I’m playing chess now.
Today we will decide what we keep and what we sell.And what we throw in the trash.
This is what I do.
This is how I work.
Thisis what I don’t want her to see.
I’m known for being cold, calculated and fucking good at making money off companies crumbling at the seams.
Very few people take the high risks I do, but that’s because they aren’t me.
I’ve made billions, and I’ve done it by not letting my heart or my cock take the lead.
I need Gemma gone.
But you’re still thinking of fucking her on the kitchen counter.
To see her spread open and dripping for me while I slide her tiny, chopped snacks through her juices.
Christ.
Focus on Theo, not your damn fantasies.
As I listen to him and Robin go through the numbers, I see the facts I’ve pieced together in my head play out like a movie.
Anthony Ford overcapitalized and put the company in a terrible position, which meant his widow had no hope of keeping it running.Gemma didn’t have the knowledge, skills or funds to salvage what her late husband had done.
Perhaps he had a plan.
That’s me being kind.
I mean, that plan didn’t include him being killed in a car accident and leaving his wife with this mess, despite his intentions.But he has, and I can’t help wondering what those intentions were.
Bad strategic decisions, I can forgive.
Not...what I think Anthony was involved with.
During the pre-purchase due diligence, Theo met with their former accountant.The older man agreed to meet with us despite resigning months ago.
Theo came to me, concerned.“Something fishy is going on, Drew.”
“Fishy, how?”
Those weren’t the words I wanted to hear when looking at acquiring a company.
“I asked about those large chunks of cash being moved, and he got defensive.Vague at best,” Theo replied.
“Explain.”
“I asked what those amounts were for and Harold said, and I quote, many of our employees split their salary payments into dual accounts for one reason or another.Mr.Ford was the owner.I don’t get to decide how much he pays himself.Or to what account.I was doing my job.”
Theo and I stared at one another, knowing the old guy was correct.
It left us with more questions than we had answers because it was a lot of fucking money.A sum that would have left Gemma and Zoe in a different set of circumstances than they are in now.
I don’t know the details, but I know she’s updating her resume, and no one does that if they have seven or eight figures in their accounts.
