Текст книги "Release Me"
Автор книги: Ann Marie Walker
Соавторы: Amy K. Rogers
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Текущая страница: 2 (всего у книги 18 страниц)
Chapter Three
Worst. Fucking. Day.
Scratch that. Shit days were piled up behind him, so this one was going to have to take a number.
Hudson hooked his finger into the immaculate knot at his throat and gave the expensive noose a sharp tug as he stepped off the elevator and into his penthouse. The silence wasn’t a surprise. In fact, once upon a time, he had infinitely preferred it. But now it was a killer. His loafers pounding against the wood floor were too loud, and as he pulled his tie from around his neck it sounded like sandpaper grating against the fabric of his collar. He thought of the numerous times he’d come home, beat to hell from work, to find music blaring or a fucking video game plastered across the theater screen. Instead, the place was a mausoleum. God, he’d give anything to have that noise polluting his penthouse now. At least it would muffle his thoughts, which at the moment were like loud screams jackknifing through his brain.
He reached for the stool at the breakfast bar and his fingers curled around the edge as he contemplated throwing the thing. He wanted to disturb the silence and emptiness, wanted to punch through the reality of the present and invade the past, altering its course. If he could, his parents would still be alive, Nick wouldn’t be a goddamn junkie, and—his head dropped and he exhaled a sharp breath—he wouldn’t have royally screwed things up with Allie.
Quitting the white knuckle routine on the barstool, Hudson stripped out of his jacket, draped it over the back of the stool, and then tossed his tie on top. As he did, he remembered his phone. He flipped the lapel back and reached into his pocket for his cell, but when he pressed the button to fire up the screen, he found a whole lot of nothing. No messages. No missed calls. What the hell did he expect? It had been two weeks and Allie hadn’t returned a single one of his calls.
He stared at the screen, lit up with a photograph of Allie taken during their trip to Lake Geneva. She was straddling his Harley, beckoning him with a smile, her cheeks still a little flushed from the wine. But instead of that perfect smile all he could picture was how fragile she’d looked sitting in front of two matching caskets, clinging to the redhead seated next to her. The anguish etched in the delicate features of her tear-streaked face had shredded him. And when her shoulders shook with the sobs she was trying to hold in, he knew he should have felt grateful for her friend’s support. Instead he’d envied her purpose. Hudson wanted it to be his arm she gripped. He wanted to be the one she counted on to hold her up as the world as she knew it bottomed out.
He punched the button on the phone, cutting off the self-torture.
Fuck, he needed a drink.
Shoving his phone in the front pocket of his pants, Hudson strode to the Subzero and yanked the door open, only to find it empty of the beer he was craving. Cursing, he snapped it closed and stalked upstairs toward the game room. He didn’t bother turning on the lights. The glow from the glass door fridge behind the bar provided the only light he needed to hit his target. He grabbed a Heineken, cracked it open, and flicked the cap off with his thumb. As he watched it slam dunk into the trash, he suddenly realized where Nick had picked up the nifty little trick.
Hudson flinched at the sound of his phone echoing through the cavernous room. He set the bottle on the bar and dug his cell back out of his pocket.
“Chase,” he answered, not bothering to screen the call.
A gravelly voice came from the other end. “Hey.”
“Nick, hey, how—”
Nick cut off the hi-how-are-ya’s. “Has it been on the news?”
“Couple lines in the Trib, but nothing more.” Hudson wasn’t surprised. Dead drug dealers didn’t make headlines. Nick blew out a relieved breath, but Hudson could still sense the undercurrent of stress. “You’re not to worry about it, clear? I’ve handled it.”
“What do you mean? The cops gotta be looking for me. APB or some shit, right?”
Hudson ran a hand through his hair. “No one is looking for you.”
“How can you be sure? What if someone saw the—”
“Not like this, Nick. Not on the phone.”
“Why? Do you think someone’s listening?”
“No. But I—”
“Holy shit, is your line tapped? Are you being watched?” Hudson could hear the wild panic gaining momentum.
“Jesus Christ, Nick, no. But my presence has already been requested at the police station in regards to the Sinclair murders. I’m not taking any chances.”
