Chapter 8
RAFE
Seraphina pulled it off, not that it surprises me, but I’m left wondering when she had the time to do all of this.
As it stands right now, the numbers on the projector screen blur with my tired eyes, a massive problem considering the numbers are representing a deliberate and highly illegal discrepancy.
I lean back in my leather chair, steepling my fingers in front my face to mask the fact that I’m not paying attention to a single word Harrison from accounting has said in the last two minutes.
My gaze is locked entirely on my assistant.
My mouth waters at remembering the moments we’ve shared this morning and how we’re going to move forward as soon as this fucking meeting is finished.
Seraphina is currently moving around the perimeter of the mahogany conference table, handing out updated financial portfolios.
I should be pouring over the data right alongside everyone else, but I’m not.
The pencil skirt she’s wearing is agonizingly tight, hugging the curve of her waist at the flare of her hips and ending just above her knees.
Every step she takes is sheer torture. When she leans over Harrison’s shoulder to place the portfolio in front of him, the loose silk of her colorful blouse drapes open.
My vantage point at the head of the table nearly takes my breath away.
The fabric parts just enough to reveal the swell of her breasts, the smooth skin glowing under the harsh fluorescent lights of the boardroom.
Jesus, I should be concentrating, I tell myself as I clench my jaw.
I should at least pretend to look at the damn spreadsheet in front of me.
Seraphina straightens, smoothing her skirt with a brush of her palms, and catches me staring.
Her cheeks flush. The rosy color slides down her neck, and she doesn’t look away.
I lick my lips, and instead of looking away, she offers a smile that has blood rushing to my cock.
“As you can see on page three, the duplicate sale receipts are buried in the third quarter invoices. It’s not a system glitch, these were manually entered, twice as transactions, effectively doubling the reported revenue on this specific business account,” Harrison starts the meeting.
“An internal skim,” I state. Seraphina takes a seat to my right, clicks the pen open, and takes notes a furious pace.
“Exactly,” Harrison agrees. I look up at him for a moment before my eyes return to Sera’s.
Her brow is furrowed in concentration, her lip tucked between her teeth, a habit I’ve memorized all too well when she’s processing things internally.
I want nothing more than to reach over and drag my thumb across that lip, then pull her in my lap, right in front of the entire finance team.
“If we run a forensic audit during this acquisition, they’re going to flag it immediately.
It compromises the integrity of the purchase. ”
“They won’t look for it if we control the narrative,” I say coldly, forcing myself to look between the screen and the portfolio in front of me.
I rest my forearm on the table, deliberately shifting my elbow until it brushes against Seraphina’s.
She doesn’t flinch, if anything, she leans into the touch, never stopping her frantic writing on her pad of paper.
“What are you proposing, Rafe?” Marcus, the head of legal, asks, leaning forward. “We don’t want to back out of the sale, or we’ll lose it, and I know that’s the last thing you want.” He’s right. I want the business, and I’ll get it no matter what. It’s just at a cost.
“We alter our strategy, go into the negotiation with a lowball offer, drop it by twenty percent.” My eyes drift to Seraphina’s hands, long and elegant fingers wrapped tightly around her pen.
I remember those same fingers digging into my chest earlier today, so hard I’m surprised she didn’t leave a mark.
Those thoughts do nothing to lessen the way my cock flexes in my pants.
“Twenty percent?” Harrison looks downright scandalized. “You’re talking millions at that rate.” Others murmur to themselves. I didn’t get to be as successful as I am today without having the balls to play in the big leagues.
“Let them wonder why we’re suddenly undervaluing them. They’ll sweat, counteroffer, and if it’s not in the direction we want, that’s when we let them know we’re on to them.”
“You don’t think they’ll push back?” Marcus asks, narrowing his eyes at me.
Any other day, it’d piss me off when someone second-guessed my opinion on the matter.
As it is, Seraphina being close, the scent of her perfume driving me insane yet somehow keeping me calm, it’s working in their favor. For now.
“If they push back and demand to know why we’re undercutting them, we’ll tell them exactly what we found.
” Seraphina pauses in her writing, pen hovering, but she doesn’t look up.
She’s listening with intent, analyzing my play and, knowing her, learning my patterns to keep in her back pocket.
“We frame it as a goodwill gesture,” I go on to further explain.
“Tell them we discovered an anomaly, and while we’d like to keep it between us, it could become public.
Nobody with that name wants bad publicity.
” Seraphina underlines the word lowball and contingency disclosure.
Silence falls over the conference room as they digest my strategy.
Harrison slowly nods, his initial thoughts changing from panic to approval.
“It covers our tracks and protects the timeline. It’ll also buy us a few months to quietly audit the system and fire whoever did this before the takeover. If they fight it, the truth becomes our shield.” Harrison gets it.
“Exactly. So, are we in agreement?” A chorus of nods and hums is heard through the room.
“Good, Harrison will adjust the financial terms to reflect the twenty-percent drop. Marcus will amend the contracts and have both on my desk by tomorrow morning.” I close the portfolio as their cue to leave the boardroom.
Chairs scrape against the floor as the team stands up, gathering their tablets, the portfolios, and whatever else they brought to the table.
I remain seated. Seraphina stands, keeping her eyes down while methodically organizing her notes, but the rapid rise and fall of her breasts beneath her loose blouse betrays her calm exterior.
The minute the last person walks out of the boardroom, I make my move.
My hand touches the back of her leg, then I drag my fingers upward and beneath her tight skirt.
“Rafe.” She drops the items in her hand and presses her palms to the wooden tabletop.
“You distracted me today. It’s only fair I return the favor.” Her eyes are wide and shimmering with a mix of defiance and desire.
“I was just doing my job.” She spreads her legs. Whether she realizes it or not, it’s all the answer I need as I glide a path upward, until my hand cups the inside of her thigh as my thumb sweeps dangerously close to her hot little cunt.
“The skirt, the blouse, you biting your lip only made me want to finish the meeting as fast as possible.” Another inch upward, and I’d be at the lace of her panties. Her skirt was hiked all the way up around her hips in the bathroom, the clear view nearly did me in.
“I should write up these minutes,” she teases.
“No, you should lock the door and then come back to me. Plant your pretty little ass on the table and let me taste you. That’s what you should do.” I’d had plans for this to happen in my office, in my boardroom will have to do for the time being.
“Rafe.”
“It’s up to you, Seraphina, to get what you’ve been after all along and finally let me fucking taste you.” She pulls away from me with reluctance. I watch as she doesn’t bother to fix her clothing. What she does is exactly what we both need and want.