Chapter Eight
OVER THE LASTmonth, Raven has inserted herself into every aspect of this business and implemented changes. It’s only been a few short weeks and already everything has changed. I hardly recognize the well-oiled machine that is our staff.
Whether or not that’s for the better remains to be seen.
I can’t deny I’ve been hesitant every step of the way, but Raven has proven me wrong at every turn. As annoying as that is, I welcome the challenge. No one challenges me in the way she does. I hate to say it, but our verbal sparing is quickly becoming something that I almost enjoy. Not that I’d ever tell her that.
Every morning I make a special trip to her office to place a black cup of coffee on her desk before she arrives. I know she hates it, but the fact that she still hasn’t confronted me about it keeps me showing up every morning like clockwork. Eventually it will annoy her enough to say something to me about it.
It would be easy to catch her as she adds the creamer and sugar packets she keeps hidden in her desk. The ones I’ve noticed her adding to the coffee when she thinks no one is looking.
But that’s what she doesn’t understand about the dance we are in. I’m always watching - always looking for a way to get the upper hand.
She can ruin even the simplest way I’ve come up with messing with her. I need to up my game.
If the coffee doesn’t bother her, I’ll just need to come up with something that is a little more of an inconvenience. Maybe next I need to adjust her chair to unusual heights when she leaves in the evening. Small amounts at first, then drastically. Making a mental note for later, I add the task to my to-do list.
Sitting in my office, I look over our meeting notes from her second day here. Each bullet point is as meticulous as the rest of her presentation. Every word she spoke rang through my head like a bell. How could I have been so blind?
I wanted to create this non-profit to help people, not to pump up the ego of the ultrarich, and that’s the only thing I’ve accomplished thus far.
I want to fight Raven and get her out of my space, but what if she can grow this company into something I could only dream of? Is her attitude really worth all the trouble?
Staring at my computer screens, the words blur. At this rate, I’m more likely to fall asleep at my desk than actually get any work done. It’s time to get up and see what everyone else is working on.
Making my way down an abandoned hallway, I peek my head into one of the smaller conference rooms where Adam, August, and Bailey sit deep in conversation. “What are we working on, guys?”
In unison, they jump at the sound of my voice. Their eyes snap to me, a silence falling over the group. Raising an eyebrow in question, I watch as they exchange wary glances. Instantly, I am on edge. They’ve never been nervous in my presence before.
August speaks up first, his eyes darting to me before they look back down at the table in front of him. “Hey, just working on some dates for the silent auction.”
The way he says the words only increases my suspicion. I know August.
And right now, he is lying to me. And we can’t have that.
Taking a step into the room, my eyes glaze over as I look down at the fliers littering the table. It doesn’t look like they are just picking dates; the dates already decided and they are about to promote the event. Aggravation simmers within me, and I can feel the warmth spreading, intensifying my gaze. My jaw tenses as I silently stare down at my employees. I’ll give them one chance to come clean to me.
I should feel guilty over making them cower under my stare, but I can’t find it within me to care.
Silence fills the room, but still no one speaks.
“Why wasn’t I briefed on this event?” I push the words out through tight lips, anger slipping into every syllable.
August shrugs his shoulders. But I don’t require an answer. I know exactly why I wasn’t told about this. Raven. She kept me out on purpose.
The need to punish her for overstepping her role threatens to overpower me. Need forces me into motion. Trying to restrain my anger, I rip one flier off the table and march from the room.
I can feel their bewildered stares penetrating my back as I disappear from their view. The second I turn the corner, their whispering resumes, but I don’t have the patience to stop and eavesdrop on what they might be saying. I am a man on a mission.
Any kind thought I’d just had about Raven has been replaced with burning irritation. Not only has she completely taken over my brainchild, but now she’s approving and organizing events without bringing me in on them.
I thought we were making progress as co-directors, but apparently I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Absolutely unacceptable.
