Chapter 102

Alistair’s POV

I slammed the contract down on my desk, the stiff paper rattling against the wood. “What is the meaning of this?” I barked at my secretary, my voice echoing in the quiet office. The overhead lights flickered, and for a moment, I wondered if the whole building was conspiring against me. Was she really blind enough not to notice the letterhead? The name plastered across the top in bold type. The Pierces Company—precisely the company I’d been deliberately avoiding for months.

Her shoulders jerked in surprise, and she swallowed hard. “Sir, it’s the Pierces Company. I thought—”

I cut her off with a sharp glance. “You thought what?” I demanded, my stern tone slicing through the air. There was no excuse adequate for this blunder. I’d made it perfectly clear in every board meeting, every email, every conversation: no collaboration with Pierces. I’d been dodging their advances, sidestepping their proposals—sometimes with difficulty, because the rumors