Watch Me

"Needless to say, Hayes is pissed. I've got one last shot at this, Nik." Mike picked up the file folder and stared at it with a mix of despair and hope. The idea that the man whose information was contained within the folder was the difference between Mike and Amelia losing everything was almost too much to process. The knowledge that I was likely the only thing standing between them and financial ruin had a ten-ton weight settling in my belly.

"Nik, I know things are tough at home right now and I don't have any right to ask this of you—"

"I'm in," was all I said before I leaned across the desk and took the file folder from him and then hurried out of his office. I made my way back down to the first floor, but instead of heading for the locker room, I went straight for the ring. I tossed the file onto a chair and then climbed into the ring. I ignored the boxing gloves because I wasn't in the mood to play it safe.

"Who's next?" I shouted. My voice carried across the length of the building and everyone stopped to look at me. I began bouncing back and forth on the balls of my feet and waited to see which guy would take me up on my silent challenge. It took several long seconds before Johnny, the youngest and most recent recruit who was most definitely looking to make a name for himself, stepped forward and made his way to the ring.

Good, I’d get to work out some rage and put the cocky SOB in his place. I would go easy on Johnny, but I couldn't say the same for Archer.

Playtime was over.

Clifton Hayes's boy toy was about to get a harsh dose of reality.

Chapter 2

Jude

"Um, sir, excuse me, sir. I mean Mr. Archer… sir."

"You ever seen Murphy Brown, Simon?" I asked without taking my eyes off the screen in front of me. I could practically hear the laughter of the TV audience as the fictional Murphy Brown encountered yet another new, completely incompetent secretary reporting for duty, a running joke that had run the entire course of the series back in its day.

"Uh, is that a, um, band, sir?" Simon responded, his voice weak and shaky.

Hell, who had I pissed off in the HR department now to end up with the simpering assistant? As far as I could recall, I hadn't become desperate enough for a good hard fuck that I'd plundered any of the guys in that particular department. The mailroom, well, that was a different story. Oh, yeah, and there was Trent, of course. But the very married, supposedly straight Trent had always been too horny for my ass to risk playing games with me, even after I'd left him behind on the corporate ladder. And since Simon now counted as my third ridiculously underwhelming executive assistant in less than a month, I could only assume that I’d somehow gotten on someone's bad side in the HR department. I supposed with the way things were going, it didn't necessarily need to be a man I'd somehow offended. Apparently, expecting people to put in the same amount of effort I did was too much to ask for these days.

"Mr. Archer?" Simon asked.

"Google it, Mr. Dull," I responded.

"Yes, sir," Simon returned. "Um, google what, sir? And my name is Dell. Simon Dell. Like, um, the computer."

I took a moment to mark the section of the contract I'd been reviewing before I glanced in my soon to be ex assistant's direction. The kid looked like he was about to wet himself.

"But Dull is fine," he added before dropping his eyes.

It would've been easy enough to respond verbally to the kid and send him scurrying that way, but far less effective. The longer I remained silent, the more Simon cowered against the door. It didn't surprise me in the least when he suddenly said, "Okay, um, thank you, Mr. Archer. Sir," before fleeing the office. I turned my attention back to the computer, but it was several painfully long seconds before I was able to focus on the scrambled words in front of me. They were just starting to fall into place when there was a pitiful knock at the door.

I slowly flexed the fingers of my right hand while removing my glasses with my left hand. I kept my eyes on the computer screen but gave up on trying to read anything.

"Mr. Archer, I'm sorry, but I forgot to tell you what I came in to tell you," Simon said from the other side of the door.

I tossed my glasses on the desk and then turned away from the computer screen because I didn't want to stare at the proof of the weakness that had plagued me my entire life. Instead of turning my chair so I was facing the door, I did the opposite and took in the skyline. The city of Manhattan was laid out before me like the loveliest of offerings. I was so close to having everything I'd worked for my entire life and yet…