by Nalini Singh
"You weren't exactly complaining." Neither was he acting his age--no one five years younger than Isa should be this self-assured.
"I was expecting flowers or maybe a goodbye kiss," was the unrepentant response.
Deciding he'd deserved that kick even if he wasn't guilty of being a slimeball by association, Isa shoved at his chest. "I'll buy you pink carnations from the gas station. Now let me go, you rugby-playing lunkhead. I need to catch Jacqueline."
Chuckling, he finally lifted away, his fingers unclasping her wrist after one last, teasing brush. "You need better insults, spitfire. Don't worry, I have a whole catalog for you to study from."
"I won't be seeing you again," Isa said firmly over Devil Isa's loud protests. "I don't cradle-snatch."
"I haven't been a baby for a while." No playfulness this time, just that intense self-possession she'd already noted.
Her hand closed on the stair railing. "I have to go." She matched action to words.
"Hey," he called up in a quiet voice meant for her alone. "Don't forget my name. It's Sailor. Just in case you need to know it for the next time I take off my shirt and you feel the urge to accost me." A smile that told her they weren't done yet. "See you soon, beautiful."
Isa had to pause at the very top of the stairs and consciously remember the reason she'd come to the office. Fury poured through her anew the instant she did. Holding on to that fury because she simply didn't have the emotional capacity to process Sailor right now, she stormed over to confront the Dragon.
It only made her angrier when she was brought to a premature halt by the security door beyond which lay the inner sanctum, the stupid keycard lost somewhere inside her satchel.
Where was the damn--
Fingers closing over the cool, hard plastic, she pulled it out and flashed it across the reader.
Ginny and Annalisa were talking at Annalisa's desk.
Taking one look at her, Annalisa said, "I can get you ten minutes." A glance at her fellow assistant. "Ginny? Doable for you?"
The other woman nodded. "Don't worry. I'll get the next appointment a fancy coffee and keep him entertained by making him glue together a random crafty thing."
"Thanks, Ginny, Annalisa." Striding into her mother's office without knocking, Isa closed the door behind herself.
Neither Ginny nor Annalisa would breathe a word of anything they overheard, but this was family business and the two assistants didn't need to get caught in the cross fire between a dragon and the daughter she expected to be her ruthless reflection.
Jacqueline looked up, a stunning woman dressed in a long-sleeved shirt of dark green that flowed like liquid over her body. While Isa couldn't see her lower half, it was a good bet that she wore a fitted pencil skirt in black, high heels of the same shade on her feet.
"Ah, Isa." A gleam in her eye. "I wondered when you'd come in, the vanquishing Valkyrie."
"I knew it!" Isa could feel steam escaping from her ears. "You planned this!" It was the motivation behind Jacqueline's manipulative actions that Isa couldn't figure out--because while Jacqueline was no maternal tigress, she'd also never been cruel. "How could you do this to Harlow?"
"You know why." Jacqueline tapped the gleaming gold and black of her Montblanc fountain pen on the edge of her desk as she leaned back in her executive chair. "I don't want to give the boy any false ideas."
"The boy is your stepson." He also happened to think Jacqueline was the most wonderful human being on the planet.
Otherwise-brilliant Harlow had a giant blind spot on the subject of Jacqueline Rain.
The situation was exacerbated by the fact Harlow's biological parents had both remarried: for the third time when it came to his father, and for the second time when it came to his mother. Each had created a brand-new family with their spouse, complete with adorable children under five years of age. Harlow had been left in the middle, forgotten and left to fend for himself when it came to the kind of emotional support a parent was meant to provide.
"Look," Jacqueline responded in a crisp tone, "Harlow is a highly intelligent young man, I agree. I also happen to like him more than I do many other people in this world, which is why I continue to stay in touch with him regardless of my divorce from his father. However, he doesn't have my or Stefan's killer instinct. You, on the other hand, have both."
