Page 7 of The Merger

I nodded. “I know. She called me and asked if I was interested before she moved forward.”

Caroline slapped my arm. “If you already knew why are you putting me through all of this?”

I shrugged. “Shits and giggles. We grumpy bastards have to get our fun somewhere. What about finding me an Operations Manager?”

While my slip in telling Jana personal information was out of character for me, and I wasn’t lying that there was something about her, it still served a purpose for me. She was friends with Sabrina, and it was necessary for her to like me.

Not only that though, it was necessary under the circumstances. My half-brother, Malcolm Graham, was being used as a pawn by her father. He was a narcissistic bastard, but his self-interest was easily engaged for our gain. The fact he got something out of the deal irked me, but it was more expedient.

Jana and I bonded over our mutual dislike for my brother, and I learned something very important, she wanted Sabrina to be free of him as well.

Something shifted in the last few weeks. Sabrina and Malcolm’s usual hangouts turned into dates, and for the first time I saw a real risk that Sabrina would finally let someone into her heart.

It was time I stopped waiting, if not for myself, then for her. Malcolm was too much like our father. Narcissistic, vain, and incapable of loving anyone as much as they loved themselves. Sabrina deserved better.

Turning back to Caroline, I asked, “Did she happen to tell you my terms?”

Caroline’s face reflected her confusion. “I didn’t even know you knew about the job. What are the terms you insisted on?”

“I want Sabrina Lake to take on the role as Operations Manager.”

Caroline’s mouth fell open. “You really expect me to ask Jana for Colt’s assistant as your Operations Manager?”

“Sabrina is his step-sister, graduated college with honors, and is wasted as an assistant,” I said through my teeth. Caroline didn’t deserve my irritation, but she often caught the brunt of my grouchy moods.

“Well, I knew there was someone. She’s the one, isn’t she? The one who has had you twisted up all of this time?”

There was no point denying it. She’d see for herself soon enough, so I gave her another nonverbal answer and nodded.

Her phone signaled an incoming email. She checked her phone and her smile widened. “Good thing Jana went straight to Fitz Anderson then. He’s got a knack for meddling when he thinks love is involved.” She waved her phone around as if I could see the email from here. “She says he jumped at the chance. We should know her answer soon enough.”

I didn’t have to wait long. Fitz called soon after Caroline left, letting me know Sabrina accepted the promotion.

“I turned up something in my search,” he began.

I held my breath, knowing that the way this conversation went could decide how much I’d have to fight to get a chance with my wife.

“My investigator found a marriage certificate from Nevada for you and Sabrina. I asked her about it, but she didn’t seem to know what I was talking about. I let it go, but I need an explanation.”

I sighed, it’s a long story. My mind drifted off as it had many times back to that fateful day five years ago.

* * *

The conference I was forced to attend was a complete waste of my time and talent. My father had me placed in a sales position, not even the head of a division, just another cog in his company. As his bastard, I was supposed to be grateful for the opportunity.

I shouldn’t have been surprised, after all, he hadn’t even given me his name. Arthur Graham was an insufferable prick who demanded perfection, even though he himself was as flawed an individual as ever existed.

Here I was, thirty-one years old, working alongside people just out of college. I never expected to be handed anything, but I’d thought I would have been given the opportunity to work my way up. It seemed my father was more content to punish me for his mistakes.

While the rest of the sales team hit up a strip club, I sat alone at the hotel bar nursing a beer, waiting. I wasn’t sure what for. Inspiration? A bolt of lightning? My finger rubbed the glossy surface of a business card. Caroline Cartwright was a corporate attorney. One of the many people I’d met during the networking event put on by the conference. I was supposed to be forging connections to help my father expand his business, but that wasn’t her offer.

In front of me were two different paths. I could abandon the life I knew, one that pushed me down at every turn, or I could forge a new way. It wasn’t really a choice. I knew I was going to call her, accept her offer. But, change was terrifying, and a little liquid courage would make the leap easier.

“You’re thinking awfully hard over there,” a musical voice sang out a few seats down the bar.

I grunted, not much for making small talk. That was, until then. I turned to face her, and a low chuckle escaped me. I’d said I was waiting for lightning to strike and fuck me had it ever.

I turned toward her voice and saw sunshine made flesh. Long golden hair spilled down her back, reflecting all the colors present in a beam of light; pale yellow, silvery white, and a deep gold. She watched me with dark blue eyes, the color of an evening sky. Her porcelain skin glowed, even under the anemic light in the bar.