One Night for Love (13 page)

“I need to make a stop before we go to dinner,” Prim said. She pressed the button and lowered the glass between the front and the back seat. She handed the driver a slip of paper. “Could you stop here please?”

“Was today hard for you?”

The tone of Tristan’s voice was warm and mixed with concern, which made it more difficult for her to maintain her irritation toward him. She’d gone through so many emotions today. Happiness during breakfast with Tristan. Joy mixed with melancholy upon seeing her closest colleagues at her going-away party. Sadness when she’d exited Metro for what was to be her final time.

Now her heart careened between brokenness over caring so much for Tristan and anger over a decision he seemed to have already made. Her gaze flickered over him. That sharp jaw that was so handsome, his full lips, the dark eyes that glinted with the slightest light.

“It’s always hard to say good-bye,” Prim said. She held tight to her voice. It would be so easy to careen over the edge into sadness and maudlin and away from her one final goal.

“Yes,” Tristan said. “Saying good-bye can be difficult.”

His hand inched toward hers and he hooked his pinky finger around hers. She pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth, a little trick she’d learned to prevent tears. There was no reason to cry. While she had failed miserably on a personal level with regards to their agreement, she still might win where her professional desires were concerned.

“We’re here,” Prim said.

The car pulled to a stop and before the driver could exit the car, Prim pushed open the door. A working-class neighborhood, the street was filled with pickup trucks and cars that were five years past their prime. The homes were clean and the yards well kept. Prim knocked on the door. She looked out of place standing beside two bicycles and a flowerpot in her silver cocktail dress and too-high heels with her jeweled clutch in her hand.

The door opened and Prim bent forward and hugged the shorter and rounder woman at the door. Tristan recognized this woman. He squinted. Yes, he knew her from …

“Delphine,” Tristan said. He held out his hand and smiled. “You’re in the research department at Metro Media? Yes?”

Delphine smiled and crinkled her eyebrows. “I am,” Delphine said. “I’ve been with Metro Media for nearly twenty years.” She reached out her hand and shook Tristan’s. “Please come in.”

Tristan followed Prim into the small home. Two teenagers bent over schoolbooks at the kitchen table. Next to the teenaged girl sat a younger girl, no older than ten, in a wheelchair.

“Prim!” The blond teenaged girl at the table squealed and jumped up. She wrapped her arms around Prim.

“Why do you keep growing, Sarah?” Prim asked with a smile on her face. “Look how tall you are and I’m even in heels.”

Sarah smiled, enamored with Prim’s assessment. She twirled a piece of her golden hair. “Thank you for the tickets to the
Cold Transmission
premiere. We had the
best
time.”

“I heard it was good. Hi, Justin,” Prim called.

The older boy,nearly seventeen, glanced up from his homework. His eyes landed on Prim and a flush rushed from his neck to his cheeks.

How could he not blush? A seventeen-year-old young man confronted with such amazing beauty as Prim’s? His eyes flicked to Tristan. The look on Justin’s face hardened as though he didn’t like the idea of Prim with any man. Tristan couldn’t blame Justin for that. He didn’t want Prim to be around any other men either.

“This is Tristan,” Prim said.

“Mr. Rhodes,” Delphine said, instructing her children.

“Oh,” Sarah said. “We’ve heard of you. You just bought Mom’s company.”

Tristan nodded. “Guilty.”

He followed Sarah, Delphine, and Prim into the kitchen where the youngest member of the family lay in her chair. Her hands curled inward toward her arms, but her eyes were alert and stared at Prim.

“How are you, Leanne?” Prim bent down and kissed the girl on both cheeks.

The child’s smile widened. Her arms jerked as though she was trying for a hug.

Prim gave her a warm and tight squeeze. “I hear you went to the premiere too?”

Prim looked at Delphine for confirmation and Delphine nodded.

“She loved it. Made up for the physical therapy she had to endure that day. Have you eaten?” Delphine moved toward the oven. “Want to join us?”

“I’d love to, but we have a dinner meeting.” Prim waved at her dress as though an apology for not being able to stay. “I needed to pick up that file from you. Today was my last day and I wanted to be sure Tristan reviewed the file.” Prim turned to him. “Plus Tristan mentioned his interest in meeting all of Metro Media’s employees. Getting to know them on a personal basis. We were close, so we stopped.”

