Chapter 2

By the time Seraphina reached Voss Holdings, the meeting with Cassian was already starting to feel like something that had happened to someone else. That was how she had survived the last five years. She had learned not to dwell on things that hurt, or at least, she had learned how to keep the hurt where no one could see it.

Her car pulled into the underground garage beneath the building, and she stepped out before her driver could open the door. She adjusted the strap of her bag and walked toward the private elevator, which took her straight to the executive floor.

“Good morning, Ms. Voss.”

“Morning.”

Her assistant was waiting outside her office with a tablet in one hand and a coffee in the other.

“You’re late.”

Seraphina glanced at the clock on the wall. She could have been annoyed, but she actually appreciated how efficient and time conscious her assistant was. It was one of the qualities that had helped her outlast the people who had come before her, and she had grown rather fond of the snarkiness too.

“Three minutes.”

“Still late.”

“You’re becoming irritating.”

“I learned from you.”

Seraphina took the coffee from her and walked into her office.

“Did it go well?”

“No.”

Her assistant stopped in the doorway as Seraphina placed the coffee on her desk and opened her bag.

“That isn’t the answer I expected.”

“It went exactly how I thought it would.”

Her assistant followed her inside. “Those are two completely different answers.”

Seraphina sat behind her desk and leaned back. “He didn’t accept the offer.”

“So it went badly.”

She gave her assistant a sideways look. “I didn’t say that.”

“Then what happened?”

“I gave him forty-eight hours.”

“To decide?”

“Yes.”

Her assistant nodded slowly. “And if he says no?”

“Then we move on.”

She said it calmly, hoping her voice didn’t give away how little she believed it herself. She couldn’t afford to move on. She had spent five years planning this, five years making sure she would never again be in a position where Cassian Devereaux could destroy her life.

She opened the folder containing a copy of the contract she had presented at Devereaux Holdings. Her assistant glanced at the papers.

“Do you think he’ll accept?”

“I don’t know.”

“You seemed pretty confident when you gave him the deadline.”

“I was.”

“That doesn’t sound like confidence.”

Seraphina looked up at her. “It’s business. He has forty-eight hours to decide. I have other things to do.”

Her assistant seemed satisfied with that answer. “What’s on my schedule?”

“The board meeting is at eleven. Bellamy called again this morning. They want to meet tomorrow.”

Ah, yes. Bellamy. The nearly destitute company she had been trying to get her hands on. Apparently, Cassian wanted it too. She would rather choke on a goat’s balls than let him get that contract before she did.

“Move the board meeting to the afternoon.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

Her assistant made a note on her tablet. “Bellamy at nine?”

“Keep it.”

“Anything else?”

“Get me the latest report on the company before lunch.”

Her assistant looked up. “Bellamy?”

“Yes.”

“I thought we were still considering an offer.”

“We were.”

“And now?”

“Now we’re making one.”

Her assistant studied her for a moment before nodding. “That sounds expensive.”

“It will be.”

“How expensive?”

Seraphina opened the Bellamy file. “Three hundred and twenty million.”

Her assistant stared at her. “That’s forty million above the current valuation.”

“I know math.”

“I know. I’m just making sure you haven’t suddenly developed a gambling problem.”

Seraphina looked at her. “Do I look like someone who gambles?”

“No. You look like someone who ruins other people’s gambling habits.”

“Good. Then we’re clear.”

Her assistant shook her head and left.

Seraphina waited until the door closed before opening the Bellamy file properly.

Bellamy Logistics had been on her radar for months. On paper, it wasn’t impressive enough to attract the kind of attention Voss Holdings usually received. The company was drowning in debt, two of its largest clients were considering other suppliers, and its shareholders were divided over whether to sell.

Usually, Seraphina wouldn’t have cared. Bellamy wasn’t worth three hundred and twenty million. She didn’t even think it was worth a hundred million on paper. But Devereaux Holdings wanted it for a different reason. Bellamy controlled three major distribution centers and, through one of its subsidiaries, held a controlling interest in a private cargo terminal worth far more than the company itself.

Devereaux had been trying to secure access to it for almost two years. Cassian needed the terminal for one of Devereaux Holdings’ expansion plans, and Bellamy’s board knew exactly how much that access was worth.

