The CEO (17 page)

“Deal, I’ll take care of everything first thing in the morning.”

“Good. You can keep the folder.”

He hysterically started laughing. “You stupid bitch. Why would you give me these? Now I don’t have to do shit you say!”

“Is that so?” I pulled out my cell phone and played him a video I had in my archives. It was of him in the same limo with the hooker, only he was sucking his dick and I had a clear view of the whole thing. The color faded from his skin and his green eyes looked dull. I got up, patted him on the shoulder, and said goodbye, leaving him high and dry in the middle of the restaurant.

In a matter of hours, I was able to get everything I needed taken care of, all before heading back into the office.

“What did you do?” Ryan questioned.

“What do you mean?”

“You have that devious grin on your face. You only smile like that when you’ve either exacted revenge on someone or you’ve closed an important deal.”

Damn this kid knows me too well. There was no need to lie to him, per se, but I didn’t have to tell him every detail either.
“Let’s just say, tomorrow the lien will be gone and we won’t have any more issues with the bank again.”

“You didn’t do anything illegal, did you?”

“I’ll never tell, Ryan.”

“Fine, you’re so damn stubborn.”

“Yes she is,” John interrupted.

Ryan looked over at me and quickly excused himself from my office, closing the door behind him.

“John! How’s your first day at Quinn National so far?”

“It’s going I guess. I had hoped to learn the ropes from you, not Roger. Does that guy have a permanent stick up his ass or something?”

“He sure does,” I laughed.

“Great, and I’ll be stuck with him all week.”

“Sorry, but all new hires have to train with him before you can even step foot in my office. So, consider yourself privileged to be in here right now, Mr. Keegan.”

“I feel more than privileged, Sheila. What are you doing tonight?”

“I hadn’t given it much thought. I’ll probably go and visit Kieran, then go home afterward.”

“Oh, I wanted to take you out to dinner, but I guess it’ll have to wait for another time.”

“Yeah, this week isn’t a good week for me.”

“Okay, well I should be going. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.”

“Yes, I’ll be here.”

Ryan, John, and Liam all offered to take me out, but I didn’t feel like being bothered with any of them.

As I lay in my bed, alone and disconnected from the world, I realized I had almost everything I’d ever wanted right in front of me.

I was one of the youngest CEOs in the country. I could have any man I wanted, yet I felt like something was missing. For the first time in my life, I was confused. I wasn’t confused about where I was going in life, nor my goals. I was confused about which man truly deserved my time. I had made the stupid mistake of getting close to three of them. It usually came naturally for me to keep my heart quiet, but for some reason, it now felt the need to express how it felt. Only, it was just as confused as me and didn’t know who deserved it.

Oh what the hell.
I sat up, looked at the clock, and saw that it was only ten p.m. I was hardly ever alone at that time; I usually had some sort of company with me or I was out. I picked up my phone and responded to his text.

Me: Hope you’re still willing to take me out, I’ll see you in 30.

“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Ryan joked.

“I know, I know. It’s been a while. I’ve had a lot going on.”

“Sure…You’ve had a lot of
someone
going on,” he laughed.

“Whatever. So are you buying me a drink or what?”

“Bartender, two shots please,” he ordered.

“Anything in particular?” the bartender questioned.

“Surprise us, we can handle just about anything,” Ryan answered, winking at me for confirmation.

As we waited for our drinks, I stared at Ryan as he watched the game on TV. He was wearing a pair of dark wash jeans and a plaid button up shirt. Since it was a last minute get together, I’d thrown on my favorite tan blazer—the one that barely covered my lace bra—over a pair of black skinny jeans and heels.

“So Sheila, what the hell was the lien about? As long as Quinn National has been around, I’ve never seen a lien in any of the previous paperwork you provided me with to scan.”

“Remember that night I faxed all of that shit to the office, around midnight?”

“Yeah,” he said, signaling the bartender to bring us a few beers.

“That asshole had something to do with it, so I had him taken care of.”

