One Week (HaleStorm) (16 page)

“Okay. I’ll be in first thing Monday morning, Mr. Hale.”

“Now who’s playing games?”

She almost tripped over one of those moving sidewalk things. “I’m not playing....” She swallowed her protest, and how ridiculously hollow it sounded.

“You spent half the weekend avoiding my calls,” he said.

“Not yours. Everyone’s.”

“Be that as it may.”

Up an escalator and then another, toward ground transportation. She stopped short in the middle of baggage claim, stunned to see him leaning against a pillar wearing jeans and a button-down shirt. He took his phone away from his ear. “I want to talk now,” he said. He pulled a rose from behind his back. “And happy birthday.”

Her legs actually trembled at the sight of him. Not fear. Want. No freaking fair. “I’m sorry,” she said when he came close. “I didn’t mean to disappear. My mom has all these issues with her health and depression and—”

He kissed her. Firmly enough to stop the frantic flapping of her gums. No tongue at first, he simply let their lips melt against each other’s. She sighed, relaxing into his touch without thought. Opening for him when his tongue nudged into her mouth.

Like that, she nearly forgot she’d been angry. “Fuck.” She pushed against his chest. “What are you doing?”

“I said I wanted to talk.”

“That’s not talking.”

He cocked his head to the side. “So who says we can’t do one thing and then the other?”

“We seem to keep getting distracted by that one thing.”

He grinned. “We do, don’t we?” His expression quickly sobered. “I owe you an apology. The things I accused you of were completely fucked-up, they had no basis, and I was wrong. I’m an asshole and you’re a goddess. I hope you can forgive me.”

She squinted. “Not that I don’t appreciate the apology, but we can’t have a pod person running HaleStorm Engineering. Where’s Michael and what have you done with him?”

He chuckled. “I was a dick and I wanted to make amends. I’m serious. I’d been hoping to get you to come back earlier so we could really take the time to resolve it, but I couldn’t reach you.”

“I’m sorry, my mother, she’s just....” God, that was a whole emotional can of worms she didn’t know how to open.

“I know. Jeff told me.”

“You talked to Jeff?”

“How do you think I got into your apartment? He was there when I went to try to talk to you on Friday. Nice guy.” He chuckled slightly. “We talked all about real estate and his retirement from the banana hammock business.”

“Oh, good grief, he quit? I need to go home. You know more about my roommate than I do.”

He took her suitcase and laptop bag, as they headed toward the parking garages. “Listen, there’s something else. We didn’t get around to it on the phone on Friday, but I spoke with your employer and extended your contract by a couple of weeks. I’m going to have you reporting your status to Tom instead of me so there’s a buffer between us, but we have a serious problem with client retention right now.”

She stopped. “What are you saying?”

“Right now we’ve got between a quarter and a half billion dollars threatening to walk out the door.”

Elise put her hand to her mouth. “You’re kidding.”

“Who knows if that’s only the tip of the iceberg? Tom’s trying to stop them, I’ve scheduled meetings with as many as I can, but I need you doing what you can to review project documents, requirements....”

“So they’re not all a result of the security issue?”

He shook his head. “That’s what’s odd. They’re all different. Some complained of poor project management. Some were security related. Some had to do with pricing or resource allocation.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Something strange is going on, something you can’t fix. But short-term, if I tell them I have a third-party contractor on-site to address their concerns, that’s something.”

Elise’s chest constricted. This had to be Anya’s doing. It was totally her style. Which meant Michael’s company failing would be all Elise’s fault.

Her stomach twisted. She couldn’t let that happen. “I’m so sorry, Michael.”

A
t ten minutes before noon, Elise submitted the finalized documents to HaleStorm’s client. At noon exactly she had walked out of the HaleStorm Engineering building and got in her car, her palms sweating profusely in spite of the winter chill.

She parked at a visitor spot in front of Microstrive a half hour later, trying to ignore her nerves. Talk about places she swore she’d never return to.

She shivered when she got out of the car, grateful that the man at security was someone who had always liked her. He let her up with little fuss, and Elise breezed into Anya’s office as if she owned the place. Deep inside, she wanted to go home and curl up with a dozen donuts and a “Charmed” marathon.

