Chapter 10 Asher
ASHER
Aweek later, I sit in a high-rise restaurant overlooking the Central Business District in Singapore for a business dinner.
I try my best to listen to Mr. Li across from me, but instead, I sigh quietly into my wine as I think about how long this week has felt, even though it’s been jam packed with meetings.
I’m running on fumes, ready for the trip to be over, and dreading all the meetings I have over the next three days.
I’m homesick—something I never thought I’d experience in adulthood, and I know the exact reason for my homesickness: a certain brunette I’m obsessed with.
I can’t help but think back to my London trip when Ella was by my side for several of my business meetings, and how her presence made the time away from home much more enjoyable.
I’m fairly sure I’m fucked, because after this week, I don’t want to go on any more of these trips without Ella.
Some Titan of Business I am.
But if my one Achilles’ heel in business is my need for Ella to be by my side? I think I can live with that. I’ll just find a way to convince her to follow me around the globe. Declan would laugh and call me codependent if he could hear my thoughts. But I don’t care. He doesn’t get it.
Mr. Li checks his watch. “I must wrap this up. I have a flight to catch.”
Thank God.
“I will put together a final proposal and have it to you within the next two weeks,” I say, trying my best to hide my relief.
Now I can head back to my hotel and call Ella.
It’s early in New York, but at this point, I don’t care if I wake her up.
I need to hear her voice. And I can start planting seeds to convince her to come with me next time. I’m not doing this alone again.
“I’ll be waiting for your proposal,” Mr. Li says, standing.
I stand as well, and he nods and makes his departure.
“Is there anything else I can get you?” a server asks, making his way to our table.
“Another round of drinks, thank you,” a female voice says.
I tilt my head, then almost startle in surprise. Katrina Antonov snakes her way around the server and takes a seat in the chair Mr. Li just vacated.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I snap, both from shock and anger.
“Hello to you too, Asher.”
“I didn’t say hello. I asked what you’re doing in Singapore, at my table in a restaurant.”
“I’m here in Singapore on business, like yourself. And I’m here in this restaurant on behalf of my family. My father informed me he sent his offer to your board just moments ago.”
I check my watch. It’s almost seven a.m. in New York.
“And we have been assured that every member of the board outside of your brothers and your father are going to vote to sell Greenspan.”
“What a coincidence that this is going to be put to a vote when I’m halfway across the world.”
She smirks. “You don’t believe in coincidences, and neither do I.”
“And how would you know what I believe in?”
“Our time as a couple may have been short, but it was intense. I learned a lot about you, Asher.”
I scoff. “That was what, twelve years ago?”
“You’re as stubborn as a mule, I doubt you’ve changed much.”
“Regardless, your family’s tactics won’t work. The sale won’t go through. My family and I are not budging on this.”
She takes a sip of the brown liquor the server sets down in front of her, eyeing me over the rim of the glass. “I assume you’ve received the little gifts from my family.”
“I’m glad to hear that putting a man in the hospital and paralyzing him is considered a gift,” I practically snarl at her.
She shrugs. “It’s better than a sudden disappearance and no trace of a body.”
“So, you’re finally ready to admit to your mafia ties, then?”
“I’m not admitting to anything.”
I take out my phone and text the group chat I have with my brothers, reminding them to do what they must to block the sale and to make sure my father does the same.
“I’m assuming your father sent you to try to convince me because of our history together. It won’t work.”
She leans on the table, giving me a sultry look. “I told you many times that we could have been great together, you and me. With our families and our names, the world would have been ours.”
“The world already is mine. I don’t need you.”
She quirks a brow and brushes her finger over the back of my hand. I flinch and pull it out of her reach.
“And what about your new little fling? What does she bring to the table? I can’t imagine it’s much.”
I pause, waiting for the desire to throttle Katrina to calm before I answer. “She brings herself. Nothing more is needed. Just her presence is worth more than all the money and clout you think you bring to a table.”
Katrina flinches slightly but tries to hide it with a derisive laugh. “How sentimental. But I wonder. You received your gifts, so you know TDC’s position when it comes to your new little fling. It would be such a shame if anything happened to her.”
Red flashes across my vision as I try to ascertain what Katrina knows.
Her father obviously has an inside with someone on my board if he has intel on how they’re all planning to vote.
The board thinks that my relationship with Ella is nothing but a farce, but have any of them divulged that to Sergei or Katrina?
Or does Katrina think our relationship is real?
Either way, it’s best if she thinks Ella is just a fling. However, I can’t stop the anger that burns inside me, demanding that I let Katrina know that Ella is not to be touched and what I’ll do if she is.
“I see,” I growl. “Your father didn’t send you because he thought our past might sway me. He sent you because he thought I wouldn’t hurt a woman if she’s the one making threats against me and my family.”
Katrina smirks. “That fling of yours is hardly family, but yes, my father was counting on your chivalry overriding your ruthlessness.”
“He was right. I can hardly make a violent move against a woman in a public setting. But let me make myself very clear: you don’t know me, Katrina.
You know the man I used to be. The man I used to be had a bit more of a black and white view of the world, and he definitely didn’t have as much at stake as the one sitting before you.
My morals, when it comes to my enemies, have grown much, much looser over the years. ”
I lean in close so that Katrina doesn’t miss a single word.
“If your family harms one hair on Ella’s head, I will destroy all of you.
Not just your father, not just his company, all of you.
I’ll make sure your mother is left a penniless widow.
I’ll make sure you are blacklisted from the corporate world.
I’ll ensure your brother’s drug habit grows far worse.
It’s so easy to overdose these days, isn’t it? ”
Katrina blinks hard but remains silent.
“Your family is not the only one capable of ending lives. It would be extremely unwise to underestimate what I would do to protect the people I care about.” I shove away from the table. “I’ll be in touch.”
I stand and so does Katrina. She blocks my path and brushes a hand over my shoulder. She leans in close and whispers in my ear.
“This doesn’t need to turn ugly, Asher. But it will if you continue to be stubborn about this.”
She plants a kiss on my cheek before I know what’s happening, and I yank my face away from her lips.
“Threaten me again and see what happens,” I growl, pushing past her. Fury lashes through my veins as I make my way out of the restaurant.
“Call Jenkins,” I bark at Robert as we reach the elevator. “Ella is not to leave the penthouse today, for any reason.”
I take my phone back out and call Ella.
“Hey,” she answers in a bright voice on the third ring. “I was just about to call you. How was your meeting?”
Any other time I would settle in and enjoy the warmth she exudes, even over the phone, but I don’t have time for that, not right now.
“Fine. But that’s not why I’m calling. I need to you to listen and do as I say.”
She pauses. “What’s going on?”
“TDC is pushing for the sale,” I say in a clipped tone. “The contract has been sent to the board, and I got a less than subtle threat toward you should I not agree with the sale. I can’t sell; it would jeopardize too many things. So, until I have a handle on what’s going on, I need you to stay in.”
“What about work?”
“I’ll inform Emily of the situation. You’ll need to work remotely for the time being.”
“I hate this,” she says through a groan.
“I know, baby. I’m sorry. But I can’t risk you.”
“What happens after you block the sale?”
“We find out what else TDC has up their sleeve, and we take them out. I’m past negotiations and niceties.”
A plan starts to form in my head as a cold, remorseless vengeance takes hold inside me. If Sergei wants a war, I’ll give him one.
And I’ll destroy everything he holds dear.