Chapter 9
Evan
“O ur profit margins for Geodot are up seven-point-five percent and—”
Bam!
The heavy bag deformed under the impetus of my gloved fist. I felt the sting in my knuckles and knew I’d have abrasions afterward. I didn’t care. The executive from Geodot paused in his oration, adjusted his glasses, and then sheepishly looked over at Jenna.
“Continue with your report,” she said. “He’s listening.”
“Are you sure? He seems rather involved in what he’s—”
I spun around on the exec in a half crouch, feeling like a lion about to pounce on a rival.
“Why are you questioning a direct order from my personal assistant?” I snapped. “She speaks with my voice. Remember that.”
I went back to working over the bag, and he hastily went back into his diatribe about the relative losses and gains of Geodot. I was beginning to wonder whether or not I should even keep the company at that point.
Bam!
The sound of my fist hitting the heavy bag, the rattle of heavy chains, the slap of my sweat as it flung off my body onto the canvas all faded into the background along with the exec’s sonorous hum of a voice. I drifted into a realm of introspection I didn’t visit very often.
Amanda had refused me. Refused me. No woman had ever turned me down before. Not that I could remember.
I wanted to concentrate on what the exec was saying. It was even crucial that I do so. And yet, all I could think about was Amanda. She’d refused me, which made me a bit angry at her.
And yet, she intrigued me. I was enjoying the prospect of a hunt. I normally got women to do whatever I wanted with little effort. Now I was going to put on my best big game hunter outfit, as it were, and match wits with more clever prey than I’d known in some time.
Bam!
The smack of leather on canvas snapped me back to the present. The Geodot exec had wrapped up his long-winded diatribe from the sound of it.
The next exec in line was from Weiz and Sons, a financial firm I’d acquired several years ago.
“I’m pleased to report that our fourth quarter earnings exceeded expectations,” he said, trying to sound more casual and at ease than the fellow from Geodot had. He was more used to seeing me in my trunks, half naked and glistening with sweat while I engaged in my daily fitness regimen. “We did have some issues with a rather large client defaulting on his loans, however when said client declared bankruptcy—”
Bam!
I was lost in my head again, thinking about the fact that it had been two weeks since the wedding and I hadn’t actually slept with my wife one night. And not just in terms of sex, either. Amanda had her own bedroom on the opposite wing of the manor. I rarely saw her for more than brief moments at all unless it was for one of our scheduled public events.
When I suggested that she should at least eat breakfast with me, she did so. I immediately regretted my supposed victory when I saw how she intended to act. She behaved in a cold but cordial manner. Nothing she ever said was rude or an insult. Yet she managed to make the experience so unpleasant we often just sat together and said nothing at all.
Much, I supposed, like a couple who had been married for a long time. I supposed I should have expected it. This was a fake marriage, after all.
Still, would it have been too much for her to at least pretend to get along? I knew that she was right—this was a transactional arrangement. But maybe some part of me didn’t get the memo and was hurting because she was so cold and distant.
Bam!
I chastised myself for my moment of weakness. Evan Jones did not get soft spots for women.
Bam!
Another exec took his chance to speak, and this one didn’t have as rosy a report to make.
“Ah, unfortunately, sir, Welshie Subs has posted a loss again for this quarter.”
I hit the heavy bag with a six-hit combo, punctuating each with the expulsion of rage. Then I turned to face him, resting one arm on top of the swinging bag.
“What did you just say to me?”
“I—Welshie subs has posted a loss again for this quarter. However, with our new initiatives coming, sir, I believe that—”
I turned to Jenna.
“Who’s in charge at Welshie?”
She didn’t even have to consult her laptop to tell me. She rattled right off the top of her genius head.
“That would be Thomas Helms, sir.”
“Helms…Helms…Helms…” I blinked sweat out of my eyes as I tried to remember the man. I owned so many companies. “Wait, is he the legacy CEO?”
“Yes, sir, you left him in place.”
“He did a pretty good job of convincing me that he was the man for the job. Obviously, I was mistaken. Send him his papers, he’s done.”
She took out her tablet and tapped on the screen.
“Done and done. His pink slip will arrive on his desk by express delivery in two hours.”
“Who’s next in line?”
The exec paled several shades.
“That would be James Brody, sir.”
“Who the fuck is James Brody?”
The exec sheepishly raised his hand.
“Me, sir.”
“All right, James Brody. You’re the guy for Welshie Subs now. You’d better eat, sleep, and shit Welshie Subs. You’d better turn this company around and give me a profit or you’re going to be looking for a new job next. And I don’t give good referrals for incompetents who fail me. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” he said, his voice breaking at the end.
“Good. Next.”
I went back to working on the heavy bag as the next exec stepped up to bat.
“Sir, it looks like our payroll problem has worked itself out. More than fifteen percent—”
Bam !
Amanda was determined to act like an employee, just an employee. Certainly not a wife. I suppose perhaps I’d expected her to at least act like a lover, even if it was a fake marriage. I couldn’t get through to her. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t get through to her.