With a straight spine, I storm down the hallway on a warpath. Each step carries me closer to my intended target. I pass Jade, the concern visible on her face. As if the dark cloud over my mood is manifesting itself over my head. Her worry almost causes me to pause. Almost.
But I am a man on a mission, and nothing is going to stop me from waging my war.
When I reach Raven’s office, I find her door open. Striding through it, I close the distance with each one of my long paces. I don’t stop until I’m standing in front of her. I don’t even wait for her to look up. She knows I’m here.
“Care to explain this?” Bitterness entwines itself in each word I say.
Purposefully, she keeps her eyes glued to the paper in her hands, not sparing me a glance. “What can I help you with, Blake? I’m busy.”
Is that how we are playing this?
Raven jumps in her seat when I slam the flier on her desk. The motion sends papers fluttering in all directions. In an instant, her eyes are on me. Her gaze travels from my face down to the paper under my hand, realization forming in her eyes. “Yes. You’ve been very busy. Haven’t you?”
I expect her to tremble under my rage. Instead, she straightens her shoulders before her features smooth behind a mask of annoyance. “It looks like an event we are hosting. Isn’t that what we are here for? I’m trying to raise money for our community.”
Her words are the worst kind of placation and it does nothing to soothe the raging storm inside me.
“Don’t speak to me like I am a child, Raven.” Her eyes snap to mine at the sound of her name on my lips. “You know exactly what I mean.”
I lean forward, placing all my weight on her desk, to stare down at her. The move is meant to be intimidating, but a small smile curves the corner of her lips. An emotion I can’t describe flits through me as she stands, placing her hands on the desk across from me. Leaning closer, the smile spreads.
She’s so close I can smell her perfume. Soft sweet hints of floral and apples unwillingly invade my senses. It swirls through my mind, messing with my thoughts. This woman is like no one I’ve ever met. Instead of cowering beneath me, she rises to face me, unafraid and unyielding. I’d be turned on if I wasn’t so pissed off.
Her eyes scorch me the longer I stare into them. She doesn’t blink. She just holds my gaze, unwilling to release me. Her stare does something to me. It slides beneath my skin, implanting her where she doesn’t belong. And for the life of me, I can’t get her out. Even if I wanted to.
I can’t let her know how she sets me on edge. That stare. A shutter runs involuntarily down my spine. Brown eyes that stare into my soul, scouring every nook and cranny for all of my darkest secrets.
Why do I feel like I’m the one who should be scared?
After a long moment, she finally breaks the silence and speaks. I release a breath of relief. I don’t know how much longer I could stand my ground under the weight of her stare. I am a powerful man, but no one is that strong.
“I don’t know why you’re mad. You agreed with my plan of action, so you should trust my judgment.” She flips her long glossy black hair over her shoulder, and my gaze follows the movement involuntarily.
My jaw tightens, ticking with annoyance. “I agreed to starting off slow. That doesn’t mean I gave you permission to circumvent my authority.”
Sliding the paper in the small distance between us and her eyes track my every movement.
“This.” Extending a finger, I jab at the paper, almost ripping through it. “Isn’t slow.”
“You’re just mad that I didn’t bring you in on the project.” She rolls her eyes like I am a child, and she is the parent who knows best.
The simple rolling of her eyes makes me want to inch closer. There are so many ways I could make those eyes roll and not one of them has anything to do with anger. “I’m mad you went behind my back. You knew I would never agree to something this big this soon.”
“That would insinuate I thought about you at all when I made the decision.”
We stare at each other as an eerie silence engulfs us, anger heating the small gap between us. Her words are a slap in the face. My entire body stings as though she hit me.
This woman knows just what to say to press every button I have. Buttons I didn’t even know existed. I want to lash out at her. Make her feel every bit as awful as she makes me feel.
I speak slowly through clenched teeth, forcing the anger coursing through my veins to remain under lock and key. “Cancel it.”
Anger flares in her brown eyes, turning them the faintest shade of red. She speaks with an equal slowness. “That’s not happening.”
Our faces are inches from each other, neither of us will bend. So instead, we will both break.
