Black: Part 4 (Black Series) (7 page)

Wade’s tone is harsh. In fact, he sounds down right pissed off.

“I’m busy right now.”

“Sofie, don’t play games with me. Don’t make me go over your head…”

A thin smile curls on my lips. Clearly Wade hasn’t heard the latest news about me or he’d know that this little threats aren’t going to work, anymore.

“Maybe you haven’t heard… this is my last day working here. You can go over my head all you want…”

There’s a moment of silence and then he lets out a growl of frustration.

“You’re making a mistake.”

“I’m just living my life, is all. The life I was supposed to be living all along.”

“Sofie, you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. Just give me five minutes. That’s not too much to ask.”

I let out a tiny laugh. I’m about to tell him to go to hell when I think better of it. Perhaps I
should
give him five minutes of my time. Telling him off face to face will be so much more fun than doing it over the phone…

“Fine,” I say. “I’ll be right up.”

Sofie

Claire doesn’t seem as surprised to see me as I thought she would be. When I arrive at the entrance to Wade’s office, she shoots me a nervous smile. Her quickly flutter to the door before she says anything.

“They’re waiting for you inside,” she says.
 

I frown. All of the bravado I felt on the way up Wade’s office is instantly deflated.

“
They?
” I repeat.

Who in the world is
they
? I came up here to finally give Wade a piece of my mind. I wasn’t expecting to deal with anyone else.

Claire gives me a weak smile and motions me toward the door. I hesitate and study her for a moment. Normally, she’s upbeat and obnoxiously positive, but now there’s something timid about her demeanor. It’s unsettling.

“Please… they’re waiting,” she says.

I snap out of it and nod my understanding. I shuffle toward the door, my mind racing a million miles a second, and give a light knock before pushing my way inside.

Wade’s office is the same as always, aside from the fact that there are now three men standing around his desk. Wade is one of them, standing across from an older man who looks vaguely familiar, though I can’t quite place him. The third man is…

My eyes widen.

Calvin?

His beautiful blue eyes connect with mine, stopping me dead in my tracks. What in the world is
he
doing here?

“Ms. Bennett, I presume?” the older man prompts. His tone makes it obvious that he’s used to being in control. I jerk my head in a quick nod. “Wade mentioned you were on your way—glad to see he’s good for
something
. Please, come join us.”

My eyes dart back and forth between him and Calvin. The two of them couldn’t look more different from each other if they tried. The older man is wearing a nice, but aged, suit. He has a thick goatee that is as gray as his wispy hair. And he looks pissed about something.
 

Calvin is wearing a finely tailored black suit with a red power tie. He has his usual confidence about him, as though nothing in the world can faze him.

Wade, on the other hand… He looks like a mouse surrounded by hungry cats with nowhere to go.

I keep my eyes mostly turned downward while I join the three of them. Still, I risk a few questioning glances at Calvin. There’s something reassuring in the looks he gives me, although I’m pretty sure it’s going to be impossible to settle my nerves until I find out what in the world is going on.

The older man gives me the briefest flash of what might be confused for a smile as he thrusts his hand toward me.

“Sofie Bennett, I’m Jack Hodgins,” he says.

It takes me a second to place the name, but when I do my stomach lurches into a free fall.

Jack Hodgins. The CEO of Emerson Global.

What in the world is
he
doing here?

I try to return the smile as I shake his hand, but I probably look more terrified than anything. I shoot Calvin another nervous look, but there’s no change in his confident facade. If he’s trying to play it cool to show me that everything is going to be all right then he’s a horrible failure.

What have I gotten myself into?

After giving me a firm handshake, Mr. Hodgins is all business.
 

“Good, now that we’re all here we can get down it…” he begins. “Wade, as you may or may not know, Mr. Black and I have a long history together. In fact, I’d go so far as to call him an old friend. We’ve done business a few times over the years, so you can imagine my surprise when it came to my attention that there was some confusion about the way one my people has been behaving.”

