eyond Desire Collection

by JS Scott, M Malone, Marie Hall, et al

  “Yes, sir, except for Mrs. Lloyd. She just called and said she couldn’t make it, given the circumstances.”

  Mrs. Lloyd? Kerri’s heart froze; then she realized that it must be Jacob’s wife Catherine. Completely understandable that she wouldn’t want to join the meeting. The entire sordid affair involving her husband’s disappearance must’ve distressed the poor woman.

  On the other hand, she was a member of the board…and had access to company funds. Was her lack of participation purely from the humiliation of having her husband run off with a stripper, or was there something else? Since Justin had no problem filling Kerri in on what’d been going on—he probably thought learning about how people in their circle had been doing might make Kerri decide to stick around—she knew Catherine had married for money. Skipping an important meeting at a company that funded her lifestyle seemed out of character for a gold-digger.

  “Right this way.” The receptionist led them into a wide hall with pearl-gray carpeting. Photographs of buildings The Lloyds Development had worked on dotted the walls on each side. “Coffee or tea?”

  “Coffee,” Ethan said. “Coffee for you too, Kerri?”

  “Sure. Black, please.”

  The receptionist opened a frosted glass door at the end of the hall. “Here you are.”

  Kerri and Ethan walked into the boardroom. Floor-to-ceiling windows gave the room an airy look despite the imposingly large cherry table in the center. High-backed black leather chairs surrounded the table, a nameplate set before each one.

  There was a murmur of hellos as Ethan and Kerri settled in their seats. Kerri sat at Ethan’s right hand, slightly back from the table, as they’d decided previously. She’d reviewed the numbers again to make sure she was ready for any questions the board might have. She was an outsider here—she wasn’t a Lloyd, didn’t work for The Lloyds Development, and didn’t have a seat on the board—and the board would hate her for bringing Ethan’s wrath upon them. She centered herself, feeling no pity for anyone in the room. If they’d done their jobs well, none of this would be happening. Incompetence and laziness were mortal sins, as far as she was concerned.

  Ethan started the meeting without preamble. He didn’t believe in wasting time and he was a busy man, now in charge of two big companies.

  Kerri studied the other attendees. Gavin Lloyd sat in the back. There was a striking similarity in the way his and Ethan’s brows and eyes were shaped. Unlike Ethan, Gavin was dark, perhaps having inherited that Italian grandmother’s coloring. He wasn’t as wide or muscular as Ethan, though he still cut an impressive figure. His face remained expressionless as Ethan went over the issues with the company. She might have thought he didn’t care at all if it weren’t for the small tick in his jaw.

  “Hold on a minute.” Simon Caldwell raised a well-manicured hand. “Nobody can go through our numbers that fast. You sure there’s no mistake?”

  “With all due respect, Simon, you’re the CFO. You should already be sure there’s no mistake. Why aren’t you familiar enough with the figures to say for certain? In any case, I didn’t have to go through anything. Kerri here ran the figures.”

  Everyone looked at her. She returned their gazes dispassionately. She’d been the center of attention before, and in situations far less comfortable than this.

  “Kerri found everything?” Simon said in a booming voice. His gaze raked over her, then dismissed her as inconsequential. “Who is this? Your secretary?”

  “No.” Ethan’s tone gained a nasty edge. “But frankly, her identity isn’t relevant. Her knowledge is. And what she knows is that you haven’t been doing your job.”

  An ugly shade of red blotched Simon’s pale flesh, clashing with his sandy brown hair. He planted his big hands on the table and rose to his full height—an impressive six-foot five. With his arms extended he looked even more imposing, like an angry polar bear.

  “I know you and Jacob don’t get along, but using her to discredit him and his team is unacceptable. I never thought you’d stoop this low.” He took aim at Kerri. “Who can go through five years’ worth of records in a few weeks? Your ambition and drive are admirable, but I doubt you have the qualification or expertise to—”

  “Simon, enough!” Ethan barked. “You—”

  Kerri put a hand on his arm. Though she appreciated the gesture, she didn’t need to hide behind him. “Mr. Caldwell, I can cite several major missteps in the last five years that mark you and your team as either grossly negligent, incompetent, or both.”

