006 — THROATY, SEXY BARITONE

AMANI

The last time I felt this shocked was the day Daisy, one of my weird ass classmates in elementary school, ate a live bug right in front of me.

I blink at Bhyron, waiting patiently for him to inform me that that was an unsuccessful attempt at a joke. He doesn’t.

“What the hell are you talking about? What kind of medication costs twenty million dollars? I fell from a flight of stairs, not a damn skyscraper.”

His lips curve in a dangerous smirk that sends cold shivers down my spine. Without answering my question, he grabs one of the visitors’ chairs and starts walking towards me.

Suddenly, I lose the ability to breathe properly. “Where are you going?”

“Where do you think? I want to sit beside you.”

Panic. I’m panicking.

“There’s absolutely no need for that. I could hear you just fine even when you stood at the door, which is exactly where I prefer you to stand.”

Bhyron ignores me as usual, choosing to do what he wants. I almost forgot that Bhyron Macaulay listens to no one. Oh, except his mother.

He plants the wooden chair beside me and sinks his large frame into it. I’m surprised that the chair doesn’t cry out for help.

For the next few seconds, Bhyron just… stares at me. He doesn’t utter a single word. He just stares. My insides are currently burning with a mixture of nervousness, anger and confusion. What the hell is going on?

Finally, I turn to him and arc one brow;

“If you’ve got something to say, say it and leave.”

He leans back in his seat and stretches those long legs. I’m suddenly assailed by memories of the times his thighs were my favorite place to sit while his fingers tangled lazily in my hair. I feel sick to my stomach.

“Six months gave you a smart mouth, I see. What else has changed?”

My jaw tightens with anger. “You don’t have any right whatsoever to ask that question, but I’ll gladly tell you what will change — the fact that you walked into this room with a perfectly working nose, but you might leave with it broken if you don’t say your piece right about now.”

He chuckles, and the low, throaty sound is more sexy than I care to admit.

“Your aunt has constantly borrowed money from me for the past four years, Amani. She owes me twenty million dollars as I speak.”

That statement is so unexpected, I blink in shock, whipping my head in his direction. “What did you say?”

I hope he’s joking, but the dark, serious gleam of his eyes and the tightening of his jaw tells me that he finds no humor in that statement.

“That’s not all. Your parent's company started facing a backslide in profits four years ago. As I speak, Will & Julia Perfumery is completely bankrupt. Your aunt borrowed from me with hopes that she could get the company back on its feet, but she kept failing and kept returning for more money.

Her debts were due to be paid about a year ago but I kept holding it off because of y— because of the relationship our family once shared. Not any more. I’m ready to collect every single penny she owes and I’m serious about it this time.”

Maybe Daisy eating a bug is not the most shocking event that has occurred in my short life, because this definitely takes the crown.

I sit in stunned silence, my fingers literally trembling with shock.

My aunt has never told me anything negative about our company’s financial situation. We spoke every week and she always sounded happy and content.

“The bottom line of the matter is that you and your aunt have two options,” Bhyron continues in that powerful baritone;

“You both have two days to pay your debt in full, otherwise, you can kiss Will & Julia Perfumery goodbye.

I already possess a court order that authorizes me to take over complete ownership of the company.

If you don’t have the money ready in the next forty eight hours, I advise you to pack up and vacate the company before my men arrive to pull it down…”