by Addison Fox
“The piece of property you closed on was a good, solid choice. You’ve got a premium lot on the Strip and easy access from the highway. Nice investment.”
“Thank you.” Nathan was willing to cede the next point in favor of assuaging his curiosity. “However, since the deal was just closed, I’m not quite sure how you came to find out about it. The formal press release won’t go out until the end of this week.”
West’s eyes flashed toward him. “It pays to have a reporter staked out at the city government offices. Amazing what you can pick up on by following local politics.”
“Yes, it is amazing.”
“Heard you were in town this weekend, spending some time with one of the McBride girls.”
Once again, Nathan fought the urge to rise to the bait. The question wasn’t casual. And it wasn’t asked without some agenda.
“Last time I checked, Keira McBride has long since graduated from high school. She’s a businesswoman, Father, and a damn good one.”
“Curious way to spend your time. Women aren’t interested in taking second place to a man’s business interests.”
“In my experience, women don’t like being second place to anyone. And since I don’t, either, I’m hardly one to toss blame.”
West’s eyes narrowed at the not-so-subtle barb and he turned to walk around the room, making a show of reading the framed press releases already on the walls. Nathan had always been low on the man’s priorities and his mother even lower.
“Women mess with a man’s focus, Nathan. It’s no secret you’re after her company.”
“It was never meant to be a secret, but if it had been, broadcasting it in your flagship newspaper ensured it wouldn’t stay that way. And my focus is just fine.”
“Is it? The paperwork to her board of directors was supposed to be filed today. My reporters haven’t heard hide nor hair of it yet.”
“My business interests don’t concern you.”
“Everything you do concerns me! You’re my son.”
“Careful how you use that word, Father. It might make me think you cared.”
“You’ve made a name for yourself. A reputation you can be damn proud of. Are you going to throw it away on a woman who could ruin all you’ve worked for?”
“And just how could she do that?”
“You know damn well deals can be blocked. If she can convince the board you’ve colluded with other major shareholders, she can cross-file against you. And mark my words, if she manages that, don’t think your reputation won’t suffer for it. If she finds a way to take you down, you can kiss your career good-bye.”
“I haven’t colluded.”
“You’ve been in talks with other major shareholders, and if you haven’t crossed every T and dotted every I, she can use it against you or at least stir up enough questions by the SEC you’ll be mired in this for years. It’s no secret you’ve spent more than a little time with several major pension managers in the last month. Persuading them to see things your way, no doubt.”
“I know how to do my job, and I’ve acted above reproach.”
The old man’s eyebrows rose. “So romancing the CEO is above reproach?”
When he didn’t reply, his father simply dug his heels in further. “Sex and power are always related. I’ve seen it happen, Nathan. You’ll be a joke, and all you’ve worked for? All of it will be tainted because you couldn’t keep it in your pants.”
“While I appreciate this little father-son chat, save it for your other son. I don’t need your advice, and I sure as hell don’t need you messing in my personal affairs.”
“I know the damage a woman can cause, Nathan. Don’t make the same mistake I did.”
Nathan wasn’t sure if it was the hard edge to West’s words or the layer of guilt that shone from his eyes, but it all suddenly made sense.
“You’re talking about my mother.”
“Damn straight I am.”
Without conscious thought, Nathan leaped, slamming his father against the wall. “You have no right to talk about her. To even think about her. You made your choice a long time ago. About both of us. You can’t change that now.”
“Maybe I made the wrong choice.”
“That’s bull.” Although the anger still brewed in his veins, he released his hold on his father and stepped back. “You never cared about her. Never cared that you ruined her.”
“I loved her in my own way.”
“You had a damn funny way of showing it. Now get out.”
“You can’t have both, Nathan. It’s Keira or her company. Don’t forget that.”
West turned on his heel and left. As the door closed behind him, Nathan narrowed his gaze on a large urn on a stand next to the door. The urge to lift the heavy object and throw it against the wall briefly flitted through his mind, but he ignored it.
Violence wouldn’t solve the raging storm in his gut. Only action would.
With deliberate movements, he straightened the framed articles that had been dislodged when he’d slammed his father against the wall. And with equally calm movements, he walked back to his desk and picked up his phone. He nearly set the phone back down as an image of Keira, her eyes shut in sleep and her dark hair spread over his pillow, took root in his mind’s eye. Despite the power of that image, another one rode him harder.
His mother’s sobbing, heard from outside her bedroom door. The desperate smiles she couldn’t hide from West when the man chose to visit them. And the anger that had driven her when Nathan had denied his father’s offer of a job after college. Every one of those images, and so many more he’d long buried, lived deep inside and pushed him on, like a small ember always lingering and ready to burst into flame at a moment’s notice.
He’d spent his life cultivating his position in the world, one deal at a time.
He pulled up his lawyer’s number from his phone, pushing images of Keira more fully to the back of his mind.
“File the paperwork on McBride. I want a meeting with the board of directors tomorrow.”
