Everything You Need: Everything For You Trilogy Book 1 (6 page)

“Miss Caid. Won’t you please come in?” He’s impeccably civilised to the rotten core and I hope he doesn’t know how the sound of his tempered Irish accent starts my legs trembling. I wouldn’t pass up a vodka bracer or two, right about now, given half a chance. Encountering Jack without benefit of alcohol in my system is far too unnerving.

One of the gentlemen at the table stands abruptly. “Now wait just one minute…” He shoves his chair away with the backs of his knees. “What’s she doing here?”

Jack’s face hardens. “Sit down, Anderson.” When Jack speaks in that tone, everyone listens.

Anderson doesn’t look too happy but he sinks back into his chair anyway.

Neil Anderson, I presume: CEO of Advance Advertising.

I’m momentarily distracted as an attractive blonde woman reaches out a restraining hand to rest on Anderson’s arm. My eyes fix on her long, dark-purple manicured nails, seemingly resting lightly but scoring little indentations in the man’s jacket sleeve in warning. No-one here wants to fall out with Jack Keogh it would seem, except me. But I have little left to lose after what I’ve found out.

I drag my focus back to him. “I’m here to discuss your existing advertising contract with CaidCo, Mr Keogh.”

The calculating look Jack levels at me makes me re-address that idea immediately but I’ve come too far already to turn tail and run despite seriously considering it as an option.

“There’s nothing to discuss, Miss Caid.”

Perhaps this is a big mistake. The room swims. I try to focus harder and on him yet it’s not easy. My lungs no longer inflate properly. I suddenly understand how a frantic moth struggles to resist the deadly allure of a flame.

Anderson shifts in his seat to get a better view of me, his irritated movements deadened by the thick woollen carpet beneath his chair. The platinum blonde at his side whispers something in his ear and they both turn to glower at me. Keogh’s own legal team are far more circumspect. No-one has leapt to their feet behind their boss.

But anyone who knows Jack Keogh knows you don’t get between him and his prey.

“There’s plenty…to discuss Mr Keogh… and I’m not leaving here… until we do.” My words come out in staccato gasps as my lungs tighten.

Jack Keogh isn’t the sort of man to let others do his dirty work. If he wants me to leave, he’ll have to throw me out himself and I won’t go quietly like I did four years ago either but my gut churns at the thought of Jack’s hands on me. The head of steam I’ve worked up on the drive over, fizzles fast.

I suppress a squeak when Jack moves, pacing round the solid table between us just as the building’s security team arrive at a noisy run, barrelling through the doors behind me. It’s an uncomfortable moment trapped between him and them.

My lungs constrict further. All my bluster may be short lived.

Jack lifts a hand, palm out, stopping security mid-flight. “George. Mateusz. Everything’s fine.”

Jack’s PA peers round the door after them. “I’m sorry, sir, she wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“Close the door behind you, Dorothy. I have everything I need. Miss Caid will be remaining.”

“I will?” I sound surprised.

“You will,” he confirms, a touch of amusement colouring his voice. Jack stares at me, unconcerned I might object. His voice may be deceptively mild but I’m still in enough possession of my faculties to understand he’s not offering me any choice here. It’s not what I expected but I should know how unpredictable Jack can be.

“Very good, sir.” Dorothy ushers the two uniformed men back through the doorway and closes it behind them.

I admire her ability to manage the unexpected. I wish I was as adept. I watch the little tableau play out around me feeling light-headed and a little detached and recognise the warning signs as I work hard to normalise my irregular breathing patterns. I silently count out my 5-2-5 lifesaver. The last thing I want is a major panic attack in front of everyone.

Ominous silence as they continue to stare forces a prickle of nervous sweat to break out over my skin. Am I crazy to even try this? All I know is I’d be crazier not to.

“I believe you require a seat, Miss Caid.”

