Chosen for Power (Women of Power, #1) (10 page)

“It was time for me to do it. I was so proud of you. We make a good team, sweetheart,” Drake whispered into her hair.

“You sure do,” Shirley said from across the room as the slight high-pitched sound of her hearing aid being cranked to the max filled the room.

Hearing a knock on the door, everyone turned and watched Mary walk in with George right behind her. The older man with the potbelly and too many pens in his breast pocket held out his hand to Drake. “It’s good to see you again, boy. Although I guess you’re not a boy anymore, are you? You know, I remember the first time I met you. What were you, maybe twenty and you had that Lamborghini. You had just bought that car when I ran into you at the donut shop over on Peachtree.”

Drake shook his hand. “That’s right. I think I even let you drive it around the block. George, I’d like you to meet Elle Simpson.”

“Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

“Elle, please. And these are my sisters, Bree and Allegra.” Elle held out her hand as Bree and Allegra stepped forward to shake George’s hand.

George pushed the black-rimmed glasses up his nose. “Only three questions, huh?”

“We’ll start with three and then see how it goes.” Elle smiled and Drake knew she’d won him over the second Jessica came running into the room with a plate of donuts. Mallory was the only one missing, so Drake guessed she’d somehow slipped out and ordered them. Mallory was a little scary that way. She seemed to know everything about everyone. Drake wasn’t even surprised to find out they were George’s favorites.

Elle tried not to be nervous as George took a bite of a donut and looked down at his pad of paper. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but right now she didn’t know whom she could trust.

“Let’s get the boring stuff out of the way. When and where did you meet?”

Next to her, Drake let out a laugh and said, “We met at a charity event last year. We hit it off right away and have been dating ever since.” He answered as vaguely as possible. Elle couldn’t believe the transformation from recluse to outgoing hero. At least to her he was a hero.

“Great. Now I want to hear about what you’re working on,” George asked as he turned his full attention to Drake as they spoke about programming and software and the next generation of smartphones.

“Last question and then I’ll get out of your hair. Just to put these rumors to rest—is there any chance Simpson Global and Drake Charles Enterprises will merge?”

Elle smiled in relief at the softball he threw her. “No. Simpson Global has no plans to merge with anyone, even DCE.”

“At least not professionally,” Drake winked as Elle flushed and George chuckled.

Mary quietly approached and handed George a box of donuts and offered to escort him downstairs. As soon as the door closed, Elle started to shake. The emotions of the day, the adrenaline, and the nerves all hit her as she took deep breaths.

“All this and it’s only eight-fifteen in the morning.” She tried to laugh as Drake quietly rubbed her back. “Let’s go see what the rest of the day has in store for us.”

Elle thanked Drake again and walked him to the elevator as her sisters headed to their offices. Dinner couldn’t come soon enough. Just to get home into her pajamas and snuggle up on the couch with Drake would be magical. As she wiggled her toes in her uncomfortable sexy heels, she thanked the heavens she had her bunny slippers in the office. However, as Drake kissed her good-bye, her toes curled and the last thing she was thinking about were her shoes.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Elle looked around the hall and saw that no one was looking. She slipped off her shoes and quickly walked to her office. Someone sitting at Elle's desk clucked her disapproval, and Elle thought she’d jump out of her skin.

“Mom! You scared me to death.”

“Are you really walking around the office without your shoes on? Did I raise you in a barn?” Margaret shook her head and reached down to toss Elle’s bunny slippers to her.

“Thanks.” Elle slipped on her fluffy slippers and fell back onto the couch.

“You did well today. And so did Drake. I don’t want to be the mother who says ‘I told you so,’” Margaret waved her hand in the air absently, “but you get the picture.”

“Gee, so glad you could restrain yourself.” Elle rolled her eyes and suddenly felt as if she were thirteen years old again. As much as she hated the I-told-you-so her mother had just
not
said, at least it showed how much she liked Drake and not the I-told-you-so she also
didn’t
say after Chord broke her heart and trust.

Her mother’s teasing smile faded. “How are you holding up?”

Elle blew out a breath that caused a strand of hair to float to the side of her forehead. “We’ll know more at noon when this hits the local news stations and the reporters have time to write their articles, but I’m optimistic. This can’t be over soon enough.”

Margaret nodded. “It seems you haven’t been telling me . . .”

“Elle—Mom’s on her . . . Oh, hi, Mom,” Bree smiled as she slid to a stop.

“Look at my daughters working together. Maybe you can work together to figure out who is playing this nasty trick on you.”

Elle watched her mother stand up, smooth her slacks, and straighten her shirt with a huge smiling sun on it. She must be on her way to visit the kids at the hospital, she thought. She felt very much like a kid herself as her mother raised her eyes and gave her and Bree the same look she’d given them since they were toddlers.