…
Keira settled into a small private booth in her client’s lobby and dialed up a video chat with Camryn. The urgent text messages had flashed across her screen throughout her meeting and it had taken every bit of good manners Keira possessed not to excuse herself to find out what was wrong.
Camryn’s tired face filled the screen as the call started and Keira realized she needed to have a conversation with her sister about taking some time for herself.
“What took you so long?”
“I’ve been in meetings, Cam. You know that. What’s the matter?”
“Have you listened to your voice mails?”
Keira bit back the sigh, her very ruffled, normally calm sister upsetting her more than she wanted to admit. “No. I got your eight texts, so I found a private room and I called as fast as I could. What the hell is going on?”
“We got a notice about a half hour ago. Nathan’s formally initiated the takeover attempt. He wants a meeting tomorrow with the board of directors.”
“He can’t. He…” Whatever else she wanted to say faded in the reality of Camryn’s words. Nothing had changed between her and Nathan, regardless of the weekend and the time they’d spent together. True to his word, he saw their business arrangement as something separate from whatever was between them.
Camryn’s glance was distracted and the change that came over her face brought Keira back to the conversation. “What is it?”
“Booth Harrison is on his way up to my office.”
“He’s what?” Keira flipped through her mental Rolodex until an image of Nathan’s half brother, Booth, came to mind.
“On his way up. Here. To my office.”
“What does he want?”
“I have absolutely no idea.”
“I didn’t know you knew each other.”
Camryn shook her head in confusion, but even through the fuzzy connection, Keira could see her sister’s eyes were a bit brighter tha
n when they’d begun their call. “We don’t. Or we don’t know each other that well. I’ve met him a time or two, as we all do in this business.”
Keira heard the distant tones of Camryn’s assistant before her sister said, “Please show him in.”
“I want to talk to him.” Keira gripped the phone tighter, as if the action would will her sister to understand.
“I’ll call you back.”
“Put me on video. He’s there for a reason and it has to be about the takeover.”
Keira waited as her sister rerouted the call to the wall unit while explaining her actions to Booth.
“Keira. Lovely to see you again.” Booth’s blue-eyed gaze twinkled and she realized there were more resemblances between Nathan and his brother than she’d originally thought. Only where Nathan’s face was usually pulled up in serious lines, Booth’s had an easy joviality that put a person at ease.
“While the FJ is always welcome in our offices,” Camryn said, “what are you doing here?”
Keira tried not to wince at her sister’s ham-handed attempt to focus the conversation, but she couldn’t miss the unmistakable smile that covered Booth’s face as he lifted a bag. “I brought you lunch.”
Camryn reached for the bag. “Lunch?”
That grin got bigger as Booth turned toward the screen. “Rumor has it your sister lives on cookies, Keira.”
“I do not—” Camryn’s voice rose a few notches before she set the bag on the edge of her desk. “Thank you.”
“There’s also fruit in there. And soup.”
Keira knew Booth’s visit wasn’t about soup or cookies, nor did she miss the blatant interest he had for Camryn. As if he could hear her thoughts, he returned his focus to the video screen in Cam’s office. “So I’ve got it on very good authority the rat race has just heated up, and I came to offer my services.”
“Your services?” Keira heard her sister’s matched question on the other end of the line.
“Yep. The way I see it, my brother has a lot of weapons in his arsenal, but he’s not playing with the right tools. You don’t buy a successful company and break it up. He knows better, but he’s let lifelong resentments of my father get in the way.”
“Why are you telling us this, Booth? I realize you and Nathan aren’t close, but I have to believe family loyalty would put you a bit more squarely in your brother’s camp.”
Booth’s gaze was direct as he stared at her through the phone and Keira saw the truth in his set jaw. “Then you believe wrong.”
Chapter Eight
Keira walked through the darkened halls of McBride Media at a quarter to seven the next morning. The familiar red plush carpet under her feet did nothing to calm her raging nerves. She gulped down the rest of her nearly empty latte and shook her head. Where she’d mentally laughed off the need for caffeine the day before, she was practically through this cup and ready for another today.
What a difference a day makes.
And certainly not in the good way Tony Bennett meant it.
She eyed the lattes she’d purchased for Camryn and Mayson and briefly toyed with the idea of taking one. And then offered up a small prayer of thanks when Mayson walked in with her own coffee in hand.
“You’re my savior.”
Confusion painted her sister’s features as she settled in the chair opposite the desk. “For what?”
“I was trying to figure out if I was going to steal your latte or Camryn’s mocha latte. Since I like my coffee chocolate-free, it was going to be yours.”
“Only masochists don’t like chocolate,” Camryn said as she walked into the office, her hand outstretched for the remaining cup. “And gimme.”
Keira handed over the coffee as she pointed to two stacks of papers at the edge of her desk. “We have one hour. What do we still have left to prep?”
“Among the three of us and Sally, we’ve spoken to all of the board members. I also spent a good portion of yesterday working our business contacts, gaining endorsements.”
“I prepared a presentation for the board,” Mayson added. “I’ve incorporated all the sales figures for the last three years, the success profile of each product launch, and all the celebrities I’ve got lined up between now and the next twelve months for covers. We know how to run this business and the presentation shows it.”
