Hawk: A Stepbrother Romance Part 34

Alicia has a file for me, my latest target.

They sell biscuits. Actually, powder that comes in boxes that mixes with milk and eggs to make biscuits. That's the flags.h.i.+p product. Thorpe Biscuit has expanded over the last twenty years into a food and food services empire. Ninety-five percent of the biscuits served in restaurants and eaten in homes are Thorpe and they have a good chunk of the food service industry and manufactured food markets under their control. Walk into a grocery store and something like ninety percent of the goods are produced by one of three companies, if you follow the owners.h.i.+p back up the chain. Thorpe is one of those, with the smallest market share of the big three. They do six billion dollars a year in revenue.

Yes, I yawn while I'm reading it.

They're screwed. The company is going under, due to total mismanagement. Thorpe is run by old money, Jim Thorpe III, great-grandson of the founder. I know more about him than he does. The dossier open on my desk reads like something an a.s.sa.s.sin would use to study a target. I know all of his habits, his movements. I know what he had for breakfast three weeks ago, what he gave his wife for Mother's Day and his mistress for Secretary's Day, which Ninja Turtle each of his children prefer (the youngest favors Donatello), the names of his boats. I even know about the funds he has squirreled away in Switzerland for when it all goes belly up under him.

I am not without mercy. I will allow him to remain on in some capacity at the company. He will continue to own stock. Today he will agree to a merger or I will launch my hostile takeover campaign. One word to Alicia and one of the six Amsel conglomerates will put in the maximum allowed bid on the open market for shares of Thorpe stock, as permitted by the Williams Act. At the same time, I will contact the large shareholders I've been meeting with for what's known as a proxy fight. They will vote for me. I don't even need them all. I already indirectly own twenty percent of the common stock through a pension fund group under Amsel control. Jim Thorpe is, to put it colloquially, screwed. I scratch at the papers with my close-cut fingernails. It feels like sharpening my claws. Once the company is mine the challenge of fixing it might at least make me feel something.

Six years. That's the last time I felt something, I think.

The morning's work is boring, mostly answering emails, correcting other people's mistakes, gathering intelligence, arranging for the sell off of an underperforming holding and sending orders to my other a.s.sistants to bring me information on new acquisitions. The lawyer will be joining me in New York to meet with Thorpe.

Once everything is arranged, it's time to go.

When I step out of the office, the head of security is waiting for me.

His name is Harrison Carlisle and he's one of the biggest men I've ever seen. Almost seven feet tall and three hundred pounds of muscle. He comes from some little town up the Susquehanna river. I think his cousin or his uncle or some such thing is a police officer up there. Harrison was a Marine and then a private military contractor. I remember the name of the town, now. Paradise Falls. One of my college roommates was from up there. Jennifer, her name was. There must be something in the water in that town; she towered over me. When I lived with her I always felt like I was in her shadow. She was stunning, with a gymnast's slender build, a models' grace, and she was absolutely gorgeous, but she was dating some local boy that went to the same school as us and never talked to anyone else. She rarely talked to me, for that matter. I haven't thought about her in a long time.

Something in the air this morning brings nostalgia.

"Ma'am," Harrison grunts, knocking me out of my reverie.

Good. I don't want to think about college. I don't want to think about Victor. Not that it ever stops me. Every day for five years, I- "One of the cars was stolen this morning."

I blink a few times. I glance at Alicia. I look at Harrison again.

"What?"

"Somebody broke into the garage and took it."

"Yes," I sigh, "That's what stolen means. Which one?"

"The Pontiac."

An ice cube slides down my back and I go rigid. There's one Pontiac in the Amsel collection. A packard, a Rolls Royce, a 1958 Plymouth Fury, half a dozen less valuable cars and Victor's mother's Hyundai, and one Pontiac, that ludicrous beast Victor's father pa.s.sed down to him.

"I a.s.sume you've contacted the police."

Harrison nods.

"Deal with it. Call my father, get more men, double the details. I want foot patrols again. Those d.a.m.ned dogs aren't doing their job."

"Yes, ma'am."

My security chief leaves and I let out a slow breath. I should tell him. Victor loved that car, he'd be crushed to hear it's been stolen. I can't imagine why someone would break into the grounds and steal that car. It's one of the least valuable in the collection. Victor once explained it to me; the numbers don't match, whatever that means, because of his father's modifications. The Rolls Royce, a Phantom II, is worth a small fortune on its own. Why would someone steal the Firebird and leave the others undisturbed?

I suppose I should feel violated. I've been robbed. My home has been defiled.

Except it's not my car and it's not my house, and it's not my car, it belongs to Victor. I don't care about his d.a.m.ned car. If I never saw it again I would not mind in the least.

Promise!

"Ma'am?"

Alicia stares at me. I realize I've been standing around for a good minute staring into s.p.a.ce. I shake my head.

"We're on a timetable. Have the car brought up."

I don't drive very often. Father pays drivers for that. The BMW sedan out front is my birthday present from last year, not that I care all that much. As long as they run, one car is the same as another to me.

I slip into the back seat and stare out the window as Alicia works, answering emails and contacts that are not sufficiently important for my extremely valuable time. I spend a good hour of that time brooding in the car, saying nothing, trying to think of anything but Victor.

