RAGE (The Rage Series Book 1) by MJ Riley Read Free Book Online

craved his attention as a child, she'd found the way he treated others somewhat off-putting. He was cold and calculating when he spoke of mergers and money, and he could be downright rude if he thought a client couldn't offer him anything the company needed. Atop that, he hoarded his profits like a packrat, drawing the disdain of others and his daughter alike.
                  At sixty-five, he was balding and had a large belly from drinking expensive foreign beers. Of course, he covered his sagging frame with the finest suits and had even attempted hair implants several time—although they had never really taken. However, nothing could detract from the skeptical nature of his beady blue stare.
                  “You've been coming home pretty early lately.”
                  She wondered why her father thought that eleven-thirty was early. The work day ended at five. “What, do you have people following me?” she inquired wryly, pouring herself a glass of cabernet sauvignon and immediately taking a gulp.
                  “Only for your own safety. You know you have to be careful of those who would take you for all you have, Charlotte.”
                  “You know, not everyone's out to get us, Dad.” She flopped down on a chair across from him, taking her rampant blonde curls down from the up-do atop her head and running her fingers through her hair to ease the tension in her scalp. “There are a number of firms who would benefit us greatly if you wouldn't be so stubborn about giving them the opportunity.”
                  “They're greedy,” he replied, his tone ending any argument. “You make no mistake. When I started this company, there were rapacious men who wanted to take everything from me, and that's still the state of the world today.”
                  “Yes. Our competitors are writhing in the mud as we're sitting here drinking champagne from golden cups,” Charlotte responded, sarcastically. “I can feel their malice.”
                  “Hey.” Emerson sat upright at her comment, pointing a trembling finger at her. “I'm just warning you to be cautious. You never know who could just waltz into the building and tear everything down.”
                  “If you're so worried about our security, why don't you come back to the company?” Charlotte's entreaty was earnest. Though he'd told her he was stepping down as CEO to take stress off his own shoulders, he caused her an exponential amount more with his behind the scenes meddling. Perhaps if he came back, she would breathe a bit easier. “I know you said you don't want to work on the top, but maybe you could do some work in the tech department. After all, the company is built on designs that you—”
                  “I told you that I've never been able to develop those prototypes effectively.” He cut her off so sharply that she was startled into silence. “Don't mock me.”
                  “Dad...I'm not,” she said, trying, as she had been doing for a lifetime, to appease him. The man couldn't trust anyone. “I swear.”
                  He couldn't even show affection to his own daughter.
                  “That's all anyone ever wants to do these days—mock me.” The man drained the remainder of his whiskey before placing the empty glass on the glass-topped coffee table before him. Rising, he graced her with a long look. “If you don't want to listen to me, fine. But don't come running when something threatens to shit on your little utopia.”
                  “Dad—”
                  Before she could say anything else, he had crossed the living room to exit the apartment, closing the door behind him with a fierce snap.
                  Her mouth pressed into a tight line of frustration, and Charlotte drained the rest of her wine in one