Stolen: Business or Pleasure (Contemporary Billionaire Romance) Read online

  SETH

  Monday morning I woke up with a raging headache and an upset stomach. It was the first morning in months that I hadn’t either woken up with Adele in my arms, or with the shiver of anticipation of seeing her on my mind. Today, I just wasn’t sure. She had avoided me all weekend. Was she angry that I’d gone to see my father? If she was, how should I feel about that? I understood and respected why she didn’t like him, but did she really expect me to just cut off the man who was responsible for my very existence?

  Maybe she wasn’t mad. Maybe it had nothing at all to do with my father and it had everything to do with her wanting to spend more time with Grant. I spent the entire weekend trying not to picture them alone in that apartment. I tried not to visualize him walking around shirtless, or lying on the couch next to her while they lounged together and watched a movie or took a nap. I tried even harder to convince myself that nothing was going on between them. The thought of him touching her and her wanting him to was almost too much for me to bear.

  By the time I got to work I was in a foul mood. As I passed my assistant’s desk and she said, “Good morning, Mr. Hunter,” I lost it.

  “Is it? Are those projections ready that I asked for on Friday and you never got me on my desk this morning? Did you do the job this company pays you way too much to do today at least?”

  She looked like she was going to cry and I felt instantly like crap. “Yes sir,” she said. “They’re on your desk.” I felt worse than crap and I was about to apologize when I realized that Adele was standing in the doorway, listening to us. The sight of her looking so fresh and beautiful was like throwing kerosene on the fire that was my anger at the moment.

  “Did you need something, Adele?” My tone was as ugly as my mood and I knew as soon as it came out that I would regret it.

  “Yes, actually. I need to talk to you if you’re finished berating the staff.” I looked at my assistant. She was pretending to be focused on her computer. I decided I would apologize to her later. I stormed into my office and let Adele follow me. I was looking out the window when I heard her slam the door behind her. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say James Hunter just walked into this office.”

  That was the straw that broke it. I turned on her and I know I was spitting fire as I said, “Are you serious? You ignore me all weekend to be with your… roommate, and believe me, I use that term loosely, then you want to come in here and throw stones. My mood is a direct result of the head games you are playing with me!”

  She looked stunned. “I’m sorry, are you accusing me and Grant of something?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “Should I be?”

  “How dare you!”

  “How dare I? I will tell you how I dare, Adele. I spent months working side by side with you, trying to take this company back from my own father. Once we did that and we stripped him of everything that was important to him, you also expected me to walk away from him. When I refused to do that, all of a sudden you have no time for me, but plenty to lay around eating Chinese food with your half-naked male roommate. That’s how I dare, Adele.”

  Now she looked like she was going to cry. I was batting a thousand today. I was on the verge of apologizing to her too when she turned on her heel and left my office, slamming the door on her way out the same way she had on her way in. I stood there looking at the door for an undetermined amount of time before finally sitting down at my desk. The first thing I saw there were the projections that I’d asked for. On top of the file was a sticky note.

  “I’m so sorry Mr. Hunter. My mother took ill Friday afternoon and I had to leave to go to the hospital. I tried to find you but was unable to. I hope you got my message that I would come in early today and get these done. Thanks for being such a great boss.”

  I don’t know if I ever hated myself more than I did at that moment. I picked up the phone and ordered a dozen roses for Adele and another dozen for my assistant. Then I took a deep breath and went out into the outer office. When she heard my door open, my assistant looked up at me. The look in her eye was the same one that my father’s staff wore when he was angry… pure fear. It made me sick to my stomach.

  “I’m so sorry,” I told her. “I had a bad weekend and you were the first person I saw when I came in. I unleashed it all on you and I feel like the world’s biggest ass now… I felt that way two seconds after I did it. I hope you can forgive me and more importantly, I hope that your mother is well.”

  She smiled at me through the tears that were back in her eyes. “She’s going to be okay. She’s still in the hospital, but they said she would be released today. I’m truly sorry I didn’t get my work finished on Friday.”

  “Please don’t apologize to me. You’ve been nothing but amazing and professional. Why don’t you take the rest of the day off and go make sure your mother is okay?”

  “Oh no, I have a lot to do…”

  “No, you don’t have anything here that can’t wait until tomorrow. Go be with your mother. I ordered flowers for you because I wasn’t sure how to apologize for being an ass but they’ll be here tomorrow when you come in.”

  She smiled again and said, “Thank you. Can I tell you something?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Do you know why you don’t know how to apologize for being an ass?”

  I laughed, “No, why is that?”

  “Because you’re one of the nicest people I’ve ever known, and the best boss that I’ve ever had.” I wanted to hug her. She’d made me feel so much better about myself. I didn’t hug her, I was professional, but I wanted to.

  “Thank you,” I told her. “Now go!”

