Rhys Carter
Jason Reed could have saved himself all the money he wasted on that damned research and just sent his lead researcher into my bed.
I'm not usually swayed by pleasure, but I have a feeling that Rena might have been able to pull it off.
Especially with the way my wolf was reacting to her. Asking her to work for me was simply my selfish desire.
I had entered the office, saw those golden eyes, and all the thoughts I had about making things really hard for the researcher went out the window.
The door to my office opened, and I smelled Jamie's citrusy scent before he entered.
"All done?" I asked, and Jamie gave me a thumbs up.
"She was surprised at the price offered, but she also looked really excited and not suspicious."
My lips pulled into a smile. "Of course, they would be surprised at that offer."
"Their plan wasn't to take too much of my money; that was just an added bonus."
Jamie leaned forward so his elbows were resting on my work table.
"But that's a lot you are putting on the table. Why did you do that? Did you also realize that the lead researcher was being honest?"
Before I could reply, Jamie cut in again. "You would also need to take from your personal wealth. The company doesn't have that much movable cash lying around."
Jamie rubbed the space between his brows, something he always did anytime he had a lot on his mind, so I just allowed him to ramble for about a minute until he realized he was only talking to himself.
"Rhys?"
I shrugged. "I didn't increase the money because of her." Okay, that was a lie. I most certainly increased the money because of her.
The thing is, I had discovered Jason's schemes even before he brought the proposal to me. The guy was sloppy and stupid.
There was no way he would have held my attention. But when they sent their proposal, it was good.
Incredibly good, and I wanted to meet the brain behind it. Only that I wasn't expecting that she would look like that.
She was barely hiding her curves with those loose-fitting suit pants and those eyes. Every time she met my gaze, I felt like I wanted to keep looking into them until they were all I could see.
Her acting was good, and she was able to balance pretending to be nervous while saying all the right words that would have convinced anyone to hand over their entire net worth.
If I didn't know she was sent to lure me into their trap, I might have even believed her.
Rena Mirel was that good.
She most certainly was the reason why I decided to play their game. But I had no plan of playing by their rules, so I raised the stakes.
"Lucy Sullivan has now become the Luna to Iron Ridge Pack," I finally announced.
Jamie sighed dramatically. "You could have told me that with the mind link. I was barely holding it together the whole time I was handing over the promissory note."
"Besides, you also made that offer for her to work with us."
"Miss Mirel is smart and would be an asset to Carter Pharmaceuticals. I was giving her a chance to change sides before it was too late."
I was also giving her the only chance she had to redemption because I had a hunch that she was going to be the fall guy for Jason Reed and Damon Sullivan.
Jamie nodded. "She's indeed an asset. I also don't think she's in on the plan."
My brows raised slightly. "Why do you think so?"
Jamie sighed, "She seemed genuinely passionate about the research."
I scoffed lightly. "Passion? But she's fine fabricating all the results from the trials?"
"Besides, she's too smart not to know about it."
Jamie stayed silent for some seconds, probably running through things in his mind.
"You are right. I'm guessing Jason offered her some share of the money."
I nodded because that was exactly what I thought.
"Before, I was wondering why Jason would risk offending the Sullivans by having another woman on the side, but after meeting Miss Rena, I guess it's easy to understand now."
I felt a little irritated at his words, and I felt Silas growl in my head.
"Down, boy." The last thing I needed was getting involved with the woman who was conniving with others to destroy my empire.
"Jason wants to have the beauty and the power together. Although Lucy isn't exactly bad. Those surgeries have done her some good."
I held back a chuckle as I remembered what had started all of these feuds.
"Good for her." I hadn't seen her recently, and honestly, I wanted that woman as far away from me as she could be.
"So the plan remains the same?" Jamie asked as he stood up and adjusted his necktie.
He always struggled with getting the damn thing right. Hopefully, he would get lucky and meet a woman who could knot a straight tie.
"Yes, keep the plan the same. If Jason can't cover all the backlash, surely, his in-laws would have to step in."
Jamie nodded in agreement and then gave me a thumbs-up.
"I'll complete the signing process tomorrow."
"We are going to have a long year," he added right after, and I hummed in response.
I had no interest in region wars, but since turning down Lucy by telling her she was too ugly to be my woman, Damon Sullivan had sent rogues several times to attack my pack because he couldn't send his men.
The council would have his head if he interfered in my region.
I had simply ignored them. None of my men were weaklings, and all of them used to be rogues.
Silvan had even been able to get some of the rogues Damon sent to join our Pack.
But Damon clearly didn't know where to stop as he started to cook up a scheme with Jason Reed recently.
Jason was under my region, but dared to collude with another Pack; he was going to have to learn a lesson.
As for that woman…
I felt Silas stir as those golden eyes flashed in my mind again.
Rena was a smart and gorgeous woman. Unfortunately, she was on the wrong side of this game.
And I was going to have a swell time letting her know the consequences of scheming against Rhys Carter.