  “I’m not—”

  “Please.” She maintained a neutral tone. She pulled out several copies of the memo she’d written the night before and passed them around.

  “Don’t try to dismiss me, young lady. I was managing a company before you were born.”

  “Is that company still solvent?” she asked pleasantly. “Now, this memo lists all the managerial issues I’ve discovered. Note that each item is significant.”

  He took his copy, crushed it into a ball and tossed it at her. “I don’t know what your role is here, but it doesn’t give you the right to treat me—”

  “You’re right. It does not,” she agreed coldly. “But your incompetence and refusal to acknowledge these issues give me the right to point them out to everyone on the board. Don’t think you can intimidate me with your size and the volume of your voice. If you can’t be civil and constructive, I’m sure we can have you removed from the room. I’m sure none of us” —she looked around the table— “have the patience or time to listen to unproductive shouting.”

  ***

  Ethan watched Kerri, her face calm and cool as she faced Simon down. Pride surged inside him, and for a moment he couldn’t even draw a breath. She was magnificent.

  If he could, he’d have carried her away and ravished her, watched her shatter in his arms.

  Kerri went through her points. Too much cash tied up in unfinished projects, and they were all what she deemed executive ego-driven since the projections were unrealistically optimistic. TLD’s debt load was two point three times the industry average, and the interest rate a percentage higher than it should’ve been. Senior executive compensation was twice the industry average, and the headquarters was mortgaged to the hilt. It didn’t take long before the board realized that Simon was part of the problem. Ethan’s mouth twisted cynically at how quickly the members gathered against Simon—though not Jacob or Catherine, probably out of deference to Ethan. Gavin said nothing, watching Kerri in an assessing manner. He was sharp. He probably hadn’t missed the way she’d put her hand on Ethan’s arm and had guessed their true relationship.

  Ethan shifted in his seat, then said, “Now you see why a change of executive team is necessary.” He pinned Simon with a hard gaze. “TLD’s lawyers will contact all those affected.”

  “Who’s going to be in charge?” Gavin asked, his voice cool and to the point.

  “We’ll make a permanent decision soon, but until we have a new team in, I’ll be in charge.” Ethan stood up. “Now if you’ll excuse me, Kerri and I have other appointments.”

  As they left the headquarters together, Kerri’s tension returned, greater than before. Earlier he’d thought it was nervousness, but now that the meeting was over he realized something else was winding her up and wondered what it could be. She was practically hunched over as they walked to the car.

  They went to a small seafood and steak bistro not too far from the headquarters. It was a bit early for lunch, but then they’d had an early breakfast.

  The place was a popular place for him and his brother to eat whenever they were in Houston. It was intimate with a bright ambiance of white, sandy yellow and glass-top tables. A greyhound-slim hostess in a starched white button-down shirt and a black denim skirt took them to a booth in the back. Rather than take the opposite side of the booth like every other man she’d ever met would have, Ethan slid in next to her, his big body crowding her a bit.

  “Well, that went well,” Kerri said, picking up
the menu.

  “You were incredible.”

  She gave him a brief smile. “Nothing I couldn’t handle. And it was easy to deal with Simon knowing you had my back.”

  Her words were light, but there was something in her tone that said she didn’t always have people she could depend on. Is that why she was so wary? She had to be strong on her own to take care of herself? Ethan’s chest tightened. “Of course. Always.”

  He held out a hand, and she took it with a small pleased grin. He finally gave into the urge that had been hammering at him since the meeting, leaned over and kissed her. The taste of coffee and Kerri sharpened his hunger.

  An awkward clearing of throat broke the moment. “Excuse me. Um…” The young waitress was looking near them rather than at them, her cheeks slightly pink. “Are you, ah…”

  “I’ll have a steak salad,” Kerri said quickly.

  “Cheeseburger with fries, Caesar salad, dressing on the side.”

  As soon as the waitress scribbled their order and disappeared, Gavin showed up. Unlike Ethan, Gavin hadn’t actually been forbidden from getting involved in the family business, though he’d stayed away anyway. Nobody liked fighting with Jacob.

  A busboy placed a basket of warm bread on the table. Gavin slid onto the opposite bench and grabbed a piece.

