Fury boiled in her gut like lava. Through clenched teeth, she told her father, “No, Daddy, I’m not.”Not anymore, anyway. He didn’t need to know about that one night. It was a huge mistake that she didn’t intend to repeat. Not now that she knew the truth. The Hargreaves were not to be trusted. They were moles sent into her company to destroy her and her father’s business, to bring down the rising conglomerate so they could reclaim their fledgling business and, maybe, if they were lucky, hold on for another five years before they started to tank again.
Sabrina had seen it too many times to count on both hands. A company like theirs, one that started out strong and held on throughout the years, suddenly taking a nose dive due to changes in the economy and a poor business model that refused to change with the times. It was the perfect storm, the kind that, if allowed to persist for too long, would tear it to its foundation, reducing it to rubble.
The Colloway Corporation had absorbed them out of respect and a belief that they could mutually benefit from one another. But not anymore. Now that the wool had been pulled from her eyes, Sabrina could see the whole situation for what it really was: a farce. They’d had ulterior motives all along, and it all hinged on taking down the perceived weak link: her.
And here she’d been entertaining deeper feelings for them. Well, she would showthemwho the weak link was.
“You’d better not be lying to me,” her father warned. “You know how badly that would look for us. For you, especially. I can’t have that kind of scandal going on in my company. Everything needs to be on the up-and-up. Keep your nose clean, focus on business, and for the love of God and your parents, stay away from those boys. The Hargreaves are known to play the field, and often.”
“I’m aware of their reputation,” she ground out. “Rest assured, I’ll be sure to keep my distance.”
“Good.” He expelled a relieved breath. “I can’t tell you how much I hate being out of the office like this. Not having my hands in the business’s day-to-day is driving me up the walls.”
“I thought you liked being in the tropics. I know Mom loves having you all to herself.” For years, she’d complained about their lack of time together. Now she had all the time in the world. She must be on cloud nine.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love the extended vacation and spending time with your mother. We’re learning a lot about each other and catching up on lost time. Plus, the sights are amazing. But I’ve never been one to sit idle for long, you know that. It’s hard to change gears, to give up control that only I’ve ever held.”
“I think I understand.” And she did. Sabrina was filling big shoes, but shewasfilling them. Giving even a slice of it up now would probably drive her up the walls too. It was hard to slow down and take a time out when you were used to putting the pedal to the metal every day, giving your all to a project that meant so much to you and everyone around you. She didn’t want to fail—not her parents, not her coworkers or the investors, and certainly not herself.
She’d gone astray when she’d gotten into bed with the Hargreaves. Now she was going to correct her path and make damn certain they didn’t succeed in ruining all she’d achieved.
After a few gentle and caring words and some brief catching up between them, Sabrina disconnected the call with her father and took several cleansing breaths designed to get her through what she was about to do next. She was going to need all the strength she could get.
***
“What do you mean you need me in the UK office?”
Conner was shocked to hell at Sabrina’s declaration. It showed on his face, the way his eyes flared and his jaw unhinged. His tone of voice was higher than normal, too, as if he were seconds from shouting at her but was desperately trying to rein it in.
She shrugged negligently. “There are a few details that need to be gone over with our partners there. Shawna will give you all the paperwork you’ll need to catch up on the case before the end of the day. Mr. Maxelle already knows to expect you. Check with her, too, about scheduling your flight out in the morning.”
This time, his nostrils flared too. “The morning! Sabrina, what the hell?”
She blinked innocently up at him. “Is there a problem?”
“Yes, there’s a fucking problem,” he hissed, deliberately lowering his voice so not to be overheard by the rest of the office. “Why the hell are you throwing this at me last-minute? Did I do something to piss you off?”
He was so on the nose, she almost laughed. Sabrina, however, just stared straight back into his eyes. “This is business, Conner. Sometimes you have to roll with the punches to get things done. This needs doing and you’re the only one I can trust to do it. So, are you going to handle it or not? Because if not, I can get someone else on it. Maybe Daniel. He’s always been a team player.” She picked up the phone, pretending to be ready to make the call, which only raised Conner’s ire more.
With a sure hand, he snatched the phone away from her and slammed it back into its cradle. “I’ll do it,” he snarled. It was the first time she’d truly seen him angry. The snarling, angry beast in front of her wasn’t the least bit attractive either. But maybe that had more to do with her hating his guts than his actual level of attractiveness.
“Good,” she chirped. “Daniel is out on paternity leave anyway, so that would have been a fight to get him to come in, let alone jump on a plane out of the country.”
If heads could explode, Conner’s just might. His face was that bright red of a freshly-cooked lobster, and for the sake of his health, it was alarming. She hoped he had good health insurance.
He stared her down a moment longer, as if waiting for her to yell, “Just kidding!” but Sabrina only picked up her red pen and got back to jotting down notes about her upcoming meeting with a man from uptown who had a few shares he wanted to sell her in exchange for her help on a project having to do with imports and exports.
When he didn’t get anything more out of her, Conner shoved away from her desk with a curt, “Fine,” and stormed out of the room.
Fine, indeed.
Sabrina couldn’t contain the amused smile any longer. She wanted nothing more than to get her revenge, and having the wheels set in motion satisfied her better than any sex could. How dare they come into her home and think they could dismantle her establishment?
Little did Conner know, his ticket would be one-way. She had no need or desire to see his face again.
Now to figure out a way to deal with William and Oliver.
Although, when she thought of Oliver’s sweet, handsome, earnest face, something inside of her twisted. She didn’t want to hurt him. It went against everything in her to do it, but she had to remind herself that as much as she wanted to care about these men, they had set out to do her dirty, and not the fun way. She had to protect herself. She had to show them that she wasn’t a weak woman that they could push around and take advantage of, and that there were consequences for doing so.