But every once in a while, when she was in an unguarded moment or perhaps feeling a bit cheeky, she would call me sir in just the same teasing, snarky way she had right before and during our wild sex on the airplane. In those moments, it took every ounce of self-restraint that I had to keep myself in check.
I wasn’t used to having to keep myself in check. That was foreign, unfamiliar territory for me to begin with. I was used to being able to get whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted it.
Then, factor in the fact that I never felt such an intense desire for a woman before, and I was really confused by the whole affair. I’d had desires, even strong desires for women, but they were always over after the first time I slept with them. I wasn’t much for repeat performances. I was an original event sort of man.
Or so I thought. Now all I wanted was to take Amanda again, just as I had on the plane.
Most of my life, I’ve seen people as being like chess figures on a black and white board. I moved them around at my whim, and if I was playing against someone else, I tricked them into moving their pieces where I wanted them to go.
Only now, there was a rogue queen on the board. Not black or white, blazing red. Before, I was the king of the chessboard in a figurative sense. Now I felt like I was a chess king in the literal sense. Like I was slowly plodding after her while she remained forever out of reach.
It infuriated me to no end. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t get her off of my mind. Normally I could easily put any woman, no matter how desirable, completely out of my thoughts and concentrate on business .
Now, I was finding it hard to think about anything BUT a woman. How had she done that? When had she sunk her claws into me so deep and so well?
Sooner or later, I would figure out a way to outplay her. Sooner or later, she would be mine and do what I wanted. I was still the king of the chessboard.
Bam!
“—and that’s the complete summary of our fiscal quarter,” the exec finished up. I glanced over at Jenna, and knew from the dull, bored look in her eyes that I had missed nothing of importance.
I pulled my gloves off as the next exec in line started up his spiel. I unwrapped the tape from my knuckles and saw it was bloody. I knew I was going a little bit hard. Slight abrasions burned between my knuckles. That was always the thing about the heavy bag. It didn’t tear up the skin on your knuckles, it split the skin between them.
I sprayed some saline solution onto my knuckles, ignoring the sting, and then wiped my hands on a towel before moving over to the lat rowing machine.
“The revenue report and aging detail are included in the packet I emailed to you this morning, sir,” the executive droned on. I glanced over at Jenna, and she nodded to show I had received such an email.
I slapped the metal pin below the hundred- and fifty-pound mark. I usually worked out at around one hundred and forty, but I was feeling froggy that day. Or maybe because of the situation with Amanda, I just had extra aggression to work out. I wasn’t sure.
I pulled back on the handle with a smooth motion, drawing out the tightly wound steel cable. My arms ached after the tenth rep, but I kept on going, just like the exec desperate to please me with how thorough and detail-oriented he was.
Every time the weights clanked back on top of each other, though, I felt drawn into my own thoughts again. And every time I visited there, the queen of the chessboard awaited me, mocking me with her presence. Taunting me with her absolute mastery of the board. She constantly had me in check, making me flee around the board instead of taking the initiative.
And when I did go on the offensive, I found myself outplayed at every turn. I never knew a woman to have such power over me. I didn’t want to think about it that way, though. I tried to convince myself that she was just being snotty because of the transactional aspect of the relationship.
The exec finished up his spiel, and I turned to him. He looked to be ninety-eight pounds soaking wet, but he was very tall and had a definite presence to him. He struck me as a leader, and I could already tell from his performance he was above average in the competency department.
“Who are you again?”
“Dilbert Messing, from—”
“Oh yeah. I remember now. You’re doing good work with Forever Fitness. So good, in fact, that I think you’re not being challenged enough. I’m going to give you the Forever Fitness supplement divisions to run, too. How’s three hundred thousand a year on top of your current salary sound?”
“Three hundred thousand?” he sputtered.
“Do you believe this guy, Jenna?” I shook my head. “I don’t know whether to fire you for being arrogant or admire your moxie. All right, you drive a hard bargain. Four hundred k it is. You’d just better deliver results, or you can join the unemployment line with the guy from Welshie Subs.”
“Yes, sir,” he said, clearly overwhelmed but also with eyes gleaming from the opportunity.
“Next,” I said as I went back to my reps.
“There’s nobody left to make a report, sir,” Jenna replied .
“There’s you. How’s our master plan working so far?”
“Your brand recognition and total equity valuation exceeded all estimations so far, sir.”
“That’s excellent news.”
At least one aspect of the fake wedding was working out for me, but it was cold comfort at best.
“Fitz and I think it’s important that we keep this momentum going by having you and Amanda keep making public appearances as a couple.”
It sounded like a great idea to me. “Good. Let’s bring Amanda in here, right now, so we can discuss it.”
“Right now, sir?”
“Yes, right now. She’s my wife. She can look at me in my skivvies while I work out.”
“You misunderstand me, sir. Amanda is not in the manor at this time. She left earlier today.”
Anger flared up inside of me.
“She left?” I sputtered in rage. “Without my permission? Find her. Now!”