Taming the Ceo's Bride

XAVIER

I stared at the numbers on my computer and felt the intense urge to fling the computer across the room. This hadn't been what I had wanted, this investment was supposed to give me more figures and not blank zeros.

If my father had been alive he would have probably scolded me for making such bad choices at this crucial time and now I had no way of getting myself out of this mess.

I started going through the files on my desk as I struggled to focus but the nagging feeling of incompetency filled my mind. I stared at my office and sighed, I probably needed to decorate a little but I wasn't too concerned.

Just then there was a slight knock on the door and my assistant popped his head in.

"You sent for me, Sir?" he asked.

"Come in, Richard, where's the file?"

Richard stumbled in, a sheepish smile on his face. He tugged at his white shirt and dropped the file on my desk. He looked nervous and he had every reason to be because I was upset.

He cleared his throat and I eyed him as I looked up from the file.

"Yes?" I queried.

He suddenly seemed short of words as he blinked his brown eyes rapidly and shook his head.

"Speak, Richard!" I snapped. I had no patience today and didn't want to entertain his nonsense.

"Mr. Darwin is waiting in the lobby, he wants to see you," Richard finally spoke.

My frown deepened, "Tell him to get out."

Richard nodded immediately and scurried out. Just then I picked up my phone and dialed the bank number that was on the document.

"Hello, Adele Layton speaking, how may I help you?" the feminine voicpersonale on the other line asked.

"Miss Layton, it's Xavier, you were my father's accountant," I answered.

"How are you holding up, Mr Anthony? I'm so sorry for your loss," she said.

"Thank you, Miss Layton–"

"Call me Adele," she interrupted me immediately.

"Adele, I need to know if I can get the bank to invest in my company," I went straight to the point, there was no time for pleasantries.

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line before she spoke up, "Of course, Mr. Anthony but that can only happen after your company's IPO has been passed."

I sighed inwardly as my grip on the phone tightened, "Thank you, Adele, that would be all."

"If you need my help with anything just let me know," she said in a low voice.

"Of course," then I hung up. I knew she was flirting with me but that wasn't what I wanted right now.

Just then I heard the commotion outside my door as the door flew open and Richard was tossed to the ground. I saw Victor Darwin with his three bodyguards flanked by his side as they entered my office.

"I tried to stop them," Richard groaned.

I waved him off, "Leave."

Richard limped out of the office before the three bodyguards also followed. Then I glared at Victor.

Mr Victor Darwin was a man in his late fifties. He was my dad's best friend until he betrayed him and they became business rivals up until his death. The bad blood has passed from my dad to me and I didn't like how Victor ran most of his businesses.

"I tried to reason with you gently," Victor said, smirking.

His grey hair was slicked back perfectly on his head, his dark brown eyes had taken on a shade of light brown, he was dressed in a dark blue impeccable tuxedo and his full lips were smirking at me.

"What do you want?" I snapped at him.

"You should learn how to talk properly to someone old enough to be your father," he smirked.

"You're not my dad so state your business or get out!" I snapped.

"Well, a little birdie told me your company is bankrupt and you're pushing for an IPO so I came to inform you that it won't work," Victor said smugly.

I frowned, the company's bankruptcy was not public knowledge so how exactly had he known?

"I know these things," Victor said as if reading my mind.

"Okay, you're here to gloat. You may leave now," I replied.

"I am here to offer you a deal that can help you," Victor said.

I chuckled, "You're my business rival, why would you help me especially after you sabotaged my dad before he died?"

"Well, I need your help too," he said.

"What could you possibly need from me?" it was my turn to gloat now as I gave him a cocky smile.

Victor glared at me, "Marry my daughter and tame her, she's causing a lot of crises in my business then I'll help your company out of bankruptcy."

I glared at him, "I don't want to know what twisted plan you've cooked up in your head but it's not going to work."

"Let me explain why she needs to get married," Victor said.

"I don't care. Get out!"

Victor tsked, moving around to take his seat without my permission. 'You know, you are just as stubborn as your father"

I balled my hands in a fist. How dare he mention my father? "You!" I started to warn him but Victor raised a finger; silencing me.

He extended his hands towards one of his three bodyguards who handed his phone onto his palm.

With Victor's eyes never tearing away from mine, he pushed his phone button and placed it on speaker.

"Good morning, Mr Darwin. This is Wellington Bank, how may we be of help to you this morning?" Said a feminine voice over the phone.

My eyes widened at the name of the bank. Wellington Bank is only one of the top 10 banks here in LA.

I'd put a call to them earlier but had been forwarded to voicemail; meanwhile, they'd picked up Victor's call after the first beep.

