“That depends on you. The veal is delicious. Thank you for choosing it,” Cassandra added as she put another small piece into her mouth.
“Cassandra, I’ve waited three months for this.”
Cassandra put down her silverware and took a deep breath. “You’re right, Somner. I don’t mean to procrastinate. You have every right to an explanation, and an apology.”
“All I want is you.”
“What good would I be if I don’t want to be married now? Somner, I’m sorry for not speaking out sooner. I feel I need some time to learn about myself, to work and see what I’m capable of before getting married.”
“Marriage has nothing to do with work.”
“I think it does.”
“Then all you had to do was ask. I can give you a job in one of my companies, and we can get married also.” Cassandra ignored his last few words. “Really? What kind of a job?”
“You have a natural flair for promotion. You’d make a great P.R. lady,” Somner stated with a proud smile.
Irritated, she was hard-pressed to hold back her anger. “Because of my social contacts? Or would I be good at P.R. because you don’t think I have any talent for real business?”
“Don’t put words in my mouth,” Somner snapped loudly.
“No, that’s your game.”
“Cassie, why are we arguing?” he asked in a more controlled voice. “I love you. I want to marry you.”
“And I want to live the life I choose. I want to do for myself before I have someone else taking care of me. Is it so hard to understand?”
“Yes!” Somner Barwell, always the calm aristocrat, shouted the word. Several people turned to look at them but quickly averted their eyes.
Cassandra tried to keep her anger in check but found it harder with every passing heated moment.
Once again, Cassandra reinforced her earlier intentions. “Somner, I know we’ve been together for the last year and we have had a wonderful time. Nothing stands still; people change—I’ve changed. I need some direction in my life before I settle down. Direction is what I’m trying to find now.”
“Some direction or some other man?” he challenged.
“I won’t dignify that with an answer,” Cassandra whispered icily.
“Where have you been for the last three months? Who were you with?” The harshness amplified Somner’s voice; several heads turned again.
“Don’t let your fragile ego get in the way of this conversation!” she snapped. Then she forced herself to speak in a calmer tone. “I was in Greece, trying to understand why I wasn’t with you,” she replied truthfully.
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Then you have a problem!” Cassandra was very conscious of the people who were openly staring at them, and strangely, of the man she’d seen just before sitting down apparently had better manners than the others did. He was not looking at them; he was signing his check.
“Cassie, I want us to marry.”
“Why?”
“Because we love each other.”
“I don’t think so, Somner,” Cassandra whispered. The look in his eyes told her he would not accept her answer.
“I do!” he stated, accenting his words with a sharp slap of his hand on the table.
Cassandra stared at him.
“Cassie, we’re good for each other. Everyone says so. Even our parents think our marriage would be a wonderful match.”
“A wonderful match? Do you mean love, convenience, or just the easiest way to consolidate our fathers’ business dealings?” Before Somner could respond, Cassandra held up her hand to ward off his next words.
“What about me? Do what I think and feel make any difference? Do I get a say in this, or has the decision been made by you and our parents?” Without realizing it, Cassandra’s voice had risen loudly, but she no longer cared.
“That’s what we’re here for.”
Cassandra’s hard-fought control failed. She directed her anger at Somner Barwell’s inflexible attitude and lack of understanding.
“No! That’s what I came here for. You came here to tell me what you want, and what everyone else wants. Well, I’ll tell you something, Somner Barwell. I don’t give a hoot what anyone else thinks I should be doing. I’ll do what I damn well please, and I’ll live my life for myself, not for the people making plans for me!”
Standing, Cassandra pushed her chair back, drew her shoulders straight, and marched out of the restaurant. She ignored the startled stares, the knowing snickers hidden behind the backs of hands, and with every ounce of dignity, emerged onto Madison Avenue into the brilliant afternoon sun.
How dare he treat me like that! I tried. I tried to tell him how I felt, but all he did was tell me what he wanted. Tears of anger stung her eyes, but she blinked them away as she walked quickly toward the Leeds Building and the sanctuary of her office. When she turned onto Fifth Avenue, she heard Somner call her name. Cassandra didn’t stop but increased her speed.
