Page 84 of The Heiress

Since she was in the mood to answer questions, I slipped in another. “Are the lunar and space programs yours or theirs?”

Her eyebrows shot up. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I knew you’d start asking questions eventually.” She dug into her filet.

“So...which is it?”

“A mutually shared interest, actually. The plan is mine, backed bythem. I’m the one that saw the opportunity to use our defense contracts to leverage a place in the space race we were otherwise getting left behind in. I met with SST&T personally to go over their methods and found it would not only match with our current way of doing things, but would likely lead to optimal results in record time. I didn’t want to lose the opportunity, so I didn’t hide it from the brothers.”

“And that means what exactly?”

“It made themmoreinterested in having total control of Roark. It’s a thorn in my ass and a carrot for them to chase. But it’s in the best interest of all of us, so it is what it is.”

We ate in silence after that, both lost to our thoughts and random emails pinging into our inboxes. I ate enough to fill me for however long my afternoon was about to become, but not enough to make me sleepy. We rode the executive elevator up to the fifteenth floor where I was supposed to meet the CFO of Stroman Pharmaceuticals. But when the elevator doors slid open Georgia froze.

At the opposite end of the glistening white hall were two men walking toward us with a single security guard. Jace tensed beside me and stepped out first, followed by Georgia’s personal bodyguard, Roy.

“Ma’am?” he asked.

Georgia’s lips thinned. “Proceed. We can’t let them see us thrown. Samantha? Game face.”

It was as if Georgia’s mood change alerted all of us to the danger without using a single word. Obviously Georgia and Roy knew the Feyereisen brothers much better than I did from photographs. To them the change in plans was instantaneous. Jace and I caught on quickly and followed their lead.

“Hiten. Tristram.” Georgia looked down on them.

Literally. In heels she was taller than them both. Hiten was round and bald, Tristram lean with a thick head of dark hair. Neither more than six feet, tops. Jace came toe-to-toe with their bodyguard, the two men seeming to enjoy the heck out of sizing each other up.

“Georgia!” Hiten held out his arms and grinned as if they were the best of friends.

Georgia kissed his cheek, but her face remained stone. “To what do we owe the pleasure? This isn’t your floor.”

“Ah!” Hiten waved it away. “We had lunch with Julian and he offered us a tour of the offices. What a lucky coincidence we should run into you and...is that her? Our newest board member?” He tried to look around Georgia, but she didn’t move.

Tristram arched an eyebrow at Georgia. After a full minute of posturing she moved only her right hand. “Tristram and Hiten Feyereisen, meet Samantha Stroman.”

With Jace staring down the bodyguard and Georgia looming over the brothers, and Roy standing off to the side watching all of it, I felt a little adrift in the back, all alone.

“I look forward to working with you both,” I offered without moving.

“How strange and wonderful you were found after all these years.” Tristram stepped around Georgia and held out his hand.

I didn’t hesitate shaking it because I didn’t want to give off anything but the sense I was completely at ease around them. “Strange and wonderful. What a perfect way to describe it.”

Tristram grinned some more, showing off some spectacularly white and even teeth. “Come, Hiten. We should get back to work.”

Georgia’s eyes narrowed as she spun on her heel, following Hiten as he stepped around her. “My home is and will always be off limits. You send your goons again and all of them will leave in body bags.”

Tristram smiled from the elevator. “What goons would those be?” Then the doors slid shut.

Jace muttered to Roy, “Ruger under the arm and at the back. Light vest. They came ready for a fight.”

Roy nodded once. “Both men were wearing Glocks at the back.”

“Shit!” Georgia sneered. “Bring Dombrowski up to speed. You,” she pointed at Jace, “that’s what you’re working with. Prepare for that. Double the detail. Double everything.” She looked around, madder than ever. “And fire Julian. Now!”

30

The afternoon turned into a stressful whirlwind of Hurricane Georgia. I just held on for the ride. My neck hurt, my back ached, and my feet throbbed. And even worse, when the day was over, Jace deposited me in my secure penthouse and went back to work. He’d been just as focused and stressed as Georgia all day and there was no way he was turning in for the night until he had every base covered.

So I ordered room service and slipped into the giant bubble bath. It had jets that I turned on and let work at my stiff back, but that only seemed to help a little. The champagne that came with my dinner, though, helped quite a bit. So did the masseuse that Georgia had sent to my room. While Heidi worked out my kinks, my champagne brain wandered over meeting the Feyereisen brothers.

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