“And I sat on my ass and slept with the enemy,” Keira muttered.
“What?”
Keira found it hard to tell who moved first; the two of them were in motion so fast. Camryn had her arm around her and Mayson was perched on the inside corner of her desk, reaching for her hand.
“Tell us.”
“I thought I knew what I was doing.” Before she could stop them, the words were spilling out. And as they came, Keira realized how badly she needed to say them. “He keeps saying we’re separate from work, that the takeover isn’t about us. But it feels like it’s about us.”
“What happened between the two of you is private.” Mayson’s voice was quiet as she squeezed her hand. “This is still just a business, Keira.”
“A business that has our name on the door.” Tears spilled over and Keira didn’t even bother to try and hide them. “And I knew it. Even as I allowed myself to let go, I knew that it was a bad idea.”
“I bet it didn’t feel like a bad idea.”
Camryn’s quiet words filled the air between them.
“What?” Keira swiped at the few tears that had escaped down her cheeks.
“You care for him, Keira. And you’re attracted to him, more than I’ve ever seen you with another guy. Don’t blame yourself for wanting to be with him.”
“But he’s all wrong for me. Of anyone, the two of you have a right to be mad at me. You’ve both, along with Sally, been busting your asses for the last several days, trying to find some way to stop him, and all I’ve done is run around letting my hormones make my choices. Bad choices.”
“Nathan’s not wrong for you—the timing is. There’s a difference.”
Camryn’s level head had always been a source of wonder to both Keira and Mayson, so the fact that she was endorsing an affair with Nathan had Keira unbalanced.
“You can’t really mean that?”
“I do mean it.”
“It doesn’t change the fact that while he was spending time with me, he was continuing with his plans for McBride domination.” Keira blotted her tears, frustrated with herself that she’d not only made a bad decision, but that she was now blubbering about it like the village idiot.
Camryn’s matter-of-fact tone bordered on drill-sergeant-esque. “So get cracking on your own plans.”
“You’re not mad?”
“No. But I will be if you don’t stop crying like a sap.” Camryn stepped back and put her hands on her hips. “Come on. Grab a tissue and start mainlining that coffee. We’ve got some prep work to do if the board is going to side with us and help us convince our major shareholders to vote in our favor.”
Mayson handed over the box of tissues, and Keira gave her hand one last squeeze. “Why do you look so chipper all of a sudden?”
“Just because I think your feelings for him are valid doesn’t mean I’m going to let you sit here and allow him to win.”
She could feel the smile as it broke over her face, the first since the previous morning. “Let’s get to it.”
…
Nathan ignored the Manhattan traffic as his driver navigated them across town. He’d already prepared his remarks, but something had him tweaking and changing them in his mind.
Should he focus on the family aspects or the state of the business? Or the way it had nearly been bankrupted by shoddy business practices and corporate greed?
Damn it all to hell.
He slammed his laptop closed. The e-mail to his lawyers about the Vegas property he’d attempted to work on during the crosstown drive would have to wait. His mind was too churned up with thoughts of Keira. He hadn’t slept the night before, instead roaming his l
arge, empty loft from one end to the other, searching for answers he knew didn’t exist.
When did this all get so complicated?
He was pursuing a business transaction. And while he wasn’t naive enough to think Keira didn’t find his pursuit of McBride Media personal, he also couldn’t understand why she wasn’t even open to his ideas. He wasn’t taking her job away from her, nor did he have any intention of doing so. All she and her sisters had worked for would stay intact. And with sudden clarity, he realized he had his speech to the board. He’d open with the family aspect and what the McBride sisters had done to restore the company to its former glory. Then he’d safely position them as the necessary leaders, now and into the future.
It would work. It had to.
His phone buzzed and he glanced at the screen. Booth. His brother rarely called, and on the occasions that Booth did pick up the phone, he certainly didn’t call at such an early hour.
“What’s up?”
“Heard you were destroying and conquering this morning.”
“And where’d you hear that?”
“Oh, here and there.”
Nathan worked to keep his tone even, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t quite shake the edge that cropped up when he spoke to his half brother. The heir and chosen one. “If by ‘here and there’ you mean it came from that pain-in-the-ass reporter you can’t seem to let go of, then I can understand.”
“Taylor Jackson’s got two Pulitzers.”
“Who knew they gave out journalism’s highest honor for ambulance chasing.”
“Based on the report I got from Las Vegas this past weekend, it sounds like he was actually chasing down a pretty good lead.”
As always, news and gossip traveled fast. He’d known Jackson’s presence at the trade show had been more of a fishing expedition on his takeover attempts than a journalistic foray into food samples. And it was likely the man had also seen him escort Keira from the after-party on Saturday night.
“And what lead would that be?”
“Your intended takeover of McBride Media seems to have taken a bit of a detour.”
Unwilling to give Booth an edge, Nathan fell back on old habits. He’d verbally parry and thrust, just like always. “Then you’ve been misinformed.”