After the endlessly long two-block walk, she reached the building and, stepping quickly inside, headed toward the elevators. Behind her, Somner shouted her name again. At the far elevator bank, she pressed the call button several angry times. Leave me alone! she wanted to yell. But, Somner’s footsteps grew louder.
“Cassie, listen to me,” Somner said when he reached her.
Cassandra refused to turn. Her back was stiff as she concentrated on the elevator door. “We have nothing else to say.”
“We have a lot to say! Cassandra, I’m sorry. I don’t want to lose you. If you want to work, I’ll buy you a company. Just name it!”
Cassandra took a deep breath and, turning to face him, chased her anger away. “You just can’t see it, can you, Somner?”
“Whatever you want, I’ll buy it for you. You want to be a businesswoman. I’ll buy a business for you,” he told her. “Just marry me.”
Cassandra suddenly understood. Somner Barwell was a product of his parents and their generation, raised to believe he was all-important. His inability to see further than his own selfish desires repelled her as nothing had ever done before.
“Leave me alone!” she shouted angrily, uncaring that she was a spectacle for the other people in the lobby.
Something changed in Somner’s eyes. His face, always the picture of stoicism, turned a mottled red. His eyes narrowed, and his lips grew taut. Then his arms shot forward, his hands grasping her shoulders tightly as he drew her close.
“I always get what I want!” he declared.
Cassandra tried to pull away but could not. So instead, she tried not to feel the pain from his hands as she looked at him. She saw the truth of his words reflected in his features, and at the same time vowed that she would never become his property.
“Let go of me,” she hissed.
Somner’s response was a tightening of his hands on her shoulders. “You will be mine!”
She tried to pull away again, but he squeezed harder. Then, from out of nowhere, a man grasped Somner’s wrists. Somner winced painfully, and Cassandra’s eyes widened with recognition. It was the man from the restaurant.
“I believe the lady was trying to get into this elevator,” the man said, releasing his wrists.
As soon as Somner turned to face the stranger, Cassandra fled into the elevator and pressed the button. Before the doors closed, she saw that the man was facing Somner without a trace of fear. When the doors finally closed, Cassandra leaned back and took several deep breaths.
For a moment, she thought she was experiencing the after effects of the shocking confrontation, but she soon realized the chaos in her mind not because of Somner’s actions.
No, it was far from that: In the brief seconds when she’d looked into the eyes of the stranger, her entire being had reacted to him. It was more than his rescuing her, much more.
When he’d spoken to Somner, the rich timbre of his voice had struck a chord within her, and her mind and body had resonated powerfully. The strength
she’d glimpsed in the man’s face and the powerful aura surrounding him had shaken her immensely.
Cassandra didn’t hear the bell for her floor. Only when the door opened, did she realize she was at her destination. Shaking from too many thoughts rampaging through her mind, Cassandra walked toward the security of her office.
Once she was safely behind her door, she sat on the brown suede couch and tried to organize her thoughts. So much had happened so quickly. She had learned the true character of the man she had almost married and was grateful she had run away three months before. If not… but Cassandra wouldn’t let herself think of that.
Who was the person I had lunch with? How could I have thought myself to be in love with him? Even as she asked herself these questions, another sharper question reared its head. How could I have not known what he was really like? Suddenly, she remembering Somner’s eyes turning dangerous. She realized he had fully expected her to give in to his demands without a thought for herself.
He said he loved me. “How could he!” she said aloud.
A shiver raced along her spine. She had thought she was doing the right thing in telling Somner about her feelings. She liked him a great deal; she had even believed herself in love with him. She had wanted to make him understand her needs and show him he was important to her, important enough for her to make sure they were not making a mistake.
However, in the last hour, she had come to realize the truth of the matter. Somner Barwell did not care about her emotions—only his. In the frightening moment by the elevator, she had caught a glimpse of just how far he would go to get what he wanted.