Seraphina knew too because she had spent a very long time finding out what Cassian needed. If she was going to ruin him, she needed to know what mattered to him. And Cassian? She knew him better than anyone.

She hadn’t interfered before because there had been no reason to.

Until now.

She picked up her phone. “Get me the acquisition team.”

A voice answered almost immediately. “Ms. Voss.”

“How much have we set aside for Bellamy?”

“Two hundred and eighty million.”

“Raise it.”

“To?”

“Three hundred and twenty.”

There was a pause. “That’s forty million above the current valuation.”

“I know.”

“Do you want the board’s approval?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

She heard the faint sound of typing.

“Anything else?”

“Find out who owns the remaining shares.”

“Already working on it.”

“And their creditors.”

“I’ll have that for you within the hour.”

“Good.”

She ended the call and looked back at the Bellamy file. Three hundred and twenty million was a lot of money. It was also less than what Cassian could afford to lose.

That was what made it worth doing.

Her phone rang again. It was her assistant.

“Yes?”

“I have the report.”

“Send it in.”

A moment later, her assistant returned with another folder. “Bellamy’s chairman is under pressure from the board. One of their major shareholders is trying to sell his entire position, and their creditors are getting impatient.”

“Good.”

Her assistant blinked. “Good?”

“It means they’ll be desperate.”

“They’re also desperate enough to accept Devereaux’s offer.”

Seraphina closed the folder. “Not if we get there first.”

“They’ve already made two offers.”

“I know.”

“And they’re planning a third.”

“I know that too.”

Her assistant stared at her. “How do you know all of this?”

Seraphina smiled. “I’m very nosy.”

“That isn’t reassuring.”

“It wasn’t meant to be.”

Her assistant sighed and picked up her tablet. “Anything else?”

“Find out exactly what Devereaux offered them.”

“We have the last offer.”

“The next one.”

“You think they’ll increase it?”

“Cassian won’t let Bellamy go easily.”

“You sound very sure.”

“I am.”

“Why?”

Seraphina looked down at the papers because she knew him. Because she had spent years learning how he thought. Because she knew exactly how much he hated losing. None of that was something she could say.

“Men with large egos tend to be predictable.”

Her assistant smiled. “I’ll take your word for it.”

“Do that.”

She left, and Seraphina leaned back in her chair. Her mind went back to the boardroom despite her best efforts. She remembered his eyes, the same eyes that had once looked at her with love and admiration. The same eyes that had once made her feel like she was the only woman in the world. Today, they had looked at her without a trace of recognition, as if she were nothing more than another business he had to deal with.

Then his voice came back to her.

“Have we met before?”

She frowned and pushed the thought aside. She wasn’t doing this. She didn’t have the luxury of sitting around wondering how seeing Cassian had made her feel. She had spent five years preparing for this moment, and feelings had no place in what she was about to do.

She opened the Devereaux file instead.

Her phone buzzed with a new message.

How did it go?

She stared at it for a moment before replying.

He didn’t recognize me.

The answer came almost immediately.

Are you sure?

Yes.

Another message appeared.

Did he say anything?

Seraphina hesitated before typing.

He asked if we’d met before.

No response came for several seconds.

Then:

And what did you say?

I said no. What else would I have said?

She locked her phone and set it aside.

That was all that mattered. He hadn’t recognized her. Not her face, which wasn’t entirely the same anymore. Not her voice, which she had worked hard to change. He didn’t recognize the woman she had been before. Good. That had been the point.

She turned back to the Bellamy file. Tomorrow at nine, she would meet the chairman. If she played this correctly, Bellamy would belong to Voss Holdings before Cassian even realized what had happened. By the time he understood what she had done, it would be too late.

Her phone buzzed again. She ignored it. It buzzed a second time. Annoyed, she picked it up.

“Don’t forget why you came back.”

Seraphina stared at the message, then deleted it. She didn’t need anyone to remind her. She had spent five years remembering what Cassian had done to her and why she had left.

She looked at the clock.

Forty-five hours.

That was how long Cassian had left to decide whether he wanted to do business with her. He had no idea that while he was considering her offer, she was already going after something he desperately wanted.

Seraphina looked down at the Bellamy file.

Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.