Over the last three years, they’d occasionally given in to the attraction that still simmered between them. Neither wanted to reunite permanently and both frequently dated other people. Kenzay’s dating life was just as adventurous and well chronicled by the press as his own as she traveled the world on her father’s dime and the generous divorce settlement he paid to her based on their prenuptial agreement.
If she was calling she was somewhere nearby. Maybe an afternoon romp would relax me...
He picked up the phone to dial her cell phone number but changed his mind with a shake of his head and a downturn of his lips. He didn’t have time for the distraction of his ex-wife. He had to stay focused on another woman in his life.
Alek swiveled away from the window. His dark eyes landed on his briefcase on the leather sofa. The file containing Alessandra’s proposal was in it. She surprised him with more than just her change in looks and demeanor. She was further ahead on her proposal than he thought.
He swore, leaning back in his leather executive chair and tenting his fingers beneath his strong chin.
Their stalemate in that boardroom was one of the prime reasons he didn’t want to share ownership with Alessandra. He wasn’t quite sure how their fathers had accomplished it for thirty years. Because they had been equals. They’d respected each other.
It was going to take more than an MBA and a makeover for it to sit well that he was forced to share the company and the decision-making with Alessandra Dalmount. For years, she’d shown not one modicum of business savvy and suddenly she was a savant? He refused to swallow that.
Alek jumped up from his chair, causing to it to roll back and softly hit against the glass as he made his way across the expansive office. He snatched up his briefcase and pulled out his copy of her proposal. Why can’t she just go away quietly?
His hand crumpled the corner inside his fist before he flung it down onto the couch.
And why can’t I stop wondering how her mouth would taste?
“Damn,” he swore.
* * *
“Physically I am your type, Alek. I am very much your type...and you know it. Humph, it’s only my brain and my backbone that you think are a turnoff.”
She was almost right on that point.
He did want her...but he wanted her out of his business affairs more.
They were a month from celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of the conglomerate his father and Alessandra’s father had formed. Thirty years rich with a history that had to be protected and preserved. He respected the brilliance of Frances Dalmount, but his choice to make his daughter his heir had been made with his heart and not the cunning intellect he was well respected for.
Alek was intent on correcting the error.
He would rather have Alessandra Dalmount in his bedroom than his boardroom.
Perhaps I can kill two birds with one stone.
For one moment, one very brief moment, he allowed himself to imagine wooing Alessandra so much that she gave up any foolish notions of being a businesswoman. His conscience won out. He was a businessman and not a man-whore using his wares to convince women to do as he pleased.
Alessandra didn’t deserve to be his partner, but she definitely didn’t deserve to have her heart and body toyed with, either.
Alek sat down on the sofa and pulled the conference phone closer to press the intercom button. “Ms. Kingsley.”
“Sir?”
“I need to speak with each of the board members, starting with Aldrich Brent,” he said. “Call each one. Give me thirty minutes and get the next on the line.”
“Yes, sir.”
He rubbed his hands together in the moments before his phone buzzed. It was time to gauge just what side the board was going to choose. He couldn’t do anything about her ownership, but he could call for a vote for her to be officially removed as chief executive officer.
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