Never Dare a Tycoon (19 page)

“Mr. Wilson, I’m afraid of the answer, but I have to ask. Is there any money in my trust account?” Antonia asked, looking out the window. She didn’t want to see the pity in his eyes when he told her that the account has been cleared out.

“Of course, Ms. Attracelli. We’ve been trying to contact you for several weeks regarding the amount in the account. We are hoping to convince you to invest the money. Right now, it’s sitting in an account collecting interest, which is fine. But with the enormous sum you have available to you, it would be wiser to make the money work for you.”

“I want to withdraw some money,” she said, her hopes rising.

 

“Of course. How much would you like to withdraw?” he said, taking a piece of paper out of his drawer.

 

Antonia named a figure and Mr. Wilson blinked. “Why?” he asked.

 

“I need it for personal reasons. Could you put it all in traveler’s checks?” she asked, her spirits rising.

Mr. Wilson pressed some keys on his computer keyboard. “I’m afraid there’s a limit for withdrawals on this account. I’m sorry but I wasn’t aware of this stipulation.”

Antonia blinked back tears. “What’s the limit?” she asked, about to cry.

 

“Five hundred dollars,” Mr. Wilson replied, looking at Antonia sadly.

Antonia stood up and left his office without another word. She drove around town, not sure exactly how they had done it but she was now at their mercy. She hadn’t realized where she was going until she looked up and saw Hancock Enterprises in front of her. She quickly found a parking space on the street and walked inside. There were several security guards in the lobby so Antonia went directly to them.

She’d just figured out who had really set Thomas and Carlo up with their missions. And she didn’t believe for a second that Sal had put a limit on her trust fund account from the beginning. It was Brett. He was boxing her in.

“I want to see Mr. Hancock,” she said, not hiding the fury on her face.

The guards looked at her as if she’d grown a second head. “May I tell him who is waiting to see him?” the first one asked. He acted as if he was going to have to throw her out when Brett’s secretary told him that she was not on the list of approved appointments.

“Antonia,” was all she said.

 

“Antonia ?” he asked, wanting to relay her last name as well.

 

“Don’t worry about it. He’ll know,” she snapped. Antonia crossed her arms over her chest and stood there, challenging the guards to not call upstairs.

Once they dialed the number, Antonia stepped away from the brown marble security desk and watched the people walk in and out of the brown and black lobby. They all looked like they had a purpose and everyone wore a badge. If Antonia wasn’t so angry, she’d be impressed. But she wasn’t in the mood to be impressed with Brett Hancock’s company. She was too angry.

“Ms. Attracelli?” the security guard called to her.

 

Antonia turned around at the sound of her last name. “Don’t call me that!” she said, not wanting to be associated with her brothers right now.

The security guard was startled by her reply. He held up his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry ma’am. I just wanted to tell you that Mr. Hancock will see you. But you have to wear this badge at all times. There’s no escort required for you,” he said, handing her a plastic badge with VIP GUEST on the front, hanging from a metal chain.

Antonia took the badge and walked to the elevators. “What floor?” she asked.

 

“Twentieth. Turn left once you get off the elevators and Beatrice, his secretary will meet you there.”

 

“Thank you,” Antonia said, trying to smile at the security guard, but afraid that it only looked like she was baring her teeth.

On the twentieth floor, she got off and turned left. A woman in her late fifties or early sixties was walking down the hallway towards her with a smile on her face. She had gray hair and horn-rimmed glasses hanging from her neck, shoes squeaking as she came to stand in front of Antonia.

“Are you Antonia Attracelli? Mr. Hancock’s fiancée?” she asked, extending her hand in greeting.

 

“I’m not admitting to the first and the second I’m still working on getting out of,” Antonia replied, but she took the woman’s hand and tried to be civil.

 

Beatrice’s smile slipped slightly. “This way,” she said and headed back in the direction she’d just come from.

“Mr. Hancock just got out of a meeting,” she said. “He’s usually a little distracted at this time of the day. He’s on a tight schedule this afternoon so I’m not sure how much time he can spare.”

