Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Checking my phone, I see a message from my executive assistant, telling me I’ve got a meeting at two o’clock after this interview is finished.
Like I’d forget, but that’s her job, and she does it well. Every detail of my day is scheduled, including arriving early to review Raven Hill’s resume and refresh myself on the details.
It ticks all the boxes. Then again, every resume that reaches my desk ticks all the right boxes, has all the right qualifications.
What I want to know is if Raven will be a good fit for my company in motivation, morale, achievement, and longevity. Can she really handle the bullshit of the day to day and the demanding hours and clientele? The clientele, especially. It takes thick skin to succeed here. Many think they have what it takes… and to be blunt, they don’t. Plain and simple, they can’t handle the pressure, nor the abuse and greed that come with it. And secondarily, can she work in those questionable conditions while creating a revenue stream worthy of the Sharpe name?
Successful interviewees must possess both sides of the coin—toughness and shrewdness.
I want hard chargers, yes. But not those who will literally do anything for a buck. They are all too frequent, and with my reputation, they think they’ll find a common ground with me. But while I might be seen as somewhat of a Machiavellian asshole, and that admittedly isn’t too far off the mark, I’m definitely better than some of the players in this game.
Cold, calculating, all business? That’s who I am, who I’ve had to become to succeed. And though I play dirty, I ensure my clients’ names stay pristine.
And of course, my team is nothing but professional.
Taking another swig, I prepare to move to my reserved table when I hear a familiar voice. Evan Faulkner is a longtime colleague and friend turned enemy turned rival. At one point, I would have considered him one of my closest confidants. He was someone to lean on when I first got started. Someone who went out of his way to make me feel like I belonged. Someone I shouldn’t have trusted. But even that was a lesson in itself, and fuck, did I learn from it.
I don’t mind a cutthroat shark. After all, this is business. But Evan exists on an entirely different level of deceit and disgust. Despite his family’s generational wealth, he’s one of the ‘anything for a buck’ types and would throw his grandmother out of her home if there were profit in it. I hate him for what he’s done and what he represents. And that’s barely the start of his assholery.
I watch Evan approach a table, my fucking table, right as a beautiful woman sits down. Raven Hill. Anger rises as I watch what I think is him poaching a potential new hire, only to see something entirely different develop.
She included her social media links in her resume submission, as is required, so I’ve seen what Raven looks like, but the camera doesn’t do her justice. She’s beautiful, stunning in a way that draws attention without her seemingly being aware of it. Her surprise at seeing Evan is gone in a flash, replaced with a warm smile. Despite being a keen observer of others, I don’t need any special skills to deduce that they know each other… intimately.
I narrow my eyes, compiling what I’ve seen of Miss Hill’s resume and online persona into a more complete image with what’s in front of me. She’s too good for him. He’s wealthy and charming in a cobra’s kiss type of way, but surely, she sees through that?
If not, this interview might be over before it begins.
Still looking from my hidden table, I can’t help but feel drawn to her. Curiosity isn’t something I’m accustomed to feeling, but it’s there now, at the back of my consciousness.
I sit back, sipping the finger of my personal stock of Glenfiddich they keep at the bar, and watch while I consider my options. Every possibility runs through my mind.
The most obvious answer is that she’s a plant, spying on my firm for Evan. But if that’s the case, he knows better than to be seen with her, so I dismiss that outright. Evan’s evil, but he’s not stupid.
So what the fuck is he doing with her, and more importantly, what’s he doing with her right now, only minutes before our meeting?
If they’re as close as it initially looked, there isn’t a shot in hell of her joining my firm. I can’t trust Evan to not try and use any relationship with Raven to either one-up me or hamstring me. I would do the same thing if I had a valuable resource in his inner circle, so he wouldn’t give that a moment’s hesitation.
I’m thinking of further alternatives when everything changes.