Ruin Me (Savage Bosses)

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

M adison

Carol, the HR manager, led me around various departments to introduce me to some employees. Although I was a third-party consultant, she treated me like a new hire. I accepted her conduct because anything that delayed meeting Kent Luxe was a gift. The extra time aided my silent affirmations and self-confidence.

And I needed the boost, however small, because embarrassment warmed my body despite the time it took to drive from my parents’ house. Apparently, I hadn’t outgrown the shame that followed a self-pleasuring session. Not when my teenage obsessions Adam Levine, Bruno Mars, and ASAP Rocky stared down at me from their prominent positions on my walls.

“Before we meet the big boss, you’ll want to make friends with Omar.” Carol stopped before the desk of a handsome Black man. “Omar, meet Madison Montgomery. She’s the new hire Ife brought on board.”

There went the other reason I didn’t correct her. Under her tone was some major butt-hurt energy that she wasn’t part of the hiring decision. I made a note to myself not to piss off the HR lady any more than necessary.

I held my hand out to Omar, who stood with a dazzling smile that complimented his tanned complexion.

Appreciation warmed his eyes as he sized me up. “Friends? If I have my way?—”

Carol cleared her throat.

“—we’ll be the best of friends.” Omar shook my hand.

As attractive as Omar was, I wasn’t here to find a man. I wanted to do my job and bounce without more connections tethering me to the CEO of Luxe Locations. It was moments like these that I appreciated HR. Their sole purpose was to protect the company and Carol just saved Luxe Locations from a possible sexual harassment issue.

“I look forward to working with you and collaborating our efforts to weather the current storm,” I said.

At that moment, the door to the office I’d avoided peeking into opened. Three men, dressed in tailored suits that fit their impressive physiques to perfection, exited the corner office dominating the floor. I silently exhaled. My time was up and I was about to meet the man who could make my life a living nightmare.

Ife, the next time I see you, you better have a year’s worth of bribes. Maybe two.

“You can go in. He’s been expecting you for a while.” Omar squeezed my shoulder. “By the way, the morning was off to a rough start, so be careful where you step.”

His warning made me rethink my initial reaction. He might be a good friend to have.

“That’s my cue to leave. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask,” Carol said before turning her back, duties discharged.

The glass walls hid nothing from view. Kent sat at his desk, an overlord overseeing his domain. I squared my shoulders and entered the lion’s den, doing my best to ignore the thunderous beating of my heart or the intense desire rushing through my system.

Almost all my affirmations pfft into a cloud of ephemeral smoke as I walked in with more confidence than I felt.

“Close the door behind you,” Kent snapped.

Shake it off.

I wasn’t some low-level employee being taken to the floor for losing the company money, but neither was I prepared to unleash my temper on the man.

He’s Ife’s dad.

The reminder failed, yet served its purpose. Kent being Ife’s dad never stopped my fantasies as a teen, and seeing him in the flesh after eight years didn’t help matters. Thankfully, the reason I stood before him helped to cool me down. Somewhat. Enough to have an intelligent conversation with him.

“Do you think your relationship with my daughter allows you to show up to work late?”

Breathe Maddy.

“I was on time.”

Despite this morning’s session to clear my mind, I made it on time for my meeting with Carol. Had I intended to arrive earlier as was my habit? Yes, however I was too professional to allow a nutting session to undermine my reputation. Especially in a hostile environment.

He checked his watch. “It’s after nine. You were supposed to report here at 8:30.”

“Was Carol aware of this?”

“Why would Carol know? She’s a lower-level employee. Deke handles my hires himself.”

“Then someone missed the memo. Carol’s been in charge of my schedule since I arrived, and I certainly wasn’t informed about a one-on-one.” I pulled out my phone to search my calendar and email. “Nope, no meeting requests came through, but if you would like to focus on what is an obvious miscommunication, by all means, let’s. You pay me by the hour, and my fee is a hefty one.” I folded my arms and arched my brow at him in challenge.