“That’s ok. I don’t need much of his time.” Even to Antonia’s ears, it sounded like a growl.

 

Brett came out of a room down the hallway from her and walked directly towards her, smiling. “Antonia! What a surprise. What are you doing here?”

 

“We need to talk,” she said and preceded him into his office.

 

“What about?” he asked, closing the door. He walked around to his desk and sat down in the large, black, leather chair.

Antonia paced, trying to calm down so she could talk to him rationally. “What the hell are you doing with my bank accounts? And you froze my investments. They think I’m a criminal! How dare you?”

Brett leaned back in his chair, tapping his lower lip with a pen. “How did you find out about that?” he asked.

 

“I went to get some money,” she said, not mentioning that she was getting all of it.

 

“You don’t need to spend your own money. I gave you a credit card. Use it on anything you want.”

 

Antonia swung around on him. “You don’t get it do you? That’s my money,” she explained, leaning over his desk to amplify her point.

 

“Prove it. You put it in the wrong name. That’s not exactly legal,” Brett said, standing up and coming around to the other side of the desk.

 

Antonia was so furious she sputtered. “You know it’s my money! Why are you doing this?”

 

“You were going to run away from me, weren’t you?” he asked.

 

Antonia couldn’t look him in the eye. own business.”

 

“What I do with my money is my

 

Brett threw back his head and laughed. “I scare you that much, don’t I?” he said, moving towards her, capturing her in a huge hug. “God, you drive me crazy.”

 

Antonia pushed out of his arms. “I drive you crazy? I don’t know how you can say that!” she said, turning her back on him.

He came up right behind her back and put his hands on her waist, pulling her against the length of him, not letting her pull away. “Because, just as much as you think I’ve turned your world upside down, you’ve done the same to me. I used to have an organized life. Everything was scheduled. Then you sat down at lunch, all pretty in pink and flustered, not even remembering my name,” he said and Antonia blushed at his perceptiveness, “and threw everything out of whack. So whatever I’ve done to you, you’ve given right back.”

“But you still have a life. You took mine away from me,” she said, pulling out of his embrace and moving away from him. Turning around she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

“Then come work for me,” he said.

 

Antonia stopped pacing and stood still, afraid to ask him to repeat his statement. “What?” she said, unable to stop herself.

“Come work for me. You’ve spent the last four years trying to prove to your brothers that you are as good as they are. But the reality is, you haven’t been able to do it have you?”

Antonia didn’t answer. All she could do is stare at him. “Because they were given privileges you weren’t allowed. So was I for that matter.” “What do you mean?” she whispered.

“I mean, your brothers might have all started low on the ranks, but as soon as they showed promise, they moved up quickly. They might have all turned their companies around and become industry giants, but the reality is, they were given a head start. You were denied that.”

“I can make it on my own,” she said, her chin going up a little higher defensively.

 

“Why don’t you try beating them on their own level?” he asked, leaning against his desk, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

Antonia hesitated for only a moment. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, come work here. Find out where this corporation can do better. You have a business degree and the instincts to accomplish a lot. Your portfolio proves that.”

“Yeah, right,” she scoffed.

 

He eyed her for a moment. “Are you afraid to find out you can’t match your brothers success for success?”

 

Antonia stiffened. “Of course I can,” she said indignantly.

“Then prove it. Starting Monday, report here. Your assignment will be to come up with ten ways to improve the systems Hancock Enterprises has in place. I want suggestions and back up to save this company ten million dollars over the next three years.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked, taking a step back, intimidated by his offer despite her bravado.

Brett walked around his desk and picked up several files. “You’ll be privy to all company files, you’ll have access to any meeting you want to attend. I’ll give you a secretary of your choosing with a temp until you find someone that works for you.”

“Brett, what do you mean?”

 

“Do you want the job or not?” he asked, not looking up at her.

“I don’t…” “Watch how you answer. If you say yes, you’ll have a hell of a task on your hands. I only hire the best and I keep things lean. But there’s always room for improvement.” He paused to watch her face. “If you say no, you’ll be proving that you’re afraid of the challenge.”