My louse of a stepbrother. Even thinking about him makes me furious. I loathe him, after what he did to me.

That was another life, that happened to another person. She's dead.

Long live the ice queen.

The ride to the airport is about an hour. I'm not flying by airline, 'with the rabble' as my father would say. We have a private jet, a sleek black Gulfstream. My seat inside is enormous and plush, and once my seatbelt is on and the plane is in the air, I feel comfortable catching an hour or so of sleep. It's a short hop from Philadelphia International to LaGuardia, and it feels like no time has pa.s.sed at all when Alicia wakes me with a gentle, but insistent, "Ma'am."

I don't suffer anyone to touch me. One of my a.s.sistants once presumed to shake me by the shoulder in a situation like this. I don't know what she does for a living now. I don't much care.

I snap awake, glad I didn't dream. After landing I take a minute to sip a cup of black coffee and exit the plane, to a waiting town car. Alicia knows better than to chatter. The driver does not. I silence him with a curt look and watch mostly identical buildings glide by my window. New York traffic is annoying but I am never late. Late implies there will be some consequence for my failure to arrive on time. They will wait for me. My lips curl in a hint of a smile.

I keep trying to feel something. It's not working.

After perhaps forty-five minutes for a few miles of driving, the town car pulls into the garage. Thorpe has sent some chattery underling to meet me. He extends a hand, I walk past him, Alicia in tow. One of the lawyers follows. Sline, I think his name is. Something like that. The others shy away from me in the elevator, even the underling charged with turning the key to take me to the private upper floors for the meeting. I don't look at any of them. The ride up is quick, the doors open, and I walk through the executive offices. The doors are open, the occupants all look up as I pa.s.s, s.h.i.+vering as I walk by. The boardroom is at the far end. I suppose I should be impressed. The view is magnificent, a panoramic, one hundred eighty degree expanse of city skyline and Hudson river. I'm not impressed. I've seen it.

Thorpe is waiting for me.

I size him up. I've seen pictures. This is the first time we've met in person.

Jim Thorpe is about five eight, soft and round but not fat, and looks like old money. They all look the same.

Except Victor. Victor looks like a model.

Be quiet, little voice.

He offers me a soft hand. I deign to shake it, and resist the urge to wipe my hand on my jacket. Alicia discretely hands me an antibacterial wipe as she spreads out our materials at the head of the long conference table.

I'm good at reading people. Thorpe is scared. He knows why I'm here, he knows he needs me, and he wants to sleep with me. I try to ignore the last part. It's not me, it's a power thing. Two-thirds of the executives I meet are obviously picturing me naked. It's a defense mechanism. They can't be afraid of a woman, so that's what they make themselves see. It's hard to feel predatory and afraid at the same time.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms. Ross," he says in a voice that holds no hint of pleasure. "Glad you could be here."

"Quite. The others?"

"The board will be arriving shortly, I'm sure."

"Good. That will give me a few minutes to set up. Alicia."

There's a podium at the head of the table. I can tell Thorpe is used to sitting there from the look he gives me when I claim his seat. My face is as still as tranquil waters, but inside I feel a hint of satisfaction. A secretary appears and hands him some files. I recognize her from the pictures the private detective sent me. She's the one he beds when his favorite is out of town. What do you call it when a man has something on the side and is cheating on his mistress? A double mistress? There should be a word for that, if there isn't already. Thorpe stands there awkwardly, eyeing me as I lay out my papers. Alicia has our projector in a case and sets it up, wires it to the laptop and aims it at the wall. I sip from a bottle of water and roll my shoulders.

Here they come. The board of directors. I've already spoken with half of them and I control enough of an interest in the company to be one. I'm about to make the case that their current chairman is an idiot and is running the company into the ground and I can save it.

Six of them file in.

Then a seventh.

Victor Amsel.

The room is utterly silent.

Chapter Three.

Victor I walk into the room and lock eyes on Evelyn. She's frozen, still as a statue, staring at me. Her eyes trace me to my seat as I sit down at the end of the table and rest my attache on the wood. I run my hands over the tabletop. Antique, I think. I'll bet it's as old as the company. The top is perfectly smooth, polished to a high mirror s.h.i.+ne. Evelyn's reflection is dark and wavy in the surface. Her mousy little a.s.sistant doesn't seem to know the score, from the way she looks at her boss. Evelyn recovers, her face going still. I've seen that mask before. Her face just sorts of goes blank. Models do that when they run the catwalk, just go still. Your gaze could slide right off her face, except for her eyes. They're razor sharp, and somehow in the middle of that neutral expression is a cutting look.

"Why is he here?" she says, calmly, clearly meaning me.

"He was invited," says Thorpe.

He toys with his suit coat as he sits down, and looks around with a smile.

"Gentlemen, I'm not going to lie," he says, smiling at his board, his friends. They'd all cut his throat, but everybody in business is always friends. "We're in trouble, here."

Business is the art of p.i.s.sing on people with a smile, my Dad used to tell me.

Trust me, I'd rather be elbow deep in an engine block right now, but alas. I drum my fingers on the briefcase.

