised what kind of hell she can make your life. And if she does, I’m going to do everything in my power to ensure that she receives not only the money you promised her but all the credit for doing so. That just might make her the new star of Wolfe Wineries.”
The man paused long enough for the shit to slide into my brain and I could tell he was enjoying himself. Well, fuck him and anyone else that attempted to stand in my way. I would bring my family’s winery back into the glory it deserved no matter what it took, including crushing all those around me.
He dared to laugh as he walked out, once again slamming the door. I took a few seconds to control my breathing, resisting tearing everything apart in my office. I had to get control. I needed to find a way to rise up from the darkness.
Without a doubt, there was one thing I would do—follow my inner voice.
I would take exactly what I wanted.
And that included the sexy, voluptuous Aspen Porter. A deep growl resonated from the depths of my system. Primal. Hungry.
When I was finished with her, the woman would belong to me. Every. Single. Inch.
* * *
I stared out the window of my vehicle as I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel. The sun was just beginning to set, ending yet another day of bullshit. I remained angry, the phone calls taking up the majority of my afternoon just another reminder how bad the situation was with the winery. I’d infused enough capital that I wasn’t comfortable doing any more until things started to turn around.
Hissing, I wasn’t certain if that was even possible. I’d spent far too much time forgoing my responsibilities, allowing two other wineries to gain a significant boost in their sales. It pissed me off that Westfield Wineries had taken the lead in the California wine market. Prescott Westfield was a shark with a penchant for never playing by the rules. His earlier threats had turned into reality. This was a ruthless business and I’d dropped the ball. At some point, I would deal with the man my way. At least my vile thoughts gave me a smile. No one fucked with me.
I thought about my last conversation with him, the contemptuous night one I would never forget.
“You mean nothing in the world of producing wines, Prescott. Your threats mean nothing to me.”
Prescott grinned as he walked closer, the stench of his breath riling me almost as much as his attitude. “I don’t make threats, Montgomery. I make promises. And I’ll make one right now. I will destroy you. If you don’t believe or know what I’m capable of, I suggest you ask your father. Wait. You can’t. He’s dead. Untimely deaths seem to occur a lot in your family. I wonder why that is.”
He’d been my father’s rival for years, his vindictive methods likely pushing my father into an early grave. The man wanted everything and always had, even going to illegal methods in order to do so. And the fucker really believed he would be able to bring me down. Robert was right. It was time to return to the man I was before the tragedy. Prescott’s despicable methods of acquiring businesses had taken a toll on the entire Napa region. He wanted to be king.
That wasn’t going to happen.
One day the man would meet his maker and it would be by my hands. Now I needed to find out who the hell was working with him. That could be any number of people, a good portion of the staff allowed access to the main office. Maybe another round of security was in order. That would come later.
It was time to turn my attention to the night’s festivities.
I glanced at the front door to the villa, contemplating my best option. Robert’s thought of playing nice didn’t resonate well with me on any level, at least not in the way he was thinking of. What did was making certain my new employee truly understood who she reported to.
I needed to establish the boundaries without any ability for her to question them. It was time to shove Prescott into his place and my lovely new employee was indeed going to help.
But my way.
The sadistic filthy things I’d thought about doing could never happen. Or could they? I closed my eyes, rubbing my fingers across my chin. I hadn’t bothered to shave in three days. What did it matter? I wasn’t going in front of the cameras any time soon.
After getting out of the car, I studied the surroundings. I hadn’t paid enough attention to the environment around me for so damn long, remaining locked away in my rage. Maybe the feisty woman could help after all.
But only if she followed my rules to the letter.
A smirk crossed my face as I took long strides toward the front door. Robert had certainly pulled out all the stops in his effort to entice her to into accepting the job. The villa was the very one Carmine and I had stayed in for months while the new house was being built. If only Aspen knew what kind of secrets the location held.
A laugh pushed up from my throat as I rang the doorbell. I was curious to see her reaction at my impromptu visit.
When Aspen opened the door, she seemed surprised at first, a warm flush sliding up from her throat to her cheeks. Then a look of rebellion crossed her face. That only fueled the ache that hadn’t left from the confrontation in the office. I hadn’t experienced anything of this nature in one hell of a long time.
“Mr. Wolfe. What are you doing here? Let me guess. I’ve misbehaved in some additional manner.” Aspen smiled after issuing the words, obviously proud of herself in saying them. However, I detected a hint of nervousness by the way her lower lip quivered.
She should be nervous around me. I was a monster after all.
“I think it’s best if we are on a first-name basis. Don’t you? After all, we are going to be working closely together.” I didn’t give her the opportunity to object, crowding her space until she took several steps backward. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was cursing under her breath at my brazen attitude.
