Page 46 of Buying Time

Mr. James’ face tightened, and his surprise made me want to laugh. Clearly, the man had less of a mind for business than he wanted to believe. Any worthwhile exec would have seen this coming the moment the news stories had broken about the company’s problems.

And boy were they problems. Three board members were under investigation, multiple investors had pulled out and rumor had it that Mr. James himself would get looked at soon enough.

All because he liked to make deals that were as lucrative as they were illegal.

And all because I made sure those facts ended up in the right hands.

“I can assure you the problems are nothing to worry about,” he rushed out. “They’re being handled as we speak. Within two weeks, it’ll all have blown over.”

I let nothing show on my face, not the amusement at his confidence or the annoyance that he wasn’t wrong. He’d greased the right palms, whispered into the right ears. Within those two weeks, the authorities would pin the blame on just one board member and close the case.

Mr. James expected it to be business as usual.

Or not.

“I’m not so sure,” I said, then held my hand out to Kenz. She gave me the file tucked into the notebook she held, her hand trembling.

Then again, she didn’t understand any of this. I’d given her almost no information, just throwing the outfit at her this morning and telling her she’d help me on a job today.

“Play the part of my secretary,”I’d told her.

I pushed the file across the desk without opening it. The moment of him seeing it but not knowing what it might hold, that primed the fear I wanted him to feel. Scared people talkedmuchfaster and made their choices more rashly.

Mr. James opened the file with hesitation, and his expression tightened with each page he turned.

Then again, IknewI had him. I never went into meetings like this without being sure how it would go, that I had everything in order. It was all a basic playbook.

Offer them what they want and make them think they can have it.

Create a problem that they fear will take it all away.

Show them that the only way out is to go along with what you want.

It was so simple, and in the end, it always worked. It all came down to figuring out what a person needed, then making them believe only I could get it for them.

In this case, Mr. James’ company had started to flounder, and when he thought he’d fixed it, that hope had raised him up. Now, however, I brought the hammer down and he had to recognize that nothing he did, nothing he could do, would save him anymore.

Nothing but me.

“How did you get this?” he asked.

“It wasn’t difficult. I don’t make a habit of dealing with others unless I know their vices and weaknesses. You, of course, made that far easier than usual since you have so many. I doubt your wife will be very happy to find out you moved yet another mistress into an apartment that you pay for.” I spoke as he moved through the pages, through the evidence I’d compiled.

“That is an issue between a married couple,” he muttered. “Besides, affairs aren’t a big deal. No one cares about that anymore.”

“Are you sure? Because as I understand it, it was your wife’s money that was invested into your company, making her the largest shareholder. I wonder how willing she will be to support you if she finds out you are still unable to keep your dick in your pants?”

Mr. James’ lips blanched and he darted his gaze around as though looking for some escape, some way to change the course he’d set himself on.

I kept going, wanting to drive home where he was. “Then there is the fact that the love nest you paid for? You’ve paid for it out of corporate funds. That is embezzlement, and if this were made public, even the authorities you’ve paid off won’t be able to look the other way.”

He crumpled one of the pages in his hand as he made a fist, his gaze hard as he stared right at me. Ah, there it was. Back someone into a corner and they all eventually show their teeth.

Mine are bigger, though.

I’d faced off worse than him without blinking. This washed-up cheater wasn’t about to be the one to make me flinch.

Never play chicken with someone who has nothing to lose.

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