“You know I love it when you do,” Delphine said and wrapped an arm around Prim’s waist. “I’ve got it in the front room on my desk.”

All three walked into the living room. Tristan sat on the couch and Prim settled into a chair across from the settee.

“Here it is,” Delphine said. “The algorithms are nearly there.” Delphine looked at Tristan. “We’re working on a research directive regarding advertising and video-on-demand algorithms developed by our research team.”

Tristan opened the file and perused the presentation paper. “This is really good stuff.”

“If you come by my office, Mr. Rhodes, I can show you the preliminary findings. We also have an eye toward international markets.”

 “Tomorrow? E-mail Philippe and give him a good time for me to come by. I’m very interested in your research and development team right now.”

A look Tristan couldn’t decipher passed between Delphine and Prim.

Delphine walked them to the door. “It’s a pleasure to have you here,” Delphine said. “Prim comes by often. I think she’s been to the house of everyone at the company at least once.”

“Is that so?” Tristan said.

“I think the sense of community that Mr. Murphy tried to build and that Prim has maintained since the accident is the reason for Metro’s success. Why everyone works so hard.” She reached out and put her arm around Prim. “We feel that we’re in this together.” She glanced toward the kitchen. “I’ve worked a lot of years with Metro, and you don’t find that much anymore at a company. A place where people feel valued not only for their job but also for who they are.” Her gaze returned to Prim’s face. “We’re going to miss you at Metro.”

“I’ll come back and say hi,” Prim said. The smile on her face was for Delphine’s benefit. Joy didn’t reach all the way to Prim’s eyes. “Besides, you’re in good hands with this guy.” Prim nodded toward Tristan.

Her eyes hardened with her words. What did she know or think that she knew? He’d never promised Prim that he wouldn’t sell Metro, only that he’d maintain an open mind during the first twelve weeks of ownership. He’d looked at all the assets, benefits, losses, and he’d crunched the numbers. His decision was one made purely because of business and the bottom line. Those were always the best reasons to make decisions. Only fools let their emotions dictate their business decisions, and Tristan was no fool.

Tears filled Delphine’s eyes.

“Don’t cry,” Prim said. “You’ll still see me. It’s not as though I’m gone forever.”

Delphine pulled Prim into a hug. “Knowing you’re not in that office will make me sad. You’ve been Metro’s heartbeat since Paloma …” Delphine looked away and ran a finger under her eyes. “Well, since Ryan was unable to tend to Metro.” Delphine looked at Tristan and forced a smile to her face. “But now we have Mr. Rhodes, and I am certain we’ll keep doing good work, especially after the last twelve weeks and you telling him all about the Metro family.”

“You will,” Prim said and hugged Delphine. “I’m certain of it.”

“Try to enjoy your business dinner,” Delphine said.

Prim nodded and slipped through the door. Tristan followed, once again surprised by how amazing Prim actually was.

*

“How are you finding Metro Media?”

What would appear the most innocuous of questions was instead loaded since it came from Cole Jackson, the CEO of Metro Media’s biggest competitor. Placing two competitive CEOs at the same dinner table was like putting two starving dogs in a small ring with a blood-red piece of raw meat, and yet dinner tonight had gone well.

Meg raised an eyebrow. She glanced from Prim to Tristan. “Please, excuse my husband. He can’t help himself. He can’t seem to put work aside. Not even for a friendly meal.”

“It’s a fair question,” Cole said. “One I’d think Tristan would ask if I’d just purchased a company on which he’d bid.”

“Cole’s right,” Tristan said. “As loaded as the question seems, he’s right. I’d ask him if the roles were reversed.”

“See,” Cole said and nodded his head toward Meg. “He gets me.”

“Ha!” Meg said. “Only because you two are so similar. How many men are billionaires before forty?”

“At this table,” Tristan said, “the odds are one hundred percent.” A playful smile edged over his face and he turned his glass of brandy in his hand. “Metro is fascinating.” His gaze left Cole’s and traveled toward Prim. “People love working there and they all do great work.”

Prim’s silence through their meal was testament to her irritation with Tristan. Most might not notice her quietness and the dimmed sparkle in her eyes, but Tristan knew. He’d witnessed the worried glances shot from Meg to Prim, the look of concern from Meg and her attempt at small talk with her best friend.

