penthouse was thick with the smel
f sparkling water. I was already dressed in a crisp s
unlocked, and B
His suit was wrinkled. He had clearly spent the entire night at the off
plastered on a sickening
laced a small, velvet Tiffany-blue
ke sincerity. "The stress of the merger... I lost my temper. I had
e blue box. I
my index finger. Inside sa
e deadpan. "It was heavily discounted during last year's p
tened. A muscle ti
Harlow," he forced out, tryin
d pulled out a thick legal docum
f the other investors, so we look like a stable entity. We just need to weather this sudden mar
th impossible vesting schedules and clawback clauses. He wasn't giving me equity; he w
l against the marble.
er, sweating. He though
speak, the do
authorita
nterruption. He marched over to t
g an immaculate, bespoke English suit and white cotton g
you?" Barr
y. His eyes bypassed him and lock
n air of absolute authority. He walked straight to the
troduced himself, his voic
cream-colored envelope. It was sealed with a heavy dol
ton fami
e envelope toward
he wax seal. As a man desperate to climb Wall Street's ladder, he knew exactl
dilated in
e wax seal-the sharp crack echoing in the q
ton IV request
ardin.
to the envelope and gave A
u, Arthur
d on his heel and walked out of the apartment,
r click
the air near the envelope. "What is that? Ho
nto my leather handba
ied smoothly, my face a mask of indiffer
d up in disbelief. "They sent a butler with a
vibrating violen
ID flashe
loud, obnoxious,
his face flushing with embarrassment and
bing his briefcase. He pointed a trembling finger at
ally ran o
up the Tiffany box and dropped it stra
p the two percen
living room. I fed the document into the slot. The machine whirred,
he bathroom and
astened a pair of heavy, heirloom emerald earrings to my lobes-
oat of blood-
submissive, quiet girl Barre
out the door, ready to meet the
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