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costs are bloated. Evelyn stops just shy of helping them, smirks at her own expertise. When she does she looks wicked and wanton.
    I keep forgetting I’m supposed to hate her.
    Yet I don’t understand her. The Evelyn I remember was wide-eyed and shy, terrified of the world around her, sheltered. The Eve I remember needed me. This… this ice queen doesn’t. The presentation reminds me of a cat playing with its prey, without even planning to eat it. This is all a game to her.
    She looks a lot like her father.
    My hands squeeze into fists.
    “Amsel has considerable resources to bring to bear to correct these deficiencies,” she says, beginning her close. “I am not planning to swoop in and replace everyone. Yes, some bloat will need to be shed. Many of your business practices will change, but what I am proposing today is a partnership, not a takeover.”
    The takeover would come if they defy her, I realize. It’s in her tone, the subtle way she moves. Everyone in this room is a guppy, in a tank with a shark. I can see it on three of the six board member’s faces. They’re already convinced. She probably took care of this well before this meeting started. If I were a more hateful man my first thought would be she slept with one or all of them, but Eve would never do that. Or maybe I just want to believe that. She was so shy, so fragile. I wonder where that girl went and where this creature came from, with her skin as hard as ice and her sharp claws.
    In the same neutral voice she begins laying out the terms, and what Amsel has to offer. It’s very generous, if you’re an idiot. She’s asking them to put themselves in her hand, and the only person who cares less about any of these men than each other is Evelyn. If they’re smart they’ve studied and if they studied they know she’s going to give the company six months to turn around or gut it and pour the money from selling off the equipment into another takeover like this.
    One company in five that Amsel has acquired since Eve took over the company has been broken down and sold off to competitors. I wonder if she ever thinks about the consequences of her actions. My father would be disgusted at what his name has come to represent in the circles he traveled. A shell of a company run by a frigid bitch on one side, his ex-con son on the other, a walking embarrassment to the family. God knows I did enough embarrassing shit in my youth, but who doesn’t?
    “Thank you, Ms. Ross. We’ll take it under consideration,” Thorpe says.
    There’s a note in his voice she doesn’t like, by her scowl.
    “You may remain if you like, to hear the counter offer.”
    I’m not going to lie. That   was definitely my idea.
    I saunter up to the podium and open up my attache. I don’t have a projector, nor do I have a presentation. Instead I pass out folders. Thorpe has already seen the proposal, this is for the rest of the board. They open and I see their reaction when they lay eyes on what I’m proposing.
    “Eve has done a good job of explaining why you’re screwed, so I’ll spare you a retread of the gory details.” I shoot her a glance. “Thanks, by the way. You saved me from talking myself raw.”
    “Young man,” one of the older board members says, “I don’t appreciate your tone.”
    “I’m not here to sell you my tone. I’m here to save you from her.”
    They all look at Eve. She shrinks just a little into her chair, her eyes wide. When Eve gets mad, her eyes go wide and she tucks her bottom lip under her teeth. She does that now, and her hands go white as she grips the arms of her chair. Whiter, anyway. She’s furious.
    Good.
    “The details are in the papers I’ve provided. Bottom line is this. I want thirty percent of the common stock, for which I am prepared to pay generously.”
    “With what?” Evelyn snaps. “What do they pay you in prison, a dollar a day to stamp license plates?”
    “Miss Ross,” Thorpe says, a hint of warning in his voice.
    All