Annihilate Me (Vol. 1) (The Annihilate Me Series) (16 page)

“Cyrus,”
Alex said, “I have a proposition for you.”

“But
I was just admiring Ms. Kent, Alex.
 
Why take the spotlight off her so quickly?
 
I have a feeling most of the men here
tonight are also admiring her.
 
Where are you from, Jennifer?
 
If I might call you Jennifer.”

“Jennifer
is fine, Cyrus.
 
I’m from Maine.”

“Maine.
 
It’s beautiful there.
 
Of course Maine would produce you.
 
It makes sense, don’t you agree, Alex?
 
Only Maine would produce this kind of
raw beauty.”

Was he serious?
 
Who talked like that?

“If
we could talk about the proposition....”

“You
mean the proposition you have for my father?”

“No,
actually I have one for you.
 
Would
you care to hear it?
 
I think it
might interest you.”

A
server came up beside me, interrupting the conversation.
 
I looked at him.
 
“Yes?”

“I
have two drinks for you, madam.”

“From
whom?”

“Two
gentlemen admirers.
 
I believe
they’ll introduce themselves to you later.”

I
looked at Alex, who looked annoyed.
 
“One glass of champagne is enough for me,” I said.

“You
should indulge,” Cyrus said.
 
“You’re obviously a hit here tonight.
 
You’re a new face.
 
And a stunning one.
 
Sorry, Alex, but it’s true.
 
I’ve been watching the men watch
her.
 
We need someone like Jennifer
here tonight—she’s made it more interesting.
 
Everybody else knows one another.
 
I have a feeling that people don’t know
that she’s with you.
 
I certainly
didn’t earlier because I was planning on approaching her myself.
 
Is this serious?”

“Very.”

The
server looked confused.
 
“Should I
take away the drinks, madam?”

“Yes.
 
And please thank whoever sent them.
 
But I never have more than one drink, so
I’m afraid I’ll need to pass.”

“She’s
also with me,” Alex said.
 
“I expect
you to tell them that.”

The
server nodded and walked away.

“That
sounded territorial,” Cyrus said.
 
“But I don’t blame you.
 
If
she were with me, I’d do the same thing.”

“About
the proposition,” Alex said.

“Of
course.
 
I’d like to hear it.
 
Will Jennifer come?
 
I assume she knows about it.”

Again,
Alex’s hand, this time just above my ass.
 

“If
you’d like.
 
I think Jennifer would
be happy to come.”

Cyrus
looked at me, his eyes drifting away from mine and down to my breasts.
 
He was good looking, sure, but also an
absolute creep.
 
“I would like.”

For
reasons I didn’t understand, Alex looked as if he was seething.
 
He was getting his audience with Cyrus,
which is what he wanted.
 
I was
supposed to be nothing but an object to him.
 
That was the arrangement.
 
Why would he care if others were paying
attention to me?
 
Why the sudden
change in mood?
 
I didn’t get it.

“Then
let’s talk,” he said.

CHAPT
ER NINETEEN

As
Alex planted the seed of his idea, Cyrus seemed less interested in it than he
did in me.
 
Alex made his pitch, but
Cyrus kept stealing glances at me, which I thought was rude.
 
This time, it was
my
hand that went to the small of Alex’s back,
which stiffened when I touched it.
 
Instinctively, I pulled back.
 
What was his problem?

“So,
you need our ships?” Cyrus said when Alex was finished.

“In
a mutually beneficial relationship, yes.”

“Are
you able to send me a formal proposal?
 
I’d like to show it to my father.
 
He will need to be involved in this, though I’m happy that you came to
me first.
 
I appreciate it.”

“You’ll
have a formal proposal tomorrow.
 
It’s clear to all of us that one day you’ll take over for your
father.
 
Out of respect for that, I
wanted to come to you first.”

“That
was kind of you.”
 
Cyrus turned to
me, his gaze lingering once more on my breasts.
 
Despite how indecent he was being, I
kept my expression interested and polite in an effort to help Alex.
 
“What do you think of the deal,
Jennifer?
 
Should we take it?”

“I
don’t think I’m qualified to answer,” I said.

He
turned to Alex.
 
“Is she qualified?”

“She’s
more than qualified.”

“Do
you mind if I hear her opinion?”

“If
you’d like.
 
Of course.”

There
was a coldness to his voice that I didn’t understand, but my job here was to
assist him, so I did.
 
I cocked my
head to the side so Cyrus would lift his eyes to meet mine.
 
When they did, I went in for the
kill.
 
“I see it as win-win.
 
Wenn Oil is an industry leader.
 
So is Stavros Shipping.
 
I recently read that you increased your
fleet of ships substantially when you took over a significant portion of
Anastassios Fondaras’ shipping company.
 
I think you know the report I’m referring to.”

“The
one in the
Journal
?”

“That’s
right.”

“Not
all of that is true.”

“Probably
not—journalists always tend to get some details wrong.
 
But if you do have several ships sitting
empty due to the economy, here’s an option.
 