Anya hung up a call when Elise entered, giving her a decidedly smug smile. “And what can I do for you?”

Elise sat in one of the chairs across from Anya’s desk without asking for permission. “I think you know.”

“Why don’t you enlighten me?”

“Leave HaleStorm alone. I know you’re playing dirty.” She leaned forward, glaring into Anya’s icy blue eyes. “You do
not
want me digging into those projects, because I will find whatever underhanded shit you pulled to win those bids and I will make sure all of your clients know.”

Anya smiled slowly and sat back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. “That’s a lovely speech.” She lifted an eyebrow. “You think you know me? Well I know you. And you’re still splashing in the kiddie pool. Coming over here to defend your boyfriend’s honor? That’s very sweet but it’s also immature.”

Blood thundered in Elise’s head. “He is not my boyfriend.” Hell, they hadn’t even discussed where they stood between the night before and this morning, when they’d been so busy discussing issues related to saving HaleStorm Engineering. Elise hoped maybe when this all ended they would still be friends. She wasn’t sure at this point if more was possible. “And you need to know that you and I are done. One hundred percent finished. You can destroy his company or anyone else’s, and that will never change—”

Anya’s laughter cut her off. “Oh, you see, Elise? This is what I mean about the kiddie pool. This isn’t some petty revenge thing.”

Elise took a slow breath and let go of Anya’s insults. “So clue me in.”

Anya stood and came around the desk, settling on the edge. “Okay, full disclosure because I do still care about you for some crazy reason.” She twirled a blonde strand of hair around her finger. “Those projects were all but garnished and served to me on a platter. I did not go after them. Your Michael has some very passionate enemies.”

“Michael’s a good person.” Elise nearly gasped when the words flew out of her mouth so readily. She’d spent the weekend at her mother’s dodging verbal arrows. Doubting. Yet she’d gotten off the plane and weighed what she knew. His concern for his company. His employees. For heaven’s sake he’d come in late that morning so he could take a Santa suit to the drycleaners. He liked to go to hospitals at Christmas and spread a little cheer for those who couldn’t be at home. He
was
a good man.

Just thinking about it made Elise’s heart swell.

Anya sat there and smiled. She knew something else she wasn’t saying, and whatever it was gave her too much pleasure. Elise refused to give her the satisfaction of begging for details. Doing so would only look weak, something that Anya already thought her to be. She stood and turned to leave.

“Go ahead and look,” Anya said to her back. “Even you won’t find anything I’ve done to HaleStorm except offer their clients a better deal.”

Elise turned at the door. “You did something underhanded. I know you did. When I find out what, you won’t be able to get a job selling used cars.”

Anya lifted an eyebrow but didn’t answer. She seemed more amused than anything else, and as much as that pissed Elise off, it was fine. All the better to surprise Anya when Elise really did kick the woman’s ass.

She got outside to her car and dialed Michael’s number: “I need to meet you somewhere away from the office. We need to talk.”

***

M
ichael waited for Elise in her corporate apartment. She still had a key and as CEO he had access to one as well. It made sense to meet there rather than anywhere else. Elise insisted the matter was something not to be overheard by anyone, and that ruled out any public location unless they wanted to be really shady and sidle up next to one another on a remote park bench.

Elise had a phone up to her ear when she walked in, but she managed to shed her coat, purse, and other accoutrements without missing a beat. “God, seriously, she’s being a stickler about your pants?” She paused. “Okay, well it’s a good point. First impressions do matter.” Pause. “So go to the drycleaners.” She gave Michael an apologetic just-one-second gesture. “Jeff, I’m sorry but I can’t do this right now. I will talk to you all about your laundry problems later. Swear. Love you too.”

Michael leaned against the kitchen counter. “Trouble in paradise?”

She pressed a finger against her temple. “I so can’t believe he’s going through with this. I mean, he’s a smart guy, it’s not like he can’t sell corporate real estate. It just seems like such a stifling job for a free spirit like him.” She shook her head and collapsed on the sofa, looking weary. “It’s silly. His Aunt Karen wants him to make sure he has a three-piece suit and a crease in the front of his pants and the all that nonsense for his first showing. He’s never owned a three piece suit in his life.”

