Page 10 of Companion Required

“You already know the answer to that. The merger’s already in the bag. It’s just the minutiae that need hammering out, something me, Karl and Erin here can deal with.”

“Good, that’s what I want to hear. And you know if you need me urgently, I’ll have my phone on day and night.”

Both of his staff members remained unmoving in his office.

“Anything else?” he asked, spreading his hands out, palms upward. “Otherwise this is the part where you both get back to work.”

“No, boss,” said Erin.

She gathered her papers then hurried out of the room. Sloan hesitated a moment before going over and closing the door, but remaining in the room.

“Why do you think so highly of Karl?” asked Sloan, his back to the door.

Kennedy had personally headhunted Karl McDonagh, his head of legal, because the man could smell a bad deal a mile away. Beside the fact that the man had a wealth of experience in both finance and law, he was loyal to a fault. Of all Kennedy’s senior staff, only Karl stood up to Sloan. Kennedy enjoyed watching the pair of them try to outplay each other. Where Sloan used his charisma and opportunism to climb the ladder, Karl relied on watertight facts and figures. Even though they disliked each other, they made for a damn good management team.

“You know why. He’s solid and dependable. He’s our goalkeeper.”

“He’s a pen-pusher. Without an original idea in his brain.”

“That’s not what I employ him for—that’s why I employ you. He’s there to keep the company on track, to make sure everything we do is above board.”

“By holding us back.”

“By ensuring we don’t make rash decisions.”

“I don’t need him there at the CSS meeting. Erin and I can deal with Milletto.”

“Sorry, Sloan. Either Karl’s there, or the meeting doesn’t go ahead. That is not up for negotiation. Are we clear?”

Sloan’s poker face remained unchanged. He nodded once and left the room. As soon as the door closed behind him, Kennedy buzzed his secretary and told her to hold his calls and appointments for the next hour. He knew instinctively that Sloan had his own agenda, but as with all things in business, Kennedy had to be patient until the man showed his hand.

On his laptop, he opened his personal email and scrolled down to a message he had received earlier in the day, from red-headed Ven telling him he needed to pull out of the companion role for ‘personal reasons’. Not a huge loss, because Kennedy had decided to go with Francis. Checking the contacts in his mobile phone, Kennedy thumbed the number. After several rings, Francis answered—on a high street somewhere, by the sound of traffic noises in the background. Never one to mince words, Kennedy announced the good news and waited for Francis to speak.

“Can’t go.”

“What do you mean, you can’t go?”

“I can’t go, can I?” came the affronted voice.

“Why not?”

“Ollie won’t let me.”

“Ollie? Who the hell’s Ollie?”

“He’s my boyfriend, isn’t he? Changed his mind. Won’t let me go on me own.”

Kennedy pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Why on earth did you apply for this position as companion if you already had a partner?”

“We both thought of it as a part-time job. Saw no harm in trying. But Ollie changed his mind. Gets a bit jealous. He’s like that sometimes. Unless you’d consider paying for both of us to come?”

“Goodbye, Francis.”

Kennedy scratched the back of his head and looked down at his ‘possible’ list. Two of them would drive him crazy before they even joined the cruise. For some reason, his eye kept getting drawn back to the straight guy, Kieran. Things would be different with him. There would be no pretence at anything sexual between them.

What the hell, he thought.At least this one didn’t have a whole list of demands and, more importantly, needed the job.

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