"Miss Ross," he says, turning to Evelyn. "Care to begin?"

"After he leaves." She's never taken her eyes off of me. Her face is a mask but her tones are acid.

"He's been invited here by the board," Thorpe says. He s.h.i.+fts uncomfortably under Evelyn's icy gaze.

She looks at me again, and her perfect mask cracks into a scowl.

"This man is a convicted felon. You may have missed it, Mr. Thorpe, but he went to prison for embezzlement and insider trading."

"It was only medium security."

Evelyn has the most pretty lips. She doesn't wear makeup. They're a pale soft pink, and she's cute when she sneers, no matter what anybody says. It makes me smile. I can't help it.

I hate you, you b.i.t.c.h, I think to myself, stop being cute.

The innocent girl I knew was a lie. She was always her father's creature. A thief in the night who stole my life. They took my home, my legacy, even my mother. They ruined me. I have to remember that. I have to.

Silence has stretched from brief to uncomfortable.

Thorpe clears his throat. "He's staying. Were you going to begin, Ms Ross, or do we need to hear what he has to say first?"

Her face flushes up to her hairline.

d.a.m.n it, Eve. Stop being so pretty.

"Very well. Alicia."

G.o.d this s.h.i.+t is boring. Evelyn spends the next hour reiterating reports and data and sales figures, all publicly reported and freely available, she stresses repeatedly. Every time she mentions contacting Thorpe she throws in a line about talking to his secretary. The change in her tone, the flutter of skin around her eyes is very subtle, but it's there. She knows, and Thorpe knows she knows. The tension in the air is like the presence of hornets. You heard the f.u.c.kers buzzing and then they stopped, and you just know they're there. The presentation is mostly for Thorpe's benefit, the real message between the lines, and that message is: You are my b.i.t.c.h, b.i.t.c.h. She's getting off on this, or she's trying to, anyway. She keeps a bunch of papers on the little podium, and spends half as much time giving me a death glare as she does actually addressing the board.

The point of all of it is this: Thorpe is going into a death spiral. Their suppliers are raising prices, their distributors are raising prices, the union is threatening a strike, and there's a new regulatory issue the company hasn't yet dealt with. Something about the way the boxes are labeled, a new rule about calories and nutrition facts or something. None of the details matter. The point is, the money coming in is already not enough to cover costs; the costs are bloated. Evelyn stops just shy of helping them, smirks at her own expertise. When she does she looks wicked and wanton.

I keep forgetting I'm supposed to hate her.

Yet I don't understand her. The Evelyn I remember was wide-eyed and shy, terrified of the world around her, sheltered. The Eve I remember needed me. This... this ice queen doesn't. The presentation reminds me of a cat playing with its prey, without even planning to eat it. This is all a game to her.

She looks a lot like her father.

My hands squeeze into fists.

"Amsel has considerable resources to bring to bear to correct these deficiencies," she says, beginning her close. "I am not planning to swoop in and replace everyone. Yes, some bloat will need to be shed. Many of your business practices will change, but what I am proposing today is a partners.h.i.+p, not a takeover."

The takeover would come if they defy her, I realize. It's in her tone, the subtle way she moves. Everyone in this room is a guppy, in a tank with a shark. I can see it on three of the six board member's faces. They're already convinced. She probably took care of this well before this meeting started. If I were a more hateful man my first thought would be she slept with one or all of them, but Eve would never do that. Or maybe I just want to believe that. She was so shy, so fragile. I wonder where that girl went and where this creature came from, with her skin as hard as ice and her sharp claws.

In the same neutral voice she begins laying out the terms, and what Amsel has to offer. It's very generous, if you're an idiot. She's asking them to put themselves in her hand, and the only person who cares less about any of these men than each other is Evelyn. If they're smart they've studied and if they studied they know she's going to give the company six months to turn around or gut it and pour the money from selling off the equipment into another takeover like this.

One company in five that Amsel has acquired since Eve took over the company has been broken down and sold off to compet.i.tors. I wonder if she ever thinks about the consequences of her actions. My father would be disgusted at what his name has come to represent in the circles he traveled. A sh.e.l.l of a company run by a frigid b.i.t.c.h on one side, his ex-con son on the other, a walking embarra.s.sment to the family. G.o.d knows I did enough embarra.s.sing s.h.i.+t in my youth, but who doesn't?

"Thank you, Ms. Ross. We'll take it under consideration," Thorpe says.

There's a note in his voice she doesn't like, by her scowl.

"You may remain if you like, to hear the counter offer."

I'm not going to lie. That was definitely my idea.

I saunter up to the podium and open up my attache. I don't have a projector, nor do I have a presentation. Instead I pa.s.s out folders. Thorpe has already seen the proposal, this is for the rest of the board. They open and I see their reaction when they lay eyes on what I'm proposing.

"Eve has done a good job of explaining why you're screwed, so I'll spare you a retread of the gory details." I shoot her a glance. "Thanks, by the way. You saved me from talking myself raw."

"Young man," one of the older board members says, "I don't appreciate your tone."

"I'm not here to sell you my tone. I'm here to save you from her."