Fifth Avenue Devil

Chapter 17

Seventeen

Annalise

I sit in my father's sleek corner office at Gellar Industries. The large windows in the cavernous room frame the breathtaking Manhattan skyline. My fingers twitch rhythmically on the desk as I anticipate Nate's arrival.

My stomach flutters with a mixture of anxiety, excitement, and some other unnamed feeling. I'm still not sure how I should perceive him.

I stretch my legs out, still feeling the remnants of a lingering ache. The feeling is bittersweet for me. Nate finally took my virginity. Spectacularly, I might add. I feel like I can finally understand why women in romantic movies lift their feet during a particularly romantic kiss with their partners.

If they feel anything like the fireworks Nate made me feel, they have every reason to let it show.

And last night’s display of Nate’s possessiveness in front of his brother Cash? I almost swooned .

I check my phone again for messages.

Meet you at your office at 10. – N

That’s the enigmatic, early hour message I received from Nate. Nothing about his sleazy brother. Or about missing me.

Of course not.

Nate remains a mystery to me.

The door swings open, cutting off my thoughts. And there is Nate Fordham in all his infuriating glory. His silver eyes meet mine. And of course, I can't help but notice how the sunlight streaming through the window makes them glint like silver.

"Ms. Gellar," he greets me curtly, striding into the room with an air of authority.

"Mr. Fordham," I reply. I am attempting to maintain a professional fa?ade, to act as if my heart isn’t beating faster just at the sight of him in his crisp Armani suit.

"Are you ready to get down to business?" he asks. His eye contact is blunt, his tone sharp and unyielding.

"Of course," I respond. “Once you tell me what you’re here about.”

“I have a printout of all the employees on the company payroll.” Nate drops a file folder on my desk. “We need to go through each person’s job. Then I’ll assign them a rating.”

I eye him. “And what will that accomplish?”

“It’ll let me know who is essential, and who is potentially redundant, when it comes time to make personnel cuts.”

I rear back. “Are you sure that is the best use of our time?”

“This is what CEOs do.” Nate looks at me sternly. “We function to help the company prosper and deliver profits to the shareholders.”

I can feel my cheeks tinge with heat. “...right…” As if that much should be obvious to me.

Nate pulls up a seat beside me and starts looking at the long list of names, starting with A. I force myself to focus on the matter at hand. After all, it's not just my own future at stake here. I’m making big decisions that will affect my employees.

As we dive into the discussions, I find myself admiring Nate's quick-witted intelligence and ruthless drive. Sure, his cold demeanor can be off-putting at times. But there is no denying that he knows how to command attention.

Nate taps his pen impatiently against my desk as we pore over the employee lists. "We need to be strategic about this. Not every single person is critical to the company's operations."

I grit my teeth. "I disagree. Each employee contributes something valuable. We can't just slash our workforce without considering the impact on the company."

His steely gray eyes bore into mine. Tension crackles between us, sudden and electric.

"Do you really think the mailroom clerk is indispensable? What about the fifteen administrative assistants?" Nate challenges. He leans forward and his crisp white shirt stretches taut to show the lines of his muscular chest. "Be rational here."

Anger flares inside me. How dare he question my judgment like I'm some wide-eyed ingénue straight out of college? I've worked my ass off to prove myself capable of leading Gellar Industries.

"I am being rational. Cutting jobs left and right is short-sighted. It destroys morale."

My pen moves deliberately down the list, marking almost every name as vital. Nate's brows rise in disbelief. I won't be cowed by his magnetic presence or ruthless business tactics.

"This company needs me to make tough calls. If you're too softhearted to do it, I will."

I scoff. "Softhearted? These are people with families, Nate. I’m sorry that I’m not ready to give them all the axe."

Nate smirks, confident and aggravating. "Keep telling yourself that, Kitten. We'll see who's right in the end."

God, I hate how much he affects me. I shake my head.

“I’m making a list of employees that are not superstars. Don’t get too excited, because it will be short.”

He rolls his eyes. “If you don’t make a substantial list, I will fire employees based solely on their metrics.”

“Do what you think is best.” I square my chin and start making a slightly longer list than I’d originally intended.

As I'm making a few final notes on the employee list, I notice that Nate’s hunched over a separate sheet of paper out of the corner of my eye. His pen moves quickly, decisively, in stark contrast to my own hesitance.

Curiosity gets the better of me. I lean forward slightly, trying to catch a glimpse of what he's working on so intently. Is it a counter to my own list?

Nate's head snaps up and he catches me looking, eyebrow arched in amusement. With a soft smirk, he casually flips the paper over, hiding the contents from view.

"Can I help you, Annalise?" he drawls.

