Tell Me You Want Me by Willow Winters
Adrian
Sitting in the office, overlooking the city, I come to one conclusion. There’s only one reason I would negotiate everything like I have the past three days. Every meeting, the marketing department and client list was mentioned. Every deal, the number went up, with the condition it was included in the acquisition of the company … and I turned all of them down. Settling for less. Barely breaking even on a deal I spent months pursuing.
It was all to her and compromising every other deal.
Of course they took what I offered, though. Everyone who needed to sign, did so. Ending the majority of their competition was a worthwhile deal for them. Even if the coveted list remains with Suzette. Her job is secure. It will be unsteady for a while I imagine as she adjusts. She will, though, she will survive and she will thrive. There’s no doubt in my mind, even from the numbers’ side, and the team agrees. It’s not cost-effective and it’s a risk to float the company, but for her, knowing that there’s not a chance in hell her position will be in jeopardy, it’s worth it.
And there’s only one conclusion I can make of that. It would have been a quick few million, freeing up my cash flow, ending one project and moving on to the next. Instead, I’ll be supporting a company who may lose clients, whose stock will plummet once the split is finalized. A company that will have to prove themselves … a company run by her.
I think I love her.
I think I want to propose to her.
My phone restsin my lap and I stare down at the messages I typed out. I delete the two texts. It’s insanity. Running my hand through my hair, I groan at the ridiculousness of it all.
I haven’t a clue how Suzette will even react once reality hits her. I’ve gifted her a company. Technically the board will meet and vote on the positions needed to be filled to move forward. She will be nominated and everything she worked for, will come to fruition.
Heat tingles along my skin, not knowing how she will take it.
The meeting is set for next week and my instinct screams to secure her before then. To propose, to woo her, so that when the time comes and it dawns on her, she’ll already be mine.
All of that doubt and insecurity will be worthless if she’s already wearing my ring.
It’s one thing for a man infatuated to shower a lover with wealth, a lover with trust issues and one that seems to be ready to run any minute. It’s another for a future husband to secure his fiancée’s livelihood.
The only question that remains is whether or not she’ll say yes. Whether she wants me like I want her.
I’m infatuated. I’ve lost my fucking mind over her.
I thinkI’ll propose to her. I type it out to Wyatt and wait a moment, debating on whether I should do it without telling anyone. I could take her to any jewelry store she wanted, let her choose the ring she wants most and do it then and there.
My thumb hovers over the message.
I already know Wyatt is going to try to talk me out of it. That’s what I would do, if he texted me out of nowhere that he wanted to propose to a woman he just met last month.
A woman who’s gotten into his head and clouded everything.
But isn’t that what love is?
I don’t havea moment to send it. Wyatt and my father message me at once.
Wyatt’s message asks if he can see me.
He adds: It’s important. As soon as you can, I need to see you.
An anxiousness comes with my father’s message: You didn’t sign that contract, did you?
My gut drops and Wyatt messages: Where are you? I’ll come to you now. I fucked up. It’s all fucked up.
There’s a prick at the back of my neck, a numbness that flows through my veins.
I respond to them both immediately. To my father: I signed it.
To Wyatt: At the office.
My father: Fuck. Call me now.
Wyatt texts back at the same time that my father calls. Clearing my throat, I glance at the closed office door and then turn my back to it, facing the office windows.
“Adrian.” My father greets me and before I can do the same he says, “Tell me you didn’t sign it.
“I already told you I did.”
The tone in his voice is unsettling, enough so that my entire body tenses. There’s desperation I can’t help but to feel pulling at me through the line.
“Whatever he’s gotten himself into, I’ll help him out.”
“It’s not just him,” my father grits out between his teeth. “Did your lawyers not change the fucking clause? You’re on the hook for his investment in the building.”
“What?” My pulse races and I’m quick to open up the drawer, pulling out an unsigned copy, a previous version Wyatt had given me. Andrea has the signed copy. Signed, sealed, delivered.
“He made the purchase this weekend for the real estate not two days before the city announced the fucking highway would be built across the street.”
Wyatt’s deal, his big idea, was high-end residential builds. It’s what his father made his name doing. They’re builders and damn good. “A highway?” I can’t fucking believe it. “How did he not know?”
“The more important question is, how the fuck does he sell it now and how the hell do you get out of this contract? If not, you’re going to have to sell as much as you can. It’s to the tune of twenty million.”
“Twenty million,” I repeat, bracing myself on the desk. The numbers run in my mind, all of the companies, all of the holdings and deals I could maneuver just to cover a short like that.
“Twenty fucking million.” Every way I look at it, one company stands out above the rest. Worth eight million for a single client list.
I could fucking throw up.
“You’ll sell if you have to, hold on to the best investments only. I’ll help where I can, but I don’t see a way out. You’re going to have to shift money and hold out for the right timing.”
“I need at least a hundred grand a month for a different investment.” All the numbers for payroll and transitions tally in my mind. The company will earn it back, but not in the first quarter. Probably not for the first year. It has to float.
“For what?” My father’s tone is exasperated. “You’ll be lucky if you have enough for your personal expenses.”
“I’ll leave those numbers to my financial manager,” I bite out, irritated but also fucking terrified. I saw what happened to my family years ago when my father lost it all.
As if reading my mind he states clearly, “You might be fucked, but you’ll survive this. You’re going to have to sacrifice a number of things, but I’m calling the lawyers, I’m calling everyone. I will do everything I can, but I’m not sure there’s much we can do but sell. Take the hit. Reinvest when there’s time. At least it’s only twenty million lost.”
I can barely swallow, my eyes closed as I realize what I would do if things were different. A quick eight million is right there.
“Fuck,” I say and breathe out. I promised her. I promised her she didn’t have to worry.
“I can’t fucking believe I signed.”
“I can’t believe he was that fucking stupid.”
“It’s his first on his own.”
“Even still, he should have fucking known to talk. He could have made fucking sure there weren’t whispers and deals in the making. If he’d told his father, at the very least, he could have been given a heads-up.”
Investors talk. Politicians are paid. Deals are made. It’s how this business is run. But only those in certain circles are privy to high-level information. Wyatt’s father would have known. He would have stopped him from buying property whose value was days away from plummeting.
“If the sellers knew”
“Do you know how long litigation would take? And that’s if you can prove it.” I swallow thickly. There’s a reason they say the business world is run by crooks.
He got fucked over. And I signed the dotted line to come along for the ride.
Just then, the office door opens, Andrea calling out behind Wyatt.
With my phone pressed to my ear, my father cursing and repeating lines of the contract. Wyatt stares back at me, his eyes rimmed in red and looking like hell. His light tan skin is blotchy like he’s barely keeping it together.
“I fucked up. It’s a lot of fucking money.”
“Sir,” Andrea starts, a nervous energy around her.
“It’s fine, Andrea.” I wave her away as Wyatt takes hesitant steps inside the barren office, his hand running down his face. “I’ll call you back,” is all I say to my father without taking my eyes off my good friend, who just made a horrific deal … one for the both of us.