“Yes, Mom,” she and Bree said at the same time before giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“She still scares me,” Bree said as she fell onto the couch next to Elle.

“I know.” The knock at the door had both sisters letting out a sigh and looking up. “Jessica, thank goodness . . . is that double brownie chocolate chunk?”

“Two of them.” Bree smiled as she thanked Jessica and took her own pint.

“Is it that bad?” Elle asked as she dug into her ice cream.

“No, that good,” Jessica smiled and handed her some papers. “The reporters loved your press conference. Here are the first articles that are going up. They’re eating up the love story and painting you and Mr. Charles as the new ‘it’ couple.”

Elle let out her breath and slumped against Bree’s shoulder. Thank goodness. Now, she hoped, she could move on with her life. And if she ever saw Chord again she was going to rip off his . . . Elle took a bite of her ice cream and thought violent thoughts.

Her mother taught Elle more than the look she’d just given her daughters. She taught her how to get things done all while maintaining a polite smile. And that was exactly what she was going to do now. Smile politely and squash him like the bug he was.

“Jessica, put everything you’re working on aside and call Mallory. I need the two of you to look into Chord McAlister. I need to know everything about him and the company he’s working for now.”

“Oh. I know that look. I almost feel bad for Chord.” Bree smiled as she licked the spoon. “Now, what can I do to help destroy the bastard?”

*     *     *

Drake lit the candles and poured the pasta into a bowl to set on the middle of the table. Elle had been working long nights this past week since the news conference. She didn’t say why, but he knew she was trying to make up any ground she lost from the fake news reports. It worked for him; he had been putting in long hours trying to solve the problem with his program for the government.

However, the news that he and Elle now were the most powerful couple had been nice. Not the powerful part, but the part where the papers were talking about their relationship as if it were a fairy tale. To him it was. Every day he fell more and more in love with her, even if they only saw each other for a couple hours at night. He found himself wanting to do things for her. Not because she demanded it; she never would do that. He simply wanted to show her how much he loved and supported her, so tonight he was making dinner. He’d never made a woman dinner before and felt inordinately proud of himself.

Drake tossed a salad and set it on the table. He still didn’t know how he got so lucky—even if others in the media didn’t see it because they were so wrapped up in what it meant. Some talked about their relationship as a power play, some as a way of getting press, and others, like the men he overheard at lunch today, were wondering who wore the pants in the relationship. But when you're in love it isn’t about power. Power struggles aren’t real love. It was about sharing. It was about trust and supporting each other to be the best person each can be. It was about being a team. The mind-blowing sex didn’t hurt either.

The door unlocked and Drake looked up to see Elle toss her keys on the side table and hang up her coat. “It smells amazing in here. I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but I’ll take it.” She grinned, but Drake could see the bags under her eyes. He grabbed a glass of wine and brought it to her as she kicked off her heels and shook her head at them. “Why do I have to love them so much? I mean, look at them, just lying there looking so sexy and innocent. But then you put them on, and they turn into Satan’s stilettos.”

“Here. Come have dinner, drink wine, and forget all about them.” Drake handed her the wine and dropped a lingering kiss on her lips. He’d make sure he found a way to make her forget her shoe problems.

Elle fell into Drake’s kiss. His strong arms held her to him as he slowly kissed her. A moan escaped when his hand ran down her spine to cup her bottom and give it a gentle squeeze. This week had been exhausting. Jessica had found out Chord’s threat of a takeover was a little more serious that they initially thought.

Elle had wanted to ignore it, but what they found after digging further troubled her. Titan Industries had been quietly buying Simpson Global stock and had amassed a good percentage. Not enough to force her family out. When the company went public, Elle had insisted the family retain the majority of the stock, making it very difficult to be ousted. But Titan’s holdings were enough to be a pain in her behind. The power players at Titan were trying to garner votes among the shareholders to replace her as CEO and she would not put up with that.

This past week, Elle had been trying to stop them from buying any more shares by talking to the shareholders. She’d also been lost in research. She was studying Chord, Titan Industries, and their CEO, Mr. Eldrich. Elle was very quietly looking for allies as she made deals to buy Titan stock in the near future. Jessica had given her a list of shareholders, and Elle had been meeting with them to set up an agreement to buy their stocks by the end of the month. She was going to have to prove herself once again as someone not to be trifled with, plus the conglomerate was very attractive. They had some very profitable holdings and Mr. Eldrich, while a respected member of the elite good ole boys club, had a reputation of being misogynistic and narcissistic. If she could sneak in the back door and take them over while they thought they were doing the same to her, it would be a wonderful investment for her company. And Mr. Eldrich’s personality played in her favor. He’d never see it coming as he probably believed a woman would never be smart enough to pull it off.

“Let’s eat. I have something special planned for dessert,” Drake murmured against her lips as he ended their kiss.

“What is it?”

“You.”

