Chapter 4
Aidan
“Dane, I have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about.”
It was five minutes to ten, and I was on my way to the meeting with the Egerton brothers. I’d sent Dane Scotland, the Chicago partner, the briefing notes and he was trying to tell me how to handle the meeting.
“Just ask them about the API,” Dane said, his voice its usual pissed-off growl. “It doesn’t look like it’s been fully tested. I want to know the plan for that. No API means no integration and no product.”
I closed my office door behind me and walked through the open space toward the glassed-in meeting room. The phone to my ear, I glanced around for Samantha and saw her leaving her own office, heading toward the front desk. She gave me a nod and a lifted eyebrow, which meant, They’re here and I’m going to get them. Okay? I nodded at her and turned back toward the meeting room.
“I can ask them, but the answer will mostly be over my head,” I told Dane frankly. “You know how I am with web guys. These internet startups are all based in New York. I don’t know why we don’t switch offices.”
“Because I hate New York,” Dane reminded me. “It’s a city full of fakers and assholes.”
“I live here, you know.”
“You’re only there because the company sent you there.”
“Ava lives here, too.” My sister lived in Brooklyn. Since Dane and I had been friends since we were fifteen, he was well acquainted with Ava. “She actually chooses to be here.”
“Fine, then,” Dane said. “Ava’s the exception. Everyone else in New York is an asshole.”
I pulled the meeting room door closed behind me. “I’m telling you, Dane, real estate is my expertise. I should be in Chicago while you handle the New York stuff.”
“Talk to Noah and see if you can get him to trade with you. It’s time he left L.A. I think his dick is going to break if he fucks any more models.”
I sighed. Dane’s way with words was one of the reasons I hadn’t pushed him to come to New York before now. He needed a little polish first. “Noah would be useless in New York, and I’d be useless at the entertainment deals,” I said. “And Alex works best in Dallas, doing the oil and ranching deals. No, it has to be you and me trading places.”
“You’re just sick of New York and want to come back,” Dane said.
“I like New York.” Through the glass, I could see Samantha leading two men to the meeting room. She was probably what I liked most about New York, but I wasn’t about to say that. “You’re just stuck in your ways.”
“Chicago is home.”
“The women are better here.”
“That’s a fucking lie, and you know it. You’re not even dating anyone.”
“How the hell do you know about my sex life? No, scratch that. How the hell does everyone know about my sex life?”
“I don’t know about everyone, but I’ve known you since we were fifteen. The story is always the same. Women try to get into Aidan’s pants, and Aidan says no. Are you telling me it’s different in New York?”
Fuck, sometimes it was hard to work with people who knew everything about you. “Piss off, Dane,” I said. “I have to take a meeting now. The meeting you should be at.”
“Like I say, ask about the API. And don’t screw it up.” He hung up.
I sighed and dropped my phone into my pocket as Samantha opened the meeting room door. “Gentlemen, this is Aidan Winters,” she said smoothly. The brothers introduced themselves—Rob was the taller one, Jared was shorter with shaggier hair—and Samantha looked at me. “Do you have everything you need?”
Everything except you in here, sitting next to me and getting me through this damn meeting.“Yes, Samantha, thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she said politely, leaving and closing the door behind her.
Rob Egerton put his hands in his pockets, his grin exactly matching the shit-eating one on his brother’s face. “Samantha, huh?” he said to me. “Is she single or what?”
“Excuse me?” I said.
“She’s hot, man. Really fucking hot. I mean, that ass.”
Jared Egerton shook his head. “The Man in Black,” he said. “No wonder he’s a legend. He gets the best pussy in New York.”
I looked from one brother to the other, waiting for the shoe to drop for either of them. It didn’t.
Seriously. Why was everyone but me so direly fucking stupid?
“That’s all you have to say?” I prompted them.
“What?” Jared said. “I’m just saying I’d do her, that’s all. No big deal.”
“Okay,” I said to the Egerton brothers. “We’re done.”
“You kickedthem out just like that?” Noah laughed through my speakerphone. “You’ve always been ballsy, Aidan.”
“That’s one word for it,” Alex said from Dallas.
Dane said, “What did they say?”
We were on a conference call. I was alone in my penthouse, because I’d been too fucking angry to stay in the office and keep my cool. I was sitting in my home office, my phone on my desk. I had my laptop open and was scanning through reports as we talked. “They were surprised, then they said some shit about me being an oversensitive pussy, and then something about how I would be sorry. I confess I wasn’t listening by then. And then I escorted them out.”
“Don’t mess with the Man in Black,” Alex said. “You don’t even sound angry.”
“Angry?” I raised my gaze from my laptop, thinking. “That’s an interesting thought.”
Dane groaned. “Oh, no. You’re definitely angry. Those guys are fucked.”
“I can behave,” I told him.
“They’re totally fucked,” Alex agreed.
“You’re a cold, cold bastard,” Noah said. It was early in L.A., and I heard him crunching on something, probably cereal. “You have a sliver of ice where your heart is supposed to be.”
I frowned, annoyed. “All right, let me ask officially. Does anyone have a problem with what I did today? An objection to me kicking the Egerton brothers out of the building for referring to my assistant as pussy?”
Silence.
“Speak now or shut up about it forever,” I said. “Three, two, one.”
“It’s fine, Aidan,” Dane said. “They were out of line. We don’t do business with guys like that.”
“Note to self,” Noah said. “Do not make a comment about Samantha, good or bad. No matter what. Just stay off the topic entirely.”
He was ribbing me, and I was going to argue, but I decided against it. “You know what? You’re right. No comments about Samantha. She’s off limits. I’m bringing her to Chicago, by the way. None of you even breathe in her direction.”
“Jesus, you’ve never talked about a woman like this,” Alex said. “What’s going on?”
I rolled my shoulders, feeling how tense they were. “What’s going on is that she’s brilliant, qualified, and utterly competent. I pay her an exorbitant salary, and I want to keep paying it. I don’t want to lose her. If I have to kick every creepy CEO out of the building in order to keep her, then I will. And if I have to remind my partners—repeatedly—that she’s a professional, then I’ll do that, too.”
“Okay, okay,” Noah said. “We get the idea. Competent, professional, blah blah blah. Just bring her to Chicago, man. I want to meet this paragon in person. I have a feeling that if you talk about her like this, she must be something else.”
I didn’t answer. I let them discuss what was going to happen at the meeting next week, and as I listened, I picked up my phone and opened the text app. The call kept going as I pulled up a number and wrote a message.
Rob and Jared Egerton,I wrote. Give me a report by Monday. The usual fee.
I hesitated slightly before hitting Send, but only slightly. What I was about to do was ruthless, and for a second I wondered if Samantha would approve.
Then I remembered that they’d come to a business meeting and referred to her as the best pussy in New York, and I hit Send.
The reply came back in thirty seconds. Not a problem. Done.
Don’t mess with the Man in Black,I thought, and smiled to myself as I went back to the phone call.