Rhythmic ticking along his jaw showed I’d hit a nerve. Kent pushed a button on a device on his desk and the crystal clear glass walls turned into opaque whiteness. He stood, buttoned his suit jacket, and strode toward me. His swagger was everything a multi-billionaire had, effortlessly sexy, power with each step, and so much big dick energy he sucked all the oxygen out of the room.

Don’t think about his dick, Maddy!

When he stopped, he was so close his scent wrapped around me; money and sin. “Let’s get some things straight before we do this thing.” He pointed between us. “You’re only here because of Ife. Given the choice, I would have chosen an intern showing up for work on their first day over you.”

I swallowed my response at being upbraided for no reason. “Understood.”

He stared at me, scrutinizing me while I tried to uphold a neutral facade. “Alright then, while you work for me, you’ll abide by my rules.”

“That’s fair.”

His nostrils flared, as if my accommodating response was equal to waving a red flag in front of an enraged bull. “When we’re together, all that should be on your mind is work. Don’t think you can seduce me or expect that one day I’ll see you and become so overwhelmed by need for you I’ll forget everything you did and fuck you. Because I can’t stress enough that you’ll never be my type.”

I stood in humiliated silence and fought back tears as he rejected me for something I did as a teenager. “What are the other rules?”

“Just those. I’m not a forgiving person and will not tolerate any attempts on your part to sway me.” He pointedly stared at me, his gaze traveling the length of my suit.

Although it wasn’t his intention, I was sure, his eyes stripped me bare. I fought the urge to cover myself for fear of validating his worst impression of me.

“And make sure you wear something more appropriate tomorrow. Follow me.” He strode past me while I remained rooted to the floor.

It was Omar clearing his throat with an understanding smile on his face that got me to move. Since Kent walked so quickly he was no longer in sight, Omar led me to a conference room in the middle of the floor. Similar to Kent’s office, frosted glass enclosed the space.

I entered with no idea what awaited me beyond the doors. Inside, a long mahogany table gleamed with polish. A projector screen with Luxe Locations’ logo dominated the furthest wall. A pile of binders and boxes sat on the corner of the table.

“Although you know Ife, I’m sure you aren’t aware of Luxe Locations’ extensive history here in Douglas and internationally. In those files, you’ll have information on pertinent staff and the history of every building under our management.”

“I’ll read them over to see if there’s any information I haven’t gathered from my research.” I flipped through the files to keep my hands busy or else I wouldn’t be able to face Ife after I choked her father to death.

“You’ve researched me?”

“I don’t know what kind of amateur you think I am, but I assure you I didn’t come here with no knowledge about you or your company. And to be clear, my research on you was because you are the company.”

“Hmph,” he grunted. Without acknowledging my prep work, he said, “In instances like mine, I should probably step back and avoid publicity. If you look at the personnel files in the folder, we can start by finding a new face to represent my interests.”

“I don’t mean to burst your bubble, Mr. Luxe, but that’s not the first order of business. While I understand you’re accustomed to leading, I have ground rules of my own.”

His lips firmed in disapproval. “What are they?” he bit out.

“Don’t micromanage me. You may be my client, but if you undermine my strategy, I will fire you. Consider this your only warning. I don’t mind differences of opinion but state them respectfully and we can discuss the matter before coming to a solution. If you have a problem with my problem-solving, I’ll end our contract and go about my day.”

“You have a lot of escape clauses.”

And you have a lot of audacity.

I responded in kind to his previously demeaning attitude by looking him up and down. I hoped he couldn’t hear the blood pumping in my veins, see the desire I’d been fighting in my stare, or smell my body’s reaction to being alone with him. “These are standard rules for all my clients. And I’d like to clear something up because you seem to be under a misconception. My presence here is as a favor for Ife. She refused my offer to refer you to someone else or hand your account to a junior member of my company. I’m not here because I need your business or because I have a personal agenda.”

“Are you telling me you want to be here as much as I want you here?” he scoffed.

We entered a staring contest in which I refused to budge or respond to his question.

“If things are as you say, can we get started on those prospects?” he grumbled, breaking our standoff.

“We have something more urgent to discuss.” I sat, opened my leather satchel, and retrieved my laptop and a file.

Once the laptop booted, I opened the manila folder. A photo of a crime scene sat on top.

