Chapter 5

It was eight in the morning, and I was sipping my coffee, staring out at Deco Tower like a predator watching its prey.

Suddenly, my office door burst open.

Shirley Lee came storming in, clutching a cardboard box. Her hair was messy.

"Frank! I'm so fucking done!" she yelled.

She slammed the box onto my desk, and a few client files slid out. I recognized these were Deco Group's confidential folders.

I raised an eyebrow. "They fire you?"

"I quit!" she snapped.

Her face flushed with fury. "That idiot Michael... No, now it's Ryan, that moron. He told me to change the contact name on every single client file to his!

"You spent three years winning the case with Mr. Harding, but they're trying to give Ryan all the credit!"

I flipped open the top file.

Sure enough, my name had been violently crossed out in red ink.

In its place, scrawled like a child's handwriting, was Ryan Stone.

What a shameless bastard!

"This all you got?" I asked, pointing at the box.

Shirley shot a nervous glance at the door before shutting it quietly. Then, she reached into her bra and pulled out a flash drive.

"At last year's company party, I got the head of IT completely wasted and sweet-talked the server password out of him. This has everything, like the original client archives, all contact logs, and..."

She dropped her voice to a whisper, "And the backup files of all the cooked books Michael and his cronies were hiding."

I let out a low whistle. This girl was even more ruthless than I thought.

"Alright," I said, plugging the drive into my laptop. "Go to HR. You're hired." I didn't even look up from the screen. "Pick any position you want."

Her eyes lit up. "I want to be your executive assistant! And I want a bigger salary than Deco Group!"

"Double it," I said flatly. "And while you're at it, call the old team. Anyone who wants a job has until the end of the day to show up."

She practically bounced out of the room, nearly colliding with Emily, who was just walking in.

"You're building your army faster than I expected," Emily remarked as she glanced at Shirley's retreating back.

She placed a cream-colored envelope on my desk. "Tomorrow night. Client appreciation dinner. Twenty-seven of your most important clients will be there."

I opened the invitation. In elegant gold foil, it read: [An Evening Celebrating the Strategic Partnership of Ascend Group and the Frank Linwood's Team.]

Bravo!

"One problem," Emily said, her expression hardening. "The old guard in the sales department heard you were bringing in your own team. They're staging a protest."

I just laughed. "Let them. The louder they scream, the better."

*****

The venue for the dinner was the city's priciest waterfront spot, a chic restaurant with a glittering view of the entire skyline.

The moment I walked in, two dozen men in impeccably tailored suits shot to their feet.

"Frank!"

"Mr. Linwood!"

"There you are!"

Any one of these guys was a titan of the industry. Right now, they were clustered around me like a bunch of screaming fangirls.

Wesley immediately popped a bottle of Ace of Spades and shoved it into my hand. "No one's leaving sober tonight!"

Dressed in a champagne-colored gown, Emily stood off to the side with a shocked expression.

She clearly couldn't fathom a world where clients acted more like a biker gang than business partners.

A few drinks in, Leo slammed his fist on the table.

"Those bastards at Deco Group are actually suing you? Screw that! My lawyers are filing a defamation suit against them first thing in the morning!"

He whipped out his phone right then and there. "Cancel the solar project with Deco Group! Yes, right now!"

That set off a chain reaction. The entire restaurant filled with the sound of powerful men on their phones, tearing Deco Group's remaining business to shreds.

Emily leaned in close, whispering, "This is more lively than one of Mr. Summers' board meetings."

I was feeling the alcohol, and I tugged at my tie. "We're just getting warmed up."

Suddenly, Wesley staggered over, sloshing his champagne. "Frank! You son of a bitch, you've been holding out on us! What the hell happened to your back? Was it those pricks at Deco Group?"

I glanced down and realized a button on my shirt had popped open, revealing the scarred skin beneath.

It was a burn mark shaped exactly like the logo of Deco Group.

It was a "welcome gift" from Michael when I was just a rookie. He held a lit cigarette on my back to brand me to prove my loyalty.

Emily gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.

The boisterous room fell dead silent.

"It's nothing. An old injury," I said, trying to button my shirt, but Leo grabbed my arm.

"Let me see."

He leaned in, his eyes narrowing. Then he exploded. "Holy shit! That's aggravated assault!"

He spun around and roared at his assistant, "Get the detective Jacob Miller on the phone! This is more than enough to open a criminal investigation!"

The situation was spiraling.

Emily quickly pulled me into a private lounge, pressing a cold towel to my forehead.

"You never mentioned..." she whispered, her voice shaking.

I closed my eyes. "Say what? How I clawed my way up from the mailroom to become their top salesman?"

I snorted, "It was Deco Group's little initiation rite. Michael told me to take the burn or get the hell out."

Her hand, which had been gently dabbing my temple, froze. "So that's why you want to destroy them."

I opened my eyes, meeting her intense gaze. "No," I said. "I just want to make sure they understand..."

I paused, letting the words hang in the air. "I'm going to do to them exactly what they did to me. Ten times over."

*****

I woke up the next morning with a hangover that could kill a horse, my phone vibrating off the nightstand with news alerts.

[Deco Group Officially Sues Former Employee Frank Linwood for Corporate Espionage!]

[Ascend Group Will Sue Deco Group for Malicious Prosecution and Unfair Competition!]

I was rubbing my temples, about to call our legal team, when Shirley burst in. "Frank! You have to see this!"

She hit play on an audio recording.

Ryan's slimy voice filled the office. "Look, you know how hard it is to get a job these days. You come out to have a few drinks with me tonight, and I'll make sure you're made a full-time employee tomorrow..."

It was followed by a young woman's muffled sob. "Mr. Stone, please. Don't..."