She inches closer, and my body mindlessly leans towards hers in response. There are no thoughts, only instinct erasing the space between us. Her ragged breath brushes against my lips, and I know there’s nothing I can do to stop what’s about to happen.
Our similarities are both a blessing and a curse. Pressing against one another, we repel each other in the opposite direction. Forever unable to find harmony. We are magnets. But at this moment, our poles have flipped. Instead of pushing me away, she draws me in. Invisible forces drive us together even as we resist. The attraction between us is undeniable and impossible to resist. There is no escaping the piercing weight of her gaze. Even if I wanted to.
Damn the consequences.
Just as I lift my hand from the desk to bridge the space between us, Jade’s voice breaks through the palpable tension. “Um, guys, maybe we should take a breather.”
Startled, we both lean back. Returning to our respective sides of the desk, I am grateful for the physical barrier between us. Dread slides down my spine. I can’t look at Raven.
Fear runs through me at what I might find staring back at me from those eyes. I turn to face both the wanted and unwanted interruption standing in the doorway. Jade’s eyes are wide with alarm, but it’s her tinted pink cheeks that give her away. She’s embarrassed for stopping our argument and whatever was about to happen, but I am forever grateful to her.
A few more seconds of staring into the bottomless well of Raven’s eyes and I don’t know what would have happened. A helpless shutter runs through me. Because I know exactly what would have happened. I would have pulled her lips to mine, sealing our fates as co-directors.
She hates me more than anything in the world. I don’t want to think of the thousands of ways Raven Belmonte could come up with to destroy me. The thought makes me shiver.
I can no longer put off the inevitable. My eyes shift from Jade’s, returning to Raven’s. Surprise lights her eye, lighting the dazzling gold flakes in her irises. I don’t know how I’ve never noticed them before. The fainest hint of pink flushes her cheeks. Whatever came over me is reflected in her face as well. She feels the spark of connection between us every bit as much as I do.
The emotion is foreign and unwanted. Her proximity to me is too much. I need to get away from her. I need space.
Taking another step back, I turn my attention back to Jade. A questioning expression remains fixed on her face. The inklings of a plan form in my mind, and my decision is made. “Jade, do me a favor and gather everyone in the conference room.”
She nods her head once before turning from the room to gather our team. The thought crosses my mind the second she disappears down the hallway, that she might be worried about leaving us alone together. Maybe she’s worried we’ll take things too far.
“Is this really necessary?” Raven’s voice pierces through my thoughts, grating my nerves.
All thoughts of what almost happened between us disappears from my mind entirely. My focus returns to why I’m here - to what’s important. Defeating Raven Belmonte at her own game. “The fact that this has happened tells me it is.”
She stares me down. Once again, I am unwilling to bend to her will. I can tell by the irritated glint in her eyes that her inability to control me is eating away at her. She wants absolute control. Well, Sunflower, that isn’t going to happen on my watch.
This has gone on long enough. Our power struggle will not affect our employees any further. It’s time to put my foot down. “If you have a problem with me and how I operate my company, you take that up with me. You leave our employees out of your power trip.”
Heat reemerges in her gaze, simmering just beneath the surface. What I’ve said must be a trigger for her. It turns out that I know how to press her buttons just as much as she knows how to press mine. She wants to destroy every part of me. I can see it in her eyes. She wants to wrap her fist around me and crush me into dust.
“Shall we?” Extending one hand, I allow her to go first.
Disdain drips from her as she steps around the desk and moves for the door with her head help high. She doesn’t spare me a glance as she steps past me.
Pride, so much pride.
The urge to reach out and grab her as she passes is almost too much. I want to place a hand on each of her shoulders and shake some sense into this abnormally fierce and stubborn woman. Despite the overwhelming urge, I know I can’t touch her. Keeping my hands at my side, I let her pass. I don’t need to be that close to her again anytime soon. I don’t want another round of insanity slipping over me again and gaining control over our situation.