“Where did you get this?” Kent asked as he pushed the first picture aside.

More photos lay beneath. He spread them out until he uncovered the police reports.

“I have a guy.”

This time, when he stared at me, a glimpse of admiration escaped. If I were petty, I would roll my eyes. I didn’t need his approval.

“I’ve seen these reports already, so what makes them so urgent?”

“Your connection to the victims. While my people investigate their lives, I need to understand the extent of your histories together. Right now, your alibis are shaky at best. A good prosecutor could take you down on circumstantial evidence. Only your wealth and privilege are protecting you, but the longer we take to control the narrative, the more likely they’ll be to come after you.”

“Which is why we need a new face to represent the company. Ife refuses to do it because she hasn’t earned that kind of responsibility and she has her own dreams to chase.”

“Which leaves you, Mr. Luxe. No one else can represent Luxe Locations when your name is on all the properties.”

“Call me Kent. None of my employees call me Mr. Luxe.”

I rested my spine against the chair and considered him in silence. “I don’t think I will. As I’m not your employee, I wouldn’t want to confuse what this is.” I pointed between us the same way he had earlier.

Okay, maybe there was a tiny corner inside me where Petty Becky lived, and she chose now to raise her ratchet head. His earlier preemptive strike when he rejected me chafed and lit a fire inside me.

But I was a professional. One who would lather him in top-tier professionalism until I made him and his brand so squeaky clean Mr. Clean would come begging for a brand endorsement.

Violence was never the answer.

“Now, Mr. Luxe, the fastest way to jumpstart your new image is to start a new relationship. Something that speaks of stability so that Kent Luxe, the man, will be untouchable from the rumors about Kent Luxe, the billionaire bosshole.”

“Where do you get off calling me a bosshole?”

“Not me, your employees.” I pulled up the Boss Be Damned website and did an advanced search for the hashtag MBITA and de-luxe_digs in the chat rooms. “Part of my research into your image required that I get your employees’ unfiltered opinion about work here in general and you in particular.”

“I don’t understand. What am I looking at?” He pulled my laptop closer to peer at the comments.

“This is a place where people vent about their bosses. It’s supposed to be anonymous, but if you read enough comments, you can infer a company’s name. For example, I’m sure you’ll agree that these comments about de-luxe_digs are referring to Luxe Locations.”

“And MBITA? What does that mean?”

“My boss is the asshole. I’ll refrain from adding my opinion to the consensus,” I said, without hiding the small uptick on my lips.

Kent swore under his breath as he read the comments painting him as unreasonable, full of his self-worth and ego, and out of touch with his employees’ needs. He shoved the laptop toward me in disgust. “So, I need a woman to help soften my image? You used the same tactic for another celebrity client.”

“Because it works.”

“This better not be an excuse to date me. I’ve already made myself clear where you’re concerned.”

“In your dreams. I only date men my age. I’m not into feeding the elderly or wiping their asses. No, we’re going to find you a girl-next-door type that will get people rooting for you instead of raising their pitchforks and demanding to eat the rich.”

The lie tasted bitter on my tongue. I’d tried dating men my age. I dated other older men. None compared to the Kent I’d built up in my head since childhood. It wasn’t his money, though he was richer than some countries’ entire gross domestic product. It was the way he looked at me during the brief conversations that meant the world to me. I thought he saw me as an equal, someone he respected and valued; not some kid he had to appease for his daughter’s happiness.

“Do I make the final choice for this woman?”

“As long as your preference aligns with mine.” I fan out the photos of the victims my team collected, not the crime scene images, but candid shots they posted on their social media accounts. “Based on these women, you’ve developed a type since your wife passed.” I caught the next line and smothered it because while I didn’t mind insulting him, I refused to use Ife’s mom to do it.

“There is a charity ball in three days, so we’ll start reviewing applicants for your date tomorrow. If you provide me with a list of traits you’re looking for in a companion, I’ll consider your needs during the initial vetting process.”

Kent tapped the table. A frown pulled his lips down.

My hand itched to slap him for the crime of being so attractive while disapproving of me.

“We’ve talked about my image enough. What are your plans regarding the investigation?”