Fatal Attraction (Dark Desires 4)

had looked over the contract as a favor to Uncle Allen. That was the extent of my involvement. As my pops would say, “I had no dog in this fight.” Besides, I trusted Conner. He was as good as his word.

He cocked one eyebrow at me. “Nervous? Why would I be nervous?”

I pulled my arms from his neck and smoothed my hands over his lapels. The firmness of his chest beneath my hands made me sigh. I said, “I don’t know, maybe because you’re buying my uncle’s company today and you’re a little nervous because of me.”

“I’m not buying the company,” he said quickly, defensively. “Price Bean & Whitlock is. And it’s Reed’s deal. I just handled the financial details for him.”

His reaction made me frown as I stared into his eyes. It wasn’t like Conner McGee to give credit to others for his hard work. I said, “Of course, Price Bean & Whitlock are footing the bill, but none of this would have happened if not for you.” I kissed the tip of his nose. “You made this happen. I’m very proud of you.”

For a moment, I thought I saw a look of sadness in his dark eyes. Then, he gave me the smile that melts me in my panties, pecked me on the lips, and turned to leave.

“Will I see you tonight?” I asked, holding onto his hand as he tried to back out the door.

He gave me a little smile that looked like it took a great deal of effort and said, “Yes, of course, if you still want to.”

He was gone before I could ask him what the heck that meant.

If I still want to?

Why on earth would I not?

Chapter 26: Conner

The deal was done at exactly 12:27 PM on Friday afternoon.

The shit hit the fan exactly two minutes later.

We were gathered around the long table in Reed’s mahogany-paneled conference room putting signatures to the contracts that would formally make Price Bean & Whitlock the majority shareholder in Benson Digital, Inc.

Price would own fifty-one percent of the company stock and hold three board seats. Allen Benson would retain a ten-percent stake in the company, as well as his seat as CEO, and the rest of the stock was owned by current shareholders.

Reed and I were on one side of the table with Vincent Simms, our corporate attorney and his paralegal, Pam, who was taking notes. Directly across the table from us sat Allen Benson and his in-house attorney Jeff Chase. Lined up next to Allen were the three existing board members of Benson Digital. Sitting next to me were the two new board members Price Bean & Whitlock had appointed before the ink was dry.

“That about does it,” Vincent said, snapping the top on his expensive Monte Blanc pen and tucking it inside his Brooks Brothers suit. He gathered up all copies of the agreement and stuck them neatly into a blue folder and slid it over to Pam.

Allen Benson started to push himself up from the table, but Reed cleared his throat and held up a finger to stop him. “Before you go, Allen, we need to take care of some pressing business.”

The color started to drain from Benson’s face as he lowered himself back into the chair. Poor guy. He looked like a deer in headlights. His eyes darted between Reed and myself. He asked, “What sort of pressing business?”

Reed gestured to the two new board members who had already been sworn in. They knew what was coming. Everyone did except Allen. I almost felt bad for the guy. Almost.

“Since we have the entire board here I thought we could address a couple of things,” Reed said. “You’re chairman of the board, Allen. If you’ll be so kind as to call the meeting to order.”

Allen Benson stared at Reed for a moment, his eyes going narrow and dark. He growled the words. “This meeting of the board of Benson Digital is hereby called to order.”

Reed had taken one of the three board seats as Price’s representative, so he got to his feet to run the meeting. His assistant, Carla, who had been sitting quietly in one corner, got out of her chair and went around the table passing out a single sheet of paper to each board member. It was the formal tinder offer from Amalgamated Industries to purchase Benson Digital’s computer chip manufacturing operation.

“What the fuck is this?” Allen asked, scowling at the paper. “You can’t be fucking serious.”

Reed ignored him and addressed the board. “Members of the board, we have received an offer to purchase the manufacturing operations of Benson Digital at an immediate return of fifteen-percent.”

“This is bullshit, Reed,” Allen said, wadding up the paper and tossing it in Reed’s face. He looked at me and gritted his teeth. “You cannot do this.”

“Actually, they can,” Vincent said calmly. “There is nothing in the agreement that prevents the board from selling off assets as it sees fit. So long as a majority of the board approves the sale, it’s perfectly binding and legal.”

Allen realized at that moment that he had been blindsided. He turned to look at the three existing board members that he had brought into the game. Old pals who now sat with their heads down and their hands clasped tightly together on the table. He turned to glare at his oldest friend and lawyer, Jeff Chase.

“Did you know about this?” Reed asked, teeth gritted. “Goddammit, Jeff, did you know?”