Selfish Read online

  Table of Contents

  Selfish

  COPYRIGHT

  DEDICATION

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Selfish

  SHANTEL TESSIER

  The course of true love never did run smooth. William Shakespeare

  Selfish

  Copyright © 2016 by Shantel Tessier

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  For more information about the author and her books, visit her website- www.shanteltessierauthor.com. You can sign up for her newsletter on her website, or you can click on the link below. The newsletter is the only place to get exclusive teasers, first to know about current projects and release dates. And also have chances to win some amazing giveaways- http://goo.gl/4wd9CV

  Editor: Jenny Sims

  Cover Photographer: Golden Czermak with FuriousFotog

  Cover Model: Ripp Baker

  Cover Designer: Sommer Stein with Perfect Pear Creative Covers.

  Formatter: CP Smith

  DEDICATION

  To those who believe in happily ever afters and fairy tales, this one is for you.

  There’s nothing wrong with wanting it all.

  CHAPTER ONE

  RYDER

  Sitting in a conference room overlooking downtown Manhattan with fifteen men, I feel my phone vibrate in the pocket of my black slacks. I remove it and stare down at a set of dark brown eyes and glossy lips on the screen of my iPhone. But instead of a smile, they’re puckered up as if waiting for me to kiss them. I turn my phone at an angle to enlarge the picture. A naked woman is lying on a set of dark sheets, showing me a few of her best assets. My eyes trail away from her round face and down to her bare chest. A pair of overly large breasts hang nicely as she props herself up on one arm while lying on her stomach. I continue my assault as my gaze roams over her tanned back and then her round ass.

  I clear my throat and place it back in my pocket. I go to open my mouth when I feel it buzz again. Sighing, I pull it out once more. Another pic; I open it up, and this time she shows me a full frontal. She’s holding the camera above her, showing me a much better view of big breasts. She has her legs slightly spread as she now lies on her back. At least it’s a better pic than the last.

  I send her a quick text.

  Me: I’m in a meeting.

  Leslie: Are you hard? she asks, ignoring my message.

  I pull my eyes away from my phone to look down at my black dress slacks. Nothing. I’ve done the woman before. Several times, actually, but it was just sex, and although any guy would like to receive pictures of her, I’m busy at the moment.

  The conference door opens, and I drop my phone in my lap as if my parents had just caught me watching porn. Which I kinda was but nobody knows that. Even though I’m an adult, I am still at work! And as far as my father is concerned, you don’t bring your personal life to the workplace. If he knew I’d had his assistant bent over this exact conference table three weeks ago, my belt around her neck and my hand covering her mouth to quiet her moans and gasps, he’d kill me with his bare hands.

  I smirk as that person enters the room. She avoids eye contact with me. I guess the wound of not wanting to have a relationship with her is still fresh. She knew exactly what we were doing—fucking and nothing more. “I’m sorry, gentlemen. Mr. O’Kane is going to be a little longer. Is there anything I can get you while you wait?”

  The guy beside me, Luke Hahn, who just happens to be the father of the girl I was just looking at naked pictures of, lets out an aggravated huff as he stands from his place at the table. “We’ve already been waiting thirty minutes.” I frown. Has it been that long?

  “I’m sorry, sir; it won’t be much longer,” she repeats as she shifts from foot to foot on her solid black heels.

  He starts to button his expensive white suit jacket as he speaks. “I have other offers, and I know they would not keep me waiting.” Is that so?

  Jessica starts to nibble on her light pink bottom lip as she rubs the palms of her hands down her black pencil skirt, a nervous habit. In the three months she has worked here, she has never worked well under pressure, and that’s why she won’t last long. You can see the uncertainty in her brown eyes and confusion on her pale face. She doesn’t know what to do. How to make them stay.

  My father is an investor of sorts. He owns a Fortune 500 company. And Mr. Hahn here has something my father wants. Hence, the meeting. So for something to be keeping him, it must be very dire.

  I stand, deciding to take matters into my own hands. “Mr. Hahn.”

  His head snaps to the left to face me; black eyes hard and jaw sharp. I place my phone in my front pocket, once again ignoring the pictures his daughter is sending me. “If you would be so kind to enlighten me for a second.” His graying brows rise. “Just how many offers do you have?” I’m challenging him now; let’s see if he accepts.

  “Mr. O’Kane,” my father’s assistant, Jessica, hisses my name, but I ignore her. I outrank her here, and clearly, I don’t care what she has to say.

  “Four, to be exact,” he responds sharply, squaring his shoulders.

  I look down at my watch to see it’s fifteen till nine. “And you’re meeting with all four today?” I ask for clarification, even though I know he’s bullshitting me. Isn’t there a saying, something about you can’t bullshit a bullshitter? Yeah, he doesn’t wanna go toe to toe with me.

  He gives me a curt nod.

  “Yet we were your first. Why is that?”

