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Did he owe Xavier like I did? Probably. Xavier was always ready to help anyone he respected. Sometimes, I was surprised I still fell into that category. I was changing that, though. I’d almost reached a point where all my illegal activity benefited a good cause. Only a few of my endeavors solely benefited my bottom line and the lowlifes I worked with, but with a few more solid business deals, I should be ready to let them go.
I sat down on the upholstered armchair in my bedroom and picked up the laptop I’d placed on the side table before leaving the suite. I had several hours of work that needed to get done, and I didn’t even want to consider all the messages I’d ignored. My phone had been buzzing nearly nonstop since Fox and I had arrived in the suite. I pulled up the files I needed to review, then reluctantly pulled my phone from my pocket.
Most of the messages were from Lawson, my assistant.
Apparently, a few of my employees had decided it would be better to waste time fighting about who was going to handle our largest account rather than following the instructions I’d left them. Also, Lawson had about a hundred documents he needed me to sign. His messages were growing increasingly frantic.
With a groan, I called him.
“Mr. Fontaine, thank God you finally called. I thought I might be smothered by the pile of paperwork on my desk or trapped here all night as the sharks keep circling.”
Lawson was melodramatic as hell, but he was also an incredible assistant: capable, proactive, and efficient. I was willing to accept his eccentricities. “The sharks being Marcia and Powell?”
“The very ones.”
“Tell them they have two choices: follow the directive I gave them while working together peacefully or walk out the door and never return.”
“Yes, sir. I will be happy to convey that message.”
I heard the glee in his voice and could imagine him announcing the news loudly in the middle of the executive offices.
I was thrilled not to be there to deal with the fallout, but I’d meant what I’d said. I wasn’t going to deal with employees who needed babysitting or thought they could overrule my orders without even having the courtesy to voice their objections to me.
“Are all the papers you need me to sign uploaded to our system?”
“Of course. I would never have contacted you otherwise. I do wish you were here to go over them in person, but digital signatures will have to do.”
“That is why we set this up.” Lawson was close to twenty years my junior, but he seemed far more suspicious of technology than I was. He even preferred phone calls to texts, something I didn’t know was possible for his generation.
“I know, sir, but are you truly going to be away an entire week? I’m just not sure I’ll survive.”
“I would think you’d be thrilled to not have to deal with me.”
“Oh, please. You are much easier to deal with in person. When I have to try to get your attention when you’re elsewhere, it’s nearly impossible, and we have so much wrapping up this week.”
“You know this trip was not my choice.”
“But it is unavoidable?”
“Yes.”
Lawson knew more about the breadth of my business endeavors than most of my employees. He’d been vetted by the best, so he was aware I was doing a “special job” that involved protecting a man who was a friend of Xavier’s.
“At least tell me this man you’re with is entertaining,” Lawson said.
“He’s an asshole.”
“Hmm. I detect something else in your voice.”
Dammit, that was the downside to having an astute assistant who worked with me every day; he knew all my tells. Lawson’s ability to read people easily made him extra valuable and annoying as fuck.
“There is nothing else. It’s a job I must do, a favor I owe. The man is annoying, but I’ve dealt with far worse than him.”
“I’m dealing with far worse right here, and you’ve left me alone to do it.”
“They know you speak for me.”
“And if they continue to piss me off?”
“Fire them with my blessing.”
“How will we get through these projects if I do that? We are understaffed as it is.”
“We are not understaffed. We have staff that would rather argue than do their jobs.”
Lawson huffed. “It amounts to the same thing.”
It did. “Hire someone better.”
“You know I’m not going to pick out someone for a top-level job without your input.”
I wish he would, but he was right. Damn it. Why had X picked now to push this on me?
“Tell me the man you’re protecting is at least hot.” The wistfulness in Lawson’s voice made me smile.
I lowered my voice to nearly a whisper. “He’s way hot.”
“Describe him.”
“He’s probably six four and built like a linebacker.”
“Damn. So he could bench press you, toss you around a bit?”
