The American (Billionaire Royals Book 6) Read online

  His eyes flashed with hurt and he stepped back. “You’re right.” He held his hand out for her to lead the way.

  She felt such a twist of pain inside at his reaction but they didn’t have time to work through this. She couldn’t even believe he wasn’t in there at least trying to get it going.

  But when they opened the door, the group was quietly working in buzz sessions, scribbling on notepads.

  “What’s everyone doing?”

  “Brainstorming. I told them about our new plans for the other divisions and tasked them with solving a few of the minor problems we hadn’t worked through yet.”

  She pulled Thad back to the doorway. “What plans?”

  He winked. “Just work with me here.”

  Sage did not work this way, and she had a specific plan and timeline. What was Thad doing? He could change months’ worth of work here if she wasn’t careful. She sat down with the nearest group.

  Zachary stepped in and motioned for her to follow him.

  Trying to keep the impatience out of her voice, when they stepped into the hallway, she whispered, “I need to stay in there. Thad’s doing something and—”

  “I know what he’s doing. It’s a good idea. Come into my office for a minute.”

  Zachary knew? And now Sage felt like the boys’ club was crowding her out. A sense of panic started to set in. So often she had to bide her time, read people carefully and win respect the hard way because of this very thing. She always felt on the outs of a group of men who seemed to plan things in the bathroom and now she felt two steps behind.

  He closed the door behind her. “I need this publicity thing to work, Sage.”

  She counted to five. “I know Zachary, we’re doing it. Did you see the YouTube hits?”

  “Yes, fantastic. I want you guys to boost it even further. And while you are at it, let me share some of the assets our man Thad brings to the company. Give you some motivation.”

  He clicked and beautiful mountain side properties, lining blue green waters flashed across the screen. “This is Torren, and a few of the nearby islands.”

  “It’s gorgeous.” She had not traveled much, but even pictures she had seen were not nearly as lovely as these islands. “But I don’t understand.”

  “No one has been able to buy these parcels of land. But these, and several others along the coast of the Mediterranean are some of the most valuable land in the world right now.”

  “And you want to develop it?”

  “The company wants to acquire it, give Thad a cut, and then turn a nice profit.”

  All her ethical bells were thundering in her ears and throughout her brain. Did Thad know about this? Was he going to take a cut on the sale of his own properties? They could possibly go to jail for that. “Is this why you brought him on?”

  Zachary shrugged. “His presence here serves many purposes. This marketing bit is giving us more exposure than we’ve ever had. Everyone wants a piece of us, and our resorts are selling out faster than they ever have. Just about every line is doing better since the surge in press coverage.” He brought a cup to his lips and then winced as he swallowed. “But his inside knowledge and ownership of some of those juicy bits of land is paramount to it all. I mean, come on, Sage. You could do this CEO job with your eyes closed. You don’t need him, not really.” He cleared his throat. “But we do need him for everything else he offers.”

  She thought about everything Zachary said, and her distrust of Thad increased. Not everyone was ethical in business. So many did anything they could to get ahead, but she had thought Thad above such things. “What do you want me to do?”

  Zachary came to sit in the chair beside her. “You are not without certain…charms.”

  “What?” She scooted away as far as she could.

  “I want you to convince him to work with us on the real estate deal.”

  “Why would I do that?” A seed of hope bloomed. “So he’s not all in yet?”

  “If you do, I’ll give you forty percent.”

  “What? That’s huge.” Her heart pounded. Careers were made and destroyed in moments just like this one. If she declined his offer, she would be fired and black balled. If she accepted, she would be committing a crime, and if discovered, would be fired and black balled and never hired again.

  Zachary leaned forward. “If we can get this deal, we and all our future families can retire for several decades.”

  She nodded. “I’ll think about it.” The answer was no. She already knew it. No way could she be involved in something like that. The blood pulsed through the back of her ears. But what should she do about it now?

  She made her way back to the conference room with Thad and the brainstorm-ers. She would also need to handle this mess. She needed a moment to clear her mind, but she didn’t have a moment. So instead, she opened the door and stepped back inside.

  The room was quiet and Thad was standing up at the front.

  The white board was full of a new calendar, notes, marketing ideas, product suggestions; it looked as though a whole rewrite of the company were taking place.

  “What’s this?”

  “Welcome, Sage.” Thad handed her a folder. “This is the result of our group’s brainstorming. I can’t wait for you to see it. They had some brilliant ideas. Their ground level information is incredible.”

  She pinched her lips together, choosing carefully what she might say next. “I appreciate the enthusiasm.” She put her hands together. “You all know of course that most of these things have already been decided upon, voted upon, and are in the early stages of implementation. Breaking that lovely process up will be costly, in time and resources.”

  “Sage, perhaps if we could present these ideas to you. It is difficult at best to understand—”

  “I’m sure I can understand it.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Just a quick glance at the board and I can see that in a matter of a few hours you are exploring significant changes that took weeks to put together.”