  He looks away from me to catch the tail end of Jessica running out of the room; no doubt she’s off to go tell my father that I’m doing his work for him. You’re welcome!

  He looks back at me but doesn’t answer my question. I motion for him to sit back down. “Please, if you may. Give me ten minutes.” I’m only gonna need five.

  He looks at the other thirteen men in the room as if seeking their approval to stay or leave. But he and I both know they’re just here to fill the seats. His groupies, as you’d say, to pat him on the back once he signs a piece of himself away. As if their approval will soften the blow to his pride.

  His lawyer, the only other one worth being present, stands from his seat. His dark blue eyes remain on me while he speaks to his client. “Mr. Hahn. I advise you…”

  Mr. Hahn raises his hand, and he stops immediately. “I wanna hear what the boy has to say.”

  I refrain from growling. Boy? Y
ou won’t think of me as a little boy when I’m done with you. Instead, I give his lawyer a tight smile as he slowly sits back down in his seat. Hahn’s lawyer is here out of formality. No one tries to sell a piece of themselves without a lawyer present. It’s obvious, though, that he doesn’t care what his lawyer has to say and I’m gonna use that to my benefit.

  Mr. Hahn’s grandfather had bought a piece of property on Fifth Avenue back in nineteen thirty. It had been handed down through the years, but a little birdie told me that he was on the verge of bankruptcy and would do anything to save it. And by little birdie, I mean his daughter. I had her naked lying on my bed a couple of months ago. After I was done with her, she couldn’t quit talking about her personal life.

  He finally sits, as his men make no move to leave. I take a deep breath as my phone vibrates in my pocket. I’m guessing another naked picture.

  “Luke. Can I call you Luke?” His daughter prefers to call me daddy. Can you see the reason she told me his little secret? Daddy issues all the way.

  Before he can respond to my question, I continue. “Let me tell you why you made the right decision by coming to O’Kane Enterprises first.” I simply raise my hands, motioning toward the floor-to-ceiling windows that span the wall of the twelve hundred foot conference room behind him. Those who sit on his side of the black marble conference table all spin around in their swivel chairs to look over the center of downtown Manhattan from the seventieth floor.

  He quickly spins back around to face me, his black eyes narrow and his lips thin. “It’s Manhattan. There are thousands of buildings. Are you suggesting I came here for the view?” he demands, sounding offended.

  “A little over sixty thousand, to be exact.” Give or take a few. They build so much in this town that it’s hard to keep track. My comment makes him squint even more. My point is … “O’Kane Enterprises owns more than fifty-five percent of them.” That is major!

  Now, don’t think my father is a genius and he came from nothing and somehow worked his way up to the King of New York. Not quite! Just like the man sitting across from me, my father was also handed down a legacy. A legacy he has turned into an empire in his fifty-two years. I intend to take over that empire and make it my bitch in every way, starting with Luke Hahn. Just like I did with his daughter.

  He slaps his hand on the black marble table as he growls. His groupies all jump and gasp for effect, but I refrain from rolling my eyes. I can see where Leslie got her overly dramatic attitude. “I didn’t come here and wait thirty minutes to be told facts I already know,” he snaps.

  My phone vibrates once again, and I groan at the fact his daughter isn’t getting the fucking hint that I’m busy. “Then let’s get down to it.” For both our sakes.

  “Let’s!” he hisses, drawing out the word to sound like a snake in the grass about to strike. When, let’s face it, we both know he doesn’t even have any fangs. He’s like a dog with all bark and no bite.

  “O’Kane Enterprises is more than happy to offer you a seven-figure sum for your property on Lexon Hill Fifth Avenue.” I walk down to the head of the table where my father would be sitting if he were here and pick up the documents and the pen that has my father’s name scripted on it—Timothy O’Kane CEO. Walking around the table, I come to a stop behind him and reach over to place them in front of him. He picks the document up and immediately starts to read it. I make my way back over to my seat and sit down; the leather whines as I lean back, getting comfortable.

  “Wait a minute.” He drops it down to the table. “I am not offering the property as a whole. I want to bring in a partner …”

  “Investor,” I correct him. “Partner implies you are willing to share your company. An investor implies you can’t do it on your own,” I say matter-of-factly. He isn’t willing to give away controlling interest or shares. He just wants someone to throw him some money. A silent partner, to be exact.

  His jaw clenches, and he swallows. “An investor,” he says through gritted teeth, “who can help get the restaurant up and going again.” He takes a deep breath as if that was a hard pill to swallow. His family restaurant, Hahn, has been going downhill for the last twenty years ever since he took it over. He has finally reached the point where he has run out of options.

  “Luke,” I say, and his jaw sharpens. “Let’s be realistic here.” He goes to open his mouth, but I raise my hand. I lean forward, placing my forearms on the conference table, and lock my fingers together. “You want seven hundred thousand and are only willing to give twenty-five percent of the company. I’ve gone over the PNLs from the last five years, and your loss outweighs the profits by hundreds of thousands.”

