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He held up his hands as if that could placate me. “It’s either Mr. Altair, Perry, or Junior. Of the three choices, I choose the former. You’re my boss. We’re at work. I’m going to be professional.”
“There’s no one here but us.”
“Pey’s outside.”
“Pey’s always outside. Do you know what he calls me?”
“Perry. Every time.”
Peyton Lynx was a man who thought a lot but said very little, except to those he trusted. He was one of two people in the world who knew me best. The other was his brother. Peyton and Greer were tight, separated by eleven months in age with Greer being younger. There were obvious differences between the brothers.
Peyton was hard, chiseled steel. He didn’t let anything faze him. He took his job seriously. Greer worked hard too, but when the workday was done, Greer checked out unless something big happened to draw him away from home. Peyton was on twenty-four seven. If for some reason Peyton couldn’t be near me, Greer was.
That was what happened when my uncle’s enemies threatened my life many years ago. At the time, I didn’t understand what was going on. My dad explained it to me. How bad men wanted me hurt. He also told me he wouldn’t let them touch me.
The threat that changed everything was the hit that was taken on my life, which I found out about when I was older. A half a million dollars for my blood spilled and my life ended. It never happened thanks to my uncle’s men stepping in and handling it. The hit was withdrawn. My dad was done taking chances and wanted me protected full time.
Enter Peyton and Greer by sheer luck. When I first met them, I had no idea they’d stay by my side. I could never repay them for what they’d done for me, what they’d given up. They changed the course of my life by giving me the best friends I could ever have, and I changed theirs by leading them on career paths they didn’t expect.
“Your four o’clock is waiting,” Dominic said, bringing me back to the present.
“Right. That’s why I called you in here. I don’t want to deal with Stefen today. Pull me from the meeting fifteen in. I’m not in the mood for his ass-kissing.”
“If you’d give him the funding he asked for, he’d leave you alone.”
“I don’t have him in R&D to create shit that has nothing to do with the business.”
“It kind of does.”
I leveled Dominic with a glare. He was one of the few people who could take my fiery temper when I dished it out. He also was aware it wasn’t personal. Dominic was the best executive assistant I’d ever had. If I hadn’t scared him away yet, chances were I wasn’t going to.
My temper was equal parts frustration over whatever was currently bothering me and an outlet for what I was dealing with inside. I didn’t like to work out like Peyton did. I didn’t smoke. I didn’t drink to get drunk and numb myself. I had no other way to get out what was going on in my head. Sex might have worked, but that was nothing I was going to think about right now.
“We build parts for race cars. High-end parts that far surpass the others on the market. I don’t care what bullshit he wants to put in a sedan.” I was sick of having this argument with Stefen.
The temper I had simmered right below the surface. It was something I shared with my dad. Like him, there were only a handful of people I easily tolerated.
Dominic propped his hip on the corner of my desk. His tailored slacks didn’t have a single piece of lint on them. He dressed better than me, and that was saying something. The complicated planner he always carried was pressed to his chest as steel gray eyes met mine. “You told him to think outside the box. He is.”
“Not about this! The outside of his box is still racing. He needs to focus before I show him the door.”
Dominic’s lips curved down in a frown. “He’s been here forever.”
“And he’s been floating in the clouds the whole time. Dad put him in charge of R&D because he’s smart. I’ll give him that, but he’s not being smart about the right things.”
I grabbed my tablet from the desk, so I’d have something to focus on and didn’t combust in the meeting. “You know what? You’re coming with me.”
He groaned. My executive assistant dropped his head back and fucking groaned. He was the only one who got away with it. In fact, he got away with far more than anyone else who worked here. “If I’m in there you’ll be at least an hour, thinking I’m listening so you don’t have to.” He was right of course. I could zone out if Dominic was paying attention. That way I wouldn’t get up and throttle Stefen when he inevitably drifted off course.
“Pey!” I called.
“Yeah, Perry?” Peyton asked, sticking his head through my open door. He wasn’t like Dominic, in the sense Peyton never took his suit jacket off. Not when he was in the office. Dominic shed his jacket the second he got to his chair. Like the seat was made to hold the piece of fabric and not his ass.
“I need you to drag me out of this meeting fifteen in.”
Peyton’s gaze flicked to Dominic briefly before coming back to me. He nodded and left as fast as he showed up. That was my best friend. Like a whisper on the wind.
A phone chimed, Dominic’s to be precise. He set an alarm so if he had to step away from his desk, I’d hear it and get to my meeting on time. I wanted to grind the piece of metal to a pulp on a daily basis. I didn’t because I paid for it and the plan. Plus, it kept me in contact with the man who basically ran my life.
