If I’d walked into work today naked, I would’ve probably felt less humiliated than I did at this moment. On top of the final specs that were engineered having unforgivable flaws, the pitch meeting with Sphere getting bumped up, and Danny trying to ditch us in the process, I’d reached my absolute limit.
Then there was Alexander. This man wasn’t letting it go, and we were officially boarding a goddamn superyacht to save this deal. Maybe this was Alex’s cocky way of bringing this disaster of a proposal full circle on me. I wouldn’t know. I hadn’t talked to the man since one of the Nazari brothers who owned Sphere called Alex instead of me.
Alex slipped his phone in his suit pocket and lent a hand to help me out of the boat we’d taken to get to the yacht.
“Follow my lead, and we’ll save the deal. Easy as that,” he said, releasing my hand and turning back to tip the people who’d brought us to the vessel.
I eyed the name of the boat. Maiden Stone?
“The clock’s ticking, and the Nazaris don’t seem as though they like to be kept waiting,” Alex insisted when I glanced over at him, climbing the spiral staircase.
I followed him, hugging my iPad and laptop to my chest.
“What is all of this, and why are we on a luxury yacht?” I asked as the man took two flutes of champagne from a hostess and turned back with a smile.
“Cheers,” he said as he continued walking ahead. I could tell the man was in business mode, but my brain hadn’t entirely caught up with him yet.
I took the champagne and glanced up to where I heard music playing on one of the top decks of this insanely elaborate yacht.
I reached for his elbow, stopping the tall man who was taking long strides toward the interior of this floating hotel. “I’m not sure this will work. Danny tried to ditch out, and I have no idea where he is. The final designs have been redesigned to the point that I can’t fix the fucking things, and—”
Alex’s light green eyes leveled me. “Excuses, Ms. Stone?” he asked as if I were the architect and engineer who’d screwed up all of this. “Is that what we’re going to talk about while we keep our clients waiting—clients who are trying to fire our asses, I might add?”
I glared at him. “I don’t plan on keeping them waiting. I don’t plan on keeping them at all. I can’t fix this shit,” I growled. “Danny sabotaged this.” I eyed his impatient expression. “There’s something more. You know more, and you’re not telling me.”
“All you need to know is how you’re going to use your creative mind to build a vision on the Nazaris’ real estate that we are going to see from the yacht in about an hour. I need your brain working, and I’ll close the deal that Danny sabotaged.”
“If it’s obvious to you that Danny did this, then it should be obvious to the brothers who own Sphere.”
Alex sighed. “If it were obvious that we had an architect who was planning on stealing Stone Group’s design while he decided to jumpstart a new business in the architectural field, we’d be having a different discussion. I wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of securing this yacht and bringing Sphere out to sea as a way of kissing their ass and giving us one last chance to keep them as our clients.”
“Danny wouldn’t steal my vision and my work.”
“Newsflash!” Alex’s eyes widened. “That mother fucker was already in the process of doing precisely that while you were enjoying a latte this morning.”
“I can’t do this,” I said in full honesty. “Danny has always hated me as head of the engineering department while Dad was running the company.” I was speaking my thoughts, and I didn’t care who heard them. “Why would he do this? We pay him well. Well above what architects and engineers would ever make. He was always compensated nicely.”
I ran my now sweaty hand over my forehead, fighting back tears of anger and disbelief. Alex was brutally honest about something I should easily have known Daniel Kyle would do to me. It was a matter of time.
“Forgive me if I am not one to waste time on this episode of Coworkers Behaving Badly,” he interrupted me with some humor and a cocky way of mocking my current situation, “but let us be the ones who nail this bastard in the end. We certainly can’t do that here on the helipad of the yacht. We need to be up there,” he pointed toward the upper decks, “charming the shit out of the Nazaris, who decided they’d call me up and try to fire my ass.”
“None of this makes sense,” I said, feeling like my blood pressure spike was either going to make me pass out or jump ship. Literally. “Why would they call you?”
Alex ran a hand impatiently through his hair. “The simple answer is that they don’t trust you,” he said. “Now’s the time to regain that trust.”
“I don’t want their business. Not like this.” I spun away from Alex’s intimidating businessman expression. “Goddammit. I can’t believe this.”
“What can’t you believe, Ms. Stone?” Alex questioned, stepping around to make me face him again. “You can’t believe that someone who’s never liked you would sabotage you and steal your business and designs?”
“Precisely that,” I said, annoyed as hell that this man was so fucking sarcastic when I could hardly contain my anger as it was.
“Well, get used to it. It sort of happens in a cut-throat business. Even I could tell that prick was a piece of shit the first time he shook my hand. Let’s move forward and save this as partners. You understand I know very well that Stone needs Sphere, correct?”