A pleased smile on her face. "Your father and I might not have worked as a couple, but we did our best work in creating you. You'll build a bigger empire than either one of us."
Isa threw up her hands. "I don't have the killer instinct! Of either variety!" She also had zero interest in building empires.
But this wasn't about her needs or wants.
Pressing her hands on the aged wood of the desk, she stared down at Jacqueline. "You know Harlow is determined to go into the business world--it's all he talks about when he talks of his future."
Isa's teenaged stepbrother might've only officially been part of Jacqueline's family for two years, but those two years had had a huge impact on his psyche. "He also admires you beyond any other adult in his life." The force of Harlow's worship was a shining glow. "He wants to be you."
"Harlow's only seventeen." Putting down her pen, Jacqueline rose to walk around and brace her hip against the side of her desk, causing Isa to push off the desk and put several feet between them.
She didn't trust herself not to strangle her mother right now.
"And, quite frankly," Jacqueline continued, "I can't see it--the boy is great at making robots and writing code, but running a business requires an entirely different skill set."
"He can learn." Isa waved the flat of her hand to cut off Jacqueline's reply.
Her mother's eyes narrowed... before a smile curved her lips. "You see? The killer instinct."
Isa's hands itched to wrap themselves around Jacqueline's swanlike neck. "One thing you can't deny," she said instead of giving in to her homicidal instincts, "Harlow won the internship fair and square."
The summer internship at Crafty Corners was hotly contested among high school students--her stepbrother had submitted his application under a pseudonym and done a phone interview so as to avoid any accusations of favoritism. "You chose him as the winning candidate." Only to reverse her decision once she discovered his real identity.
The one bright spot in all this was that no notifications had been made. Jacqueline hadn't yet broken Harlow's hopeful heart.
"I see I'll have to talk to Ginny again," her mother responded a little too casually.
"Why?" Instincts spiking to code-red status, Isa folded her arms. "You told her to trust me like she'd trust you."
Jacqueline's smile became that of a dragon, full of teeth. "Take on the vice president position and you can do whatever you want with the internship program. Until then, I make the calls, and I have no intention of granting Harlow the position."
Check and mate.
14
Criminal Acts... and a Well-Deserved Punch to a Smug Face
ISA REALIZED SHE'D BEEN MASTERFULLY played.
This had been Jacqueline's plan all along. But if there was one thing Jacqueline Rain had done well as a parent, it was to raise a daughter who was no pushover. "Trying to mold me into a cutthroat businesswoman will just leave you with the migraine to end all migraines," she pointed out without budging from her spot. "I don't have the head or the desire for it."
"You have the head," Jacqueline countered. "I made sure of that. As for the desire, we both know teaching was your rebellion against my lack of maternal instincts."
Isa rolled her eyes. "Hate to break it to you, Mother, but the world doesn't revolve around you."
"Whether it does or not," Jacqueline said easily, "you only have two options at this point. Take the VP position and appoint Harlow as the intern, or don't."
"You're truly stooping to blackmail using your own stepson?"
That dragonish smile returned. "It's not blackmail, my dear. After all, I'll be paying you a rather large sum of mo
ney for your services."
Isa was surprised to realize she could still be taken aback by Jacqueline's cold-blooded nature. "And you think I'm like you? You think I'd do this to a child of mine?" Isa would love her child with fierce devotion--she'd have to be careful not to love too much, that was her problem.
Isa always loved too deeply, too openly once she let someone into her heart.
"You're very much like me, Isalind," Jacqueline said, her smile turning amused. "You might as well admit it. However, since you also inherited my stubbornness and won't admit anything that might give me a psychological advantage, I'm going to show you." She straightened. "I want you to see what you're capable of, what you're throwing away in your childish rebellion."
Isa tried to think like a dragon--or like a man with demon-blue eyes and far too much confidence. "Aren't you worried I'll sabotage you from the inside?"
"What I've built, this company, it's a family legacy." Unperturbed, Jacqueline crossed the carpet to Isa. "You'd never do anything to harm that."