I feel a flush creep up my neck at being caught snooping. "Just wondering what you're scheming over there.”

Nate chuckles, low and sinful, as he stands over me. "So suspicious. If you must know, it's a list of employees I think will thrive in the new Gellar-Vialife offices."

“Let me guess. It's a fraction of the size of my list?"

"It's called trimming the fat. Something you'll need to learn if you want to succeed in this business."

His condescending tone makes me bristle. I stand abruptly, palms flat on the mahogany table as I glare at him. "Don't patronize me, Fordham. I'm not some wide-eyed girl you can manipulate."

Nate towers over my petite frame. "Believe me, I'm well aware of that.”

The way he looks at me, hungry and heated, sends a shiver down my spine. I inhale sharply, willing myself to focus.

"This company, these employees? They are my top priority. I won't let your ruthless tactics destroy what my family built."

"Like it or not, Annalise, we're in this together now. So you better get used to me and my methods."

He plucks the list I made from the desk, frowning.

"Interesting choices. But you know as well as I do that not everyone here is going to keep their job."

"Then maybe you should teach me," I shoot back. "Show me how to be the ruthless, callous CEO I apparently need to be. That’s part of the deal I agreed to, if you’ll remember."

Nate studies me for a moment, as if weighing his options. Then a sly smirk appears on his face.

"All right, Miss Gellar," he whispers. His breath is warm on my cheek. "I wonder if you even know what you’re asking?"

I jerk my chin up defiantly. “I think I do. My father named me CEO for a reason.”

“Your father named you CEO because he knew you wouldn’t rock the boat. And he was right. But that’s okay. I will rock the boat for you.”

He leans over the paper and writes a list of eleven names in his elegant, slanted cursive. Eleven names, a reduction from the sixty-eight on the printed list.

My jaw drops. “You can’t think that I’ll let you fire fifty-seven people!” I gasp.

Nate narrows his eyes at me. But after a long moment, he nods. "You can keep three corporate-level managers when we move to the new offices."

I stare at him, my heart pounding with frustration. I scan over the names on the list. How can I possibly choose just three?

“But–”

He stills my protests with a hand on my arm. “This is a difficult task. There’s no doubting that. But you have to do it. If you don’t, there will be a CEO turnover. I’ve seen it happen time and time again. A company merges or is bought out, the new CEO doesn’t make drastic changes. The next thing you know, the board announces a new CEO. And then, whoever is in your place will make these cuts without knowing anything about your employees.”

He slides me his revised list. I suck in a breath as I see that Nate has been severe and heavy-handed. But his words ring through my head.

Nate could be right. There’s no one on the board that will stand up in my defense. I won’t get another swing at this fastball.

"All right, all right," I say. My finger hovers above the list, hesitating momentarily before scratching out several names. I can only hope that firing so many people is enough to salvage what remains of my father's legacy.

"Are you satisfied?" I ask, looking up at Nate.

He nods, but there's something different about him now. He exudes a calmness that wasn't there before.

"Let's move on to business strategies," he suggests. He opens a thick binder full of charts and graphs. I can't help but be a little intrigued by his change in demeanor.

"You’re so relaxed," I tease him, trying to lighten the mood. He smirks at me and the familiar edge returns to his expression.

"I’m very comfortable doing my job, Annalise." His tone is firm as he guides me through the intricacies of mergers and acquisitions. He talks about cost-effective marketing strategies and the advantages of vertical integration.

As we dive into corporate strategy, I find myself growing more and more fascinated. Not just by the subject matter, but by Nate himself. The intensity with which he discusses these topics reveals a passion I hadn't seen in him before.

Discussing synergy with him should be boring. But it’s actually a little bit hot? I can't help feeling drawn in by his smooth talking.

"Okay, so what do you think is the best approach for Gellar Industries regarding market penetration?" I ask. I slyly move my chair a little closer to his. I want to soak up whatever charm and charisma bomb has just gone off all over Nate Fordham.

"First and foremost, you need to identify your target market and define your value proposition," Nate explains, his voice oozing confidence. "Once you have that down, it's all about staying ahead of the curve. You must anticipate trends and pivot when necessary."

His words ring through me, and I nod in agreement. The more time I spend with Nate, the more I realize that beneath his prickly exterior lies a wealth of knowledge. Perhaps behind that gruff demeanor lies a genuine desire to see Gellar Industries succeed.

"You know," I say, my voice laced with genuine admiration. "You're a fantastic teacher when you let your guard down."

Nate looks at me, his gray eyes locking onto mine with a hint of surprise. "Well, you're a quick study, Annalise."

A smirk plays at the corner of his lips. I feel a flutter in my chest.

There’s so much more I want to learn from him.