Had been hit on by Spencer. Had seen her brother in action more than once. In other words, her reaction was justified by experience.
“My father started to expound on Storms Consolidated being a family business, and how important it was to keep it in the family, and I was so sure—” Cassie’s voice caught unexpectedly, and she ducked her head, hating the emotional reaction to the announcement.
Amanda reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “It’s a minor setback. Your brother will screw up in no time, and the company will be yours.”
“Not how I want to get it. I earned my place. Spencer hasn’t worked a day in his life. I’ll be lucky if there’s a company left when Spencer’s done running it. What was my father thinking?” Cassie finished the drink, knowing that one glass was all she was up to tonight.
“Listen to me. You can still carry on with your plan to bring the company into this century. You can work around your brother and … I don’t know. Outlast him.”
“Well, I definitely intend to take the meeting with Derek West and continue the upward trend with the tech side.”
“Good.” Amanda eyed her with concern. “Are you okay?”
Cassie swallowed hard. “I will be. I have no choice.”
“You’re up to the meeting with your hot billionaire?” Amanda asked.
“He’s not my billionaire.” Even if he was hot.
She’d seen pictures of him, recent photos, and the boy she’d known had more than filled out. He was now a sexy, self-confident man.
But she appreciated her friend’s attempt to lighten the mood. Unfortunately, this subject wasn’t any easier. “I told you about our history. I can’t imagine why he agreed to see me now.”
“Your reputation precedes you? I’m sure he assumes you want an interview, and he knows you’ll do a kick-ass job.”
That was one way to look at it. Or … “Maybe he figures it’s time to make me pay.”
Amanda rolled her eyes. “Now who’s being dramatic?”
Cassie shivered and ran her hands up and down her arms. “I guess I’ll find out soon enough.” Either the week would take a more positive turn or she’d end up feeling even lower than she already was.
* * *
Derek West listened to his assistant run through his appointments for the day, but his mind wasn’t on anything but his ten a.m.
Cassie Storms.
He’d been shocked when Becky told him she’d called and asked to meet. Derek had thought of her over the years for many reasons, none of them good. The Storms family was responsible for a shit ton of pain and heartache for Derek’s parents, both his father who had passed away, and his mother. Derek had never forgotten.
And Cassie, well, she’d set the bar for how he viewed rich girls for most of his life. Which made dating complicated since he’d become wealthy himself. It was hard to be himself around women. He didn’t believe that they didn’t want him for his money, and if they were well off, he immediately had his guard up, distrusting what kind of bitchy personality lay beneath the façade they presented to the world.
Cassie couldn’t have been sweeter the night he’d kissed her, but she’d had no problem humiliating him in front of her friends the very next day. His cheeks still burned with mortification when he thought of it.
He hadn’t shown up that night as planned, and he hadn’t expected her to be there either. Curiosity had him watching from his bedroom window though, and she had waited for him out by the pool. He couldn’t imagine why, nor did he care. He’d gotten some small consolation knowing she was waiting in vain, maybe feeling an ounce of the humiliation she’d dished out to him.
As he’d watched her shoulders slump and she seemed to curl in on herself, a part of him had felt bad. Until he’d remembered her friends’ laughter at their cruel comments about him being fuckable but not good enough to take home to their fathers.
Bitches. He’d turned away from the window and never looked back.
He’d left for college a few days later, where life had changed. He’d busted his ass on his scholarship and worked jobs to have money to live. But while there, he’d met Kade and Luke, his best friends, his brothers.
And they’d developed Blink. His life had taken a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn from his poor roots. He’d been too late to help his father, but he’d been able to improve his mother’s life. He just couldn’t bring his father back. Too little, too late, for which he blamed the Storms family.
These days, Derek considered himself as much an entrepreneur as a technology guru, and he often purchased failing businesses with the goal of either setting them back on their feet or dismantling them and selling off the pieces. Either option worked, whichever made him the most money. So when he’d heard that Storms Consolidated was in trouble, he’d set his sights on acquiring it and put in a generous offer under a shell company name.
No way would Christopher Storms ever sell his beloved company to his ex-gardener’s son. A man he’d fired after accusing his wife of stealing family jewelry. The son of a woman he’d had arrested. A family he’d turned on after they’d given him years of service, leaving them with no references, no place to live, and no health insurance. The latter was something Derek would never forgive him for.
Needless to say, he didn’t want to buy the company in order to right the ship. He wanted to run it into the ground and destroy anything with the name Storms. But even with Derek’s name hidden, Christopher Storms had turned down the offer.