Unfortunately, her mother was right. Isa had too much family loyalty running through her blood to destroy the company out of spite. Especially not when it was Harlow's dream and might well one day help Catie achieve hers. "There are more senior people in the company."
"All of whom know this is a family operation--most of them helped train you through your teenage years. They're all aware the VP position has always been yours."
That, too, was unfortunately true. Isa had been groomed to be her mother's successor since childhood.
"So, do we have a deal?" Jacqueline held out her hand. "I'll give the boy a shot. In return, you take on the VP's job and do it to the best of your ability."
"Only for the summer."
Jacqueline shook her head. "No."
"That's my offer, take it or leave it." Harlow would've proven himself by the end of that period, of that Isa was certain--and what Catie needed, Jacqueline would never stint in providing. That was the thing with Jacqueline--she could, at times, have blood full of ice, but she'd also rewritten the rulebook for the entire company after Catie came out of the hospital.
Many corporations talked the talk, but very few put their money where their mouth was. Crafty Corners, in contrast, did not ever operate out of--or hold external events in--any building that wasn't fully accessible to all. That single change had wide-ranging implications, one of which was that employees weren't cut off from the internal promotion track by default because they couldn't physically make it to important briefings or networking opportunities.
Staff also had access to company vehicles modified for use by people with disabilities, with a number specifically adapted for specific individuals who weren't able to utilize the pool vehicles. It wasn't unusual to find brail text next to printed text in places like the elevators, and all staff, from front line to senior executives, were expected to learn and understand sign language.
That was only the tip of the iceberg.
Jacqueline had a standing order that issues of access were to be referred straight to her for immediate remediation.
All of that was public knowledge. But what only a handful of people knew was that Jacqueline sponsored a program that helped children and teenagers get back on the educational or training track after they'd lost months, possibly years, in a fight for their very lives.
Maybe all that was why Isa couldn't just cut the bond between them. Because, despite appearances to the contrary, there was a speck of humanity inside the Dragon--a deeply, deeply hidden speck. Now that same dragon's eyes glinted with unhidden pride, as if Isa had made her day with her mutinous lack of cooperation.
"Fine. Your VP contract will be for the summer only."
It was obvious Jacqueline thought Isa would be well entrenched in the corporate world by then, with no desire to leave. Which told Isa exactly how well Jacqueline knew her. Because Isa would rather take up chewing nails as a fun downtime hobby.
"I've already committed to teaching night classes at the school. I won't pull out of that. I gave my word."
"If you'll recall, I'm the one who taught you to keep your word." Still clearly in a good mood after her bout of familial blackmail, Jacqueline put her hands on her hips. "How many hours will that take out of your schedule?" When Isa told her, she said, "Done. I'll have Annalisa bring in the contract."
Isa was entirely unsurprised to discover the contract had already been drawn up. Jacqueline had been sure she'd win. She always won. Except when she didn't care about the outcome. Then she just pulled out of the fight. As Catie's father had discovered when he'd made noises about a custody battle.
Jacqueline had taken the opportunity to sign over full custody to Clive.
It was forty minutes later, after Isa had read and signed the contract, insisting on a number of changes along the way--all of which made Jacqueline beam like a proud lioness--that she couldn't stand it any longer.
"Who was the man I met as I came in?" she asked in a voice as casual as casual could be while her heart thumped and her thighs pressed tightly together.
"Noticed his blue eyes did you?" Jacqueline asked, her own gaze on the contract as she checked that Isa had signed everywhere she was required to sign.
Obviously, the Dragon didn't trust her progeny with the killer instinct not to wriggle out of the agreement unless it was ironclad.
"You have good taste," Jacqueline continued. "Have fun, but don't let him distract you from the job. And for God's sake, don't start believing you're in love with a nice piece of ass like I did with Clive and make the mistake of marrying him. Sleep with him and get him out of your system."
"Mother." That was pushing it even for Jacqueline.