Nick snorted. “Yeah, like you’d kill Allie’s parents.”
“They have to rule me out as a suspect and I intend to cooperate.” Anything to keep the police from having a reason to dig too deeply into his life. Looking into the shit buried in his past was like pulling a thread. Yank on one and the whole thing would unravel.
“What if they’re just playin’ you? What if they know something?”
“Like I said, don’t worry about it.” Nick was a first-rate addict and the last thing Hudson wanted was for him to relapse and die by his own hand. Not on his watch. If it took stint after stint at high-priced rehab facilities, so be it. There wasn’t a chance in hell he was going to hit a brick wall when it came to saving his little brother. “Focus on getting yourself clean, understood?”
“I’m clean as a fucking whistle, Hudson. So stop the song and dance bullshit. Level with me.”
“Well, let me switch it to a different tune.” Hudson tightened his grip on the cell phone until he heard the thing squeak. “Sober, Nick. You need to cut the shit with the booze, the drugs, the life you’re living.” His voice grew more powerful with each word. “Goddamn it, I don’t want to bury you next to them.”
Silence stretched out between them, filling the line with white noise.
“It wasn’t your fault.” Nick’s voice came quietly through the phone. He’d been saying the same thing for the past ten years, but the fact was Hudson was wholly responsible. He’d never forgotten his litany of failures, and every time he tried to get some shut-eye a motherfucking slideshow played in his head: Nick being ripped away from him; gruesome images tinted with red; his mother’s cold, lifeless body staring up at him; and finally, Allie in the elevator as the doors slid closed.
He couldn’t lose his brother or suffer through long, dark months of not knowing where Nick was or whether he was alive or dead. Hudson choked back anger laced with fear. “I don’t want to lose you too, Nicky.”
“Not happening, no fucking way. I got a new lease on life, ya know?” Nick chuckled, no doubt to break the tension they both felt, but then dove headfirst into another minefield. “Have you heard from her?”
“No. She won’t return my calls.”
“Did you go to the funeral? Shit’s been all over the news. Even made The View.”
“The View?”
“Yeah, ladies in here dig it, and I’m kinda stuck for the ride. Good thing that one chick has a nice rack.”
“Fuckin’ A, Nick.” Hudson laughed for the first time in two weeks.
“So did you talk to her?”
“No.” Hudson rubbed the back of his neck. “She didn’t even know I was there.”
“Dude, why the fuck not?”
“Wasn’t the right time.”
“Chicken-shit pussy.”
“It’s complicated, Nick.”
“Yeah, what do I know? Hey bro, I gotta run, people waiting in line to use the horn.”
“I’m glad you called.”
“Yeah.” Nick cleared his throat. “Me too. I’ll catch ya later?”
“Sure. Bye, Nick.” Hudson waited until he heard his brother hang up before ending the call, then fisted the beer that was sweating it out on the bar and took a long swig. He glanced around the dimly lit room, from the dartboard to the pool table to the bar and, finally, to the column. That fucking column. Images of her were everywhere. There wasn’t a goddamn place he could look and not be reminded of her. Alessandra Sinclair had not only come back into his life, but had taken up residence in his heart.
And tomorrow he was going to see her.
Hudson took another drink of his beer. There might be a conference table between them at the board meeting, but before the day was over he planned to get her alone in a room. She’d have no choice but to hear him out.
He wasn’t taking no for an answer.
Chapter Four
Allie made sure she was the first to arrive. The emergency board meeting wasn’t scheduled to start for another half hour, but she wanted to give herself plenty of time to get the lay of the land. Of course she’d been in the Ingram Media conference room numerous times over the years, but that had always been to attend events as Richard Sinclair’s daughter, not for an official meeting of the board of directors, and certainly not as their new majority shareholder. Holiday parties and photo ops were a far cry from the proceedings about to take place on the thirtieth floor of the Ingram Building.
