Page 7 of Bargain With the Boss

My father was an asshole when he had a plan in mind. West Coast expansion was on the docket, and he wanted me to lead the project. I either fell in line or paid the consequences.

I just had to figure out if the consequences were worth it right now. I had so many irons in the fire at the moment between FHK Property Group, my company with my two best friends, and my duties atHastings Investments.

Duties that were slowly killing me.

A bit dramatic, but 100 percent correct. I hated working for my father. Mostly, because he wanted me in a little box he could control. I’d had enough of that over the last ten years. I’d been the good firstborn son and fallen in line, and what had that gotten me?

Losing my sister Luna because I’d been too afraid to stand up to him like she had.

Afraid of losing my cushy life and carefully cultivated friend group of the “right” people.

Instead, I’d sacrificed my relationship with my sister just so I didn’t make waves. Because in one way, I was very much like my parents. I didn’t understand just how special my little sister was or how to be the accepting person she needed.

Luna Hastings had been born to be different and should never have been made to feel that wasn’t okay. I was still making up for that every single day.

The last few years finally woke me the fuck up. Hooking my future to Jude Keller and Gavin Forrester more than three years ago had been the smartest thing I’d ever done. Even if I had to keep things on the down-low at the moment.

At this point, I needed to keep working at the investment firm to make the capital to keep FHK afloat. We were hemorrhaging money thanks to our lakefront property, so I needed to keep working my ass off at both places.

Hastings Investments, my father and the board, were still very old school. For each new client I brought on with a creative portfolio, I needed to balance it out with two who preferred a safe and steady investment.

Personally, I preferred the high risk and high reward portfolios. It was how I treated my own interests to use them for FHK. We’d grown exponentially since we’d started our company. Crescent Cove’s grapevine didn’t allow for complete secrecy, but Geoffrey Hastings was more focused on the legacy of his company than my happiness. As long as I fell in line, he didn’t pay attention to what I was doing.

Mostly.

The three of us preferred working in the shadows anyway. Especially since my father had business dealings with Arthur Maitland, our direct competition.

The thwack of my ball hitting the ceiling finally brought my assistant in from the outer office.

“Xavier!”

I caught the ball, my posture non-existent as I reclined in my chair. I swiveled to look at Devon Gallagher. “Yes?”

“That’s quite enough.”

I grinned at his posh voice, bouncing the ball one more time. Devon was a transplant from London and his skills with keeping me on task were a gift from my mother when I joined the firm twenty seconds after I graduated from Georgetown. He wasn’t a tall man, but he wore a three piece suit without fail, and I was pretty sure his iPad was fused to one hand and a teacup in the other.

“You know your mother’s office is directly above you.”

“That’s why you soundproofed my office last fall.” I straightened up. “Am I missing a meeting?”

“No. You do have three tomorrow along with a conference call at seven in the evening with Japan.”

“Well, that means I can get out of here early.” I pushed out of my seat.

“Sir, it’s barely two o’clock.”

“And I’ll be here until nine tomorrow evening.” When Devon opened his mouth, I held up a hand. “I have the stock markets on my phone, as well as my laptop. I don’t need to be here if I don’t have any client meetings.”

I could hear Devon’s molars grinding from here.

I wasn’t lying. One of the startups I’d invested in had designed one of the best apps on the market for keeping track of my clients. It was going to be a leader in the market within a year. And would be a major boon to my personal portfolio, regardless of my father’s feelings on angel investing.

Which is why I felt so stifled here.

I tossed my ball at Devon. His hand shot up and caught it, then his fingers flexed around it.

He probably needed it more than me.