Take Me: Part 3 (Power Play #3) Read Online Free Page A

insides twist a little as he takes on a more serious tone, but not enough to overcome the high I’m still feeling after the sweet things he said. “Where do we stand on the European Deal?”
    But that is enough to wash away anything good I might have been feeling.  
    “I don’t think that’s going to work out.” The admission of defeat sounds distant and empty, as though it’s someone else speaking the words.
    “What do you mean?”
    “Things with Isaac… Mr. Drake … ended up not going so well.”
    The jovial look on Declan’s face melts away and one of concern takes its place. He leans in close to me and takes me by the hand. The sudden feel of his skin on mine catches me off guard.
    “Are you okay?”
    I shrug my shoulders and try to manage a soft smile.
    “I’ll be fine.”
    Declan’s blue eyes search me for a while, as though he’s trying to determine just how far he can trust my words. If I’m being honest, I’m not sure if he should trust them at all.
    “Tell me everything that happened.”
    I let out a soft sigh and then launch into the story of what happened on Saturday night after I left the club. There are details I omit, but I tell him how I came across the folders of pictures and background checks on the company. To my surprise, he doesn’t seem very phased by this revelation—not nearly as much as I had been. I finish by telling Declan that I told Isaac we couldn’t be seeing any more of each other.
    When I’m done, Declan waits a long time before he responds. His lips purse together thoughtfully, as though he’s digesting everything I told him down to the very last detail. He’s still holding my hand, and he gives it a gentle squeeze before he speaks.
    “You did the right thing.”
    “But we needed that contract. Doesn’t this mean that…”
    My voice trails off as I remember what Declan had told me at the club. He’d told me that we needed this contract to help us stay afloat a little while longer. He’d told me that without it we were going to have to start making some tough decisions . And tough decisions meant we were going to have to start letting people go. Possibly people that had been working at BMG since before Daddy passed away.
    Declan squeezes my hand again, and fixes me with a comforting smile.
    “We can only cross one bridge at a time, and we’ll cross that one when we get to it.” His smile tugs a little wider. “But as for Mr. Drake, you did the right thing. You have to stay true to yourself, to your family here in New York and at BMG.”
    Declan’s being sweet again, but it doesn’t have quite the same effect as before. I’m not entirely convinced that pushing Isaac away really is remaining true to myself. If it is, then this whole remaining true to yourself thing kind of sucks.
    “But what’s going to happen with BMG? How are we going to come up with the money we need?”
    He looks at me thoughtfully, his lips pinching together as he considers the question.  
    “We’ll figure something out.” His eyes fall down over my body one more time. “My day is full of meetings, but maybe we can get together later and try to figure something out?”
    I nod
    “I’ll check your schedule and get a meeting setup for this afternoon.”
    “I was thinking more along the lines of getting dinner…”
    “Oh.”
    A nervous cold tightens around my chest, caught off guard by the thought of getting dinner with Declan.
    “Do you already have dinner plans?”
    I shake my head.
    “No. Dinner sounds nice.”

Chapter 6

    I walk around the rest of the day with Tawny’s voice in the back of my head. It feels like a lifetime ago that she was teasing me about Declan being interested in me. After everything that had been going on with Isaac I had nearly forgotten about it, entirely.
    Is tonight’s dinner going to be some big, romantic gesture? Or maybe I’m just overthinking it, like everything else?
    We meet at a nice restaurant that’s not too far from my apartment.