She walked the length of the room, her eyes drifting over glossy mahogany. Allie knew she had a lot to prove to the people who would be assembling around that table. As her fingertips trailed along the high back of each leather chair, she found herself picturing the crowd that would be arriving in a matter of minutes. Some were lifelong friends of her father’s, who she suspected would still see her as a little girl in blond curls and frilly dresses. Some were powerful leaders of the city’s most successful businesses, who she feared would view her as grossly unqualified to hold a position she’d only earned through nepotism. And while the former might like the idea of an Ingram remaining on the board, their business savvy would no doubt push them to side with the latter.
But as daunting as it was to imagine facing that audience for the first time, it wasn’t what had her pacing the room.
It was him.
Allie made her way to the windows that looked out across the Michigan Avenue Bridge.
As she watched the Chicago River flow into Lake Michigan, she thought about the last time she’d seen Hudson Chase. It was the morning she’d uncovered the truth about his plan to take control of Ingram Media. She stared unseeingly at the gray horizon and her thoughts began to drift back to that day. Hudson standing in his foyer, a towel slung low around his hips as water dripped onto the hardwood floor. He’d begged her to let him explain, but what explanation could have possibly justified his lies and betrayal? She’d refused to hear him out, and while in her heart she knew it had been the right decision, the look on his face as the elevator doors slid closed that morning had haunted her ever since.
Behind her the conference room door opened with a soft click and the low murmur of voices told her the other board members had begun to filter into the room. But instead of greeting them and engaging in the sort of sympathetic small talk that had consumed the past few days, she remained by the windows, enjoying the last moments of calm before the eventual storm.
There was a sudden flurry of activity outside the meeting room, and instinctively she knew he had arrived. A wave of anxiety rolled through the pit of her stomach, but she took a deep, calming breath. These board meetings, while infrequent, would be inevitable. The sooner she got used to seeing him in this setting, the better.
She turned around, and a moment later Hudson Chase strolled into the boardroom. The hum of quiet conversation ground to a halt and all heads turned as one to assess the corporate raider who’d quietly amassed the second largest percentage of Ingram shares right out from under their noses.
The sight of him nearly took her breath away. Wearing a charcoal suit, white shirt, and silver-gray tie, he looked every bit the powerful, in-control CEO. But Allie knew the passion that burned behind those eyes, and when she looked at his dark, unruly hair, she knew he’d run his fingers through it just before stepping into the room. He moved with measured grace, his muscles flexing beneath his perfectly tailored suit. Allie knew every inch of that body intimately, how it felt beneath her touch, how it moved over her . . . inside her. She knew the man, not the corporate myth. He was the one who she’d fallen for. He was the one who’d broken her heart.
She had meant to look away, to show him nothing more than a passing indifference, and yet she was utterly transfixed as she watched some of the most powerful players in Chicago greet him with a mixture of wary fascination and awe. Even as the outsider, Hudson still commanded the room, offering his hand to some, a curt nod to others. His demeanor was courteous and professional, but there was an air of casual confidence about Hudson that sent a clear message to those in the room. He was a man who got exactly what he wanted.
Well, not this time—not when it came to her.
As if feeling the intensity of her stare, Hudson turned and his gaze met hers. The corner of his mouth lifted in an almost involuntary smile, then quickly faded. Yet despite his sobering expression, there was nothing he could do to hide the intense longing in his blue eyes. Allie felt it hit her like a physical blow, her entire body responding to the sight of him.
Without taking his eyes off her, Hudson murmured something to the gentleman next to him and began making his way toward the windows. Allie’s heart beat faster with his every step, until the sound of the blood roaring in her ears drowned out the rest of the room. Her throat felt dry and tight when she swallowed, and she suddenly wished she’d had the presence of mind to pour herself a glass of water when she’d arrived. Then again, with the way her hands were trembling, she’d have likely spilled most of it on her burgundy dress. In that moment Allie realized she was wearing the same dress she’d worn the first time Hudson kissed her in his office. It seemed more like a lifetime than two months had passed since that first encounter, and yet the desire she felt was undeniable, even now. She fisted her hands at her sides and squared her shoulders. This was it; she just had to get through the awkward pleasantries and then focus on the meeting’s agenda.
Hudson came to a stop directly in front of her. “Allie,” he whispered. His voice was low and rough and washed over her heated skin like a lover’s touch.