  “Perhaps they are needed. From my calculations, the plan was not as efficient, nor as productive, as it could be. The group came up with—”

  “I see what you came up with. It could be wonderful, but until it’s been thought through, researched, and discussed for some significant amount of time, I’m going to stick with what we decided weeks ago, and I approved.”

  “Perhaps we should consider just a few changes.”

  “I think in this instance, we should stick with the one of us with a business resume.” She wanted to bite her tongue right after she said it, but he needed to be reminded of who was hired to do which jobs in this partnership.

  The expression on his face froze and the silence in the room felt thick. His eyes flitted through the people on their production committee. “Thank you for your work on this. If you’ll excuse us for a moment?”

  He walked to the door and held it open.

  Sage’s smile was tight when she exited.

  As soon as the door shut, Thad laid into her. “I need you to listen to their ideas. They spent all morning on that.”

  “That’s not my problem. You have no business going back and altering plans that were put in place by experts.”

  “I’m not the clueless upstart you think I am.”

  “Thad, you’re putting words in my mouth. But surely you recognize the difference in our experience levels. We were hired for different things, Thad. It’s best if we just stick with our personal expertise.”

  “I have ideas, goals, things I’d like to try while I’m here. Zachary made it clear I’d be able to act as a true CEO.”

  “In exchange for what? Just what’s in it for you?”

  “What are you talking about? I’ve been researching and I have a theory…”

  “This company is not the guinea pig, nor this the testing ground, for your theories. We will stick with the tried and true for now and we can discuss these theories at another time. But Thad perhaps
experience would teach you, you don’t go before a committee and initiate change without discussing your plan with someone else.”

  “Zachary is in support.”

  Her blood boiled, but she kept her tone even. “He is not the someone else I had in mind.” She whirled around and walked down the hall toward her office. She needed a breather. And she needed to think through this whole mess. A CEO who might be getting the company some good deals in exchange for a cut of the profit. She herself being offered a cut of the same profit pile. This same CEO making changes to her carefully laid out, time tested and experienced proven production plan. And they had a date tonight which she had spent hours planning while she thought she was falling for this same CEO.

  But Thad followed. “Sage. We need to talk about this.”

  “I need to be alone, Thad.”

  He caught up to her just as she approached her office. “Can your alone time be postponed for one conversation?”

  She whirled around to face him and was struck by his earnest, handsome face, very close to her own. She stepped back. “It’s always advisable to be in control of your emotions when having important conversations. I need a moment before I can discuss this rationally.”

  “Is something else going on, because you seem more upset than I think the situation merits?”

  “Look Thad, I’ll see you tonight. The driver will pick you up at 8.”

  “What, so I’m being dismissed?”

  “Goodbye, Thad. You have another marketing meeting in ten minutes. I have some real work to do.”

  His eyes turned cold. Then he nodded.

  She closed the door and leaned against its comforting solid support. Everything was falling apart. Her career was on the brink of disaster no matter what she chose to do, and now she had to work with a man who made rash, rogue decisions. She closed her eyes. And she had to date and pretend to fall in love with him while not really falling in love. She dreaded their date tonight even more.

  Chapter 15

  Zachary called Thad into his office. “What went down in this infamous meeting I have now heard about five times?”

  Thad paced at the back of the room. “Sage is unhappy we were brainstorming ideas without her. But we started on time and the paparazzi had delayed her so the activity was meant to be a time filler.” He stopped and approached Zachary. “But some of their ideas were very clever and might cut production costs and time. I thought they were worth pursuing.”

  “You don’t do something like that without Sage Parker feeling invested in the plan at the get-go.”

  “My mistakes were innocent. Circumstantial. How was I to know she would be late and their brainstorming would prove so fruitful?”

  Zachary raised an eyebrow. “And I suspect you have long been wishing to make similar changes yourself.”

  Thad sat in the nearest seat. “I admit to being anxious to explore the business side to our arrangement.”

  “We do value your expertise, your genius. The theories you sent over have merit. You will have time to explore those ideas, but let’s get through everything else that’s going on and get Sage onboard.”

  “Marketing is going great. Our plan is working. What else is there to explore?”

  “Well, now, about that. I still think you would benefit by a wedding.”

  “I don’t think it will be necessary. The journey to get there is much more compelling.”

  Zachary shook his head. “Without the payoff? You guys are gonna build such an anticipation, we can’t leave them hanging. A sudden breakup would do damage to what we have created.”

  Thad shook his head, concern rising, especially after his latest conversation with Sage. Even though the fire in her eyes made her beauty distracting, he was put-off by her arrogant dismissal of all he could offer. He grew tired of being underestimated. He could move forward with a farce of a wedding only if he suspected things would actually work with Sage.

  A knock surprised him and then Sage’s head in the doorway would have made him smile if they were not at such odds. Judging by the shock in her eyes, his presence was not expected.

