Ruin Me (Savage Bosses)

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

K ent

Madison Montgomery was trying to mind fuck me, and I was falling for it. Her digs bore under my skin, but I couldn’t fault her professional recommendation. Her tactics worked, consistently surpassing expectations. Who was I to challenge her methods?

A knock on the door drew my attention from the militant gleam in Madison’s dark brown eyes. Their depths drew me in on more than one occasion during our meeting, bewitched where they should have repulsed.

Omar opened the door, and I reluctantly turned to face him. “Your 10:30 appointment is here.”

I nodded and stood, ready to leave, until I caught the smile Omar sent Madison’s way, although it was her reaction that froze me in place. Her face relaxed and although she wasn’t flirting with Omar, her warm reception rankled.

“Omar, set up a space in my office for Madison,” I said when I stood in front of the door.

“But I thought you wanted her as far aw?—”

“That won’t work any longer. Make sure she has a desk, computer, and office phone by the end of the day.” I left them feeling their unvoiced questions slamming into my back.

Even if I had an answer, I wouldn’t give them one. I curled my fingers into a fist, squeezing my hand since I couldn’t punch my frustration out. All during my meeting, I kept picturing Madison, smiling at the employees, accepting their compliments, and charming my staff in ways I hadn’t.

The urge to kick myself grew every time I saw some comments on that website she showed me. I should have memorized usernames, one in particular. What had she called herself? Now that I was her client, did she plan to comment in the chats?

“I’m sorry to say,” the words spoken by a prospective investor I’d been wooing for three months finally penetrated my self-absorption. “As long as this cloud hangs over your head, we can’t move forward with our talks.”

“I hear what you’re saying, but you should trust that this case will be closed by the time we’re ready to announce our alliance. My and the company’s names will be cleared. And if we continue now, we’ll finish due diligence once that happens and can make a public announcement.”

“Kent, our board is sensitive to your plight, but we have our image to worry about. We’ve recently survived a scandal of our own and we’re not ready to expose ourselves to another so soon. I’m not saying we’re completely closing the door on working together. We’ll be more open once you come back to us when you’re on the other side of this. Until then, we don’t have a deal.” He stood to shake my hand.

With more calm than I felt, I returned the gesture and bid him farewell. Alone in the conference room, I breathed in and out to refocus my anger. It was pointless to expect it to disappear. For the past eight years, fury has been my constant companion. Since losing my Lola, I haven’t known peace.

Nothing worked. Not when I exacted my vengeance on the piece of shit that drove her to run the red light. Not the doctors who delayed treatment until they realized who her husband was. And not the dreams. No, they made everything worse. After all this time, they still did.

Lola’s voice grew fainter as the years passed, but the circumstances of her death still haunted me. She still haunted me. That she wasn’t with me today amplified my rage for the smallest provocation.

“Kent,” Omar’s voice reminded me where I was. “I have maintenance and IT here to set up Madison’s desk.”

Madison… another woman who incited my anger was about to work feet across from me and I was at fault. Why had I insisted on her being in my space when I’d initially told Omar to place her twenty floors below?

“Send them in.”

As the people filed in, one person was missing.

“Where’s Madison?” I barked at Omar.

“Mal took her for an early lunch to commemorate her first day.” The easygoing attitude fell away once Omar clocked the storm brewing around me. “He took her to Kori’s Food Truck.” Omar fiddled with his phone. “You’re in luck. She’s in front of City Hall. Ever since Douglas’ First Lady named them in The Douglas Times’ article, Kori appears there regularly.”

I nodded and stormed past Omar. Sloane De Luca may have put Kori on the map, but Mal was trying to seduce Madison with her food, and like hell would I let him succeed. I didn’t bother questioning why the thought of Mal making moves on her bothered me. I’d just lost a valuable investor, and she needed to answer for that.

When I arrived at City Hall, finding Mal and Madison wasn’t hard. A beautiful, dark-skinned woman and a handsome Asian man weren’t typical in Colorado.

As I drew closer, their proximity recharged the irritation I’d held onto since Madison’s arrival. Those two needed a few more feet of separation for me to calm the rage building inside me. Although calling what I felt rage rested on my shoulders like an ill-fitting suit, there was no other plausible emotion I could name.

Instead of wasting time to figure out my situation, I rushed to interrupt Mal and Madison’s intimate lunch.

“Now you know I’m going to tell everyone that we’re the new M preferably with my fists.

I glared at my CFO while relaying the recent development. “We’ve lost CL Holdings.”

“Shit.” He sat upright, and I suppressed my glee as he retracted his arm from behind Madison’s shoulder. “If they got cold feet, our expansion plans are going to suffer.”

“Which is why I’m cutting lunch short. Madison, you’re with me.” I turned around to head to my car, expecting her to be on my tail.

When I opened the passenger door and she didn’t pass me to get inside, I realized she intended to defy me. I slammed the door of my limited-edition Maybach and searched to find where she went.

She stood at the rear of the food truck talking to a Black woman wearing an apron while a massive line at the window grew. As I was about to storm over to Madison and explain why provoking me wasn’t a good strategy, they exchanged a takeout container for some cash. Madison took her sweet time coming to me, but no complaint reached my lips. I was too busy being put under the spell her hips wove.

Working with her was bound to create problems if all she had to do was breathe to distract me from more serious concerns.

“Let’s go.” She opened the passenger door and settled in, leaving me feeling like she took something from me.

The sentiment ran circles in my mind until I pulled into one of the many spaces in the garage dedicated to my car collection.

“You know, when you first showed up at Kori’s with this car, I thought you did it to make a statement, but I was wrong. This is the real statement, isn’t it?” Madison asked as she let herself out of the car.