  “Please excuse my brother’s poor manners,” Ethan said.

  “What?” Gavin said.

  “You haven’t even said hello.”

  “What?” he said again. “We got introduced at the meeting.”

  Kerri nodded and fiddled with a piece of whole-wheat raisin roll, all the while eying a plate of warm butter. Poor woman. Leaving the butter on the table would be as cruel as waving a bottle of whiskey in front of a recovering alcoholic. Ethan signaled their waitress to take it away.

  “Hey,” Gavin protested.

  “I’m on a diet,” Ethan said.

  “Lemme guess. No dairy products this month.” He looked at Kerri and tilted his head toward Ethan. “Typical bodybuilder. Always on some kind of weird eating plan.”

  “Hey, that was years ago.”

  “Then why no butter all of a sudden?”

  “Don’t want to end up like Uncle Tony, do you?”

  “Yeah, you’ve got a point.” Gavin called the waitress over and ordered a burger with fries. When she left he said, “By the way, I would’ve appreciated a heads up before you guys dropped that bombshell.”

  “I told you a few days ago.”

  “I didn’t realize you meant this bad. If TLD weren’t ours, I’d short it.”

  “There was no time to discuss anything in detail before the meeting,” Ethan said.

  Gavin picked up another large slice of bread and nodded. “We’re too damn busy.”

  ***

  Busy or not, the brothers must be pretty close.

  Kerri watched them get caught up, asking questions back and forth, seemingly genuinely interested in what was going on in each other’s lives. They didn’t speak much about what had happened at the meeting. Gavin seemed a bit cautious and didn’t show any inclination to discuss anything too sensitive in front of her.

  But eventually he turned to her. “So. How did you two meet? It seems like some sort of serendipity that you happened to be available to help Ethan.”

  “I’m in the States to see my best friend Natalie Damon—you might know her—”

  Gavin nodded.

  “—but she was delayed on her honeymoon, so I figured why not.” She shrugged. “It’s only for a little while, and I’m pretty much done.”

  She sensed a slight tension creep into Ethan. Then their waitress came over with the food and Kerri dug in, preferring eating over any probe into Ethan’s emotional state at the moment. The sliced steak was exceptional—perfectly medium rare—and the house specialty dressing went very well with the tender, warm meat and cold, crispy vegetables.

  “I don’t know if you’re really done already,” Ethan said after a few bites of his hamburger. He ate like he hadn’t had anything in weeks. “Since the company isn’t in the best shape at the moment, I may need a little more help.”

  “Oh?”

  “Until we have a new team in, anyway.”

  Gavin popped the last of his fries into his mouth. “This is going to be a pain. Good executives are hard to find.” He wiped his fingers on the napkin and pulled out a small tablet from his jacket. “Have you seen the photos of Mom and the boys from Meredith?”

  “No. She hasn’t sent me anything,” Ethan said. “I should complain.”

  “Work less and check your email.”

  “You’re one to talk.” Ethan explained to Kerri, “Meredith is our sister.”

  He took Gavin’s tablet and shuffled through the photos, smiling and nodding here and there. “Wow, this is a great one.” He tilted it toward Kerri. “Look.”

  She glanced at a crisp picture of a smiling elderly woman with a pair of laughing boys on her lap in a lush garden. Pale freckles dotted the bridges of the boys’ noses, and the sight reminded her of a photo she’d discovered in her parents’ attic.

  Just like that, a little pang pierced her chest like an acupuncture needle. Her grandmother could have had what was in the picture if it hadn’t been for her. Life could’ve turned out very differently for everyone in her family, and she wouldn’t have been sent to boarding school after fancy boarding school or treated like she was something that her family had to attend to out of duty, nothing more.

  Kerri was trying to come up with a suitably cooing response when the waitress appeared to clear their table. That woman deserved a huge tip for her fantastic timing. She’d brought a dessert menu, but Kerri didn’t feel like eating anymore, and Ethan and Gavin both declined.

  The sensation of carrying a giant bull’s-eye on her back intensified as they left the restaurant. She looked around the streets, but everyone was hurrying on errands during their lunch break.

  If her family suspected she was in Houston, Justin would’ve warned her, right? He knew how much she wanted to avoid them.

