Chapter 60
Daniel
“Fuck!” Lydia growled. She fucking growled. Was I worried about her being angrier than I’d ever seen her? Not really. Lydia was nothing if not careful. There wasn’t a reckless cell in her body. Was I turned on? Absofuckinglutely.
Guess I know I like growling women now. Check.
She grabbed her phone and started pacing. Before I could ask her what she was going to do, she was on a call.
“Kernel. Ethan Howard. Condukt shareholder and Chairman of the Board.” Her voice was steady, but I could hear the strain in it.
She put her phone on speaker.
“Anything, Angel.” Fuck, I hated how he talked to her, like she was his goddess or something. That’s got to be dangerous, right? Or maybe I just accept that Lydia comes with fucked up baggage and a weird-ass friend?
Shit. Does she consider him a friend?
“I need leverage. He’s a pervert. There’s footage of him somewhere. Find it.”
“Where should I start?”
Lydia grabbed her forehead and looked up at the ceiling. “Fuck,” she muttered. “I don’t know, Kernel. He assaulted Rebbecca Mason when she worked at Condukt. Maybe Langford is holding that over him if he has the footage. Shit! I didn’t think of that.”
I stood up and tried to hold her, but she paced right out of reach. She didn’t want me touching her right now, which made me uneasy. I didn’t know how to calm her down, how to comfort her.
“Angel?” Kernel’s voice was soft. He sounded worried. Maybe he really did care about her. It was still dangerously obsessive.
“I’m here. If he attacked Becca, he attacked others. This isn’t a man who can help himself. Either find the footage Langford has or find others. The more the better. I want it now, Kernel.”
Fuck, she’s hot.
She stopped pacing. Kernel’s fast tapping could be heard on the other end. “I’ll find it.”
The call disconnected. Lydia looked at me.
“Are you okay? Can I—”
She held out her hand to stop me from getting closer. “I need to calm down. Explain what happens if Howard changes his mind.”
“He can call another meeting. Without Howard, Langford would need a majority vote in his favor. He’ll need to convince six people, so three more since Howard’s vote would change.”
“Unlikely, then, unless he has leverage over the others.”
“He would have used it. Relying on Howard was a risk.”
“He’s drugged, not thinking clearly. Fuck. What now?”
Her eyes darted in every direction, like she was looking for a solution.
There was nothing we could do but wait. Even if Langford stayed as CEO, we could still pull it off.
He’d still look like a drug addict who died of an overdose.
Yes, spiraling and dying after being fired would have been ideal, but it wasn’t necessary.
Besides, if things got worse, the board would vote again once stocks took a dive. He couldn’t keep them in line forever.
Whatever was going through Lydia’s head was making her spiral.
Fuck it.
I took two big steps, grabbed her neck, and put my mouth on hers, swallowing her gasp.