But then, I had to remind myself that this wasn’t totally out of left field. My father had warned me.
“My dad would have …” I murmured to myself.
“What?” Andy asked, tipping forward to catch my muttered words.
“My dad anticipated this. He would have been prepared. That fucker thinks of everything. He would have had a contingency plan.” I exhaled in resignation and swiveled my chair around. I looked out the glass wall that faced the center of New York City. Maybe I should go for a run. If I ran really fast, I might escape this worsening nightmare. I could run into a new day where this was all just a dream.
“What are our options?” I asked.
“We could sue for breach of contract,” said Andy. His voice lacked the ring of conviction I wanted to hear. “We could demand evidence of the threat our deal poses to their state affairs. That’s all bullshit, anyway. How could we be posing a threat?”
His words struck a chord in me. We’d never worried about those clauses because they didn’t apply to us. Cedar had a clean track record. My father may have been an ass, but he’d kept his nose clean in his dealings. So had I. There wasn’t a shred of scandal attached to our reputation.
“Someone is making money out of this fuck-up,” Andy continued. “And it will be someone who can afford to fight dirty. In my opinion, we would just be wasting more money and delaying the inevitable. The Chinese are not requesting that we return their initial payment. They even offered to pay thirty percent of the final sum to help offset our expenses. On my way here, I made some calls to learn why they would make a move they have nothing to gain from. There’s no word on this, no grand scheme at play. Just a business deal gone wrong it appears, on both sides.”
It still made no sense to me. Nothing had been going wrong. Quite the opposite, actually. I’d been conscientious in providing regular updates. We’d met all our milestones. This project had been running like clockwork. Better than clockwork, goddammit! We’d been ahead of schedule.
Andy looked as if he was about to continue talking but I shoved my chair back. I was edgy with impatience and frustration. And barely concealed rage.
“There’s something bigger going on here. Something out of our hands,” I said, my voice almost hollow. I wanted to be angry with my friend for failing me. But I knew there was only so much he could do. Especially when there was something else at play.
I couldn’t wait there any longer. Still standing, I began packing my briefcase.
Andy stood to walk out with me, worried by my sudden quiet behavior. He waited for me as I gave some instructions to Jane. When I stalked out of the office, he fell into step beside me.
“Do you know if the Chinese have initiated a new contract with any other company? Maybe one that wouldn’t pose a diplomatic conflict?” I asked, breaking into Andy’s silence.
“No. Not to my knowledge, at least. That was the first enquiry I’ve made. It would have made this development more logical. Not less painful, of course, just more logical. I guess we have to wait to get more details. Maybe check in with your contacts,” Andy suggested. I nodded slightly in response, distracted by my depressing thoughts.
We’d emerged from the front entrance and Horatio was waiting at the back door of the Bentley. I was grateful I’d come in with my driver today. The thought of navigating New York’s streets right now didn’t appeal. I’d probably rear-end someone.
“Where are you off to?” Andy asked. I could tell he was concerned. And probably guilty too. I didn’t say anything to ease him.He should have fought harder, dammit.
“Dinner with Angelique,” I muttered. I could see relief in his expression. No doubt he was expecting me to go off on some bender. It wouldn’t be the first time. And now I had a fucking good reason. But tonight, I wanted to be with my woman.
“She’s back from Paris?” he asked.
“Yes. Three days ago,” I replied. The words felt alien to me. We were standing in the goddamn street making small talk. What the hell was wrong with us?
“My father’s going to kill me,” I finally whispered. Andy winced. He knew my history with the man. And now my father had a real reason to make my life a living hell. This was going to get worse before it got better. We both knew that. At best, our shares would plummet. Although bankruptcy wasn’t out of the question.
And I was going to have to face the Board.
Chapter 10
Prince Walker
Iswirled the red liquid around in the glass as I waited. Angelique was late again. Generally, she was held up by a shoot or a meeting. Or she’d be sleeping off the exhaustion of a trip. I’d stopped minding after a while. I knew her modeling career kept her too busy to even find time for herself. Sometimes, I used these moments alone to collect my thoughts. As I was doing now.
I’d marveled when she had mentioned a week ago that our relationship would clock its first year in two months. Before Angelique Delavigne, the longest period I’d spent in a relationship was two weeks. The girls had always gotten too clingy too quickly. Angelique was different.
After those first intoxicating weeks together, we’d rolled into a steady rhythm. Fucking. Navigating the social circuit. Fucking some more. That was where we truly connected. Though I wasn’t sure if I loved her, and she’d never said it either, she met my passion with equal vigor. Coupled with her many work trips, it was probably what buffered us from the bickering most couples suffered from. Plus, she laughed at my jokes, and I found her body irresistible.
Angelique appeared at my side now and kissed my cheek. She put her white Chanel purse on the table. She dropped her car keys beside it with a clang. She flung her hair to the side as she settled into a chair beside me. The shiny midnight-black waves painted a stark contrast against the white turtleneck top she had on. She was breathtaking, as usual.
She waved a waiter over and turned back to me. Taking notice of the wine I was sipping, her dark eyebrows drew together. I never drank alone anymore.
“Are you okay, Prince? Are we toasting something?” she said with dry humor. She must have been worried by my dour expression. “Tell me how your day has been so far,” Angelique pressed. She took the glass from me and entwined her fingers with mine.
