Feisty Princess (Sexy Manhattan Fairytale #2) (4 page)

I open my mouth to argue—to explain that the liquor completely impaired my judgment when it came to Alexander, but that wouldn’t exactly be the truth. I had sex with the man two times before I even had a drink of alcohol. I have no excuse for that. Alexander King is a very intoxicating man, and it pisses me off that I find it so hard to resist him.

Margo

MY PALMS SWEAT AS I
sit at my desk, waiting for the moment Alexander comes marching through the door. I don’t recall the last time I’ve been this nervous. That man just has a way of pushing my buttons, even when he’s not around. I seriously entertained Mom’s idea of quitting, but I know Daddy would kill me if I gave up on saving the company, so here I am.

All night long, I ran scenarios through my head of what it would be like to see him today. I have loads of fiery dialogue just waiting to assault him the moment that cocky mouth of his opens and he says one cross thing to me.

The soft ding of the elevator stopping on this otherwise quiet floor catches my attention. I practically leap out of my seat, not wanting to be in a position to be talked down to if it is Alexander.

It’s only seven. Most of the employees don’t start rolling in for at least another forty-five minutes, but I know that Alexander is always the first one at the office every morning.

I hold my breath as I hear heavy footsteps head in my direction.

Our gazes meet as soon as he rounds the corner and turns into my office. He’s always so put together, and today is no different as he waltzes toward my desk in his perfectly pressed black suit. I stare into Alexander’s gray eyes, ready to begin our verbal sparring match, but I never get the chance to say a word. He turns without so much as a word to me and storms into his adjoining office, slamming the door shut behind him in the process.

My mouth drops open. So much for my thought-out plan of attack.

I plop down in my chair and do my best to pretend the man, who is now my husband, isn’t on the other side of that door, avoiding me at all costs.

Asshole.

I flip off the door but refuse to go chasing after him to demand answers. If he wants to play ‘let’s pretend last weekend never happened,’ then so be it.

Game on.

He will not control my thoughts any longer. I won’t allow it because I’ve done nothing but obsess about him since I arrived back in New York. If I haven’t been daydreaming about the way his hands felt on me, then figuring out a way to take him down has consumed me. I wish he weren't such a fantastic lover. Maybe then, I could jerk my head out of the fucking clouds and stop thinking about Alexander King in toe-curling sexual positions.

I sigh and check the clock on my computer screen. It’s nearly twelve, and there still hasn’t been a peep out of Alexander. Not even for his coffee—which is odd since he always seems to take great pleasure in having me fetch on his command.

I’ll be damned if I break the little silence game we have going on between us. I refuse to allow him to believe he has an inch of power over me. I still want him to think I’m ready to stick it to him at any moment for not having a prenup in place before he married me.

I return my attention back to the statistical figures for King Enterprises that I’ve been able to get my hands on. All morning, I’ve been looking for traces of unethical practices that can help me in my pursuit to take Alexander King down with a bit of blackmail. Unfortunately for me, nothing of use has turned up. To my surprise, this company seems to do everything by the book.

The phone on my desk rings, and I snatch it off my desk the moment Alexander’s name flashes across the caller ID. “Yes, Mr. King. Is there something I can do for you?”

“I need a car brought around in exactly fifteen minutes,” he orders without as much as a greeting.

I don’t appreciate the bossy tone in his voice, so I decide to throw a little dig of my own at him. “Of course, sir. Is there anything else you need from me? Your messages, coffee, divorce papers? Oh, wait, I forgot that we need to tie up many loose ends before we close that deal.”

The last one has me biting my lip to hold back a snicker. I don’t even have to see the expression on his face to know that one has him seething.

“Margo . . .” he says my name with a warning, but I’ve decided I need to keep going—keep pushing his buttons.

“Do I detect some anger? Is that any way to speak to your wife? We are still in that newlywed phase, after all.”

“Margo,” he growls. “Get your ass in this office so we can discuss this matter privately. We don’t need the entire fucking office knowing our goddamn business.”

I raise my eyebrows while a smirk crosses my face. “No need to get touchy. I—”

Click.

Before I can throw out anything else, Alexander stops me in my tracks by hanging up.

The smile still rests on my face as I push myself up from my desk. I like the idea of having this egotistical man by the balls. His reputation of dicking women over precedes him in this city, so I love the idea that I’ve one-upped this man.

Now all I have to do is march in there and keep up this bitch persona. The only chance I have of keeping him at bay is to continue to piss him off. If he despises me, then he’ll stay on the other side of that desk and not attempt to use those magical hands on me. Lord knows, if he touches me, I’ll lose all self-control, and I cannot allow that to happen. This is my one shot at forcing Alexander King into not taking over my father’s company. It’s also one of my last chances to put distance between the two of us and regain control of my heart before it falls for this wicked man.

Alexander

I ADJUST MY TIE FOR
the third time and take a deep breath, readying myself to enter into battle with Margo. I hadn’t planned her to be here early this morning, so when I walked in and saw her sitting at her desk, I froze and not one damn word would come out of my mouth. I figured silence was best until I could figure out a way to convince her of my plan. I spent some time last night figuring out how I could spin this situation to make me look good to the board.