  “I know what they say. That’s why I’m here,” he snaps.

  “The fact that you own the building that sits on the property is a bonus but not a deal maker,” I say honestly.

  He looks at his attorney with narrowed eyes, but he stays quiet. Everything I’m saying is true. The numbers don’t lie. And if we take this deal, we will only own twenty-five percent, which would give us no controlling interest. “There are also no liquid assets,” I state, and his eyes snap back to mine.

  He puffs out his chest, and his eyes fall down to the documents.

  “We are offering you a seven-figure amount,” I add, trying to push him. He goes to speak again, but I continue. “This deal is better than any other deal you will be offered today.” Especially since they don’t exist. “With this offer, you can start a new restaurant. And it could be anywhere in the world.” Maybe move away because your daughter is starting to cross the line from hot hookup to stalker. Sure, the sex is good, but she’s starting to get clingy. “Or start up a new business entirely.” I see the tables start to turn as he sits there thinking about my words. “Do you really think some new shiny tables and a fresh coat of paint will put your place on the map as a go-to restaurant?” I ask with my arms spread wide and a look of not hardly on my face. My father already has a plan for that spot. It will be better than any restaurant Luke could possibly open there. It is prime real estate. It’s not our fault that he ran it into the ground.

  He opens his mouth and then closes it. He repeats the motion a couple of times as if a fish out of water. “But it was my grandfather’s …” he trails off softly lost in thought.

  His lawyer shoots to his feet. “We’re not here to sell …”

  “Sit down!” Mr. Hahn yells at him.

  I ignore his lawyer and focus back on Luke. He had mentioned his grandfather … “Speaking of family”—I lick my lips as I lean back in my swivel chair—“how is the wife, Genevieve?” I ask, and he looks up at me with a confused look on his face. “Were you guys able to take that cruise she was talking about at the charity ball last year?” He shakes his head, but I already knew that. The money he had saved for the cruise Genevieve wanted to take for their fortieth wedding anniversary was spent on the restaurant. Another thing his daughter told me. For as much as she likes cock in her mouth, she still manages to spill information.

  Just when I think he is going to take the offer, he slams his hand over the papers and looks at me. “I will not sell! I want seven hundred thousand for twenty-five percent. Will you help me or not?”

  I shake my head without a second thought. I know my father, and he wouldn’t take it in a million years. My father hasn’t run this billion-dollar company because he’s an idiot.

  “Fine!” He looks at his groupies. “We’re done here.” They all rise and start for the door.

  I rise slowly as I clasp the single button to my suit jacket. “I ask you to reconsider our offer,” I say calmly.

  “Your offer is a disgrace,” he spits out.

  I sigh, hating to do this to the man, but I’ve run out of options, and I need to close this deal. “My father is the chairman of the zoning commission,” I say, and they all freeze where they stand. Luke’s hand is on the glass door as he slowly turns his head to look at me.

  “And?” He draws out the word.

 
“And he is submitting to have your property rezoned. Once it’s approved, it’ll eliminate your ability to operate your business on that property any longer.”

  ASHLYN

  I turn off the hairdryer and set it down on my rather small and cluttered bathroom countertop. The cord catches on a super-size can of hairspray, causing it to hit the tile floor with a clank. “Sorry,” I say softly, looking at my cat who lies on the toilet lid. His big green eyes stare up at me in annoyance as he tries to sleep on the toilet dressed in a t-shirt-like material that says I’m a badass across his back. His eyes start to shut as he easily forgives me. He places his head back down to resume his nap.

  Leaving the hairspray on the floor, I look at myself in the bathroom mirror and run my hands through my dyed, long blond hair, trying to smooth it out. I really need to get my roots touched up. Thankfully, my hair is a light brown, so it hasn’t hit the point where it looks awful; it just annoys me. The steam from my shower still lingers in the bathroom since I have the door closed, and it’s causing my hair to kink up. That’s what happens when you have naturally curly hair. Reaching over, I turn on my straightener and place it in the sink to heat up while I grab my makeup bag stuffed over in the corner. Shit is spilling over the top; it’s so full that a few things also fall to the floor as I hop around, hoping to avoid anything landing on my feet. Once the items have stopped spilling, I leave them on the floor next to the hairspray. I’ll get them later. After digging around for what I’m looking for in a bag that seems to be bottomless, I put on a little foundation followed by powder and then some mascara. I stand back and take a good look at myself in my bathroom mirror. My blue eyes are bloodshot from lack of sleep, and the makeup only covered up a little of the dark circles under my eyes. I didn’t feel like packing the makeup on today, so I just did enough to make it look like I half care about my appearance. I’m either gonna be spending my day on airplanes or in airports. So no need to look all done up. I apply some nude gloss to my naked lips and then grab my now heated straightener.