Chapter 16
Davis couldn’t get Luna out of his head. He should have been working—and hewasworking—but he struggled to focus. He could have fucked her all day Saturday and well into Sunday, but she had to rest sometime. She slept late on Saturday, and he couldn’t blame her. A few laps around the park’s jogging trail had perked her up in the afternoon, but he let her be that night. It was difficult to keep his hands to himself, but he didn’t want to wear her out or scare her off. The things she already let him do were enough to ignite sex dreams starring the two of them. Instead, he slept curled around her and found the most restful sleep he could remember having.
He scrubbed his hands over his face and focused on his computer. He’d become more efficient, faster at the demands his boss placed on him. Tony enjoyed pushing more and more work onto his already long to-do list, but Davis was capable of handling it. If he was forced into too much more, though, things might start to slip. Like sleep.
He arrived first every weekday morning, getting started on his own work before leaving at seven forty-five to retrieve the coffee and bagel his boss required of him. Tony had a personal assistant, but he just loved to try to get under Davis’s skin. It didn’t work, so he tried harder. It still didn’t work.
Davis hadn’t been raised a quitter. Maybe that was what Tony was after, but he wouldn’t achieve his goal. Davis wanted this job, had wanted it for almost as long as he’d wanted Luna. He knew how to play the long game. He knew how to apply hard work to his goals until they became reality. One day, maybe not soon, but one day, he would have Tony’s job.
Then maybe his dad would admit it wasn’t a mistake to give him the job in the first place.
He had Thanksgiving on his mind, alongside Luna. What they would do, what she would do. They’d inevitably get together with Hudson, Reagan, Grant, and Alex. He didn’t mind so much since he enjoyed most of them. He had to admit that Hudson hadn’t been the absolute worst at dinner the other night. Despite his instigations, Hudson hadn’t fallen for the bait. So Davis figured they would all gather together and have a meal. If Luna wasn’t going home with him as he’d asked, and he couldn’t blame her reticence, then he would stay as well. He thought maybe by Christmas he could convince her to split her time off between her parents and his. She had two weeks off, after all.
Davis hit the save button and considered another project complete. He glanced at the clock, noted how late it had gotten and decided to give it up for the day. He would be there bright and early the next morning, anyway.
There were some circumstances that could be foreseen. Problems, issues that would be obvious, and give someone the time to correct them before they got out of hand. It should have been one of those things, but Davis never bet on Tony being that type of person. An asshole with complete disdain for the boss’s son; yes. A hardass that made him work harder than anyone else in their division; absolutely. But a saboteur?
Davis arrived the next morning at seven, as usual. He sat down at his desk and began working on the next project due. By half past the hour, he was pretty deep in the document he was trying to finish before lunch. He remembered at the last minute to get up and go out, grab the breakfast for Tony, and return. What he found upon his return, however, was what shocked the hell out of him. There were three people standing in his office, none of them looking too happy.
“What’s going on?”
They stopped their chatting and looked up at him. Tony stood behind his desk as though he belonged there, and Barbara from Human Resources was in one corner. Davis felt his stomach sink to his toes.
“Nice of you to join us, Mr. Healy.”
Davis bristled at Tony’s tone of voice, not to mention the insinuation that he hadn’t been there long before the rest of them.
“I have your breakfast, Mr. Holland.”
He held up his offering, not caring that it was technically rude. He wanted to make sure everyone knew he was treated no better than an assistant, especially since there seemed to be an impromptu meeting going on.
“The McCaffrey account you completed last night,” Tony began. “Where did you get those numbers?”
“What kind of question is that? I worked them out, same as always.”
Barbara spoke up. “Can you explain your process, Davis?”
He did his best not to sigh. He dropped the bag and cup on the small table by the door, ran his hands through his hair, and answered calmly. “I research nearby properties to get a feel for what the value is in the area, judge the square footage of the total building and gauge what it could possibly be turned into, and enter all of those figures into the program. The resulting number is always a little high for competitiveness, so I lower it by five percent if the property is one we’re extremely interested in.”
Peter raised his eyebrows. “Sounds right, Tony.”
Davis couldn’t figure out what the point in this exercise was. “That’s how I was taught; that’s how I’ve always done it.”
“So you’re telling me that you didn’t bid higher than Garmin on purpose?” Tony said.
“Why would I want to do that? They have access to the same numbers we do, so it’s not that unusual.”
“So if I told you I have information accusing you of being their spy, what would you say to that?”
Davis gaped for a full thirty seconds before he blinked and closed his mouth. Was there a hidden camera somewhere? Someone that would pop out and tell him he was on candid camera. “You’re kidding, right? This is essentially my company, why the hell would I be in bed with Garmin?”
“Essentially, it’s your parents’ company, but why wouldn’t you want to bring it down? If Garmin outbids us—”
“Then they win one contract over the dozens I’ve brought in for you so far! Are you out of your mind?” He regretted his outburst almost immediately, but to be accused of tanking the company his father’s family founded in the nineteenth century was outrageous.
“Tony, unless you have proof of your accusations, my hands are tied.” Barbara gestured for Peter to leave the office, and she stopped in the doorway. “I think it would be best if you allowed Davis to get back to work.”
Tony stared him down, still behind the desk as though it held all the answers. Davis could be thankful that it was password protected, or who knew what Tony would have tried to fiddle with before the others arrived.
Finally, he stalked out and Barbara closed the door behind them. Davis realized the coffee and bagel still sat there, so he picked them up and trashed them. He had half a mind to pretend he’d gotten them for himself for a change, but he didn’t think he could stand putting food in his stomach at that moment.
His back ached from standing so stiffly. He moved to his chair and forced himself to relax. It appeared that Tony was trying to get him fired, and there were very few ways that could be done when your father owned the company. The best Tony could likely get was a transfer, but Davis was not about to let him ruin the career he worked so hard to obtain.
He was tempted to leave early for a change, but that would cause more rumors. He sent a text to Luna and asked if he could see her after work, then flipped his phone over and worked even harder on the next item on his agenda. He needed the sweet relief of her presence, but he knew she wouldn’t see his text until at least lunchtime. He desperately wanted to bury his face in her hair and let her tell him everything was going to be fine.
He debated calling his father. He’d sworn he could do this, that he wasn’t a fuckup, and he had to follow through. He would cut their competition off at the knees if that was what it took. Davis Healy was not a quitter, and Tony Holland couldn’t force it to be true no matter how hard he tried.