The door swings open, and I lean back in my chair and steeple my fingers in front of me. If I’ve learned one thing about Margo, it’s that she’s a shark like me. Any sign of a little blood and she’ll attack, so it’s best to put on a good front and pretend that I’m not the least bit rattled.

Margo struts through the door with her chin tipped up, and I can tell by the heated expression on her face that getting her on my side will not be an easy task.

“Sit,” I order her.

She shakes her head. “I think I’ll stand.”

Her little act of defiance doesn’t surprise me. She hates being ordered around.

I want to lash out and say a million things that I know will get under her skin and piss her off even further, but I quickly think back to what Jack said. I have to stop fighting with this woman and get on her good side so she’ll cooperate with not only the divorce process, but also with the other little plan that I have in mind.

I take a deep breath and push myself to be more pleasant with her. “Would you please have a seat, Margo?”

She arches one of her perfectly manicured eyebrows, clearly questioning my sudden manners. She stares me down a moment longer but then takes the seat across from me. Margo crosses those long, sexy legs of hers, and my eyes instantly dart down to them. She’s wearing another one of those goddamn skirts that does nothing but accentuate every curve beneath it. A couple of buttons on her blue blouse are undone, the valley between her tits on display.

I pull at the collar of my shirt and do attempt to stop thinking about how fucking sexy she is both in and out of her clothes. “I have a proposition for you.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “This had better not be another request to be your fuck buddy. The last time you propositioned me for that, I distinctly remember smacking your face.”

My tongue dances behind my teeth, ready to remind her just how much she enjoyed having my cock buried inside her—how she begged for it. But I know doing that right now won’t help my case.

“Look, Margo, you’re an intelligent woman, so there’s no need for me to beat around the bush. I need something from you.”

This catches her interest, and both of her eyebrows shoot up. “And I suppose you believe I’ll just give over whatever it is you need from me.”

I lock my gaze with hers. “Yes.”

She opens her mouth to protest, but I quickly cut her off.

“The answer is yes because I’m willing to make you a very generous offer.”

She folds her arms over her chest. “What exactly is it that you want?”

“Your cooperation,” I tell her honestly.

She smirks. “You want to divorce me so soon?”

“This isn’t a joke, Margo. Our little moment of drunken indiscretion could put me in some deep shit.”

“And this is my problem because . . . ?”

Her flippant attitude is really getting under my skin. “If you want to save your father’s company, then it should matter to you if I’m no longer the one making final business decisions when it comes to the King Corporation.”

She rolls those magnetic, blue eyes of hers. “You’re really reaching, Alexander.”

I pound my fist on my desk, causing her to jump and release a tiny gasp. “It’s true, dammit.”

Her eyes search my face as she chews on that plump bottom lip of hers, and then she asks softly, “How is that possible? I thought your father left you this company?”

“He did, but there is a catch. A clause written in his will states the board has the power to overthrow my position as president if it is deemed that I was making reckless decisions in either my professional or private life,” I explain.

Her eyebrows draw in and there’s a flash of pity in her eyes. “Why would he do that?”

“Because I was only nineteen years old when he was diagnosed with cancer and that’s not exactly a mature age for a guy to run a Fortune 500 company without some protective measures in place.” I shrug. “I understand why he did it. Hell, I would do the same thing in order to protect the family empire and make sure it remained profitable. He was looking out for my sister, Diem, and me.”

Margo’s lips twist. “But you’re thirty years old now. Does that clause not have an expiration date?”

I nod. “It ends when I’m thirty-two. Father figured since that was the age he settled down, got married, and began building his empire that I should have my head on straight by then.” I lean in and set my elbows on my desk. “That’s why I need your cooperation. I need to convince the board that our marriage wasn’t some random drunken act so they don’t question my ability to run this company. I’ve worked my ass off since my father’s death to prove not only to the board, but also to myself, that I’m fit to fill Father’s shoes. I would want him to be proud of how well I’ve handled everything.”

Silence settles in the office. I’ve never really admitted to anyone why I’m so driven, but it feels good to say it out loud. I just hope that Margo understands why this means so much to me and agrees to help me out.

Finally, after she’s had time to process everything I’ve just told her, she launches into question mode. “So you’re saying that you want to stay married and that you want me to play along and make the world believe that we’re madly in love?”

“That’s exactly what I’m asking.”

Margo nods. “What’s in it for me?”

I flinch. “I thought I was pretty clear about how me staying in power benefits you.”

She shakes her head. “All you said was that if I wanted to save my father’s business, then I would need to help you. I’m just sitting here asking myself why I would want to do that. I know your main objective is to buy out my father’s entire company and then break it into pieces to sell off like it’s some worn-out toy at a flea market.”

I sigh, hating that what I’m about to propose goes against everything in me. “If you help me, then I promise that in return, I will not break apart your father’s company and sell it off in sections as I originally planned. Instead, King Corporation will become a financial partner with Buchanan Industries. And as a bonus, I’ll make sure Yamada Enterprises strikes up a deal with your father’s company directly.”