Michael chuckled. “Yes, I’ve had the misfortune of seeing your roommate’s wardrobe.”

Elise hardly managed a smile. Her head lolled back on the couch and he walked over behind her, brushing aside the hand she was using to knead her shoulder with. “Here,” he said. “Let me.” She didn’t argue, so he gripped her soft skin and rolled her tight muscles with his fingers. “Too much pressure?”

“No.” She groaned. “What you’re doing feels amazing.”

He smiled. “Something seems to have changed since you walked off that plane last night.”

“I won’t lie. I’ve got lots of doubts. But....” She reached up to place a hand over his. “I feel good when I’m with you.”

“Nice to hear. Now.” He resumed his shoulder rub. “What possessed you to go charging into Microstrive’s offices in the middle of the day?

“I thought I could help. I wanted to get information from Anya. I thought if it really was some personal vendetta, like you said, I could find out something useful.”

“I wish you hadn’t gone alone.”

She smiled up at him. “I’m fine. She can only do so much in broad daylight. Anyway, she swears she’s not behind your clients jumping ship. She said you have passionate enemies.”

“Hmm.” He stopped rubbing and came around the couch to sit next to Elise, tapping his thumb against his chin. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“I’m not really sure.” She curled her feet underneath her. “I said something about how you were a nice guy and she smiled at me like she had a big secret. So somewhere along the way you’ve made some psychotic enemy who’s trying to destroy you.”

Elise calling him a nice guy gave him the fuzzy tingles all over. The corners of his mouth lifted. “So you think I’m nice?”

She reached over and slapped him on the arm. “Stop. We’re trying to be serious.”

“Right.” He nodded, rubbing at his forehead.

“She said we could look through those deals all we wanted, we wouldn’t find anything underhanded.” Elise leaned forward. “Now, I’ve known Anya to do some shady stuff. She covers her tracks well, and every employee who’s ever left Microstrive has signed a nondisclosure agreement so even when she does work in gray areas, it’s hard to tell. But if she didn’t, then she’s in bed with someone else who is. So who might the someone be?”

Michael shook his head. “One of my brothers has come by to see me a couple of times. He was pretty pissed, but his beef seemed to be the fact that I was the only sibling given ownership of the company in the will.”

“So destroying it wouldn’t make sense.”

Michael scowled. “Not unless he’s decided to do so as revenge.”

Elise pressed her lips together. “Does that make sense to you? Would he really destroy his father’s legacy just so you can’t have it?”

“He kicked over my block tower once when I was six.”

She sighed.

His mind wandered through the past weeks of his life. “I’ve fired several employees. People I caught stealing from the company or just plain not doing their jobs in the wake of my father’s illness. It could have been anyone.”

“Your ex-wife?”

He paused, remembering the unopened divorce agreement he’d found in her kitchen. “That doesn’t make sense either. She’s resisted the divorce, but I gave her an ultimatum and hopefully that’s enough. Either way, my fortunes are tied to hers. If HaleStorm crumbles, she gets no settlement money. I don’t think she’s stupid.”

“Okay, so maybe the thing to do is make a list of the people you’ve fired. Who had access to the project files? Who would have been in a position to contact clients and stick their nose into things? The guy who fouled up your security validation, for example.”

Michael nodded, distracted slightly by the sight of Elise curled up on the couch. “I love doing this with you, you know?”

She cocked her head to the side. “Trying to figure out who’s screwing you over? I’d personally prefer not to make it a regular occurrence.”

He could only laugh. “Problem solving. Talking about work. I like bouncing ideas back and forth.” He ran his finger across the bumpy texture of the sofa. “I’ve never been with anybody I felt was truly an equal. You know, someone I could do things with other than dinner and antiquing. Those things are fine but I like that with you, there’s more.”

One side of her mouth quirked. “So you like that I’m a workaholic.”

I like being close to you, too.

He pulled her toward him. “It’s not all you are. You’re fucking beautiful, Elise. But under all the sexy packaging is this amazing brain, and loyal heart, and so many other things I want desperately to keep getting to know more about. I want to spend my evenings with you having delicious food and talking about what movies we hate, just like we did that summer.” He kissed her, gentle but firm, grateful that she didn’t push away.