I chuckled, clearly seeing what Victor was up to. He was trying to show the extent of his powers but I wasn't going to give in that easily; especially when it came at the price of marrying his daughter.

"I just called. How's the bank holding up?" Victor questions, replying to the lady.

"Very well, Mr Darwin. Thank you for calling"

"The pleasure is all mine. Please, give my regards to your boss"

"Will do, sir"

And with that, he hung up. Refusing to be surprised by how far and wide Victor's connection had gotten, I laughed wholeheartedly. "You, do you know what you just portrayed?"

The corners of Victor's lips tilted up in a wicked smirk. "And what did I just portray? A man who has powers?"

Shaking my head, I disagreed with him. "No, you just portrayed an old man who has nothing better to do with his time" Gesturing towards his phone, I continued. "And probably a flirt to that lady you called earlier. I mean, what was with that 'I just called'?Get off your high horse, Darwin!"

The smug smirk on Victor's face finally wiped off. "So let's say you turn down my offer because of your pride, what happens next?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Another offer from someone else emerges" A short chuckle followed. "Why are you talking as if you are the last man on earth?"

"Because I'm a man with great power and of great importance. I'm a public figure; you need me even though you try to deny it"

And Victor had a point but damn, his confidence! But this was the only way to fulfil my father's last wishes before he died and make the company go public.

"If we do strike this business deal, how would you help me with the company?"

Victor tapped his fingers as one of his bodyguards brought out a sheet of printed paper, extending it to me with a space for my signature.

"First, sign this paper"

"What for?"

Victor shrugs. "Just so that you don't go back on your words later on"

"I'm a man of my word"

"And I don't trust anybody" Victor counterattacked. "So? Are you signing it?"

I cleared my throat, picked up my pen from the cup stands and scribbled my signature across the printed paper. "Now, tell me. How exactly do you plan to help me?"

Victor signified one of his bodyguards to bring out his stamp. When gotten, he stamped and sealed the paper. Damn, this man didn't trust anyone.

"I'll let you know via a small gift I'll send to you. It would keep your company busy for a month or two. While your marriage to my daughter would do the rest of the talking"

As Victor alighted from his seat, I blurted out. "I'll have you know that this 'marriage' doesn't make us one big family neither does it out of the past. I'm not doing this for you but for my father, as he wanted only the best for this company"

"And I'm not doing this to patch up old wounds with you, Xavier," Victor reminds me. "I'm doing this to get a pest out of my hair. You are just a trash can to me, nothing more"

Victor's words fueled rage within me. I knew he had something under his sleeve but what could it possibly be? The only way to find out is to marry his daughter as he bargains and watch her closely from thereof.

"I'll be sending you two gifts, actually" Victor corrects himself. "First, I'm going to break the news of your marriage to my daughter when I get home so you can expect her in your office first thing tomorrow morning and secondly, would come the main gift. I hope you enjoy both"

Victor attempts to walk away but then halts. "That reminds me, I should better warn you. My daughter has a bit of a nasty temper"

"I'll have you know that I'm going to mistreat your daughter in the cruellest way imaginable"

Victor shrugged. "She's now yours and no longer 'my' daughter so do as you please. I AM giving her over to you to tame her "

"You mean 'selling' her over to me"

Victor chuckled softly. "Nice of you to use that word when you are the one selling off your company. What's the problem here, Xavier? It's a win-win situation for the both of us"

Victor extends his hands for a handshake to seal our deal. "So, do we have a deal?"

Glancing down at his hands, I scowled. "Do we need a handshake? I already signed those papers which you already stamped and sealed"

"That is hard evidence" Gesturing towards his bodyguards, Victor continued. "But we also need physical witnesses"

I hated it. Hated the fact that I didn't have a choice and this hatred, I was going to make known to his daughter by treating her with as much discontent as I could muster.

"Come on now, Xavier. Are you going to leave an old man hanging?" Victor teased. "These were the same hands who held you when you were little"

I know that, you old geezer. I thought. They were also the same hands which killed my father. I was going to have my revenge by making his daughter pay for his sins.

Maybe this marriage was what I needed after all; it truly was a win-win situation for all of us. I'd get my company back on track and have my revenge on Victor.

And using his daughter, I was going to find his weakness and bring Victor down as well as everything he'd ever worked for.

That was the only thing Victor cared about anyways; his company. And if I was lucky enough, maybe, just maybe, his daughter and I could work together to bring down Victor so that we could forget this ruse of a marriage.

With this thought in mind, smirking, I place my hands in his. "It's a deal."