CHAPTER3
She didn’t look like she was trying to kill him, Devyn thought, taking a sip of the large caramel coffee that he was forced to grab from the employee cafeteria when it became painfully obvious that his new assistant didn’t know how to make coffee.
God, just thinking about the burnt, cold, creamy, grainy concoction…
Wasn’t a good idea, Devyn reminded himself as he shifted his attention from Miss Dawson, who was standing at the back of the elevator, staring down at the iPad in her hands, to the end of the day summary that she’d handed him before he had a chance to ask for it. She was definitely efficient, he couldn’t help but notice as he took in all the tasks that she’d completed today. She hadn’t had a chance to get through everything that needed her attention, but then again, he hadn’t expected her to.
After months of struggling to find someone to help him, it was going to take a miracle to get caught up, but then, he was counting on a miracle. There was too much at stake, too many sacrifices had been made along the way, and too many promises that he’d made that he refused to break, counting on this. He just needed to get through the next few months, and then…
He could finally breathe.
He just needed to stay focused and stick to the plan, Devyn thought as the elevator stopped and Lucas, the reason that he had this job in the first place, stepped into the elevator with an easy smile on his face as he joined him by the doors.
They’d been friends since college when Lucas hired him to tutor him after he found himself on academic probation and on the verge of being cut off by his father. They’d had absolutely nothing in common, but they’d hit if off almost immediately. Lucas had taken him under his wing and showed him all the things that he never had a chance to learn growing up in homeless shelters, rundown motels, and boarding houses and made it easier for him to blend in while he did his best to make sure that Lucas didn’t get kicked out of another college.
After they’d graduated, Lucas’s godfather gave him a junior management position at Carta Hotels while Devyn started at the bottom, working the overnight shift as a clerk for a chain of cheap hotels. He’d taken every shift he could get his hands on, read every article and book that he thought would help him and worked his ass off, slowly making his way to the top, and when he found out that Carta Hotels was looking for a new CEO, he made his move. He’d managed to negotiate a contract that benefitted them both. He’d been given two years to turn things around, and so far, he’d managed to do everything that he’d promised and more, but he knew just how quickly things could go to hell if he let his guard down.
For as long as Devyn could remember, he’d worked his ass off, forcing himself to ignore just how fucking exhausted he was, telling himself that he just had to read one more book, work one more shift, take one more class, put in one more hour, terrified that if he allowed himself to relax that he’d lose everything that he’d worked for. And now…
He just had to do it one last time.
“Did you get a chance to look over the emails I sent?” Lucas asked, sounding bored as he pulled his phone out of his coat pocket.
“This morning,” Devyn murmured absently as he glanced back down at the daily report in his hands, noting that there was no mention of any of the phone calls that she’d missed today or the emails that she forgot to check.
“And?”
“Something’s off,” Devyn said, wondering why he couldn’t let this go.
“You’re paranoid,” Lucas pointed out, not bothering to look up from his phone as Devyn stood there, trying to tell himself that he was right, but…
He knew better than to ignore his gut.
“It’s too perfect,” Devyn murmured, wondering why he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about this deal. The numbers were better than he could have hoped for. Hillshire Hotels had been able to expand their staff, renovated over fifty percent of their holdings, and managed to improve their occupancy rates, and were willing to sell the majority share of their stock to Carta Hotels for a very reasonable price.
It was honestly better than he could have hoped for.
“And that’s a bad thing?” Lucas asked, throwing him a curious look.
“Yes,” Devyn said, earning a chuckle.
“You worry too much.”
“Always have,” Devyn easily agreed as Lucas glanced back at Andi, who was still looking down at her iPad.
“Trust me, there’s nothing wrong with this deal. I had my team go over every inch of this thing, looking for any sign that this was a mistake, and we haven’t been able to find anything,” Lucas mumbled absently with a frown at whatever he was looking at on his phone.
“Which is why I’m planning on taking a trip to New York to make sure that everything is exactly the way that it should be before I sign that contract,” Devyn told him, knowing that he couldn’t sign the contract until he went to Hillshire’s main offices and got more answers.
“And when are you planning on doing this exactly? The deadline is in less than a week and a half,” Lucas pointed out, sounding bored as he typed a message on his phone.
“Next week,” Devyn said, wishing like hell that he could go now, but with the monthly board dinner this week, that wasn’t an option. Every month, he was expected to show up, answer questions, and listen as they wasted his time with more bullshit when he should be making sure that nothing fell through the cracks, but he needed to play by their rules if he wanted to keep his job.
At least, for now.
“There’s too much riding on this,” Devyn reminded him, wishing like hell that he could let this go.
“True, but do you know what I think you should do?” Lucas asked as he reached over and pressed the button for the tenth floor.
“What’s that?” Devyn asked, wondering if his new assistant was going to be able to keep up as he glanced back at the small woman in question.
God, he fucking hoped so.
“Besides getting laid?” Lucas asked, looking thoughtful. “I would stop worrying, sign the damn papers, spend the next five months on the beach getting drunk and sleeping with a different woman every night.”
“That’s your dream?” Devyn asked even as he had to admit that the idea of spending the next five months passed out on the beach was really fucking tempting.
“That’s every man’s dream,” Lucas assured him. “Which brings up an interesting question, when’s the last time that you got laid?”
“Don’t have time,” Devyn murmured absently as he glanced back at Miss Dawson to find her completely absorbed in whatever she was doing on her iPad.
“I honestly don’t know where I went wrong with you,” Lucas said with a heavy sigh and a sad shake of his head as he followed Devyn’s gaze and sent Andi a questioning look before shifting his attention back to his phone. “Manage to scare off another assistant?”
“Not yet,” Devyn said, taking a sip of his coffee.
“At least tell me that she’s not like the last one. Then again, she doesn’t look that crazy, does she?” Lucas said, chuckling even as Devyn couldn’t help but hope for the same thing.
“It’s too soon to tell,” Devyn said, sighing heavily as he slid the daily report into his coat pocket.
“How is she working out?”
“It’s only the first day, but it looks like she survived,” Devyn said, not sure that he would be able to say that once he stopped taking it easy on her, which, unfortunately for her, was going to be sooner than he would have liked.
“For now,” Lucas said, chuckling as a softly murmured, “Oh, my god…it’s finally happened,” drew their attention to find Andi looking down at her iPad as she added in a mock whisper, “I’m invisible. This is the best day of my life.”
Devyn narrowed his eyes on his new assistant as Lucas said, “See you tomorrow,” with a chuckle as he got off on the tenth floor. “Is everything okay, Miss Dawson?” Devyn asked as he took another sip of coffee.
“I have the power of invisibility. Why wouldn’t I be okay? It’s my time to shine,” she said, blinking innocently up at him while he stood there, considering her.
“Didn’t like being the topic of conversation?” Devyn asked, watching as she placed her iPad back in her bag.
“I would never treat anyone like that,” she said, shrugging it off only to add, “Except for Drew,” with an adorable frown and a solemn nod.
At his questioning look, she said, “I have my reasons.”
“And you don’t think I have my reasons?” Devyn asked, taking another sip of coffee, which was the only thing that helped him work through the exhaustion these days.
“No.”
“Why’s that?” he found himself asking.
“Because I’m a pleasure to be around,” Andi said, nodding solemnly.
“Are you, now?” Devyn drawled, moving to take another sip of his coffee as the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open.
“I really am,” Andi said, nodding as she walked past him only to pluck the coffee out of his hand and took a sip as she kept going, whispering, “You didn’t see that!” leaving Devyn standing there, his lips twitching as he watched her go.