THE WOLF

Nicholas

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There were only a few men in this city who possessed what it took to work on Wall Street, a select few who understood the value of time and loyalty as well as I did. I’d built my company from the ground up, armed with a parting “Don’t let that city eat you alive when” wish from my father and a worn black suit that was two sizes too big.

I started off as a coffee runner—an unwanted scrub on some mega corporation’s bloated payroll. Since no one was willing to give me a real job, I asked questions whenever I could. I stayed late and eaves-dropped on meetings under the guise of doing my college homework. And when none of the top tier executives wanted to stay late and re-crunch the day’s numbers, I volunteered.

And years later, I built my own fund, invested in all the stocks they were too scared to touch. Then I eventually became one of the most revered businessmen on Wall Street. If there was a company that piqued my interest, I bought it. If there was a stock that I wanted to invest in, I became an investor by dinner. And if there was a deal that I wanted to make, it was mine within seconds.

At least, I thought that was the case before this morning.

“What do you mean Watson’s not sure if he wants me to buy his company anymore?” I looked at my advisor, Brenton, in utter disbelief. “He put it up for fucking sale. Whoever buys it from him doesn’t make one bit of a difference.”

“I’ve told you time and time again that he wants the new owner to be a family man. You’re not a family man.”

“I definitely have a family.”

“A family of your own.” He sighed. “Not a family you call every other week when you happen to remember that they exist. Oh, and definitely not someone who’s been Page Six’s Bachelor of the Year eight times in a row.”

“Ten times in a row, but no one’s counting.” I smiled. “But if it’ll make Watson feel any better about my personal life and how I’ll run his fund in the future, I can call him and honestly admit that I haven’t fucked anyone in over eight months.”

He gave me a blank stare. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Unfortunately not.” It’s been slightly longer than that ...

“Even if I did believe you, and I don’t, your restraint from fucking anyone doesn’t make you a family man. It just means you’re not behaving like your normal self. By ‘family man,’ he means someone who knows that life is not all work. Someone who can appreciate life’s moments outside of the boardroom.”

“I do a great job of that,” I said. “You said it yourself. My company pays the highest salaries at every level so the employees can enjoy their lives outside of the boardroom.”

“Right ...” He sat up in his chair. “When your second CFO got married, what did you give him as a wedding gift?”

“A generous bonus and a vintage wine.”

“Um hmm. And what exactly did you write on that wine bottle’s tag?”

I sighed. “I’m disappointed that you’re getting married. I never thought you were the type.”

“What else?”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t want to remember.

“You wrote, ‘I’m pretty sure you’ll be divorced in two years, so you’re better off ditching her and flying to Florida to help me with this Tampa Deal.’ Then again, at least you were kind enough to write, ‘PS—I hope you at least got a pre-nup before you signed that contract. See you at work when you get back. Love, Nicholas.’ I think it was those last two words that made him quit.”

“That was two years ago,” I said. “I don’t send those types of notes anymore.”

“Because Emily does them for you.” He rolled his eyes. “Outside of your company, you don’t have any true relationships, and that’s exactly what Watson wants his successor to have. He thinks it’ll make the owner more empathetic when it comes to certain things. Don’t you?”

Fuck no.

I wasn’t sure why he was suddenly acting like a saint, since he was far more ruthless than I was when he ran his own firm decades ago. He’d once written the exact five words that summed up exactly how I viewed relationships: worthlessly fickle, useless, and unpredictable.

Once they crashed, they never recovered, so I never invested any energy into them. The idea of ever starting a family had never crossed my mind because I saw firsthand what it did to some of my most successful peers. Their work ethic gradually slowed, their drive for power waned, and they began to run their companies on happiness instead of financial sense.

And I was completely baffled as to why after six months of negotiating, five weeks of endless conference calls, and hours of back and forth, that this CEO was considering backing out of a deal over something so frivolous.

I sighed and leaned back in my chair. “I need us to seal this deal, Brenton. I’m not taking no for an answer.”

“I’m sure you aren’t.” He smiled nervously. “A five billion dollar deal would be a hell of a portfolio boost—especially since it’ll make you double that in ten years, once the other deals go through.”

