Page 79 of These Family Ties
I make my way downstairs, the bass from the nightclub part of the venue getting louder as I reach the back of the building. There’s a car already waiting for me near the rear exit, and security is only too happy to escort me from the building to the car.
The drive to my apartment building is quick, passing by in a blur of nightlife and city scenes. It isn’t until I’m in my penthouse, turning my shower on and unhooking my corset that I feel like I can breathe. What even was tonight? Why was it so…intense? What was it about him?
Peeling off my stockings and my cum soaked thong, I toss them into my laundry basket along with my skirt. Control was something I needed to feel grounded, but why did I feel so off kilter?
Placing my palms on the bathroom counter, I stare at my reflection. With the mask, I could be anyone. Do anything. Like meeting handsome strangers in sex clubs and making them bleed for me.
Tugging at the ribbon, I pull the bow and let the scrap of lace fall into the sink. But Delphine Harrington couldn’t be anyone. She had a path to follow. Responsibilities. A family legacy on her shoulders.
Inhaling, I glare at myself. I was pushing forty, but I didn’t look like it.
I wonder, briefly, what Weston looks like. Would my nephew look like Leon? Would he have our light hair and swirling blue eyes? Or would he follow his mother? I’d never met the woman who’d stolen my brother away, but she must have been beautiful to lure him in. Exhaling, I let my shoulders drop and try to relax. I should have asked Charlie to find me an image of him.
The steam from the shower fogs up the glass until I can no longer see an empty blonde woman staring at me in its reflection. Climbing under the water, I let the cum and sweat wash away with all the stray thoughts of regret and longing, and watch them swirl down the plughole.
Tomorrow was going to be hard enough, without being weighed down with thoughts of the man I left bleeding on the floor and my AWOL brother.
The shareholders were coming together to discuss our next product launch and vote on the approach we were going to take for the international market, and I had already butted heads with several of our more conservative executives. I also needed to raise the issue of Jacobson selling his shares and cement my place.
My father may have left me in charge at Nexus, but some shareholders, like William Roberts and Lance Bateman, still viewed me as the little girl visiting my father at the office occasionally.
It didn’t matter to them I had been leading us forward for years, or that thanks to my refusal to sit still, they pocket hefty bonuses almost every quarter.
No. I was still adorable, little Delphie, here to play businesswoman.
Except I wasn’t playing, and if Weston Harrington thought he was going to barge in, he was in for a surprise. There wasn't anything I wouldn’t do to protect Nexus.
***
The next morning, I wore my fitted navy dress with red heels and a red short blazer. Wearing a pantsuit would only remind the shareholders that I wasn’t my father, and might make them think I was playing dress up.
Isn’t it asinine the considerations I have to make to send out the right image to people who are supposed to be on my side? Shaking my head, I remind myself that no one is really on my side. It’s me, against an entire room of sharks, out for blood and more money, even though they have more than they could possibly spend in an entire lifetime.
“Morning darling, how was your little session last night?” Hugo asks, as he takes a seat next to me at the dining table.
When he traveled to Newtown with me, he often stayed in my penthouse apartment in the city instead of his beach house in Port Ellesmere.
Struggling to find the right words, I simply settle with saying, “It was…good.”
Hugo sips his coffee while offering me a small frown over the lip of his mug. “Hmmm, then why don’t you look more relaxed. Isn’t all that bloodletting supposed to be the cure for everything that ails you?”
“It’s not some medieval medicine practice.” Scoffing, I accept the tablet Charlie hands me, already opened to my favorite news pages. “Did my guest get home okay?”
Charlie blinks at me for a moment, almost as if he’s frozen and trying to reboot his brain. I rarely asked after my play partners, but he didn’t need to stare at me as if I’d grown an extra head. “Um…yes. But he declined the aftercare and the tip.”
Chuckling, Hugo reaches for a croissant. “You tipped him? Well, it must have been better than ‘good’ so why do you still look like you’ve choked on a boiled egg.”
“For fucks sake, Hugo. It was good, just good, okay?” My tone is huffy and I know it as I reach for my coffee and take a sip. I was useless without caffeine first thing in the morning, and today was going to be a long day. “Any other updates, Charlie?"
“Jacobson is awake, but he’s still in the Intensive Care Unit. Only immediate family may visit.” Charlie takes a seat on my other side and starts scrolling through his own tablet. “I’ve prepared your notes for the meeting this morning, I’ve just emailed them to you. ICA now holds 17% shares in Nexus.”
“Fucker.” Biting the inside of my cheek, I rub my temples. I inherited 5% of Nexus from my grandparents when they passed, as did Leon, which I’m assuming is now in Weston’s possession. Why would Leon do that?
With the 15% given to me when my father passed, I only held 20% in total. If Weston gained any more shares, I was at risk of no longer being the majority shareholder, and that couldn’t happen.
Charlie’s phone vibrates, and he glances at me with big brown eyes. He knows how important this meeting is. “The car is waiting downstairs.”
Hugo claps his hands together and gives me a tight smile. “Let’s get this shitshow started.”