A dull pain sweeps my brow as Jack takes my elbow and steers me towards a chair. He holds it for me to sit. How can any woman resist that? The perfect gentleman. Handsome, mannered. Ruthlessly deceptive. I came here to sabotage Jack’s meeting and berate his disloyalty. I came to insist he reconsider his legal position immediately.

“Okay?” he whispers.

“Yes.” I mouth the word and nod warily, beginning to master my breathing rate just a little. At least my affliction’s got me a seat at the negotiating table.

His seat.

He plays this game so well, placing me in the chair he’s vacated. It still radiates the warmth from his body and the haunting drift of Clive Christian holds subtle sway, over-whelming my senses. I’ve underestimated how hard this is going to be.

He pours some sparkling mineral water into a glass and hands it to me. I sip slowly while my respiration recovers a little.

“So.” All eyes leave me and return to him. For a second, I’m pathetically grateful.

Jack takes the vacant chair on my right hand side. He’s placed me where he belongs at the head of the table. I look at everyone, now staring expectantly between us, as if unsure exactly who is running the show from here on in.

He’s a master of manipulation. This is how he punishes me for invading his domain and I’m aware of the ironic twist after what happened last weekend at my apartment. He’s sending me a strong message that he can do whatever he wants but I’d better not think I can retaliate.

Over my dead body. I’ll give him a fight just as soon as I can pull myself together and stop acting like some stunned little sparrow that flew head first into a plate glass window. I have a business to run. No time to give in to anxieties.

“Miss Caid?” He prefixes his words with my surname again. The way he says it, almost a whisper close against my ear, unnerves me as I’m sure it’s designed to. He’s such a dirty player. “As you’ve seen fit to grace us with your presence, perhaps you would care to enlighten us as to its meaning.” He steeples his fingers, waiting, calling my bluff.

I detect the smug anticipation of several people staring at me. I hate Jack for this but anger is good. It overcomes nerves. Given time I might have prepared a dignified and compelling speech but as Libby’s tip-off that Zee-Com was re-signing to a rival agency this afternoon, came at the very last moment, I’ve had none at all.

“Mr Keogh…” I have absolutely no idea how to begin. The absurdity of us continuing to say each other’s names back and forth strikes me as increasingly bizarre.

“… Jack, please. It’s not as if we don’t know one another.” Again I detect that tone of mild mockery in his voice.

Once, I thought we did. But did I ever really know him? I grip the sides of my seat where no-one can see my tension, trying to ignore the reminder of our shared past. But my heart thumps away, like Jack’s pathetic little slave, determinedly goading me to remember what he meant to me.

Jack was Harry’s most valued client. Not that I cared about any of that. At eighteen I was totally in thrall to a man ten years older than me. It’s car crash recollection.

“Mr Keogh.” I glare at him, distancing myself from any possibility of first name familiarity between us. I’m damned if I’ll let him reduce this to a personal attempt to patronise me. “Zee-Com has successfully had its business with my advertising agency for many years.”

“Now that’s not strictly true, Miss Caid.”

My blood stirs. People around the table seem reassured. If they were concerned I held any sway over their business dealings when I arrived, they aren’t bothered now. Jack is determined to ridicule me and provide his audience with entertainment.

I try the old confidence trick, picturing everyone naked to give myself a mental edge, but my stupid imagination fixes firmly on Jack’s body and there’s nothing demeaning about what I’m picturing beneath that expensive business suit: strong, muscular, golden-skinned and gloriously detailed right down to the dark hair on a taut belly directing my mind’s eye straight towards something I shouldn’t ever be thinking about. Especially not in a boardroom. I close my eyes for a second in case they decide to follow for real.

One embarrassed glance later and I notice Jack’s look of faint pleasure, like he might know exactly what I’ve been thinking. His lips part slightly as if he’s about to say something but changes his mind. Not that I want to be thinking about Jack’s lips either. I shift my gaze from them but catch myself staring instead at the strong, steady pulse beating at his throat.

I gouge my nails into my palms hard enough to stem the direction my thoughts are headed in. I’m better than this.

