Keeping His Enemy Close
Kate Hewitt
Chapter One
‘I’M SO SORRY,ASHLEY.’
Ashley Woodward’s stomach clenched with nerves as she took several deep breaths, trying to stem the tide of panic that was rushing through her in an icy river of dread.
‘I don’t shoot the messenger, Ruth,’ she managed with a decidedly wobbly smile. Ruth Boxall had been with her from the beginning, when Ashley had been determined to take the wreckage of her father’s business and turn it into something trustworthy and true. Ruth had believed in her even when Ashley hadn’t been able to believe in herself, and together they’d built a company that had gone from admittedly small success to slightlylesssmall success…until now.
‘I don’t understand why,’ she said for what had to be at least the tenth time as she opened her laptop and started clicking on various emails, scanning the lines she’d already read too many times, the words branded onto her brain, her heart—scars that would never, ever heal, because she was about to lose everything she’d worked for, and she didn’t even knowwhy.
Buying shares for nearly twice the amount they’re worth… Galletti Finance is offering… Too good to refuse… I’m sorry…
Howwas this happening?
Ashley tasted the acidic tang of bile on her tongue, and she forced herself to swallow, even though her stomach was churning so hard she was afraid she might lose the cup of black coffee and breakfast bar she’d forced down at five o’clock this morning—and then only because her stomach had felt so empty, she’d thought it might eat itself.
She’d barely slept or eaten in thirty-six hours, since Galletti Finance, a company she’d never even heard of before, had swooped in and started buying up shares in Infinite Innovations—the company she’d founded—just after it had gone public. What was meant to have been the pinnacle of her achievement and aspiration had ended up being a surreal nightmare, as the company she’d poured her life’s blood and sweat into was swiftly devoured by a faceless magnate.
Had she really held her head up high through the years of scandal and shame, been knocked back time and again and finally found her courage and clung to it—only to surrender to a stranger who seemed to be targeting her for no reason that Ashley could possibly discern? It was utterly intolerable and yet, according to Ruth, there was nothing she could do but let it happen.
‘It might not be as bad as you think,’ her right-hand woman said now in a tone of quiet calm that had reassured Ashley so many times since she’d started Infinite Innovations.
Capable and no-nonsense, a former housewife turned chief financial officer, Ruth Boxall had been the steady pair of hands Ashley had desperately needed when she’d started out on this road. She’d tried to found her own company at only twenty-seven years old, with very little experience and too much baggage that came with the Woodward name, baggage that Ruth understood all too well. Without Ruth Boxall, Ashley would never have had the confidence to take that wretched name and make it known again, this time for championing something that mattered, something she believed in passionately—not that it made any difference now.
Because now, just when she should have been celebrating that victory, instead she faced the most stinging defeat. Galletti Finance was on the cusp of owning controlling shares in Infinite Innovations. The last three days had been a rollercoaster of learning about the takeover, talking to various lawyers and business consultants to try to stop it as it steamrolled ahead and then coming to this point: the absolute nadir. Galletti Finance was about to walk into the building and claim it as its own.
At least, Nico Galletti, the CEO, was. He had ordered her to a meeting at nine o’clock this morning. It was eight-thirty now, and Ashley was not at her best. She hadn’t showered in nearly twenty-four hours, she definitely hadn’t slept and she felt exhausted, emotional and hopeless. Not the best state of mind to be in when she was probably about to be fired.
‘How might it not be as bad?’ Ashley asked as she closed her laptop and stood up, pacing the confines of the small office she’d taken when she’d become CEO. It was a far cry from the offices Woodward Investments had enjoyed—sixteen whole floors of prime real estate, her father having had an enormous corner office with soaring skylights, a private fitness centre and countless other luxury amenities. All of it had been liquidated long ago, along with just about every other asset her father had owned, both personally and commercially. By the time her father had finished with the company, there had been practically nothing left but its name—and the daughter he’d left behind to pick up the pieces as best as she could.
‘Well, hostile takeovers don’t necessarily mean the acquiring company fires all and sundry,’ Ruth explained as she lowered herself into the chair in front of Ashley’s desk with a small, encouraging smile. ‘Sometimes,’ she continued, ‘They just want to keep it running as smoothly and efficiently as it has been. Nothing necessarily needs to change.’
‘Do you really believe that?’ Ashley asked. It was a slender thread of hope that she was desperate to cling to, but somehow she couldn’t make herself. Maybe because the worst had happened in her life so many times before, and she’d long ago learned it was better to be prepared for it. Or maybe because of the way Galletti Finance had targeted her little company so relentlessly the very second that it could. Something about that felt…deliberately malevolent. But why?
That was the question that kept hammering through her brain: why target Infinite? Yes, it had just gone public, but it was still comparatively modest, quietly doing good and making an admittedly negligible profit without attracting much notice. There had recently been a glowing article in a prominent business magazine, but it hadn’t made the cover, and was that really all it took to attract the circling sharks?
Or at least one shark in particular: Nico Galletti.
Ashley had looked him up three days ago, when Ruth had first remarked upon the flurry of activity among Infinite’s shareholders. There had been surprisingly few photos of the man online, considering how rich and successful he was, and most of them were blurry paparazzi snaps from a distance, when he was leaving a building or getting into a car.
Nico Galletti was notoriously private. He’d also seemingly emerged from nowhere a mere six years ago, playing the stock market and encountering wild success. Now, with his own extensive portfolio of financial and property interests, he was known for taking financial risks, for being completely calm and in control even when the stock market wobbled or plunged…and for being utterly ruthless.
Infinite Innovations wasn’t the first company he’d taken over and, while Ashley had taken some comfort from the fact that he’d kept employees in place at other institutions, it still didn’t give her a lot of hope. There had been zero communication from anyone at Galletti Finance until this morning: not a single assurance that jobs would be retained, that employees didn’t need to worry or that things would continue to run smoothly. The silence had felt ominous, like a thundercloud moving ever closer, the storm about to break right over her head.
Still, she told herself, she could face her imminent demise head-on, with her shoulders back and her chin up. She wouldn’t cower or cringe, bow or scrape—not again, not ever and not for anyone. Not even Nico Galletti.
‘I think I need to brush my teeth,’ she announced. ‘And probably apply some deodorant. I have a feeling I might smell.’
‘Well, that’s one way to offend Nico Galletti,’ Ruth replied wryly, and Ashley rolled her eyes.
‘I think I’d rather offend him by telling him he’s a ruthless bully,’ she replied. ‘But somehow I don’t think that will be a good bargaining tactic.’
‘At this point, I’m not sure what would be.’ Ruth hesitated, a frown marring her forehead. ‘It’s a mystery to me why he’d target such a relatively small company. Do you think he might be interested in our inventions?’
‘A secret science geek?’ Ashley surmised hopefully as she rooted around in her desk drawer for deodorant and hairbrush. ‘That could work. Maybe he wants it as his own little pet project. Do you think he’d keep on the employees, then, at least?’
