Her Tiger Billionaire (8 page)

“The barbs?
No. I always stayed away from my past partners during their…” He made a wild gesture. “You know what I mean.”

“Their loss, my gain.
I love that wild part of you.”

Sven stared at her intensely. “Thank you, sweet.
For accepting me for who I am.”

“Although I’m still hot.
When is it going to be over?”

“I truly don’t know.”

“Well, then.” Annalise straddled him. “You made me like this. What are you going to do about it?”

Sven smiled wickedly. “There’s only one way to find out.”

Six

Annalise
straightened the stack of papers in front of her to take home to Sven. Her had heart lightened ever since the revelation. Sven had told her everything. About the forced buyout of Dune Industry and his plan to start a family. She was secretly relieved that Sven didn’t intend to keep her as the chairman forever. Once the buyout and housecleaning was complete, he was going to hire somebody qualified as her replacement. She felt awkward coming every day as Sven’s mouthpiece. Mostly because Cécile was constantly on her case. Annalise was more than aware that she was an outsider, and she wasn’t a brainiac like everyone else, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t feel Cécile’s insults. She had more than her fair share of handling cranky customers at the diner, but Cécile was a totally unreasonable woman.

Annalise
suspected that Cécile never got over Sven, and part of her bullying was because of Sven’s marriage. Annalise felt guilty at first. Sven was nice to her, and she got the job that Cécile had been coveting for so long. She wished she and Cécile could be friends. Cécile was smart, very pretty and stylish. She was a tall, slim blonde woman.. She had a British accent that complemented her whole persona. Whenever Cécile entered the room, she stole attention from every person.

Her guilt was quickly turned into disdain by Cécile’s constant verbal abuse. Some of Cécile’s cronies started treating her the same way.
Annalise sometimes wondered if they ever realized she had the power to can their asses. Not that she intended to take away someone’s livelihood. She knew how hard it was to be without a good paying job out there. She only wished she wasn’t treated like a doormat.

But now, not even Cécile’s snide comments could dampen her spirit. Robby was getting better every day, and Sven had promised to take her on a dream honeymoon.
Annalise had a lot to look forward to.

She copied the emails in her inbox and forwarded them to Sven. She only needed to collect the memo and she’d be done for the day.

Her door suddenly burst open and Cécile barged in.

Annalise
groaned. Lately, that woman was perpetually on PMS mode.

“You bitch!”

Cécile looked more fired up than normal. Her insults were usually more elegant.

“You’re still in the office? The working day ended fifteen minutes ago,”
Annalise said with a blank face on. Sven had taught her to look oblivious around Cécile, so she wouldn’t suspect anything until he could execute his last move.

“Did you think I wouldn’t find out about it?
Jonah Walker. Dalton Snyder. Erin Frost. I know that bastard drove them out.”

“Which bastards are we talking about? Lately you’ve been calling everybody a bastard.”

“Don’t act stupid! It’s my mistake that I underestimated you. You must have known Sven’s plan from the beginning.”

“You’re giving me too much credit. I’m really, really stupid. I served coffee and pancakes before this, remember?”

“Shut up!” Cécile slammed her fist on the table.

“Yikes!”
Annalise rolled her chair backward. “Cécile, calm down.”

“Calm down? Calm down!” Cécile was livid. “Do you have any idea what I have gone through to be where I am now? I studied hard. I worked hard. This company should have belonged to me, not that crazy uncle of yours. It’s my dad’s money that built this company. Not Seymour’s. Mine!”

“Cécile, you own shares of  Dune too. In other words, you are also the owner of this company. What more could you want?”

“It all should be mine!”

“Sven was right. You’re greedy.”

“Greed is good, you stupid bitch. Greed is what built this country. If you and Sven think you could drive me out of Dune Industry, you’re sadly mistaken. I will fight you and I will make your life a living hell.”

Annalise scratched her head in a deliberately un-ladylike manner. “I really don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t! Why don’t you go back where you belong? Serve coffee and fucking pancakes.”

“I’d love to, but Sven won’t let me. Why don’t you calm down and take it easy the rest of the night. You’re obviously stressed out.”

“Don’t you fucking dare tell me what to
do!”

“I’m worried about you. Did you forget to take your medication this morning?”

Cécile screamed all of a sudden. She seized a letter opener and stabbed at her.

Annalise
yelled. The letter opener connected with her shoulder and made a deep gash. “You bitch, that hurt! What’s wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with me? I’ll show you what’s wrong with me. I want you dead!
Dead!”

Annalise
made a beeline for the door when Cécile lunged at her again. She couldn’t believe Cécile went ballistic like that. Sven was right again. That woman was psycho.

Cécile screamed like a maniac when her target slipped away. She chased
Annalise and grabbed her hair. Annalise’s head snapped backward.

“Cécile stop it!”

“Die, bitch, die!”

Annalise
caught the letter opener with her hand before it pierced her neck. Cécile was stronger than she thought. They both struggled and Annalise ended up tumbling face down.

“Cécile, don’t.”

“Die!”

Annalise
instinctively closed her eyes. All her senses were shut down in the face of danger.

Then there was roar of a tiger.

Annalise opened her eyes and saw a huge tiger baring his fangs at Cécile. Cécile stumbled backward and brandished the letter opener at the beast. Annalise almost called Sven’s name but she halted at the very last moment.

“What is this? Why is a tiger in here?” Cécile looked panicked.

Sven roared.

Cécile squealed and tried to run. Her heel caught on a book that had fallen during the struggle. She lost her balance and smashed her head on the credenza. Her body hit the floor, not moving.

“Cécile!” Annalise crawled to help her.

The tiger slowly changed into Sven.

“Cécile. Cécile.” Annalise tried to wake her up. “Sven, help her. Please.”

The human Sven looked furious.
“Even after she tried to kill you?” He pulled Annalise closer and did a brief examination. His face was painted with anguish. “You’re bleeding.”

“I’m fine. Check on Cécile, make sure she’s fine.”

“That bitch tried to kill you.”

“I’m sure she didn’t mean it. She was under a lot stress lately and she snapped. Please, Sven.”

“Anna, if there’s one human being in this planet that deserves to be hated, it should be her.” He scooted over to examine Cécile’s head. “She’ll be fine. We should call security and the paramedics.”

Annalise
gave Sven a once-over. “How do we explain to them that you’re naked?”

“Shit.” He rose and gathered his tattered clothes. “Seymour kept extra clothing and a lab jacket, so I’ll be fine. I’ll ask Sebastian to bring my own clothes here.”

“What about Cécile? She saw you.”

“No, she saw a tiger.”

“She’s going to talk.”

“She can, but who’s going to take her seriously? Her next stop is the loony bin.”

“Oh.”

Sven helped
Annalise to stand. “Are you sure you’re all right? That gash needs stitches.”

“I’m fine, I’m fine. We should deal with security and the police now.”

Sven grumbled.

“Sven, would you do me a favor?”
Annalise asked.

“What is it?”

“I want you to fire me as chairman once this is over. This job sucks donkey balls.”

Sven pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.
“Deal.”

The End