Chapter 13 Bullet
Bullet
He hesitated, glancing around the private gym occupying the floor beneath his penthouse. The space was empty save for himself of course, but habit made him check anyway. Privacy in his personal life had become second nature.
“Good morning,” he answered, his voice still rough from sleep and exertion.
“Did I wake you?” Morgan asked, sounding uncertain.
“No, I’ve been up. Just doing my morning workout.” He settled onto the bench, abandoning the weights. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, and I found your notes,” her laugh was soft, reminding them of their shared passion the night before. “That was... sweet. I loved it.”
Sweet. When was the last time anyone had called Archer Sullivan sweet? CEOs were described as ruthless. Visionary. Demanding. Never sweet.
“I meant every word,” he said, surprising himself with the admission.
“The coffee was perfect too.” A pause, then: “Last night was amazing.”
Archer closed his eyes, memories washing over him—the silk of her skin beneath his fingertips, the way she’d surrendered to him, trusting him completely with the barrier of the blindfold. The experience had been unlike anything he’d known before.
Sex had previously been a straightforward transaction in his life—pleasant but never meaningful. With Morgan, even without full intercourse, the connection had been profound.
“Yes,” he agreed simply. “It was.”
“When can I see you again?” The directness of her question, the lack of games or pretense, was refreshing.
Archer mentally reviewed his calendar. Today would be impossible—board meetings until late evening, then the call with Tokyo he’d already rescheduled twice. Tomorrow...
“Thursday?” he suggested. “I could come to your place again. Or you could..." He trailed off, realizing he couldn’t invite her to his penthouse without it revealing so much more about who he was.
“Thursday sounds perfect,” Morgan said, saving him from the awkward moment. “Though I should warn you, I’m going to a pottery class tonight and honestly every Wednesday night is ladies night and we usually stay out late, so I might be tired tomorrow.”
“Pottery?” Archer couldn’t hide his surprise.
Morgan laughed. “I’m terrible at it. But it’s my turn to pick what we do and I’ve always wanted to become better at creating things with my hands, plus it’s something I used to do with my mom as a kid.
Honestly, ladies night is more about the wine and conversation than creating masterpieces. We started it after my friend Tessa went through a bad breakup last year. Four of us, every Wednesday, doing something fun, drinking cheap wine and sharing the latest gossip.”
The image made him smile. “Sounds fun.”
“It is.”
A comfortable silence fell between them. Archer found himself wishing he could see her face, read her expression. Phone calls maintained another kind of barrier, one he was growing increasingly tired of.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said finally, his voice dropping lower.
“About?”
“Us. Where this is heading.” He took a deep breath. “Are you on birth control?”
The question hung in the air for a moment. “Yes,” she answered. “Have been for years. Why?”
“I’m getting tested this afternoon,” he told her. “Full panel. I’d like you to as well, if you’re comfortable with that.”
“Oh,” she said, understanding immediately. “Because you want..."
“I want nothing between us when we finally make love,” he confirmed. “If that’s what you want too.”
Her breath caught audibly. “Yes. I want that. I’ll see when I can get tested.”
“Good.” The single word came out rougher than he’d intended, his body already responding to the anticipation of being with her completely, without barriers.
“Archer?” Her voice had grown soft, intimate.
“Yes?”
“I can’t stop thinking about you. About your hands, your mouth... that tongue piercing.”
He smiled, remembering her reaction when she’d discovered it. “I gathered you liked that particular feature.”
“God, yes,” she admitted with a breathless laugh. “It was... unexpected. In the best possible way. Thursday suddenly feels very far away.”
Archer glanced at his watch. 6:17 AM. He needed to finish his workout, shower and be in the office by 7:30 for the first of his back-to-back meetings.
The acquisition of Vertex Creative had entered a critical phase, with competing bids coming in from other interested parties.
Maintaining his lead position would require his full attention today.
“It’ll be worth the wait,” he assured her. “I should let you get ready for work.”
“And you’ve got... what? Security consulting to do today?”
Archer winced at the half-truth he’d established. “Something like that. Meetings all day.”
“Well, don’t work too hard, Mr. Security Consultant,” she teased. “Save some energy for Thursday.”
“I’ll be counting the hours,” he said, meaning it more sincerely than she could know.