*     *     *

Bree slid a thick folder across the desk as she continued her report on the new construction project for Simpson Steel. Elle glanced at the permits, design plans, and orders as Bree talked about the estimated timeline of the project and financials.

Elle pulled out a piece of green paper and saw it was a letter addressed to Bree. “What’s this?”

Bree’s face was impassive, but she snatched the paper out of her hand. “Sorry, this shouldn’t be in here. As I was saying, the architect on the project is driving me crazy.”

As Bree headed back into her account of the project, Elle found her mind drifting. After her first good night’s sleep, Elle felt refreshed and ready to tackle anything. She had woken up that morning in her apartment to the smell of bacon sizzling and coffee brewing. Drake made her breakfast and the two of them headed into work together. The kiss he left her with before walking down to his building was full of promise for that night.

“Earth to Elle.” Bree waved her hand in front of her face as Allegra giggled.

“What?” She hadn’t even realized she’d zoned out of their weekly project update meeting.

“Nothing of importance. Only a one-billion-dollar project,” Bree teased as she nodded her head to Allegra. “You’re up.”

Allegra brought out a couple bright pink folders and handed them to her sisters. “I want to expand into the luxury market. It’s a large price tag, but I talked to the owners and they hinted that Bellerose is looking for a parent company to fund expansion.”

“Bellerose, aren’t they the sponsors of the French Majors for tennis?” Elle asked as she put all thoughts of Drake out of her mind. This was a huge fashion house.

“That’s right. They also dress many of the American and British celebrities on the red carpet. They also have huge layouts in the top fashion magazines all over the world. Their tent at last year’s New York Fashion Week was packed. Now you can see why I’m so excited.” Allegra was practically bouncing in her chair.

“How are they wanting to expand?” Bree asked.

“They want to expand into accessories: shoes, sunglasses, perfume, and handbags. While they’re luxury and in the black financially, they need capital investment to expand that much while securing deals with high-end retailers.”

“What’s the price tag?”

By the time the sisters finished going over the financials of Bellerose, Elle was cross-eyed but very excited. They felt good about the purchase, and Jessica had gone to set up an initial meeting.

“Miss Simpson?”

“Yes?” All three sisters responded to Jessica as she knocked on the door and peeked in.

Jessica laughed and shook her head. “Sorry, Miss Elle Simpson, you have a visitor. It’s Mr. Burger from the bank. He said he's ready with what you requested.”

“Requested? I didn’t request anything. Which bank is he from again?” Elle asked in confusion. Maybe he was from one of the boards?

“Peachtree,” Jessica told her.

“Jess, this is Atlanta. Everything is named Peachtree. Is it First Peachtree, Peachtree City Bank, or one of the other Peachtrees?”

“First Peachtree.” Jessica tried not to laugh. “The one in Peachtree Corporate Place.

“Of course, show him in.” Elle shrugged her shoulders at her sisters as Jessica headed out of the office.

“Oh, and you’ll meet with Bellerose next Thursday at nine at the Pink Champagne restaurant. I put it on your calendar,” Jessica called out as she disappeared to retrieve Mr. Burger.

“First Peachtree isn’t our usual bank. What’s this about?” Bree asked.

“I don’t know. We have a cash reserve there, but I certainly didn’t ask him for anything.” Elle smiled and stood as a jovial, wiry man practically bounded through the door.

“Miss Simpson, it’s good to see you again. I know you said you’d stop by tomorrow, but I wanted to thank you for your business again and get it to you as fast as I could.”

Elle automatically shook his hand but was too confused to return his smile. What was going on?

“Here’s your money, ma’am. I’m glad First Peachtree can assist you in your new project.” Mr. Burger lifted the metal briefcase he was carrying and handed it to her.

Elle placed it on her desk and clicked the locks open. She saw Bree and Allegra move to try to peer into the case as she opened it. Elle felt her breath lodge in her lungs. The brief case was full of cash.

“Two million in cash. Would you like to count it?” Mr. Burger asked and Elle heard both of her sisters gasp.

“Mr. Burger, I don’t mean to sound obtuse, but why are you bringing this to me?”

Mr. Burger’s smile faltered and his brow crinkled. “It’s just what you asked for this morning. You told me Simpson Global needed the cash in order to invest in a new project. When I asked you if you wanted to use the money in your money market account, you said you did. Remember?”

“You talked to me on the phone this morning?” Elle asked slowly as she tried to understand what was going on.

“No, you came in. You had that lovely black hat with the . . .“ Mr. Burger wiggled his fingers in front of his face, “. . . thingy swooping across part of your face. I told you I needed a day to get the cash together and you told me you’d stop by tomorrow to pick it up.  But I wanted to get this to you as soon as possible. I didn’t know if your investment was time-sensitive. Plus, you seemed aggravated this morning that you had to wait. As soon as the cash was available, I decided to rush it over to you. Is something wrong? Am I too late?”