And from where I stand, it’s a solid
one.
 
Wenn Oil has a steady supply
of petroleum it must distribute.
 
You have the means to make that happen.
 
Come together on a fair price, and I
think everyone will be pleased.”
 
I
paused for a moment, and then I smiled at him.
 
“I think your father would be impressed
that it was you who nailed this down.
 
Alex could go to any number of industry people he knows—he has the
world at his disposal—but he didn’t.
 
He told me tonight that he wanted to work with you.
 
He made that very clear.
 
It’s why we came tonight.”

“It
was?”

“It
was.
 
Alex said that was his
goal.
 
I assume the fact that it was
he who came to you about the deal will remain private.
 
Just between you two.”

“It
would,” Alex said.
 
“As far as I’m
concerned, this is your deal to propose, Cyrus.
 
You’re the one who thought of it, not
me.”

“Wenn
Oil is a catch,” I said.
 
“Your
father knows that.
 
This could be a
significant deal if negotiations go well, assuming they go forward at all.
 
I guess that depends on you and your
father, and on how you respond to the proposal.”

“And
here you thought you weren’t qualified to talk on the topic.
 
You’re very bright, Jennifer.
 
Looking the way you do, I wouldn’t have
expected that.”

Sexist motherfucker.
 
“I hope I didn’t speak
out of turn.”

“Of
course not.
 
I asked your
opinion.
 
I just didn’t realize it
would be so informed.”

I
was insulted, but I didn’t let it show.
 
Instead, I smiled.
 
“Business
is in my blood.
 
It’s one of the
reasons I’m with Alex.
 
Finally,
someone I can talk to who gets it.”

“I
wonder who else you could talk to who gets it?”

He
didn’t allow me a chance to respond.

“I’m
eager to see the proposal,” Cyrus said.
 
“Will you email it directly to me, Alex?
 
There’s no need to CC my father.”

“Of
course.”

“Tomorrow
afternoon?”

“You’ll
have it by noon.”

“And
I’ll be in touch, hopefully sooner than later.
 
I appreciate that you thought of me
first.
 
Or was that Jennifer’s
idea?”

“It
was Alex’s,” I answered.

“Jennifer
is right,” Alex said.
 
“We’ve known
each other for years, Cyrus.
 
You
were at the top of my list.
 
Of
course, I’d come to you first.”

“Others
would have gone to my father.
 
We’ll
work something out.
 
I’ll make sure
of it.”

“Thank
you, Cyrus.”

“We’ll
talk tomorrow.”
 
He turned to
me.
 
“And it was nice meeting you,
Jennifer.
 
A pleasure.
 
Alex is a lucky man.”

“I
know I am, Cyrus,” Alex said.
 
“Until tomorrow.”
 
He reached
for my hand, and we walked into the crowd.

CHAP
TER TWENTY

With
Alex’s hand firmly holding mine, we stepped away from Cyrus, past the bubbling
pool, up a set of stairs, and down the hallway that led to the Grille
Room—and the exit beyond.
 

People
tried to stop and talk to Alex along the way, but he only offered them a curt
nod and a smile, which was unlike him.

Given
the briskness with which he walked, the night obviously was over.
 
Our mission was accomplished.
 
There was no question in my mind that
Cyrus would respond positively to Alex’s proposal.
 
But right now there was a clear
undercurrent that Alex was unhappy with me.
 

I
glanced at him, and saw that his face was set.
 
Expressionless.
 
He looked like a different person to
me.
 
Whatever warmth and humor he
had shown to me earlier was now gone.
 

What
did I do wrong?
 
Did it really
matter to him that I told him that I thought Cyrus was good looking?
 
Was that it?
 
Or that men ordered me drinks?
 
Or that Cyrus wouldn’t stop coming on to
me?
 
It didn’t make sense to
me.
 
Why would that matter to
him?
 
I was an object to him.
 
That’s what we agreed upon.
 
Again, the only thing I could imagine is
that by saying that I thought Cyrus was attractive, I’d broken the illusion
that we were a couple.
 
Nothing else
that had happened was in my control.
 
It seemed absurd to me that he’d react so strongly to my faux pas and to
Cyrus’ advances when he had clearly noted that this was a business
arrangement.
 
I might be wrong, but
my gut said differently.

Ahead
of us, an orchestra was playing in the Grille Room.
 
When we arrived earlier, there was no
orchestra or dancing.
 
But now, far
ahead of us, I could see people waltzing as their heads dipped and lifted to
the music.
 

Coming
toward us was a server with flutes of champagne on a silver tray.
 
I tried to slow our pace to take one of
the glasses because I was thirsty, but Alex was having none of it.
 
He urged me forward and we walked past
the man.
 
To our right were the
stairs that would lead out of the building and down to the street.
 
This night was over with an exclamation
point.
 
Somehow, I’d blown it.
 
Apparently, for whatever reason, this
was it for Wenn Enterprises and me.

“Alex,”
I said.

He
turned to me with steel in his eyes.
 
“Would you like to dance with me?” he asked.