“How would you know that?”
Alex’s eyes narrowed. “Because after you bounced on my ass all week, allowing me to run this fucking business and complete this merge, I found out rather quickly that Stone is upside down in just about every fucking aspect. If it weren’t for this merge with my firm, you’d be filing bankruptcy within the year.”
It felt like my blood was boiling beneath my skin. I was so pissed that I didn’t know where to direct my anger anymore. Who was I angry with? Was it Danny for fucking me over, Alex for speaking to me this way, or myself because none of the above would be happening if it weren’t for me?
“While we’re on the topic,” he continued, “you’ve yet to prove to me that you’re even interested in working as my damn partner at all. All I’ve witnessed so far is a woman who has her head buried in the sand, allowing the financial directors of Stone to mismanage funds—financial directors who I fired, by the way. You’re welcome for that. And what about your vice president, Theo?”
“Don’t you dare.”
“I will fucking dare,” he said. “You’re falling apart on me, and if I can’t get you to step up and own this shit like the badass businesswoman I’ve heard so much about, then I’ll kindly ask you to step down while I save Sphere, and you can work for me instead of pretending to work with me.”
All of the feelings of humiliation and betrayal that Danny had caused today dissipated that second. As pissed as I was at Alex for speaking to me like a condescending bastard, he was one-hundred-percent right. I left him to run this company alone as if I were playing some silly game. I knew I needed Sphere because our debts were burying us, and I chose to trust my financial department and directors to ensure we stayed afloat. Hell, I’d sacrificed numerous personal paychecks and donated them back into the company to keep the lights on. I avoided difficult decisions like the plague. That was Dad’s specialty, not mine.
“Theo is quitting on me, isn’t he?” I asked, jumping straight to the only question that mattered to me.
“No one likes to work for free, Ms. Stone,” Alex said, seemingly loving to drive the point home that I sucked at running a business. “I tried to keep him, letting him know that he would actually have a boss to work for.”
“Enough!” I seethed. “We stay here until Danny boards this fucking yacht.” I unlocked my phone and called Danny’s phone. “How do I get Danny brought out to this ship? He’s going to explain everything to you and me and the Nazaris for putting us in this situation.”
Alex smirked. “Wow.” He took a sip of champagne. “It looks like we finally have someone who wants to run the company.”
“I’ve had enough of you and your bullshit for one lifetime, Alex,” I said. “Again, how do I get Danny on this boat?”
“Three steps ahead of you, Breanne.” He tipped his glass toward the stern of the boat. “The engines aren’t firing up until after that snake boards the yacht.”
I saw nothing but red, and I was ready to bury Danny for stealing Sphere—or trying to, anyway. In reality, I was angriest at myself. I’d acted childish about this merge ever since I found out about it. I was so smug about wanting my rightful seat at the table, but I’d shirked all of my responsibilities and let so many other things slide, and Alexander wasn’t about to baby my ass. He should’ve been firing me after I let Stone Company go to hell by not holding my employees accountable since Dad died.
What hurt the worst was knowing what I’d put Theo through. Theo had offered advice on handling everything, he even told me to fire Danny, but I was too stubborn to listen. He’d been my right-hand guy for so long, and I’d been so wrapped up in my self-pity that I hadn’t bothered to make sure he was okay. Obviously, he wasn’t. It was no wonder Theo had been so grateful for the merge and Alex joining me as a partner. I’d overwhelmed my dear friend and burnt him out while I pretended to be some incredible businesswoman.
It was all biting me in the ass at this very moment. Alex was officially seeing me at a low point for the second time, but this time wouldn’t be like the last. This time I was going to do what was expected of me. I was about to save Sphere and own up to everything I’d created while playing the avoidance game after taking on this company.
Instead of cowering, I knew I had a fire in my spirit. I hadn’t been acting like it, but I knew I deserved to remain as Alex’s partner—I just needed a little nudge. The nudge of Alex being a complete jerk and enjoying it a little too much, if you ask me. He wasn’t wrong, though. Nothing he’d had to say about me or my actions was wrong, and I needed him to say it all.
Dwelling on the past and my mistakes would not save Sphere for me. I had to save it by accepting full responsibility for what I’d allowed to happen. That would be my starting point.
“Looks like your personal Judas is about to board. Suit up, Breanne. It’s time to save Sphere,” Alex said.
“Good.” I nodded at Alex. “We’re going to use that son of a bitch to make our case to the Nazari brothers.”
“Now, we’re thinking like partners.” He clinked his glass to mine. “Nice to have you with me, Ms. Stone.”
