Chapter 1 - Cole Sutcliffe

Cole POV

I’m sorting through my email when I stumble upon the email that can change everything for me. Fairchild Enterprises are for sale, and I can’t help but sit back in my chair as I read Sawyer’s email. He knows how much I want to buy them out of the business. They are my most significant competitor, and I am not twenty anymore; I don’t have time to destroy them slowly. I want them out of circulation.

“Faith,” I say as I place the phone in my ear.

“Yes, boss,” Faith replies through the intercom between my office and her reception desk. Faith is probably the only person I trust with every detail of my life. Besides being my secretary, PA, or whatever you want to call her, she is a dear friend and married to Sawyer.

“Get Sawyer on the line and schedule a meeting with Fairchild’s CEO,” I let out, and the laughter on the other side forces me to raise an eyebrow while she laughs uncontrollably. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” I ask, and when she stops laughing with a snort, and she finally responds.

“You sure you want to endure a meeting with that… woman?” Faiths ask as if I have grown three heads. I let out an exasperated sigh and close my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose as I reply.

“Is it too hard to do your fucking job without torturing me?” I ask and end the call before she even has a chance to reply. I don’t want to hear another word coming from Faith. I know how Miss Fairchild can be. The woman is a freaking parasite.

The phone rings, and when I answer, I hear Faith’s voice on the other side, “The most beautiful and amazing man in the world is on line two,” she says as I roll my eyes and press the button, cutting her off and welcoming my best friend’s voice on the other side.

“How you put up with Faith every day is beyond me,” I let out through greeted teeth, and Sawyer chuckles on the other side.

“You spend more time with her than I do, so I should be the one asking you that,” he tells me, and I exhale before reopening the email he sent.

“Has she run out of money already?” I ask Sawyer, he knows immediately who I am talking about. I have offered to buy Fairchild’s Enterprises, but that dreadful woman has always refused. Her eyes constantly scan my body, making me shiver as I remember.

“I don’t know, but I am finding this very weird because the news came straight from her office to mine, so I don’t know what she has in mind,” Sawyer says. I hear a beeping sound, and he breathes.

“Faith scheduled a meeting for this afternoon; she is desperate to see you,” Sawyer lets out with another chuckle. I shake my head, move the phone to my other ear, lean back in my chair, and undo my tie slightly.

“Take everything we might need to make an offer there and then; I don’t want to be dealing with her more than necessary,” I say, and Sawyer mumbles on the other side as he types furiously on his keyboard.

“Okay, I will see you there at six,” he tells me before the call ends. I put the phone down and spin my chair to look out the floor-to-ceiling window in my office. Fairchild has been married so many times I have lost count. She’s always kept her first husband’s name so she could keep appearances, but she’s nothing more than a leach trying to suck the life out of every man she connects with.

At six o'clock, I walk into Fairchild’s Enterprises building as everyone stares at me. I am used to that. Being known is part of the job, especially in this type of business. “Mr. Sutcliffe, this way, please,” a woman wearing a grey suit says, offering me a smile, and I nod as I follow her down the corridor to the elevator.

Fairchild must be nervous, as she has people waiting for me at the door, ready to guide me straight to the meeting without interruptions. As I enter the elevator, I watch people staring at me. When my eyes meet theirs, they move, trying to pretend to be busy. “Miss Fairchild is waiting with your lawyer,” the girl says, and I nod as I shove my hands into my pockets.

“What’s your name?” I ask. It's not that I am interested, but I can tell she has the intelligence I need. She spins her head to look at me as her cheeks change tone to a bright pink. “Arabella, Arabella Monty,” she says, and I nod. I don’t recall ever speaking to her, but the turnout of the staff here is quite big so that she might be the new flavor of the week.

“How long have you been working here?” I ask, and her eyes widen as she watches me press the stop button on the elevator.

“Two months,” she lets out above a whisper.

“Look, Arabella, is it?” I say, and her eyes meet mine as she nods, “I am just trying to figure out what type of situation I am going to find the company, and if I am going to buy it, I need to know what to expect,” I say, and she nods slightly chewing on the inside of her cheek.

“I am just a receptionist, but I have heard a few things, but I don’t know if they are true, and I surely don’t want to be considered a gossip, I value my job, and I know that’s not the way of obtaining the boss’s trust,” she says, and I have to give it her. For a young girl, she has her head where it should be.

“Okay,” I say, pressing the stop button again, forcing the elevator to move. Arabella stays silent, and her eyes meet mine just as the doors open. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me,” I say before I walk out and follow the corridor where Sawyer is standing. His eyes meet mine, and he gives me a slight head shake, and I know I am heading into the lion’s den.

“Cole,” I hear Fairchild say my name as if it’s covered in honey, and I fight a chill down my spine. I raise my head and walk past Sawyer, resting a hand lightly on his shoulder before I walk towards her.

“Monica,” I say, offering her my hand. She shakes her head, pulls me into her arms, and air kisses me twice. I fight my instinct to roll my eyes and stand still. Monica is much shorter than me, but her choice of stripper heels put her only a few inches above me.

“Come, we have been expecting you,” she says as she enters her office. The office looks like someone killed every furry animal and threw the fur around the place. Her chair is covered in fur, and so are the rugs adorning the room. Every vegan worst nightmare in one room.

“Coffee?” she asks as she looks at Sawyer and me, and we both shake our heads. We are not here to drink coffee or make our stay long enough to drink coffee.