But if we don’t get it, we’ll lose twenty billion in the same amount of time ...

I could guess the rest of his thoughts without him saying a word.

“Do you have any ideas on how we could get him to change his mind?”

“Finally!” He laughed and opened a folder. “I’ve been waiting for you to ask me that all day.”

Before he could launch into his strategy, my desk phone rang with an unfamiliar number.

“Hold that thought for one second, Brenton.” I motioned for him to give me a second. “This is Mr. Wolf,” I answered the phone.

“Mr. Wolf, this is Mr. Tanner from the Tanner and Associates firm across the street. You told me to call if um, if Emily Johnson ever came over again.”

“I did,” I said. “When was she there?”

“Just now, sir. She just left not too long ago.”

I pulled out my phone and looked at my inbox. Her last email to me was from thirty minutes ago.

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Subject: Dentist Appointment

Mr. Wolf,

I seem to have forgotten that I also had a dentist appointment scheduled for today. Since the office is close by, I’m just going to run over and personally reschedule it for a later time. Just like you suggested.

Emily Johnson,

Executive Assistant to Nicholas A. Wolf, Wolf Industries

PS—I forgot to say it back. Happy Anniversary :-)

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She’s still fucking with me ...

“What did she ask you for, Mr. Tanner?” I asked.

“The same thing as always, sir. Inquiring if we could look at the contract again and find any loopholes.”

“Are there any?”

“No, sir.”

“Good.” I smiled. I had that shit looked at every year as well. “I’ll send an intern over with a token of my appreciation at lunch. Thank you for letting me know.” I ended the call right as Emily stepped into my office with a tray.

Wearing her favorite fitted blue dress that never ceased to get my attention, she walked across my floor in her red-bottom heels and gave me her usual sexy glare.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Wolf,” she said, setting the tray on my desk. “Brenton. Here’s your lunch and a copy of the Watson files like you asked. Can I get you anything else?”

“How was your dental appointment?” I narrowed my eyes at her.

“Same as the medical one,” she said, narrowing her eyes right back at me. “I’ll just have to deal with a certain cavity that’ll rot for the next two years.”

“That’s not healthy at all, Emily.” Brenton placed his napkin in his lap. “I have a good dentist that can get rid of any cavity. You should see him, if yours is telling you things like that.”

We both looked at him.

“What?” he said, stuffing a fry into his mouth. “He’s a really good dentist!”

“Are there any more appointments you have scheduled for today, Emily?” I asked, trying my best to ignore the fact that she wasn’t wearing a bra beneath her dress. “I’d like to know right now.”

“I’m sure you would.” She shrugged. “My lunch break starts now, though. It’ll have to wait until I’m done.” She turned and walked away, and I watched her every move until she was long gone.

Despite the glares she threw at me on a daily basis, the sarcastic hand-written post-it notes she slipped into my desk, and the fact that she was still “secretly” taking job interviews, I considered her to be my most loyal employee. And strangely, my only friend. Next to Brenton, she was the only other person in this building I completely trusted.

She was also, unfortunately, the sexiest woman I’d ever seen in my life. With her deep and dark green eyes, her coffee-colored hair that fell past her shoulders in waves, and a wardrobe that made my cock stiffen any time she walked into a room, she put every super model I’d ever met to shame. Over the past two years of her employment, I’d forced myself to deal with the torture of working by her side during countless ten and twelve-hour days. I was still suffering from the longest sexual dry spell because the only person I wanted to fuck was her, but I knew better than to cross that line.

“Okay.” I took my coffee from the tray and cleared my throat. “Sum up your idea for getting Watson back on our side for this deal in five seconds.”

“I think you should get engaged temporarily and show off your real family within the same time frame, so it looks like you’re exactly the type of CEO he wants you to be.” The words rushed out of his mouth faster than ever.

I stared at him long and hard. He’d suggested a lot of questionable shit since becoming my advisor, but this was by far the most ridiculous.

“Out of all the available options, you want me to pretend to have a fiancée, just so I can close a deal?”

“A five billion dollar deal.” He nodded. “It makes far more sense in context. Let me explain ...”