  “You wanted to see me.”

  Zachary held up his hand. “Just a moment. We are almost finished.”

  She colored and then closed the door.

  “We need to move forward on the properties in the Mediterranean.”

  Zachary had asked him about several properties numerous times throughout the negotiations to bring him on. Though they were not part of the contract, Thad knew he had expectations. Some of the properties would be easy to arrange the sale of, others impossible. He took a deep breath.

  “I’ll send you the paperwork for the two.”

  “I need them all.” His tone broke no refusal.

  “They may not all be available. Nothing has changed since we last talked.”

  “I’m making it very profitable for you. This is the deal of a lifetime for us all.”

  Thad widened his eyes in question. Who else was in on this deal?

  “Sage has agreed to take forty percent.”

  The news shook him. She would do that?

  “I’ll look for the papers for all the properties on my desk in the morning.”

  “I told you, from the beginning, some of these properties are not easy acquisitions.”

  “We moved forward with the understanding you would try to acquire them all. And Sage is counting on it. For her career.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “If this doesn’t go through, you will both be left without a job, in an uncomfortable break up with our company after your relationship got in the way of good business.”

  Thad was stunned. “How could you do that?”

  He shook his head. “Welcome to big business Thad. We need those properties. Come now, don’t be so unhappy. You get the girl and hugely compensated, and famous on top of it all. I’m giving you the world. All you have to do is part with a few prime pieces of real estate.”

  Thad stood to leave. He had nothing more to say to this man. He would like to hop on his jet and head back to Torren before the sun set.

  But Sage. Zachary was threatening her too. Her future as a CEO would be destroyed. Zachary had tricked them, manipulated them into this farce of a relationship and then would use it against them.

  Zachary opened the door before Thad could leave. “Come in Sage. Let’s finalize your role in all of this too, shall we?”

  She looked from Thad to Zachary, her perceptive eyes trying to understand.

  “You may remain standing. This will only take a moment. I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to remind you that your futures depend upon two things: the success of this marketing plan, and the acquisition of the prime pieces of real estate. Sage, you will be richly compensated. We decided to bring you in because you would surely discover our plans sooner or later and it is much easier to bring you in on the cut than to have to fire and blacken your name.”

  She sucked in a breath. “Understood.” She wouldn’t look at Thad but he suspected all manner of violence and disgust ran through her brain.

  He had never dreaded a date more than he did theirs that evening.

  Chapter 16

  Sage trembled in the cab on her way home from the office. She tried to maintain composure in front of the new bodyguard. She learned he went by Stephen. How had things deteriorated so quickly? Instead of being one of the best men she had ever met, Thad was a part of a plan to blackmail her into silence about their unethical dealings. How was she still a part of this farce? She needed one day to sort things through. Facing the loss of everything she had worked for shattered her confidence. What would life hold for her after the chase for a CEO spot?

  Admitting and facing defeat was not something she could do yet. Had this cutthroat business world beat her? Met her head on with a problem she couldn’t solve? And the worst consequence of walking away? She would have to take down a good company with her when she left. If she went public and decried their p
lans, exposing Zachary, she might protect her name. But everything she and Thad had worked to build marketing wise, all her efforts at improvement on the micro level, would go to waste. But if she didn’t, Zachary would smear her name everywhere he could. She couldn’t face such an impossible choice, and so she shelved the decision until tonight, after this impossible date.

  The Date. So how would this work? The two at complete odds must publicly pretend to be falling in love. She groaned. Because she was still attracted to him, had thought him a different person than he appeared to be at the moment. And she had insulted him. Her head fell into her hands. What a nightmare. Could she just call off the date?

  Her phone beeped. “Are we still on? I say we spend lots of money and bill Zachary.” His winking emoji made her laugh.

  “Can I be honest and tell you I was just riding home, dreading it?”

  “No, none of that. We can do this.”

  So much relief and comfort filled her, she was ashamed of herself for falling for a man who would participate in such questionable behavior. But he really was fun, and charming, and she always needed more of that in her life. Her laugh startled the cab driver. Maybe this evening wouldn’t be so difficult after all. Especially when he saw what she had planned.

  A sick sense of revenge struck her and she vowed to make this date as difficult as possible.

  Her phone rang. The Survivor Challenge. She grinned. “Hello?

  “Hi, Sage Parker?”

  “Yes.”

  “Just touching base. We are all ready for you. I’m finalizing your evening. And we always double check about the last challenge, because it’s difficult even for the most daring participants.”

  Her grin grew. “We are doing that one for sure.”

  “Ok, you’re on. See you at 8:30.”

  She smiled at her building’s new bellman, while her Stephen stopped to talk to him. Once in her room, she worked as quickly as she could to get everything ready. Then she jumped in the shower and took extra care with her appearance. When she was satisfied she would awe and impress, she texted Stephen and her driver.