Ultimate Surrender Read Online Free PDF Page B

nonchalantly. But despite how he may have sounded, he felt the scowl twisting his features, felt the pressure burning at his fingers as he gripped the table. Yet another illustration of how she could so quickly throw him off course.
    “My guys are off the table, Cassandra. No one, not even you, has any input on that,” he said.
    “As—”
    He cut her off. “I don’t care what your position is, don’t care that my brother hired you, and I don’t care who you report to. My team is off the table.”
    The tightness in her jaw, the slight narrowing of her eyes, the way she leaned forward, setting her shoulders in a defensive hunch, looking ready to pounce, told him she didn’t intend to let this go.
    Her tenacity was one of her most annoying traits—and one of her most appealing, but even his admiration for her, his attraction to her, didn’t change the fact his team was his, and his alone. Nor did her displeasure. In this he would not relent. The team was the thing that made Silver Industries run, the trust between them something that couldn’t be bought but instead could only be nurtured through time and experience. And Lucian wouldn’t screw with it, upset that rare and delicate balance for any reason. He’d shut Silver Industries down first.
    After a long moment, Cassandra nodded faintly, her lids dropping and some of the tension leaving her jaw, a signal that the subject was tabled for now, though Lucian expected the topic would come up again.
    “Your team, your responsibility,” she said.
    “Mine,” he said, some of the tension leaving him a moment later. After another moment of eying Cassandra, he asked, “Who are you worried about in particular?”
    “All of them,” she said.
    He laughed. “Lacking your usual precision, Cassie,” he said.
    She frowned slightly. “Well, since you asked, you need to keep an eye on Marcus. Adam too,” she added.
    Lucian shrugged. “Have you met Saint? With my eye on him or not, he’ll do whatever he wants.”
    “That fills me with confidence, Lucian,” she said sarcastically.
    “Happy to be of service,” he replied.
    She frowned deeper. “I reserve the right to revisit this topic,” she said.
    “I had a feeling you would. My guys will still be off-limits,” Lucian replied.
    Cassandra stayed silent but the little tilt of her head was a promise of what was to come. Lucian didn’t look forward to that day. Going toe-to-toe with Cassandra on matters of vital importance while he did everything in his power not to ogle her tits took a lot out of him.
    She looked at her watch. “It’s getting late. Until next time,” she said.
    She gave him a terse nod, stood, and then turned to exit without giving him another glance.
    After the door closed again, Lucian felt himself relaxing further, giving himself over to the thoughts of Cassandra and this little dance of theirs.
    When his brother had first admitted the seriousness of Silver Industries’ debt and the necessity of taking on shareholders, Lucian had been upset but understood that they’d had no other choice. And then Damien had told him that shareholder money came with all kinds of strings, one of the main ones being a full-time shareholder liaison who would be embedded in the company.
    Lucian’s reaction had been immediate and intense. Bureaucracy had been part of the reason he’d left the military and gone into private work, so the idea of such oversight, having a person inside the company who wasn’t fully on board, had been unthinkable. But Damien had made it clear they had no other options and tried to reassure him he’d selected the best possible person. Lucian had been irritated but determined to be fair. After all, it wasn’t her fault she was caught in the middle of Damien’s shit storm.
    So he’d planned to do his best to be as accommodating as he could be, open, and after they went through the getting-to-know-you phrase and Lucian had figured out if he could trust her, he might even consider