Outmatched

My breath caught in my throat.

What?

“The board is now headed by Diana Crichton Jones of Crichton Investments and Research. She bought out Fairchild.” Jackson’s gaze zeroed in on me. “Ms. Crichton Jones was very impressed with our model, our staff, and our diversity, and she has a real passion for renewable energy.”

Relief moved through me. The garden party—my conversation with Diana, how pleased Jackson seemed with me.

I’d helped secure her interest in Horus.

And she was … well, she was even more powerful than Fairchild.

Which meant I was free of him. And it was most likely the reason he’d approached me this morning, because he knew I was about to find out he couldn’t touch my career.

So he’d threatened my family instead.

Festering miscreant.

I could so live with blackmailing Colonel Dipshit.

I slumped in my chair with absolute relief.

“It will mean changes, and having a board means we’re not autonomous here. But they want to make this company a success and they’re as dedicated as we are to making the world green. I’ll keep you all posted with any changes that I feel you need to be informed of, but I just wanted you all to know—trust me, this is definitely the best move forward for us all.”

“No more yacht and garden parties?” Xander dared to ask.

There was some snickering as Jackson tried not to smirk. “Nothing mandatory anymore.” My boss looked at me again. “For any of you.”

A grateful smile bloomed on my face. Jackson knew the hold Fairchild had on me because of Rhys. He knew Fairchild had no interest in renewable energy and that he was a dangerous, big, spoiled baby of a billionaire, and Horus and its staff needed to be free of him.

God, I loved my boss.

“Right, if you have any questions going forward, do not hesitate to ask. You know where I am. For now, everyone back to work. Except Parker.”

My colleagues shot me curious looks but left the office without a second glance, caught up in the news that Fairchild was gone.

Once the door closed behind them, I was left in the room with Jackson and Ben.

“This is good news.” My smile wilted a little. “Right?”

Jackson grinned. “Even better for you. I wanted to make your contract permanent from the moment you inputted those changes to our model. However, I needed approval from Fairchild, who as the main investor made his investment contingent on being named CEO of Horus. All big decisions, including staff employment, had to go through him. Usually, he gave his approval, no questions asked. After he met Rhys, for reasons unknown to me, and we don’t need to get into it, he held off giving me the authority to make you a permanent member of staff.”

“That’s illegal, Jackson.”

“Which is why he’s no longer an issue. Between him being under investigation and Diana wanting to invest, the board were more than happy to shove him out. And that’s why you’ll be receiving a new permanent contract by the end of the day.”

Relief, excitement, joy flooded me, and I knew I was grinning like a big nerd. “Really?”

Ben and Jackson shared amused looks and my boss nodded. “Really. Welcome to the Horus family, Parker.”

I hurried up the steps and into Rhys’s gym, my heart pounding with my news. I’d waited all day and night to tell him about Fairchild, deciding I wanted to tell him face-to-face. His trainer, Jimmy, this gruff older man I liked despite his bluntness because he clearly cared about Rhys, had cock-blocked Rhys.

No sex before the big fight.

Apparently, those articles I’d read about athletes and sexual frustration and aggression were true. Or at least Jimmy was hoping so.

This meant I’d been banned from visiting the gym the night before because Jimmy said Rhys couldn’t keep his hands off me. No willpower.

I was definitely not complaining about that.

That time, however, had allowed me to think and remember that Fairchild’s removal from Horus didn’t mean we were out of the woods entirely. On that note, I realized even Fairchild wasn’t stupid enough to turn down an obviously lucrative buyout just to hold Rhys on a string.

Besides, he still had something on Rhys. Fairchild had also threatened Dean and he could follow through on that

Yet, this was a win for us and it couldn’t have come at a better time, right before the big fight.

The breath left me as I walked into the gym and saw how the place had been transformed for the fight. Although the first-floor gymnasium was left relatively untouched, the interior decorator had laid a red carpet and golden ropes that led to the second-floor staircase. Huge pots of ferns sat here and there; she’d also hung massive black-and-white canvas photographs of famous fighters, including a beautiful shot of Rhys when he’d just won the heavyweight championship belt.

I gazed around the first floor, watching catering staff wander up to elegantly dressed guests who were taking their time walking along the carpet to stare at the photographs. From here I could see Diana Crichton Jones and her fiancé, and I had a sudden urge to run like a little girl across the gym and throw myself into her arms in gratitude.