I struggle to keep my composure, but I can’t stop my eyes from widening in surprise. Calvin is friends with the CEO of Emerson Global? I know he is well connected, but it never occurred to me exactly
who
he might know.

The concerned look on Wade’s face melts into something bordering on total panic.

“I’m sure it’s just some kind of misunderstanding,” Wade says.

If he’s trying to act reassuring, he’s not fooling anybody. The cracks in his voice and the way his eyes dart around, nervously, give him away.

Mr. Hodgins lowers his chin, leveling Wade with a stare so fierce it even leaves me unsettled.

“I hope so, son. For your sake.” The blood in Wade’s face drains, leaving him a pale, sickly color. Mr. Hodgins holds the stare for a moment longer before continuing. “Mr. Black seems to think that one of my people—you—is going out of their way to interfere with his personal life. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

If Wade looked concerned before, now he looks downright terrified. Did Calvin really go directly to Mr. Hodgins and tell him what’s been going on? Is this his way of getting back at Wade for everything that’s happened?

“I can explain…” Wade says, quickly.

Wade sounds even more frantic than before.

“I’m all ears.”

Wade’s eyes dart around, frantically. As though he’s hoping something will magically appear to rescue him.
 

“You see, it’s all just a big misunderstanding… I was just… I noticed some inappropriate behavior happening and I just knew I had to do something about it…”

His voice fades as he searches for whatever bullshit he’s going to say next.

In that moment, something shifts inside of me. I’ve seen how Wade operates. He’s a smooth talker. He’s always got the right angle. He always knows just what to say to weasel himself out of a situation. It’s exactly what he did when he tried to convince me that Calvin was cheating on me. I’m on to his game, and I’m not going to let him get away with it anymore.

“Tell him, Wade,” I say, sharply. Both Mr. Hodgins and Calvin give me surprised looks, but I disregard them. “Tell him about how you showed up at my place drunk and tried to seduce me. Tell him about how you lied about sleeping with me. Tell him about how you’ve tried over and over to make my life hell…”

It wasn’t intentional, but by the time I finish I’m nearly shouting at him. Abrupt silence lingers for a few moments after I finish. Mr. Hodgins and Calvin both stare at me with startled eyes before Mr. Hodgins composes himself and turns to face Wade.

“Is that true?” he says.

His tone is even harder than before. Wade’s head tilts to the side, a pained expression on his face.

“Well, it’s… it’s not quite that simple…”

He looks like he’s about to say something else, but Mr. Hodgins doesn’t give him the chance.

“No, I have a feeling it
is
that simple.” He takes a step forward. “I think that what Ms. Bennett is saying is precisely the truth. And I also think that you’re just some sniveling low-life playboy that is used to getting what he wants.” An eerie smile spreads across Mr. Hodgins’s face, revealing old teeth that somehow make him even scarier. “You know, I never did like you. I never should have let them hire you for the VP position. Thankfully, there’s an easy way to fix that mistake…” He pauses for the briefest of moments. Just long enough for everyone to know what he’s going to say next. “You’re fired, Mr. Foster. I want you and your personal affects out of here within the hour.”

The room goes silent. You can almost hear Wade’s jaw hit the floor.

“You can’t do this, Jack. I have a contract…”

Mr. Hodgins takes another step forward. His face flushes red.

“Try me, son.
Please
. I’ll bankrupt you with legal fees so fast you won’t even know what to do with yourself. And then I’ll
really
go to work on you… I won’t tolerate a little shit-ass punk like you working for me. I don’t care what it costs, you’re done here, and you’ll never receive another penny from Emerson Global.”

Mr. Hodgins holds him in that threatening stare for a couple seconds before turning back to Calvin and I. The smile that suddenly appears on his face looks so out of place that I’m not sure whether I should be relieved or concerned.

