Devotion (Club Destiny #5)(20)
Author: Nicole Edwards

He was supposed to be the guy who came in after the deal had been made so he could get a decent feel for what would best protect the company. Throckmorton was nothing more than an arrogant show off who wanted people to believe he was bigger than what he was, and honestly, Cole was getting tired of the bullshit.

“And you’re going to guarantee –”

Carson’s voice brought him back to the present and Cole stared at him, trying to figure out what he was saying. That’s when the words sank in. Guarantee. Right. Figuring he was about three seconds from losing his temper, Cole stood, putting his hands out in front of him, signaling his surrender, and staring down at the creepy guy who’d been shunning everything he tried to tell him for the last half hour.

“Mr. Throckmorton,” Cole dropped his hands and glanced over at the door, then back, “it’s clear that you’re not interested in what my company has to offer you, so rather than wasting any more of your time, or mine, I think we can safely conclude this meeting.”

“That’s it?” Mr. Throckmorton asked incredulously. It dumbfounded Cole at how obtuse some people could be.

“As far as I’m concerned, yes. You and I both know there are no guarantees in this world, and I’m not going to sit here and shed blood to try and prove to you that we are who we say we are. Nor am I going to risk the possibility that we can’t please you. I think it’s in both of our best interest if you go with the other choice of security firms. I’m sure they’ll be able to suit your needs just fine.”

Cole turned on his heel and moved to the door of Mr. Throckmorton’s office. He didn’t bother stopping when the asshole began to tell him exactly what he thought of his attitude.

Quite frankly, Cole didn’t have it in him to deal with a lot of shit these days. He was too busy elsewhere to bother with it. It seemed like Alex McDermott was sending him to these asinine meetings at least once or twice a week, and for some reason, he wasn’t handling them well.

It was almost like CISS had too many hands in the pot, even if they were apparently one man down for whatever reason. Jake, the young man Dylan had hired to handle the residential sales, was getting restless being under Alex’s thumb all the time, considering he’d certainly had more free rein when Dylan was at the helm. Cole couldn’t blame the kid. Dylan didn’t take a turn for the better like they all thought he would shortly after Nate, Dylan’s son, graduated from high school. From where he stood, Dylan was digging himself deeper and deeper into depression, and he seemed to be chasing the demons with alcohol which somehow had left Cole picking up the slack.

He was pretty sure he’d get an earful from Alex after Mr. Throckmorton gave him a call.

He really didn’t care.

As Cole was walking out of the office toward his truck, his cell phone rang, and he almost laughed. Glancing down at the caller id before answering, he noticed that it was Sierra and not Alex as he expected.

“Hey. Everything ok, baby?”

“Absolutely perfect,” Sierra replied sweetly, her cheerful tone immediately making Cole feel better. “I wanted to see if you could meet me for lunch.”

Cole glanced at his watch. He didn’t even realize it was after noon. “I’d be glad to. Want me to pick you up? Or do you want to meet me somewhere?”

Cole loved these impromptu lunch dates with Sierra. Since her business was still growing and she had decided to work out of the house, they had more time to spend with her these days, although they generally revolved around an hour or two at lunch. Granted, he was hoping one of these days they’d have the opportunity to spend more time together, all three of them. Life seemed to be getting in the way of that dream though.

“I’ll meet you. Where are you at?” Sierra answered.

Cole explained where he was and which direction he would be heading. They worked out where to meet and what time before Sierra hung up.

Rather than wait for Alex to call him and chew his ass out, Cole called his boss from the truck on the drive to the restaurant.

“I didn’t expect you to call so soon. I figured you’d need some time to cool off. Didn’t sound like it went well?” Alex stated in lieu of a greeting when he answered the phone.

Apparently Cole wasn’t as quick as Mr. Throckmorton.

“That would be one way to look at it.”

Pulling out of the parking lot, Cole aimed his truck for the restaurant he was to meet Sierra at while Alex’s voice reverberated through the Bluetooth speaker in the truck.

“Can’t say I blame you.”

Cole’s eyebrows shot skyward. Did Alex expect him to walk out on the asshole? If so, why the hell had he set him up like that? He was trying extremely hard to look at the situation from Alex’s perspective, but the more and more he found himself in situations like this one, he couldn’t help but wonder what was actually going on with Alex. If the man was in his right mind, he wouldn’t be dealing with this type of shit either.