  She grabbed her purse and headed out. I turned towards the hallway where Adele’s office was. I started to head down there to make amends with her as well, but I could hear my office phone ringing. I decided I’d get that first and then I’d go apologize. I went back into the office and picked up the phone.

  “This is Seth Hunter.”

  “Seth! It’s so good to hear your voice.” A little chill ran down my spine. It was Liz Taylor. Liz was an old flame… sort of.

  “Liz? How are you?”

  “I’m well, thank you. Daddy made me CEO last month, did you hear?”

  “No, I didn’t. Congratulations,” I told her. Liz’s father was a good friend of my father. He owned a successful investment firm and at one time, the two men had talked seriously about a merger.

  “Thank you. Daddy is retiring, going off to travel the world with my newest… and youngest step-monster.”

  “Oh,” I said. I wasn’t sure what to say to that.

  “I hear a lot has been happening over there. I’m not sure what to think about it all. I would express concern for you since it seems your father was run out of his own company, but I also heard you were dating his replacement. Is that true?”

  The last person on earth besides my father that I wanted to discuss Adele with was Liz. “I’m sorry, Liz, I have a meeting I need to get to,” I lied. “Was there something you needed or…”

  “Yes,” she said. “I want to discuss a merger. When can we meet?”

  “Um… what?”

  “A merger,” she said.

  “Yeah, I guess I heard that. I don’t believe we’re looking to do any mergers at the moment…”

  “You might want to meet with me and hear me out, Seth. If you and your… partner don’t want to agree to a merger I’m afraid that before Daddy left he had already set the wheels in motion for a takeover. From what I’ve heard, your company is not really strong enough at the moment to fight that.”

  “A takeover? You’re threatening me with a takeover?”

  “No sweetie, it’s not a threat. This is a friendly call to give you the opportunity to merge with us before that ever has to happen.”

  Damn it! This is exactly the opposite of what this company, myself, Adele or us as a couple, needs right now… more stress. “Fine Liz, I’ll meet with you,” I said. I think I’d already made u
p my mind not to bother Adele with this. I would handle it and when it was over, I’d share it with her. That way I killed two birds with one stone. I protected our company and I proved I had this company’s best interest at heart.

  “I’m free for dinner on Friday,” Liz said. She was practically purring. It was the voice she used to use when we were dating. I hated it.

  “I can meet you Friday evening,” I told her. “But here at my office. How about six?”

  “I’ll be there. I can’t wait to see you.” I didn’t say anything, not even good-bye. I just hung up. I was not looking forward to it at all.

  After I hung up with her, I thought back to the time when Liz and I had dated. It was about three years ago and my father and hers, Rick Taylor, had been talking about merging. The shareholders of both companies were on the fence about it and James came up with the brilliant idea of a more permanent merger. He decided that if me and Liz were in a committed relationship, the shareholders would have a more difficult time saying no. He didn’t tell me that part of it when he first pushed me into taking Liz out. I didn’t resist much. At that time in my life I wasn’t all that picky… if I thought the night would end with her in my bed or me in hers. Liz Taylor was not gorgeous by any means, but she wasn’t ugly and she had a body that I knew I would love to see naked.

  Our first few dates were boring as hell. Even in bed, it was boring. She was a spoiled, insecure girl whose daddy had given her anything and everything she ever wanted. She was looking for a boyfriend and ultimately a husband, who would do the same. After our third date, I stopped taking her calls. I guess Rick complained to my father because somehow he found out and that was when he finally told me that it was about business. We had a huge fight and it ended with me agreeing to taking her out again, but nothing beyond that. Our next and last date ended with me telling her that I just wasn’t feeling the spark. I did feel the sting of her palm against my cheek and the next day, I once again suffered my father’s wrath. The merger never happened. I drew the line at forced marriage for the sake of the business. My decision strained my father and Rick’s relationship and I think my father has yet to forgive me for that.

  ~

  CHAPTER SIX

  ~

  ADELE

  If ever there was a week from hell, I’d have to say this one was it. It started with Seth yelling at his assistant and me, and he practically accused me of having an affair with Grant. I was appalled by that, maybe more so than I should have been considering I hadn’t really been feeling all that secure about trusting him lately either. I’d gone to my own office and buried myself in my work. Imagine my surprise when I received a delivery of a dozen red roses. The delivery man told me they were from Mr. Hunter, but there was no card or personal message. I thought that was strange but it was a start, so I went back up towards the front and that was when I saw the roses sitting on his assistant’s desk. For some reason, that made me angry. I felt like by buying us both a dozen roses and not actually apologizing to me for anything he said, that it just simply looked like a manipulative ploy. He thought women were easy and a dozen roses and maybe a flash of one of his gorgeous smiles would make things all better.