“As I understand it, Mr Keogh, when you started up your business you had neither funds nor sufficient clout to interest any advertising agency at all. My uncle took a chance on you. He gave you, shall we say, a very special deal.” I pause to let my words take effect and to snatch my next hurried breath. At least he’s listening. They’re all listening. “In short, he took you on, and if my eyes don’t deceive me, he did a pretty spectacular job of helping to put you right where you are today.” I brace myself for his second rebuttal.

“That, Miss Caid, is entirely true.”

I’m thrown. I’m already preparing to defend my facts rigorously but he concedes them. Will I never know where I stand with Jack Keogh? “Then what exactly did I say earlier you felt worth disputing?”

“That Zee-Com had its business with your agency.”

His comment skewers me to the back of his luxuriously upholstered chair. His unwavering stare dares me to contradict him but I can’t. It isn’t the agency he doesn’t want to do business with. It’s me.

I ignore the familiar echo of rejection and try to reason with him. “The fact that the agency has recently come under new leadership changes nothing.” Except my whole premeditated, mapped-out life.

“It changes everything.” There’s no trace of amusement on his face.

I snap at his perception. “Only that my uncle died of a heart attack working too many long hours for uncompromising capitalists like you.”

My outburst takes Jack by surprise. The rest simply look uncomfortable. Except for the blonde. She’s sneering.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean that.” Damn. I’ve practically accused him of single-handedly killing Harry Caid. Hot tears of shame spark in my eyes.

Jack curtly nods his acceptance of my apology and discredits me for saying it at the same time with his graceful forgiveness. “Accepted. I fully understand you’re grieving your recent loss.”

Harry entrusted the helm to me and already I fail him by losing his most prestigious and lucrative client. I can handle the Zee-Com account if I’m given a chance, I know I can.

“I may be new but I bring fresh ideas to the table. A more contemporary approach. Things that might appeal highly to your emerging markets.” I’m a straight A student. Earned my degree with honours. Came top in my year. I’m nobody’s fool. Except where my heart is concerned and that’s been firmly locked away for its own protection. “My uncle liked what he saw when you were starting out. Do you have that same vision, Mr Keogh?”

“Are you asking me if I like what I see, when I see you, Miss Caid?”

Oh God, I walked straight into that one. He looks like he wants to lick me all over like the sucker I am. My eyes run over everyone in embarrassment. The rest of the room appears either shifty, bemused or dubiously engaged by the hidden conversation between us. The blonde woman looks like a lightning bolt just zapped her between the eyes. Jack doesn’t seem to care what they think and I’m not sure just how much more of this torment I can take.

I stand.

Jack gets to his feet too, towering above me. It’s a bad move on my part. I feel diminished beside him. Awkward and inadequate.

“Everybody out.” His command is simple. The whole room looks as surprised as I feel. I turn, first to leave. The first to obey him, even now. “Not you, Miss Caid.” His hand on my arm stops me, burns through me.

I wheel to face him, shocked. Is he planning to punish my audacity further or is this my chance? Have I actually got through to him? If the look on other people’s faces is any indication, they certainly think I might have. Their dirty underhand deal might be slipping through their greasy little fingers.

“Mr Keogh?” Anderson speaks up for his agency. “What in hell’s going on here? We have a contract to sign.”

“And we may still have, Anderson, if you’re someone I can work with.” The implication is clear. Do what you’re told or any potential business deal is off the table.

Jack’s eyes return to mine. “Get everyone out, Zuckerman. I’m postponing any decision.”

I think I’ve done it. What it is, I have yet to work out, but I have a stay of execution. Jack isn’t signing anything today. Aware I’ve been holding my breath I exhale in one short burst. What made him change his mind? Is it my reminder of his original opportunity with my uncle? A debt of honour. Whatever it is I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to make his change of heart a permanent one. I’m not fooled into thinking I have anything in the bag yet.

“Look here.” Anderson isn’t going quietly. And he glares straight at me. “I don’t know what sort of game you’re playing.”