  But even as the three of them made the short walk to their waiting cars, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was in the presence of somebody who didn’t wish her well.

  Chapter Fourteen

  On Thursday, Ethan went to the airport to meet Natalie. He hadn’t told Kerri because he wanted to talk to Natalie alone, and a leisurely drive was just the thing. Alex had gotten off the plane in New York City for a meeting he couldn’t avoid.

  When Natalie saw Ethan, she smiled and gave him a tight hug. “Oh my god, Ethan. You only had to pick my friend up, not me.”

  “And why shouldn’t I pick you up?”

  “Because you’ve been chained to the office while Alex and I were frolicking in Europe?”

  He laughed. “It wasn’t that bad. Besides, dealing with Rossi and his problems was hardly ‘frolicking in Europe.’ I know how he can be.” Alex’s chauffeur, also on hand to pick her up, took the suitcases while Ethan guided her to his Aston Martin.

  “Well, at least I’ll be going home in style.” She grinned. “You look good.”

  “Thanks. So do you.”

  “Yes, I got to work on my tan a little bit.” She climbed into the car. “So where’s Kerri?”

  “Working.” He got behind the wheel and started the engine.

  “Ugh. Really? I told her to leave all that stuff at the office.”

  “Actually she’s not working for Goldreich anymore. She’s working for me,” Ethan said as he guided the car out into the messy airport traffic.

  “Wait, what?” Natalie said. “When did she start working for you? Isn’t that a conflict of interest or something? She already has a job.”

  “She quit before coming to the States.”

  “No way,” Natalie breathed.

  It was Ethan’s turn to be surprised. “You didn’t know?”

  “She never mentioned it. And I never suspected. Kerri loves the crazy hours. She’s like th
e worst workaholic I’ve ever met, and that’s saying something.” Natalie frowned. “Why didn’t she tell me? Not like I’m her best friend or anything.”

  “Well, you were on your honeymoon. And maybe she thought you’d hear anyway. Don’t you still have friends in Hong Kong?”

  “Yeah, but it’s been a while. I’m not really in the loop anymore.” She huffed. “Well, I’ll give her a hard time about it later. So what’s she doing for you?”

  “Quite a lot, actually.”

  Natalie gave him a sidelong look. “I mean professionally.”

  Ethan grinned. “Going over some numbers.”

  “So she’s working for Global Strategies?”

  “No.” He filled her in on the situation at The Lloyds Development.

  “I’m sorry to hear that, Ethan,” Natalie said, both corners of her mouth turned downward. “I wish I’d known. We would’ve come home sooner to free up your time.”

  “Ah, we’ll be fine. I can fix things. And Kerri’s been doing a great job.”

  Natalie grinned. “She’s good, isn’t she?”

  “Almost too good. And she definitely works too much.”

  “Told you. When she’s not eating, drinking or sleeping, she’s working.”

  “Actually… I haven’t seen her touch a drop of alcohol.”

  Natalie stared at him. “Are we talking about the same person here?”

  “In fact, I believe we are.”

  “Did you offer her decent drinks? She doesn’t like chea—never mind. Who am I talking to? Of course you gave her the best.” She crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat, her mouth pursed. “Something’s definitely off. Unless Kerri has some long-lost twin who’s impersonating her.”

  “Does she have a twin?” he asked, half-serious.

  “I…don’t think so.” Natalie shifted her weight. “But now that you mention it, I don’t really know anything about her family at all.”

  Now that was interesting. Why wouldn’t Natalie know about something as basic as her best friend’s family background? “Absolutely nothing?”

  “Well, I know they’re from the east coast. And she has some relatives in Texas, I think, although she rarely talks about them. But yeah, not much. Then again, we were always really busy when we were working together. It’s not like we had tons of time to talk about personal stuff.” Arms crossed, she mulled things over. “You know,” she began. “Now that I think about it, Kerri always made sure she would never have to talk about her family and her childhood. Except for the fact that she grew up somewhere in the east, I don’t know anything else. It’s a miracle I know her birthday, and that’s only because somebody in HR made a big deal one year about celebrating everyone’s birthday. She was really uncomfortable.”