“Mr. Chase,” she said, firing the first shot. It was important he understood the terms of their new arrangement right from the start. She felt a surge of satisfaction when her voice remained steady.
Hudson blinked and his expression faltered. He regarded her for a moment and then opened his mouth, but Mr. Weiss appeared at his side before he had the chance to speak.
“I’d like a moment with you both before we begin.” He ushered Allie and Hudson toward the corner of the room, speaking only once they were out of earshot of the rest of the board. “I thought perhaps I should say a few words to begin today’s proceedings. The past few weeks have been stressful in many regards.” He glanced briefly at Hudson before turning his attention back to Allie. “As chairman, your father would normally run the meeting, but . . .”
Mr. Weiss cleared his throat. With all that had transpired over the past few days, Allie hadn’t had much opportunity to think about the toll this had taken on him. He’d been handling everything with his usual calm, efficient manner, but he’d lost his lifelong friend and the stress was written all over his weathered face.
“Assuming neither of you has any objection, that is?”
Hudson gave him a quick nod. “That will be fine.”
Allie waited until Hudson stepped away and then placed her hand on the elder gentleman’s forearm. “Thank you, Mr. Weiss.”
“My pleasure.” He smiled, but when his eyes met hers she saw the sadness he hid behind his professional exterior. “And Alessandra, please call me Ben.”
Calling a man she’d known since childhood by his first name felt awkward, but if she had any hope of convincing the board to see her as more than Richard and Victoria Sinclair’s daughter, she had to start acting like it. She returned his smile and lifted her chin. “Thank you, Ben.”
“Ladies and gentlemen.” He addressed the room as he moved toward the head of the table. “If you’d like to take a seat, I believe we’re ready to begin.”
One by one the other board members took their seats. Hudson waited until Allie had sat on Ben’s right, then pulled out the chair directly across from hers. She could feel the weight of his stare on her, but kept her focus on the charcoal-gray folder in front of her with the words INGRAM MEDIA embossed in silver across the top. Allie opened it and scanned the typed agenda as Ben thanked everyone for adjusting their busy schedules to accommodate the urgency of the meeting. At the top of the list was the first order of business: Appointment of Temporary CEO. She shouldn’t have been surprised. As a publicly owned company the transition of power had to be swift and seamless.
Allie traced the foil logo at the top of the letterhead with her finger, and all at once the enormity of what was about to take place hit her. This wasn’t just any company, it was her family’s legacy. Her maternal grandfather had started out selling newspapers on a street corner, and by the time of his death had grown Ingram Media into one of the largest companies in the country. Her father had dedicated his life to continuing that growth, expanding their scope far beyond the printed word, first with cable television networks and later into various online platforms.
Now she was the estate’s sole surviving heir, and in a matter of minutes the board would vote on who should man the helm. For the first time in company history, it might not be an Ingram. Despite how much she hated being used as a pawn in her father’s negotiations, her family’s legacy still meant something to Allie. And following in those footsteps on her own terms was a far cry from the fate that had awaited her just a few weeks ago. In that moment she wanted nothing more than to control her own destiny while at the same time carrying out her grandfather’s mission. But would the board back her in her bid or would they side with the man who’d spent the past several months plotting a hostile takeover of this very company? The question was still echoing in her mind when she heard Ben broach a topic that wasn’t on the written agenda.
Julian.
Her head snapped up at the sound of his name, and when it did she met the stare she’d been so carefully trying to avoid. Hudson’s piercing gaze held hers, and in that frozen moment so much passed unsaid between them. Her memories of Julian reflected in his blue eyes, everything from cutting in on their dance to the night Hudson rescued her from his attack.
“As most of you are already aware, Mr. Laurent is no longer with Ingram,” Ben said, tactfully omitting the fact that he was also no longer Allie’s fiancé. The irony was its own form of cruelty. The only obstacle that had stood in their way was gone, but in the end it hadn’t even mattered.
“What’s the fallout?” a distinguished looking African-American gentleman asked from beside her. Allie knew from her research that his name was James Tolman and that he ran one of the largest real estate investment firms in the city.