After they hung up, Archer sat motionless on the weight bench, his morning workout forgotten. The growing intensity of his feelings for Morgan was becoming impossible to ignore—or to compartmentalize like everything else in his life.
The boardroom at Sullivan Enterprises fell silent as Archer concluded his presentation on the Vertex Creative acquisition.
The projections were compelling—absorbing the marketing firm would allow them to bring creative services in-house, streamlining the process for a few of their different companies and adding a profitable new division.
“Questions?” Archer asked, surveying the assembled executives.
Marcus Donovan, his CFO, cleared his throat. “The financials are concerning. There are several irregularities that our team flagged during due diligence.”
“Specifics?” Archer prompted, though he already knew the answer. He’d reviewed the forensic accounting report three times.
“It appears someone, potentially middle management, has been systematically embezzling funds.” Marcus tapped his tablet, sending documents to the main display.
“A pattern of falsified expenses, double-billing clients, and ghost vendor accounts. All originating from the creative department under this man, Richard Jenkins. Seems better to pass this company over to keep our name out of it.”
Archer stiffened at the name, though he kept his expression neutral. Richard—Morgan’s boss. The one she’d mentioned having problems with.
“How much are we talking about?” asked Victoria Barrett, head of legal.
“Approximately $450,000 over the past two years,” Marcus replied. “Not enough to significantly impact the company’s valuation, but certainly a red flag about their internal controls.”
“And the current management knows nothing about this?” Archer asked, already anticipating the answer.
“If they do, they haven’t acted on it,” Victoria said. “Which means either gross negligence or complicity.”
Archer nodded thoughtfully. “Options?”
“We should walk away,” Marcus suggested. “There are other acquisition targets without these complications.”
“Or we could use this to negotiate a lower purchase price,” Victoria countered. “Their board will want to avoid the publicity of fraud charges.”
“And the employees involved?” Archer asked, thinking of Morgan.
Marcus shrugged. “That’s typically handled post-acquisition. Investigation, termination, possible prosecution depending on the evidence. But with something like this, we should steer clear. No sense borrowing trouble, there are plenty of other marketing agencies we could consider.”
The clinical discussion of potential fraud charges made Archer’s jaw tighten. If Morgan had unknowingly signed off on fraudulent documents, would she be implicated? The thought of her being dragged into a criminal investigation because of her boss’ actions was unacceptable.
“I want a deeper investigation before we proceed,” Archer decided. “Focus on proving who’s responsible and who’s innocent. I won’t have blameless employees caught in the crossfire.”
Victoria gave him a curious look. “That’s a level of detail we don’t typically concern ourselves with pre-acquisition.”
“I really think we should drop this one, it isn’t worth it when embezzlement is involved.” Marcus pushed.
“It will be done by someone anyways, I believe the potential profits outweigh the cost,” Archer said, his tone making it clear the matter wasn’t up for debate. “Have the report on my desk by the end of day tomorrow.”
The meeting concluded shortly after with action items assigned and next steps clarified. As the executives filed out, Marcus lingered behind.
“Everything okay, Archer?” he asked once they were alone. “You seem unusually invested in the personnel aspects of this acquisition.”
Archer gathered his materials, keeping his expression neutral. “Just being thorough. The creative talent is a significant part of Vertex’s value. I won’t have it compromised by one bad actor.”
Marcus seemed to accept the explanation, though not entirely convinced. “If you say so. Oh, and don’t forget the Tokyo call tonight. Nine PM.”
“I’m well-aware.” Archer confirmed, already mentally calculating how early he would need to leave the office to execute his other plan for the evening.
Archer sat in his black Audi sedan, parked on the bottom floor of a parking garage he was hoping had a quick payment method for the ticket he took when he parked, his eyes fixed on the entrance to “Pottery with Purpose,” the storefront where Morgan’s pottery class took place.
He’d traded his motorcycle for the more anonymous vehicle, knowing Morgan would recognize his distinctive Ducati immediately.
He felt ridiculous. Here he was, Archer Sullivan, CEO of a multinational security firm, essentially stalking a woman he was already involved with.
But ever since discovering the fraud investigation this morning, pointing to Morgan’s boss, a protective instinct had overwhelmed his usual rational approach.