  I turned around that day and went back to my office without talking to him. The rest of the week seemed to follow suit with Monday; nothing went right. I was running from one department to the next, putting out fires that my department managers should have been able to handle. I was beginning to become slightly paranoid. I started wondering if they were all against me and they were all doing their best to ruin my company. The few times I came face to face with Seth, he seemed to be in the same predicament as I was, but he still hadn’t apologized which to me meant that he really believed all of those things that he said. But on the other side of the coin, I still didn’t know if I wanted to apologize for what I said, or if I could trust him…

  We made it to Thursday somehow and the follow-up meeting on my proposal to buy the record production company. I got myself out of bed that morning by thinking positive. They might not like me, but they had to see the merits of this investment… right?

  At the meeting, Seth and I sat next to each other and although we’d barely spoke in almost a week, being that close to him made me remember the pull I felt towards him. Listening to him talk in the meeting made me remember how much professional respect I had for him and when Bob began to mouth off again about how I was wasting their time, Seth came to my rescue by just flat out telling him if he couldn’t be professional, he could leave. It made me remember how much I loved him. Ultimately, the shareholders refused to vote for the buy-out. I was crushed because it felt like I had wasted so much time preparing it, because I knew it was a great deal, and because I knew deep down that they hadn’t approved it because they hated me. As I was walking out of the room that day, I felt Seth’s hand on my arm. I turned around and looked into his sad blue eyes and he said, “I’m sorry, Adele. You worked so hard on this…”

  I forced a smile and said, “So did you. Thanks for having my back in there.”

  “It doesn’t matter if I’m angry with you or not,” he said. “I will always have your back. You’re my partner.” He smiled at me then and walked away. I realized I had been holding my breath. I was waiting for him to add, “And I love you.” He hadn’t said it though and I went home that night wondering if what was unsaid meant more than what was said. Were we only “partners?” I simpered and wallowed in it all day Friday and left work early because I couldn’t stand another minute of it.

  When I got home, Grant was there. I’d barely seen him all week. He’d been working on a massive contract for his firm and with my hectic week we had only caught glimpses of each other. As soon as he saw my face he said, “Get the wine out of the fridge and come talk to me.”

  I got the bottle we had been chilling for over a month and two glasses. I sat down next to him on the couch and without warning, the tears that I’d been holding back all week began to flow. I felt Grant put his arm around me and he pulled me into his chest. He pat my back and held me as I sobbed and cried and soaked the front of his shirt. When I finally pulled it together enough I sat back up and said, “Oh God, I’m so sorry. Look at your shirt.”

  He grinned and looked down at his shirt. It had my tears and make-up all over it. “It’s a shirt. You know I don’t like them anyways, so it’s fine. The question is, are you fine?”

  I shook my head. “I’m a mess,” I told him.

  “I can see that,” he said with a laugh. “What happened?”

  I told him what happened Monday morning and about Seth thinking something was going on between me and him. I told him about my horrible week and about the shareholders voting down my proposal. I told him about Seth sticking by me and even sticking up for me. While I talked and cried, he poured us a glass of wine and listened. He didn’t say anything until I was finished and that was when he finally said, “Adele, with all that you told me, the only question I see in there that is worth asking is this: Do you love him?”

  “Yes. I love him so much. It’s killing me to be apart from him.”

  “Then stop worrying about that stupid business. Baby, I know it’s important to you. It’s probably more important to you than it may be to someone else because of everything you’ve been through, but is it really more important to you than the love of your life?”

  With another sob I said, “No, it’s not. Nothing is more important than him.”

  “Then go tell him that, Adele. Let yourself be happy. You’re so used to being driven and focused and professional. You let your head do all the leading. Let your heart lead you for a change.”

  He was right. I didn’t want to lose Seth. My heart wanted him and my analytical brain was just going to have to get used to it. I threw my arms around Grant and hugged him tight. “Thank you. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. God, I’m going to miss you.”

  He drew his brows together and said, “Miss me? Did you decide to move in with him?”
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br />   With my first genuine, from the heart smile all week I said, “Yeah… I think I did.” I hadn’t known it until that very moment, but I was ready to start a real life with him. I was ready to put our relationship outside of work first. “What am I waiting for? I love him.”

  “There you go then,” Grant said. He wasn’t smiling any longer.

  I took a shower and put on a dress that made me feel pretty. After doing my hair and make-up I gave Grant one last hug for luck. He was over half-way through the bottle of wine, so I also hid his car keys before I left. I didn’t want him getting drunk enough to decide to go out and forgetting that he shouldn’t be driving. I took a cab to Seth’s townhouse first. His housekeeper told me that he wasn’t home yet so I called the office and checked with security. They told me he hadn’t left the building yet. I didn’t want to call him… I wanted to surprise him and take him out to dinner and tell him that I was ready to take that next step.