“Financially, none,” Ben answered. “Luckily, we’re under no obligation since the agreement was terminated from his end.”
Hudson cocked his head to one side in silent question. He knew Julian and the rules of the game well enough to know luck had nothing to do with the man’s sudden decision to relinquish his position. But what he didn’t know was how Allie had mustered every last ounce of strength to call him the night she and Hudson broke up. Confronting Julian in person would have been too risky. Her stomach rolled at the mere thought of looking into the cold eyes that had regarded her with such hatred. And blackmailing her former fiancé wasn’t something she would have likely been able to pull off in person anyway. Hearing his voice had been bad enough, but she’d been angry and hurt, and more than anything else, tired of being pushed around by people who claimed to love her. She’d needed to unleash that anger, and no one was more deserving of the receiving end of that wrath than Julian. He’d been surprised to hear from her, but even more so when she’d laid out her demands. It was simple: get out of Chicago and out of her life. In return she wouldn’t press charges against him for assault and attempted rape. Julian might have lusted for power, but just as she’d suspected, the prospect of time spent in an orange jumpsuit was enough to get him to sever all ties with Ingram.
Allie broke their gaze, feigning interest in a random item on the agenda and making notes in the margin.
“But as you know, Richard had spent the past few months grooming Mr. Laurent to take the reigns after his retirement at the first of the year.”
Her grip on the pen tightened. After his retirement. More like after her December wedding. No matter how she grieved her parents, the anger and resentment she felt toward them was never far from the surface.
“Which of course brings us to the first item on our agenda this morning.” Ben glanced down at the papers in his hands. “With the passing of both Richard and Victoria Sinclair, their estate, along with the majority of Ingram shares, is now controlled by—”
“It’s a slim majority, isn’t that right?” a woman two seats down interrupted. Melanie McCormick. On husband four, or maybe it was five now? Allie couldn’t say for sure. But they’d all had one thing in common: twice her age and at least ten times her original net worth. Not only was Melanie’s trackrecord clear, but so was the unabashed appreciation she seemed to have for the newest addition to Crain’s Top Ten. While she might have been speaking to Ben Weiss, she never took her eyes off Hudson Chase.
“Yes, that’s correct, Melanie. Mr. Chase holds a significant portion as well. Through Chase Industries, that is.”
Someone at the opposite head of the table cleared his throat. Duncan Wentworth, a man with money older than anyone else in the room, and who not only wielded an indisputable influence, but had probably never worked a day in his life. Allie had met him several times at the country club and had never once enjoyed the experience.
“No offense to young Alessandra here,” he said, no doubt making a point to call her by her first name, “but what the hell does she know about running a company?”
Probably as much as you do, Allie wanted to say. But a response to his callous remark came from across the table instead.
“No offense, Duncan?” Hudson asked. “The diplomacy in your remark is offendable. Richard Sinclair obviously had enough confidence in his daughter’s capabilities to leave her his entire estate.” He set his pen down on the documents in front of him and eased back into his chair. “And Miss Sinclair’s work at the Ingram Foundation speaks for itself.”
Wentworth let out a short, harsh laugh. “Planning events is hardly the same as running a multibillion dollar media conglomerate.”
“And being a three percent shareholder doesn’t necessarily qualify you to sit at this table, yet here you are.”
“Gentlemen,” Ben interceded. “Let’s try to stay focused on the issues at hand.”
“While I don’t agree with Duncan’s approach . . .” James shot his fellow board member a terse look. “The fact remains that Miss Sinclair, although quite successful in the endeavors she’s undertaken on behalf of our foundation, has little to no experience in these matters.”
“I certainly hope you’re not suggesting we turn the reigns over to an outsider?” a woman farther down the table asked.
Allie listened as the members of the board discussed the matter as if she and Hudson weren’t even in the room, let alone seated at the table.
“A member of the Ingram family has sat at the helm since this company was founded.”
“This is a matter of fiduciary responsibility, not nostalgia. There are shareholders to consider.”
“You’re assuming she’s even interested in the position.”
“Despite his obvious success, can we trust someone who came by their shares in such an unscrupulous manner?”
