Free Damien: Billionaire Bad Boy Romance by Ellen Harper

and show HR!”
     
    Karen glared at me. “Forget it,” she said tartly, spinning on her heel and walking away.
     
    I clapped my hand to my forehead. Just what the fuck had I gotten myself into?
     
     
    * * *
     
     
    By the time I got back to my desk, I was in a foul mood and my new coffee was cold. I didn’t want to face Audrey again, even though it was almost time for my lunch. Instead, I turned on my computer and began scrolling through my emails.
     
    When I saw that I had three new messages from Hodges, I groaned again. This day, this week, everything was fucking out to get me. I couldn’t stand the idea of that weasel trying to worm his way back into LennoxCo, but I knew that I had to see what he had to say.
     
     
    Damien,
     
    I’ll be calling later in the afternoon, and it would be great if you could accept. While I know that you’ve been hesitant to accept any of my offers so far, I’d be pleased if you could hear me out this time.
     
    Just as a reminder, if you don’t decide to take the call, think about the paperwork from the consulting firm deal. You may not have found it interesting at the time, but I think there would be certain officials who would love to look over that now.
     
    Best,
     
    Richard.
     
     
    Fuck . I closed my eyes and let my head rest in my hands. Back when Hodges first approached me about investing with him, I hadn’t realized that he was basically concocting a pyramid scheme. He’d gone around to several companies and tried to sell potential investors on a multi-level scheme.
     
    I groaned. I hadn’t seen it at the time, and every day I wished I could go back in time if only to slap myself awake. Richard had been doing nothing but peddling an illegal scheme. While I hadn’t felt lucky at the time, in retrospect I knew that I had been: Richard hadn’t ever gone to the police with the paperwork. If they found the documents, I’d be in white-collar prison for years. The rest of my life, even.
     
    I swallowed, feeling uncomfortable. Chicago had a routine history of corruption, but the only thing that stood out in this city above corruption was loyalty. Richard was asking me to be loyal to him. I didn’t know if I could—he’d almost ruined me once. I was sure that if he bought LennoxCo, he’d somehow manage to drive it into the ground. The company was like my child, and I wasn’t okay with seeing Richard ruin it.
     
    “Damien!” Audrey called me loudly from her desk. “Richard’s on the phone! Richard Hodges! Do you want to take the call?”
     
    Damnit . He was moving too fast today! “Yeah,” I called back. “I’ll take him on line one.”
     
    Audrey beeped the call through. When I answered, I was dismayed to hear that Hodges sounded exactly the same as he always had—falsely jovial, like he was a god bearing good news.
     
    “Damien, it’s been too long,” Hodges said grandly. “What would you say to a game of squash and dinner tonight at the Four Seasons?”
     
    “Can’t, sorry,” I replied in a flippant tone. “Maybe some time next month. Or maybe next year, Richard.”
     
    Richard laughed. It was a dangerous, low sound. “Maybe you’ll agree when I tell you that I know a little more than you think. I’ve been watching you, Damien.” All traces of friendliness were gone from his voice and now he just sounded like exactly what he was at his core: a menacing and desperate man.
     
    “Oh yeah?” I raised my eyebrows. “And what have you seen?”
     
    “Well,” Hodges said silkily. “I know there’s a certain little frumpy woman that you can’t take your eyes away from. How’s that?”
     
    I practically jumped out of my chair. Through the glass partition in my door, I could see Audrey. She was leaning over the desk, working hard at something, and the corner of her tongue was sticking out of her mouth. A lick of desire shot through me as I watched her twirl from side to side in her desk chair.
     
    “You’re wrong,” I said flatly.