Irresistible (Underneath it All Series: Book One) (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) Read Online Free

did their job, and the reward was a stock letter telling them they were no longer employed. Collateral damage.
    Not today.
    There would only be one casualty, and it was Lazarus Crowe's massive ego.
    “First off, thanks for making time for us this morning. I know time is money, so I won't waste another minute with beating around the bush.” I pulled out the chair beside Joe. He was nodding silently, twirling a Colt Enterprises pen between his fingers. It was a show of support, gratitude that I wasn’t milking this opportunity for all it was worth. He'd wanted to do this all over the phone, but then again, he was always the good cop in this partnership. He was the forgiving one. I was the muscle.
    I unbuttoned my jacket and leaned back into the leather cushion. I looked right at Lazarus's face, his head slated to combust at any moment. Torturing him for a few more minutes would be just what he deserved, considering our history. Ten years ago, when I was just starting off and laying the groundwork for what I thought would become Colt Enterprises, he’d almost ruined me. My former company hit a rough patch and I had no idea Lazarus had been plotting a secret takeover. Before the ink was dry, he fired all my employees, just because he could.
    It was time for me to welcome Lazarus to his new reality. “I brought you here today because I wanted to offer you the opportunity to formerly resign as CEO of Crowe International—or you can be ousted publicly.”
    Lazarus didn't blink. In fact, it looked like he wasn’t breathing at all. The world was still turning around us. Art nervously massaged his hands, hunched over the table. Joe’s face was chiseled stone as he put down the pen and reached for his phone. He scrolled his thumb across the screen and broke the silence.
    “Mr. Crowe, I just forwarded a prepared statement to your inbox for you to tweak as you see fit-”
    “You haven't earned the right to even address me, boy, ” Lazarus seethed.
    The venom and disgust he hurled at Joe hit him right where it hurt the most. The 'boy' comment was engineered to strip him of everything he'd worked hard for. He deserved a seat at the table, deserved respect, but men like Lazarus treated him like he was less than, because he was black.
    I felt the white-hot anger radiating from my best friend, my brother in every sense of the word but blood. He was too classy to call the disgruntled man on his shit, but I sure as hell wasn't.
    “If you ever disrespect my friend in my presence again, you'll be taking a very special ride in an ambulance,” I blazed.
    Art and Lazarus's eyes bulged in unison.
    "Did you-did you-I-did you just threaten me?" Lazarus sputtered, his eyes glazed with shock and a fear that I knew he was unaccustomed to.
    "Damn right," I answered smoothly. I rose to my feet, officially done looking at his face. "We're very busy, and you have a choice to make. You have until the end of business today to give us your answer, or we'll choose for you."
    Joe followed suit, and I couldn't help but feel a fresh wave of anger when I saw he was grappling with being the bigger man. He shouldn't have to be. He shouldn't have to put up with racist rich pricks who thought their wealth entitled them to treat people like shit.
    "You know what? You don't need hours. The offer to resign is only good until we leave this room."
    "You son of a-"
    "He'll resign!” Art cut in, leaping to his feet. That made Lazarus follow suit, his chair slamming into the wall.
    "Like hell I will!" Lazarus roared. He looked ready to burst from his pinstripe suit and fashion a shank out of something, anything, so he could murder us all.
    Joe and I exchanged a look, smiling because we'd taken on guys like this man. We walked away bruised, a little bloody, but with our heads held high.
    "Think about your legacy, Laz," Art pleaded with Lazarus. "This is more than saving face. This is an opportunity to control the narrative."
    Any other day, an appeal to his