Not appearing the least abashed, her mother put down the contract at last. "Sailor Bishop's a new contractor--landscaping. Some excellent ideas, so if you do sleep with him, try not to dump him until after he's completed the job. I once made that mistake with another contractor--he kept breaking down into tears on the job and couldn't even give me a concise site report."
Isa wondered if Nayna had ever had a conversation like this with her mother. "Maybe we should talk about my duties as VP," she said, the topic of Sailor Bishop fraught with far too much danger.
"I was getting to that. I want you to handle the Fast Organic project from here on out." Jacqueline began to bring up the files.
And Isa decided there was a silver lining to being blackmailed into being a VP: given the workload, she'd have no time to give in to the temptation to see Sailor Bishop again and finish what they'd started.
* * *
SAILOR COULDN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT his redhead... and that single flash of hurt he'd glimpsed in her expression before she went all mad Fury on him. What Cody had done, the cruelty and planned humiliation of it, had really, badly hurt her. Enough that the shadows lingered to this day.
He stabbed his shovel harder into the earth, his shoulder muscles tight. "Asshole."
Sailor truly didn't consider the other man a friend of any kind. The idea of being associated with a guy who'd done what Cody had was abhorrent to him. Sailor's mother and father would tan his hide if he ever disrespected a woman that way--hell, Sailor would tan his own useless hide.
But Cody, it appeared, had gotten away with it.
Sailor had never heard a word about anyone confronting the other man on the subject. He'd considered doing so himself, but he'd been on his own confused path back then, and getting arrested for assault had simply not been on the agenda. Not even for a beautiful redhead whose tears haunted him.
Only now she wasn't a mysterious redhead.
She was Isa, his glorious, fiery spitfire with skin of moonlight and a heart that carried scars still from that night. Scars that had almost put a halt to their relationship before it began.
So, even though he had a hundred things on his plate, he picked up his phone and managed to find someone who had Cody's number. The other man was understandably startled at hearing from Sailor but agreed
amazingly quickly to meet up with him for a drink after work.
Sailor was waiting in dirt-streaked khaki shorts and a light brown Bishop Landscaping T-shirt, dirt-caked work boots on his feet, when Cody drove into the small parking lot behind the bar where they'd agreed to meet. The other man parked his shiny white Audi in the spot next to Sailor's battered truck, Cody's car the newest model on the market.
Sailor knew that because his brother Jake was a gearhead. Jake was mostly into grunty muscle cars, but he kept up with all kinds of car news and had a habit of sprinkling car facts into the conversation. He'd also left a couple of his magazines behind at Sailor's place the last time he'd hung out there.
So Sailor knew the car Cody was driving was worth in the vicinity of a hundred thousand.
He'd have been impressed if he didn't know the Audi was courtesy of Suzanne's parents' money. Cody did work--as a financial consultant, whatever that was--but it was in Suzanne's family's business. As far as Sailor was aware, the other man had never held a position totally independent of his fiancee's family company.
Getting out of the vehicle, the suit-and-tie-wearing male with a modelesque jawline and impeccably cut hair of rich brown shot him a smile. "Hey, Sailor. It was great to hear from you." There was something too enthusiastic about the greeting, directed as it was to a man Cody had only ever run across when their teams played one another.
"I have to tell you," Cody continued before Sailor could respond, "I haven't had a chance to catch up with the any of the boys for a while. My fiancee, Suzanne--you might've seen her at some of the interclub functions--likes me at home."
Sailor wondered exactly how long a leash Suzanne permitted Cody. From the way Cody was tugging at his tie, it looked like the other man was contemplating an escape. Sailor didn't think he'd get very far before he remembered the fancy car and the fancy house and the fancy yacht. "I'd say it's good to see you Cody, but it isn't."
Face falling, Cody appeared to only then notice the otherwise empty parking lot. "Hey, is the bar not even open?" A hint of trepidation.
"No. It opens in an hour." Which was why Sailor had asked to meet now.