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“Next meeting is at two, sir, and I’ve updated your calendar with next week's engagements, as you asked this morning,” Candy stated. I flicked my wrist to read the time on my Rolex, I had twelve minutes until Tye arrived.
“And maintenance…?”
“Nothing yet, sir,” she replied before I slammed my desk with the palm of my hand. I heard the obvious jolt in her breath before I threw the phone down.
I leaned back in my leather upholstered chair and counted down the minutes until Tye arrived with my eyes closed. Clarity and calmness are not always my strengths, but I was trying my best to recognize when I needed to reign myself in.
“3,2,1…” Always the same, punctual to the dot.I smirked.
The buzzer on my telephone flashed red, as I thought wickedly how long I could watch the light go on and off before answering it.
“Parker,” I snapped after a few moments, playing with my 18 carat gold cufflinks, making sure they were aligned. I debated if I could take them off and roll up my sleeves, too. After all, it was only Tye present for this meeting. Couldn’t we both unwind until he left?
I waited for Candy’s sing-song voice to echo through the speaker system back to me, hopefully proving I hadn’t affected her too much yet. But it never came.
“Fucker, let me in. Now,” he shouted through the receiver as I heard Candy’s gasped voice ring out from behind.
“Excuse me Mr. Renton, that is mine,” she said, obviously finding her voice as I heard the growled retaliation of Tye. I raised my brow, leant back into my chair, and crossed my ankles over each other, as I deliberated my next move.
“I’m not fucking about…” Tye shouted so he could still be heard, even with Candy's obvious attempt to calm the situation.
Something was up. Hmm. This isn’t normal. More than the bastard weather was messing with his head.
I mean, Tye was always early, I could have pinpointed his arrival to the minute. He loved the banter and flirting each week at our board meetings, especially spending time riling Candy up. I'm sure it's more than just flirting though but he's told me time and time again he's been having some no strings fun whilst over in New York.
This Tye though, was wound up tight, tied in a knot like a pressure cooker about to explode and he’d come to detonate at work – our business. This didn't sit right with me – at all. Whatever it was, it needed to be dealt with immediately.
I couldn't have our investors in our hotel portfolio compromised. We’d started small, and local when I first moved to the United Kingdom. It was simple; buy, makeover and re-invest, keeping a proportion of shares to profit on – it was the only good skill I had learned from the sperm donor, otherwise known as my father, before leaving Manhattan. Now Tye and I had a chain of hotels under our belts, thanks to his father’s support. The issue was, all it took was one fuck up with the size of our current revenue, and we’d be up shit creek.
Tye knew it and so did I, so whatever had got his knickers twisted up his ass needed sorting and quick.
I pressed the buzzer and watched it turn green. Three seconds later, my door nearly flew off its hinges and a very angry, scowling Tye Renton was breathing deeply through gritted teeth walked in.Fuck.His suit jacket was thrown over his shoulder, with his tie tucked in his shirt pocket and his sleeves were rolled up to the elbows. His blond hair was messed up and sweat gripped each of the strands as the lights illuminated back at me.Fuck, he was a man on the edge.The only time I’d seen him this pissed off before was when he found another guy balls deep inside his long-term girlfriend and needed me to bail him out from the cells.
One look into his eyes and I knew the anger burned within them with a speckled fire that meant today’s schedule was finished. I didn’t allow my eyes to drop contact. I pressed the buzzer on the intercom and waited for Candy to pick up. Normally, Tye would have had a shit-eating grin plastered across his face, but the anger never shifted on her answer.
“Candy, can you rearrange the rest of today’s meetings, please. Once done, you can head off home,” I stated calmly but with a direct level of sternness required.
“B… But… maintenance.”
“But nothing. That is all for today, Candy. Now, do as I’ve asked.” I repeated my words louder, ensuring my message was clearly understood.
“Yes, sir.”
I let go of the button and watched the light go out, so I knew we had some privacy. I maneuvered my desk chair to reach into the bottom drawer on the right, where I knew my hidden bottle of scotch was for moments like this. A whoosh of cool air hit me from the vents above my head and I breathed a sigh of relief.Thank fuck maintenance fixed the air conditioning. Now on to Tye’s problem.
“Drink?” I lifted my eyes up, matching Tye's for a glance, watching him like a hawk.
I took the slight raise of his eyebrow as a yes. I grabbed a couple of glass tumblers, along with the good quality, single malt whiskey, then slid the drawer closed with a kick of my foot. I opened the bottle and allowed the aroma to infuse the room before I poured a good two finger measure out into one of the tumblers, as Tye lifted his brow up.
“More? That bad?” I asked, as I doubled the measure again in his glass.
“Sit down Tye, and open your damn mouth,” I growled out. “We don’t fuck about, never have. Spill it.”
“This is bad…”
“I guessed that, by the attitude you stormed in with.” He sat down on the Chesterfield sofa as I stood up, determined to close the space between us. “Talk…”
“Del from Finance has been on the phone.” He took a large gulp, nearly finishing the glass, with no reaction to the amber liquid at all. I took a small sip watching him intently. “Someone is buying out a lot of our stocks lately, then liquidizing them together.”
