“What if he recognizes me? Then what do I say to him?”
“The only story you’ll need to know, if that happens, is your own,” Max said.
My story is that I’m here to meet a friend for lunch. Legs crossed, I shake my foot impatiently. Like a pin light embedded in my soul, a small part of me hopes that Hercules recognizes me. That’s why I’m here. If he recognizes me, then operation infiltrate VTI is off the table. Lark Davenport will just never show up for the first day of work, and Max will take even more drastic measures to get that code out of VTI’s brain. I don’t want my brother to end up behind bars for going too far. I’m breaking the law even for pretending to be someone I’m not. I don’t want to think about what will happen if I’m caught. I guess we’ll cross that bridgeifwe get to it.
However, I’m curious to learn if Hercules and I still have natural chemistry. Does that connection between us still exist?
I run my fingers through my perfect haircut and then recross my legs and straighten my posture. Two businessmen who walk by smile at me. I’m not used to men looking at me as if they want to eat me alive. I’m not sure it makes sense. I think their attraction is more psychological than biological. Eden, Jillian, and I used to engage in long debates about what makes a guy’s dick get hard. We concluded that it wasn’t as animalistic as people thought. I wonder, though, whether Hercules will regard me in the same way that guy who just walked by looked at me.
My hair has grown since my last interaction with Hercules, not because I want to wear it longer but because I’ve had no leisure time to go to the salon. On most days, I pull all my strands into a thick ponytail, wrap it in a bun, and voilà, I’m ready to sit down at my desk and get to work. But last weekend, I had an appointment with the talented celebrity hairstylist Wilma Wong in San Francisco. She put her skills to work on me, and now, my mane extends less than an inch past my shoulder blades and is parted through the middle and bone straight. She also made me into a delectable chocolate brunette. Once the whole process was over, it was as if I was looking at Heartly Rose in the mirror. I probably should have made her cut my hair shorter and lighten it, but I guess deep down I wanted to play with fire. Maybe Hercules will finally do the math. I resemble Heartly Rose Grove, so I must be related to her—perhaps her daughter.
Recognize me, Hercules. Please recognize me.
Chapter Nineteen
Missed Connections
Hercules Valentine
Iscowl at the face of my smartwatch, agitated as hell. It’s 12:37 p.m., and Lilith Cope, my twelve o’clock, is thirty-seven minutes late. I call up our meeting details on my calendar to make sure I’m not the one in the wrong.Golden Grande Luxe Hotel, midtown, noon. I’m here and ready. I glare at the entrance of the restaurant. She’s nowhere in sight.Where the hell is she?
Rarely do I wait around this long for someone to show up, but our meeting is important. Lilith is VTI’s newest chief financial officer, the third within a year. Our turnover rate is disconcerting. Today, she’s supposed to bring me a comprehensive plan to stop our hemorrhaging of money and employees. She even confirmed our meeting this morning. A few things could have happened. God forbid, she might have gotten into an accident. Or her earlier meetings could have run late. But if that was the case, I’m sure her assistant would have called Madison, my assistant, to let me know. Orion could be another reason why Lilith isn’t here. My instincts tell me he’s gotten in the way. My brother has no qualms when it comes to letting me know he wants to sabotage our company’s hard-earned progress. He wants VTI out of the software business. For some odd reason, he thinks we’ll fare better if we set our focus on flying cars.
When he first brought up the idea, I shook with laughter. I truly thought he was joking. He wasn’t.
“That’ll bankrupt us in less than a month,” I said.
Orion folded his arms defiantly. “You can’t know that.”
I stared at him, thinking he’d lost his mind. My brother isn’t a stupid guy. He knows we don’t have the capital to change focus right now. Hell, we had to develop video-game software to keep from going under.
The second time he made a big play to win support for his flying-car idea, we were in the middle of a family meeting at my mother’s estate in Greenwich, Connecticut. I went on a tear, articulating how we’d have to build skyways all over the goddamn world. Erecting them in New York City alone would cost us trillions of dollars that we didn’t have. Nor did we have the time or resources it would take to raise the kind of cash to start phase one of production.
“Your speculations are overstated, Herc, and you know it. I’ve run the numbers with Mac, Peter, and Marcus.”
I scoffed, ready for the fight. “Is that what you call it? ‘Running numbers’ with them? You fucking badgered them all until they quit.”
Orion let out a loud, mocking laugh, and I think I went too far when I said, “I’m starting to suspect your insistence on fucking up all of our livelihoods has something to do with Treasure Grove’s engagement to Quinton Long. You think if we can get out of competing with the Groves, it won’t matter if you continue fucking one of them.”
The air turned dense. I’d broken three cardinal rules. We don’t discuss the Groves unless the topic is how to topple them, and I don’t mention his relationship with the one woman he ever truly gave a damn about in front of our mother. And my final and most crucial transgression was trivializing the scope of his relationship with Treasure Grove. They were more than just fuck buddies.
“That’s absurd,” my mother proclaimed and then announced she didn’t want to hear any more talk about the Groves.
Orion glared at me like he wanted to rip my head off and shrink it. I rightfully deserved that destroying look. But since then, he hasn’t let bygones be bygones. He’s been undercutting me by operating behind my back. He’s insisting on poisoning the waters so that VTI will have no option other than to pivot. He’s also been drowning himself in women to forget about Treasure Grove. He’s been eyeing Lilith as if he wants to make her his newest conquest. But she’s the best CFO we’ve had since I started full-time with VTI. I don’t want Orion fucking her over, making us have to start from scratch. I have a feeling that’s exactly what he’s looking to do and that’s why she’s not here right now.
I shake my leg impatiently and take another glance at the front of the restaurant.Damn—no sign of her.At the end of a sigh, I’m forced to admit something else. There’s another reason why I don’t want Orion seducing Lilith. She’s cute. Her pixie cut gives her an elf-like appearance that complements her shrewd but kind approach to her job. And she’s proficient as hell too. I admire the way she works. She's five years older than me, but I’ve never been into women my age. I’m attracted Lilith. But it's been a while since I've gone out with a woman, especially after going through the engagement shenanigans with Contessa. Lilith makes me want to take her out on a date and see what she’s like outside of the job. I’ve been planning to ask her out to dinner when the time is right. By the way Orion’s playing it, that moment might have to come sooner rather than later.
“Damn it,” I mumble, taking my cellphone out of its holster. Before I can call Madison, my cellphone rings. It’s her, and I already sense something’s not right. I spring to my feet. “Madison, talk to me.”
“Where are you? Lilith’s waiting for you,” she frantically says.
“I’m at the Golden Grande Luxe, where we’re supposed to meet. At least, that’s what’s on my calendar.”
“I’m looking at your calendar right now. I have you at the Mandarin—Asiate at noon.”
She sounds convinced of her claim. I don’t doubt her.
“Uh-oh, it’s happened again,” she says with dread. “I swear it’s not me.”