“Sheila, please tell me you didn’t kill the man.”

“What if I did?” I smirked.

“Then I better hurry up and put some money aside for bail.”

“I didn’t have him killed, but you should still have the money set aside anyway. You know, just in case?”

We hung out at the bar until almost closing time. I drank the last sip of my beer and ran to the ladies room.

As I washed my hands, I overheard people fucking in the last stall and I had to admit, it turned me on a little.

“What’s with the smile on your face?” Ryan questioned as I walked out of the bathroom door.

“Someone is getting nailed in the bathroom. No big deal.”

“Oh…well, uh, what are your plans now?” I heard the nervous tremble in his voice.

“I’m heading home, Ryan. But it was nice to hang out and catch up. I missed this.”

“Me too. Sheila?”

“Yes?”

“Be careful.”

“Of what?” I questioned.

“John. I don’t trust him.”

“And why not?”

“I feel like he just came out of nowhere and there’s just something
off
about him.”

“You’re just being paranoid. Good night, Ryan.”

I thought it was cute that Ryan was looking out for me like that, but I was a big girl and could fight my own battles. If I felt John was a no good piece of shit, he’d be fired on the spot.

“So how’s the app coming along, John?”

He turned around, startled by the sound of my voice. “Good, I was just uh, doing some research. There’s some coding I’m having a bit of trouble with.”

“Okay, well let me know if you need anything.”

“Will do, boss.”

I went to check on Frank to see if his pitch was ready. We needed to draw more investors into our natural gas division; the more people we got involved, the more revenue we would earn.

He’d also come up with the brilliant idea to get the local electric company to merge with us to help lower the consumer costs for the service.

“Everything is running smoothly. I’ll be sitting down in two meetings tomorrow, so fingers crossed.” Frank confirmed.

Frank was a pretty confident guy. He was bald with a thick goatee that wrapped around his lips and had a solid frame.

I walked back down the hallway and stopped in front of Ryan’s office. He looked up at me from his desk, shooting me a flirtatious smile before I returned to my office.

I sat down at my desk and heard a commotion down the hall. “Karen?” I said over the intercom. “What’s going on down there?”

“Shannon is here,” she replied.

Fuck…

“Sheila! Why didn’t you tell me about my brother?”

“
Your
brother? Since when was he just
your
brother? You could care less about him.”

“I care more about him then you know.”

“Sure.”

She dropped her thousand-dollar Coach bag on the floor and sat down in front of my desk. Her golden dyed blonde locks were curled to perfection. She ripped her expensive shades off her face and gave me an evil glare.

Although she always pissed me off, she was gorgeous. Everything about her appearance was flawless. She was tall and naturally thin, with perfect breasts and money green eyes.

“What did you really come here for, Shannon?”

“I feel so out of touch with everyone. I feel like I’m losing you all. When Dad was admitted to the hospital all he talked about was
you.
I sat right in front of him for days, and all he cared about was ‘his Sheila’. Now Kieran is in a medically induced coma and the only way I found out was because I had to pry it out of Dad. I hate feeling like such an outcast, sis.”

“Shannon, let’s be honest here for a sec. You’re the one that distanced yourself from us. You turned down the internship here, and although you went to college, what are you doing with your business management degree?
Nothing.
Maybe this was the reality check you so desperately needed.”

“Knock, knock. So sorry to interrupt, Ms. Quinn, but you are needed downstairs; I’m having a
problem
with my app,” John interrupted.

“Are we done here, Shannon?”

“I guess, go run your stupid company,” she said, rolling her eyes. She slid her glasses back on her face and snatched her purse off the floor before storming out of my office.

“So, what’s going on, John?”

“Nothing…I could hear her giving you shit all the way down the hall and figured you needed a way to get rid of her.”

“You were right, thanks for that.”

“You’re welcome. So are you free to go out with me yet? We both could really use a nice seafood dinner,” he asked, flashing me a devilish grin.

“Sure, but this time, we go to one of my favorite places.”