What was bothering Prim? These were her friends, and he’d accepted the invitation as a way to be polite as well as build bridges with a formidable CEO and the president of TBC.

“Ryan was smart to leave Prim in charge of Metro after what happened with Paloma.”

The corner of Prim’s mouth quirked upward.

“Transitions are always bumpy and there’ve been a couple of hiccups, but nothing we didn’t handle. Right, Prim?”

“Oh yes,” Prim said, her voice laced with a bit of sarcasm. “We’ve handled it.” She reached for her digestif and took a long swallow.

“What about you, Cole? You considered buying Metro Media before I stepped in.”

“I did.” Cole smiled. “For the right price.”

“You think I overpaid?”

“I think I wanted to pay less than you did.”

Tristan smiled. You didn’t become a self-made CEO without knowing how to phrase a sentence.

“Good answer,” Tristan said. “I like media, entertainment, content production—they’re things I dabbled in before Metro.”

“Until you sell off a company piece by piece,” Prim said.

Surprise trickled through Tristan. He turned to Prim.

“Isn’t that what you always do with the companies you acquire?” Prim asked.

“The majority of them, yes,” Tristan admitted. He shifted in his seat at Prim’s hard tone and distant gaze. “That, or merge them.”

“In preparation for sale,” Prim said.

Her gaze locked onto him and the energy at the table changed. There was an abrupt shift. The tone of Prim’s voice was hard and judgmental, as though she had much she wanted to say but held back with her words.

“In the past that’s what I’ve done with companies that I purchase, but not necessarily what I plan to do now.”

There was no love, only a deep, unsettling hardness in Prim’s gaze. “You’re
not
selling Metro?” Prim leaned forward and laid her forearms flat on the table.

“I mentioned, and it is the truth, that I’ve made no decisions about Metro. I don’t think it’s wise to decide until the transition is complete.”

“That’s fair,” Meg said, her light tone an obvious attempt to defuse a situation that was growing heated.

“Is it fair?” Prim continued. “Is it fair that I’ve spent the last year trying to make certain that every one of the two hundred and forty-five people that get their paycheck from Metro Media continues to get a paycheck? I worked myself as hard as I could, and now you swoop in and buy the company and dismantle it?”

“No,” Tristan said. “None of that is fair. But where did you ever get the idea that anything in business is fair? Life isn’t fair. Nothing is fair, Prim. Life can, on occasion, be just, but it definitely isn’t fair.”

Prim sat back in her chair and for a moment her eyes darted away as though she was gathering her thoughts. “Over the past year while Ryan was suffering, we all pulled together like a family to make Metro great, to make it strong, and now there is the possibility that all the work and all the sacrifice will be for nothing at all.”

Prim walked into Tristan’s bedroom. Her eyes glanced over the velvet ring box that lay on his dresser. She wouldn’t take the ring. She’d never intended to keep the gorgeous creation. The idea of taking that ring, even as a bonus for closing a deal, made her heart ache.

“Nicely played,” Tristan said.

“Played?” Prim spun around, the broad expanse of Tristan’s chest, his sharp-cut jaw, those lips, in front of her. “I’m not playing. You wanted to get to know the employees that work at Metro Media, and I started with Delphine. She’s loyal and smart and brilliant at her job. She’s a single mother who takes care of her children. And Leanne? Well, Leanne gets her benefits because we’re lucky enough to employ Delphine. This isn’t a game, Tristan. Metro Media has value because of all the people who work at the company.”

“I understand the value of hard work, Prim. I understand that Metro is the way that people feed their families and take care of their children. Those two hundred and forty-five people aren’t just dots on a spreadsheet.”

“They aren’t?”

She wanted to resist her feelings. She’d read the offer from Optimax, and the idea that Tristan had been working all along on a deal to sell Metro, all while telling her otherwise, hurt her.

“Do you think I’m heartless?”

His question startled her. His fingertips trailed up her bare arm. Prim shivered with his touch. Long dark heat curled through her body. What did it say about her that she was so drawn to Tristan, the man who was going to destroy the company she loved?

He pressed the pad of his thumb to her lips. “I’m a businessman, Prim.” He leaned forward. His other hand cupped her breast. He fondled her nipple through the silk of her dress. “Don’t think for a moment that I don’t understand the impact of my decisions, because I do.”