I bottled the response to tell her she needed to sit her ass down until I opened the door. She wasn’t my woman, and I wasn’t trying to make her mine.

“What statement do you think I’m making?” I followed her to the elevator and scanned the fob to call it.

“That you aren’t the same man I fe—used to know. Message received.”

I should have left things at that, but even after getting on the elevator, her response niggled at me. Her words festered into a wound I couldn’t ignore.

When the silence grew and got the better of me, the words, “How am I different?” burst from my lips at the same time the elevator opened.

She exited the lift. With a shrug, she said, “Everyone in the neighborhood knew you were one of the wealthiest men on the planet. Yet you lived in the same modest suburban home you bought when you had Ife and drove the same Lexus my whole life. Now, you have more cars than days of the week, and you live in a penthouse. Anyway, here. I figured you didn’t have time to eat.” She handed me the container from earlier.

“You bought me lunch?” I stared at the container in my hand, unable to understand why she thought to make the gesture.

Except for Ife, women bought me things as an investment. They always had a hidden motive behind their generosity.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be on your bill. I didn’t buy it to put the moves on you.” Madison walked further into the office. “Looks like they set everything up. We should get to work, but first.” She headed toward my desk and depressed the intercom linking my phone to Omar’s. “Omar, can you bring my briefcase in for me?”

“Anything for my future wife,” he said.

I compressed my lips, unsure what would escape if I mentioned their interaction.

“We’d have the shortest marriage in the Guinness Book of World Records,” she said.

Damn right they would.

I shook the thought from my mind. I didn’t have any business interfering with her and Omar.

But I should. To protect him from getting hurt.

Omar had been with me too long for me to let Madison waltz in and snatch him away. Thank God I came to my senses and shut the fuck up before I made a tense situation worse.

Once she had everything she needed, we sat around a small table with her files laid out before us.

I silently vowed to stay on topic. “To maintain this year’s growth strategy, we need to handle this murder investigation. What is your plan?” I dug into the jerk chicken japchae.

Kori’s food never disappointed.

“I’m a miracle worker, but solving murders isn’t my job. What we have to do is find you an alibi.”

“They already know I don’t have one for the most recent murder.”

“Do you seriously think whoever is killing these women is done? Until the police figure out who the perpetrator is, you need to have someone with you at all times. Meanwhile, my team back home will do what they can to help the Douglas PD find the culprit.”

“And who do you expect to monitor me 24/7?”

“Ah, Kent…” Omar opened the door with a shell-shocked expression.

“Oh, you made it!” Madison jumped from her seat to greet the blonde woman standing beside Omar’s stiff body.

The new woman put all the women since Oyinlola to shame. She was the most sought-after supermodel—perfect by anyone’s standards—but I couldn’t take my eyes off the woman beside her.

“Elsie, I’d like to introduce you to Mr. Luxe. If you two hit it off, I’ll start reserving your media tour and make sure you have something to wear at the charity event in three days.”

Madison did it again, flummoxed me with no effort. Between her grating insistence on referring to me as Mr. Luxe and the atomic bomb she dropped in my lap, I was going to explode.

“Excuse us,” I said to Elsie before grabbing Madison’s arm and dragging her onto the elevator.

Despite her struggle to free herself, I kept my hold firm until we reached the vacant apartment below mine; no way was I letting her into my living space. As the doors opened, I flung her inside.

“Explain how the fuck Elsie, the biggest international supermodel, is the girl next door!” I bore down on Madison, who had the goddamn audacity to stand her ground.

“You don’t get more wholesome than our home-grown mid-western girl. Elsie is from a small farming community right here in Colorado and she knows how to appeal to the audience we need while drawing the publicity we want.”

“Get rid of her.”

“I don’t think so,” she smugly replied.

I advanced on her. Even as her eyes widened with the realization that I would walk through her if she didn’t back up. Even as she made the first step backward, ceding me the ground I demanded. Even as she pressed her back against the wall.

With our breaths mixing as we glared into each other’s eyes, I said, “I told you I get final say and she’s out.”

A smirk crossed her lips. “And I told you that you don’t. What? Are you mad because I’ve got your number? Elsie is gorgeous and tall and can adapt her look from innocence personified to a sensual knockout. And she’s got the media savvy to match.”

Madison pushed against my chest, and I snapped. Yes, I was furious that she over delivered on her claim because, just like the last eight months, I felt nothing for Elsie. The only person causing blood to flow to my cock stood in front of me, crowing a victory that didn’t exist and forcing me to remember why I’m supposed to hate her.

All that meant nothing as I mindlessly slammed my mouth down on hers and sank my fingers into her soft, cottony hair, and pressed my hard cock into her softness. I took advantage of the gasp that escaped her by plunging my tongue into the small opening. Then I drank. The rage I’d bottled up flowed into that kiss. I wrenched moan after delicious moan from her, licked and bit without finesse. But it wasn’t enough.

I returned to plumb her depths, only to return thirstier than before. On the verge of drowning in her, a swift shove to my abdomen disconnected me from finding something I’d been barred from since I lost my wife.

Lola .

The thought, followed by Madison’s angry slap to my cheek, didn’t lessen the need flowing through my body.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she panted.

Her breasts heaved with every breath she took. Her nipples poked out in a plea to be touched, and fuck if I didn’t want to do more than touch. But I shouldn’t because this was Madison causing the havoc inside me.

“You’re baiting me. I don’t know how you knew I wouldn’t reac—No, you fucked around and now I’m showing you my response. Tell me, when you picked Elsie, did you ask yourself who was the complete opposite of you? If so, you blew it out of the park. And when I fuck her, you’ll never know what you’re missing, what you’ll never get because you pushed me too far this time.”