Antonia stared at him for a long moment, debating the sincerity of his offer. After looking at the expression on his face, she decided that he’d phrased it so she’d have everything to lose if she ignored his challenge. Including his respect. And for some reason, his respect meant a lot to her. “What’s my salary?” she asked finally.

Brett chuckled. But then he named a figure. “You’ll get a two percent commission on any money you save the company, but you’ll have to prove your suggestions will work before they’re implemented,” he said, handing her the files from his desk. “Here’s something to start with.”

Antonia took the files automatically. “Only two percent?” she asked, raising one eyebrow.

“Two and a half percent, for any one suggestion that saves over one million dollars. Commissions re-evaluated later.” Brett watched the sparkle in her eyes and knew he’d gotten her. And she was gorgeous when she was challenged.

He had no idea how he was going to concentrate when she was around, following him to meetings, working late and pouring over reports beside him. He had to be a lunatic for suggesting it.

“I accept. What time Monday morning.”

 

“Report to my office at eight o’clock sharp,” he said.

 

Antonia turned on her heel and walked out. But she heard his last comment. “And buy a new dress for tomorrow night!”

 

She laughed as she walked to the elevator.

But back down on the street, she sobered. How was she going to find ten million dollars in a company she knew nothing about? She’d never worked in an office before, how do people act? What was she supposed to do? She wouldn’t even know what files to ask for, regardless of the cart blanche he’d given her.

She pulled the Porsche into the garage and picked up the files she’d put on the seat. She wanted desperately to start reading them, but she decided to start on them first thing in the morning. She needed to sleep and that was all her body was going to allow.
Chapter 9

Antonia dressed carefully Monday morning. She pulled out a navy blue suit with a white silk shirt and pearls, just like Mindy Carmichael wore last Friday. She looked in the mirror and was appalled. This definitely wasn’t her style. She wanted to add something personal, something that would define her personality a little more. But she resisted, knowing that she had to set an impression before she could create her own personality.

She drove to the headquarters of Hancock Enterprises and parked in a visitor’s space. At the security desk, she was shown directly to personnel. There, her picture was taken and she was given a badge as well as a quick run through of company policy.

Finally, she was shown to Brett’s office. He was on a conference call when Beatrice opened the door for her, but Brett waved her into a chair and handed her a pad of paper and a pen.

Antonia didn’t know what to do with the paper and pen until she heard some negotiations at the other end of the line. She started taking notes on the ideas put forth from the other members of the meeting, feeling a bit awkward since she didn’t know who they were, nor did they know she was sitting in on the meeting.

Brett concluded the call after about an hour. Once he was finished, he came around the desk and leaned against it, crossing his arms over his chest. “What do you think?” he said.

Antonia didn’t know what to say. She was a bit overwhelmed, being thrown in to the call in the middle. “I’m not sure. Are you preparing to start digging yet or are you still setting up the contractors?”

“Neither. We’re arranging financing,” he said. “Come on, I’ll show you to your office.”

 

Antonia was confused. “But they were setting up contractors to start building, weren’t they?”

 

“Yep. But it won’t go anywhere for at least three months,” he explained, turning the corner and opening a set of double doors. “How’s this?” he asked.

Antonia was shocked. This was a huge office, almost as large as his own. The walls were done in the same honeyed wood with a black, shiny desk, large, black leather chair behind it and a computer already set up.

“Do all new employees get this type of office?” she asked suspiciously, walking into the middle and turning to face him. She wondered if she was getting special attention because of their relationship. Or soon to be past relationship, she corrected herself.

“No. Not all. Only those that have the same amount of responsibility you have. So stop thinking you’re getting special privileges.”

 

“Oh. I guess it will do,” she said, smiling slightly, embarrassed to be caught thinking along those lines.

“Human resources will be sending up a secretary for you. She’ll sit outside here,” he said, indicating a curved desk right outside her office. “If you need anything, you’ve already been given carte blanche on all information. Although the exact nature of your position hasn’t been revealed.”