“Can we risk everything on a relative unknown all for the sake of bloodlines?”
The voices blended into a cacophony of chaos until one silenced the rest.
“If I may?” Hudson asked. His voice was calm and level yet demanded nothing short of full authority. “I believe I have a solution that will satisfy your concerns.”
“By all means,” Ben said. He gestured for Hudson to continue.
“I’d like to propose a temporary solution that would appoint Miss Sinclair and me as acting CEO’s.”
Allie had to make a conscious effort to keep her mouth from dropping open in shock. She stared at Hudson in disbelief as he outlined a very well-thought-out plan that would have the two of them working side by side at Ingram. This was no sudden inspiration. It was an ambush.
“We could reconvene shortly before the annual shareholder’s meeting in March,” Hudson concluded. “At that point the board can finalize their decision.”
James Tolman nodded. “It’s important we present a united front at the shareholder’s meeting. There can’t be any sense of dissent.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Wentworth added.
Melanie McCormick cleared her throat. “With the narrow margin of stock between Alessandra and Mr. Chase, they are essentially strangers who have just become business partners. And that would certainly be the case if we adopt this proposal.”
Allie watched Hudson’s eyes narrow almost imperceptively as Melanie referred to them as strangers. The slight kink in his calm exterior was so subtle she was sure it went unnoticed by the others. But not by her.
“What I’d like to know,” Melanie continued, “is logistically, how will this affect the day-to-day operations?” She touched the three strands of pearls at her neck. “And how much can we expect to see of Mr. Chase?”
Hudson placed his elbows on the arms of the chair and steepled his fingers.”I’m quite confident Ben will be able to bring Alessandra up to speed quickly. And she is welcome to use her father’s office, since her base will be here at Ingram Media. I will be maintaining my office across the river at Chase Industries, as there are other interests that will require my attention.”
Allie was so relieved to learn Hudson wouldn’t be moving into an office down the hall, that for a moment she almost felt herself relax. But Wentworth was less than thrilled.
“I’m not sure that arrangement would be in Ingram’s best interest,” he said.
Was he kidding? This from the man who only went to his corporate office to attend the holiday party?
Hudson pinned Wentworth with a shrewd stare as he addressed the board as a whole. “I recognize that some of you may think I’m spread thin in regards to my ventures. But I can assure you Ingram Media will receive the full benefit of my attention. And while my base will remain at my Dearborn location, I intend to take a very hands-on approach and will be a frequent presence in this office.” His gaze shifted to Allie. “I can only speak for myself, but I’m sure Miss Sinclair will agree it’s important that we work closely together to ensure a seamless transition, not to mention taking Ingram Media to the next level.”
Wentworth sat back in his chair with a smug grin on his face. “I’m relieved to hear that, Mr. Chase. And I’m sure Alessandra will be grateful for the chance to learn from your business acumen.”
Allie wanted to tell Duncan Wentworth just where he could shove his business acumen. But unfortunately he was right, at least to a certain extent. She didn’t know anything about running a corporation the size of Ingram Media, or any other for that matter. But she was going to work round the clock to learn everything she could. She might have to deal with Hudson now, but the stronger she became in this room, the less likely he’d still be in her life come March.
“The idea has merit,” Tolman said. “And if Ben agrees to serve as chairman over the proceedings, I think this is a solution that would benefit all parties.”
A motion was made and seconded, and within minutes a vote made it official. She and Hudson were co-CEOs of Ingram Media. Congratulations were offered and hands were shook.
Allie smiled and grit her teeth. This was his plan all along. Hudson could have made a play for sole control of the company. The board knew he had more experience than she did; his track record at Chase Industries was testament to that. But instead he took the high road, and in doing so had basically backed her into a corner. She’d have no choice but to play nice, at least in front of the board and their employees. If she was resistant to working with him and fell flat on her face, she’d appear to be nothing more than a bratty heiress who wouldn’t share her new toy. Thanks to his proposal, and their new titles, she’d have to work side by side with him.
Bottom line, if she wanted a future at Ingram Media, then there was no avoiding Hudson Chase.