“I’m sorry for all of the trouble this has caused you, Mr. Black. I trust that you’re satisfied with how the situation has been dealt with?”

Calvin gives Mr. Hodgins a boisterous clap on the shoulder.

“Come on, Jack, it’s just
Calvin
. When did you get so formal on me?”

Mr. Hodgins grunts and gives another spiteful glance back at Wade.

“Sorry, Cal, I thought my days of dealing with shit-kickers like this were behind me… I trust we can still do business?”

Calvin waves a hand at him, nonchalantly.

“Water under the bridge.”

Mr. Hodgins jerks his head in an approving nod, then turns his still-red face to me and I almost pee myself.

“And to you, Ms. Bennett… On behalf of Emerson Global, I apologize for any pain and suffering this situation has caused you. I would understand if you feel the need to speak with HR about everything that has happened… For the record, you have my full support.”

I smile, sheepishly, and say, “I don’t think that will be necessary.”

He gives me an appreciative nod.

“Mr. Black… Cal… tells me that you two are going on a little vacation.”

I nod.

“We leave tomorrow. Actually, today is my last day here…”

“Well, I want you to know that the door is always open to you. Feel free to come back any time.” He flashes us one more smile before turning back to Wade. His dark expression returns as he taps his watch twice.

“Tick, tock, Mr. Foster. Tick, tock.”

Calvin

“We’ll be wheels-up in about five minutes, Mr. Black. Right on schedule. Should put us in Charleston in time for dinner.”

“Thanks, Elliott.”

Elliott nods and disappears into the cockpit. A thin smile creeps across my lips as I feel Sofie’s surprised stare drilling into me.

“
Charleston?
” she says.

I give her a sly look.

“Oh, did I forget to tell you? There’s been a slight change to the itinerary…”

Her mouth gapes open as her brow rises.

“You most certainly did
not
tell me!”

I shrug and give her a little wink.

“Must have slipped my mind…”

She slaps me on the arm, playfully.
 

“Are there any other surprises that may have
slipped
your mind?”

I pucker my lips and tap my chin, pretending to give the question some serious consideration. Then I fix her with a serious look.

“Have I told you how beautiful you are, yet?”

Sofie’s playful indignation melts away. I’m actually surprised to see the edges of her cheeks burn red.

“You may have mentioned it once or twice on the way here.”

I cock an eyebrow.

“Is that all? I better get to work. I’m under my quota…”

Her cheeks burn even brighter.

“There’s no quota for those kinds of things.”

“True. But do you know what there
is
a quota for?” She gives me a confused look and shakes her head. I lean in closer and whisper directly into her sensuous, little ear. “There’s a quota for how many times I’m going to make you come before we land…”

Her eyes bulge and she’s barely able to stifle the giggle that bursts out of her. Then she gives a quick look around the cabin, as if there’s a chance someone might have overheard what I said. But there’s no one else around—we’re the only two passengers on the plane.

“Calvin, we can’t do that, what if someone comes back here?”

I give her a devilish grin.

“Don’t worry, my love. Privacy is one of the many perks of chartering our own jet.”

“You mean
your
own jet.”

I shake my head and run fingers through her beautifully soft hair.

“I’m nothing without you, Sofie. What’s mine is yours. Always and forever.”

The smile on her face recedes until she’s giving me a blank stare. Her cheeks are still red, and her eyes are quickly beginning to match.

I frown.

“Are you upset? Did I say something wrong?”

She shakes her head, quickly.

“It’s just…” She gives another cautious glance around the cabin. It’s still empty. She leans in closer to whisper in my ear. “It’s just, you do have a quota and all…” Her warm lips wrap around the bottom of my earlobe and she sucks it, intently. My cock comes to life, giving a sharp lurch in my pants as it expands. “Perhaps you should get started…”

Within seconds my cock is as hard as steel. It strains against my pants, practically begging for release.

I nod in agreement.

“I was just thinking the same exact thing…”

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