Following her from the room, I try my best not to look down at her as we move. But like any man, I cannot keep my eyes from traveling down the length of her spine to the curve of her waist. With each step, her hips sway. It’s like I’ve never looked at her before. She’s absolutely stunning. Memorizing every curve of her body, I cannot look anywhere else. I’ve never been a godly man, but I’ve never felt more like getting on my knees and begging for relief. I want to wash my eyes with soap and go back to seeing her how I did just moments ago. Nothing but a red glow of anger. But I know there’s no going back. My eyes are open, and they can’t be closed, no matter how badly I want them to be. Now she fills the space around me and I cannot escape her.
We walk down the empty corridor in silence. It echoes around us, vibrating in my eardrums. All the words I want to say swirl through my mind, but I press them to the back. Forcing them to remain unspoken. My newfound attraction to Raven needs to be pressed down and ignored. Work is what’s important. If I don’t do something, the animosity between us will destroy everything that we are working so hard to build.
When we step into the conference room, our employees are silent. Such a stark contrast to the last time I walked through this door with Raven. They could barely stay in their seats. They were so excited. Now they sit like statues waiting for the doom we are about to rain down upon them. But that isn’t what I want. This thing happening between Raven and I, is tearing the company apart. And that ends now.
“Thank you all for gathering here so quickly. Raven and I have something we’d like to discuss with you.” A smile spreads across my face, and the tension in the room visibly lessens. But it doesn’t disappear entirely. They exchange nervous glances, even as their shoulders relax.
Raven’s eyes flash to me, a hint of surprise filling them. Not understanding what is going on must be driving her crazy. She remains silent next to me, letting me take the lead for once.
“I know things around the office have been,” I pause, trying to think of a better word, but not finding one, I continue, “tense.”
Jade nods, crossing her arms over her chest. “That’s an understatement.”
Muted laughter rumbles through the group, but I don’t stop them. Instead, I pull a chair from the front row and sit down, putting myself at their level rather than standing awkwardly in front of them. There was a time that all our meetings were like this, and that is a format I want to return to. “And for that, I’d like to apologize.”
Following my lead, Raven takes another chair and turns it around before she settles herself onto it. She’s always the professional one between the two of us. Meanwhile, I sit backwards with my arms over the back of the chair. Completely contrasting each other, like always.
“Things have gotten out of hand around here. I think it’s time we rectified them.” My face is emotionless as I say the words, even as my plan solidifies inside my head. Something has shifted inside me, and there’s no going back.
Out of the corner of my eye, Raven shifts towards me. I can feel her scrutinizing me more than I can see it. She wants to know where I’m going with this. And as much as I love to keep her waiting and irritated, I get to the point. “I think what we all need is a little team building.”
The group exchanges nervous glances again before looking back at us. They don’t know what to think about my words and I can’t blame them for that. “Tomorrow morning, I want you all to meet me at the Maroon Bells for a hike.”
Six pairs of wide eyes stare up at me in surprise. “I’ll see you at 10am sharp.”
Raven’s stare burns into me, and I turn to meet her gaze. But I don’t find what I expect. She isn’t staring at me with the anger I anticipate. There’s a glint of something I don’t quite recognize in her eyes. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was excitement. For the life of me, I can’t imagine why.
I don’t know when my priorities shifted from running Raven out of my business to doing anything within my power to keep her here.
Without another word, I push myself out of the chair. When I reach the doorway, I turn around, giving them all a once over. “We will hike to Crater Lake. This is mandatory.”
As I step out of view, I can just hear the commotion that breaks out in the wake of my announcement. Hushed whispers spill out into the hallway and I can hear Raven stand from her chair. “Guys don’t freak out. It’s just a hike.”
She doesn’t defend my decision, but she doesn’t reject it either. The first step of my new plan is complete. A plan that no longer depends on destroying Raven Belmonte. There is a switch inside me that’s flipped, and there’s no way to turn it back off. A satisfied smile slips across my face. I’ll turn this company around and bring Raven along with me, even if it kills us.
She hates me. And I hate her.
Don’t I?