Bad Behavior Read Free

for so long despite his age and inexperience was the fact that he always managed to come out on top. With this loss he wasn’t just losing money, but trust, and shoving money into the failed investment was about as useless as trying to staunch a leak in the titanic with toilet paper.
    He needed influence, and he needed another investment. One that would make up for his losses. Something that was a sure deal so that he could gain back all of the people who had fled after they’d seen his numbers start to plummet.
    The sad truth was that, handling stocks was sometimes all about how many people liked what. If enough businesses stood behind a single idea, they could make it rise from the ashes like a phoenix.
    But Justin was losing support, and if he didn’t move fast it wouldn’t be long before the men and women who had backed him before began to doubt his reliability concerning other ventures as well.
    “Is this why you wanted to meet?” he asked, trying and failing to keep the heat out of his voice and his hands from clenching in his lap. “So that you could gloat?”
    “Of course not.” She waved away his ire as if it were nothing more than a pesky insect.
    “I came to offer you a deal.”
    It galled him to ask, but it couldn’t hurt to at least hear her out.
    “What sort of deal?”
    “Something mutually beneficial I assure you.”
    “Is there a point in all of this somewhere or-?”
    “Marriage.”
    “No.” The word came out of his mouth before she’d even fully formed the word.
    “Think of it more along the lines of a merger.” She said, ignoring the way he was shaking his head in a constant and all too visual show of denial. “As you know my father is on the Board of Directors of Jensen Medical. I have it on good authority that Jensen is preparing to join up with Hilton medical research.”
    Interesting. “So?”
    “So, why do you think Jensen would risk getting into bed with a relatively unknown corporation like Hilton?”
    “Let me guess. One of their lab techs made some innovative breakthrough
    That will change the course of medicine.”
    She grinned, nice and slow. “In a nutshell.”
    “What does this have to do with me?”
    “Well, you need backing right now. Not only would getting in on this deal ahead of time give you that, but my father would be willing to let slip a few more…investment tips if he thought such information would benefit you. Or rather,” she paused and smiled, “us.”
    Justin could feel his heart racing. Aside from the fact that her plan bordered on illegal, Justin couldn’t help but admit that this was the very thing he needed. It would solve his current dilemma, but he just couldn’t wrap his mind around the idea of having to sell himself to Bethany in order to accomplish that. 
    “What do you get out of all of this?”
    Because there had to be a catch. There always was with women like her.
    “Your money for one. My father is rich but not quite as well off as you are. In addition to that, I wouldn’t be able to touch a dime until he died, and God knows when that’ll be. On top of that, I’d also have the benefit of your last name, and with that comes influence.”
    He almost got up from the table and walked away then and there. But then he thought about all he could lose if he didn’t go through with it. All the people he would let down. This wasn’t just about him. He’d known that from the beginning, it had been the reason he’d agreed to the meeting in the first place. What she was offering wouldn’t kill him; in fact it would only benefit him in the long run. And Bethany was a clever woman, if nothing else she may be an invaluable resource down the road. If he could stomach her as a person, she may just turn out to be a good partner.
    Besides, it wasn’t as if he had any other prospects lining up. He was almost 36. A little late in the game to start thinking true love and whirlwind romance. He’d missed that train a long time ago.
    When he