Facing horses couldn’t be any worse than facing him, Cassandra told herself.
Yet even as she thought of Somner, she thought of the man who had come to her aid. Who is he? she wondered, as the stranger’s face floated before her eyes.
The man had stood a good two inches taller than Somner, and his broad shoulders had dwarfed him. A full head of wavy brown hair had set off a startlingly handsome face. But it wasn’t a movie star’s good looks; rather, he had a rugged quality of inherent strength.
Intuitively Cassandra knew if she had not run away, if she had stayed to meet him, something would have happened between them, something would have had to happen. Understanding the possibilities, Cassandra was glad she’d run. Her life was just beginning.
Cassandra could not brook any distractions. She had to prove her abilities, not only to her father, but to herself as well. The stranger would be much more than just a distraction.
Work! Get to work! she told herself. Rising from the couch, Cassandra went to her desk and sat down. For an endless time, she stared at the sheets of figures laid out before her, but her eyes would not focus. Then she glanced at her watch. It was two o’clock. In another hour, she would be going to her father’s office to meet the general manager of the ranch.
Knowing this, she reached across the desk and picked up the file folder Personnel had sent over the day before. The tab of the folder had two words on it—Kirk North.
Opening it, Cassandra began to read the detailed history of the man she would be working with for the next twelve months. A man she knew would resent her presence, and her involvement.
Chapter Four
After the unexpected encounter in the lobby, Kirk had gone for a walk to cool off. He’d never thought himself the hero type, but when, coincidentally, he’d seen the woman from the restaurant trying to get away from the man, he had been unable to stop himself from helping her.
Even now, a half hour later, as he waited for the elevator to reach his floor, he could not rid himself of the vision of the beautiful woman. The man had been angry, but when Kirk had stared into his eyes, he’d seen the anger fade. When Kirk had released him, he’d stood silently until the man turned and left the building. Then he’d done the same thing.
He’d walked for twenty minutes, clearing his mind and preparing himself for his meeting with Gregory Leeds. Yet no matter how hard he tried, he could not erase the image in his mind of her face as she fought the man. There had been no fear on her features, only anger. Kirk had liked that, too.
He’d liked everything about the woman he would never see again.
When he got out of the elevator, he found himself before a large Plexiglas reception desk, complete with a pretty receptionist.
“Did you have a good lunch, Mr. North?” she asked.
“Unusual,” he replied with a slow smile.
“But interesting?”
“To say the least,” Kirk added dryly.
“Mr. Leeds is waiting. He said to send you in as soon as you returned from lunch.”
“Thank you,” Kirk said as he strode past her desk and through the wide entrance to Leeds International’s executive offices.
He walked directly to the end of the hallway and knocked on the frosted double doors before opening them and going inside.
“Good afternoon, Mr. North,” Leeds’ secretary, Elizabeth, said, rising and motioning him toward yet another door. “Mr. Leeds is expecting you.” Saying this, she went to that door and opened it.
Kirk nodded and entered Gregory Leeds’ office. As it had on his three previous visits here, the opulence startled Kirk. The office was huge. It was a corner office with two full walls of windows looking out on the city. A large teak desk dominated the center of the office, and Gregory Leeds sat at it.
Off to one side was a gleaming chrome and wood wet bar, and strewn in an almost casual fashion were several chairs and a couch.
“Hello, Kirk. Enjoy lunch?” Gregory Leeds asked as he rose from his chair and went to greet Kirk with a firm handshake
Rather than get into what happened, Kirk nodded. “Very much.” It was true, too, he realized; very true.
“Care for a drink?”
“No, thank you. What I need is to find out what’s going on.” While he spoke, he held Leeds’ stare with his own.
“At least we didn’t offer you a raise this year,” Leeds only half jested.
“I had expected to be fired.”
Gregory Leeds nodded his head thoughtfully. “I can appreciate that, Kirk. I have a large number of employees working for me. Some are good, some aren’t. But there are a few who are better than good. Those people are the ones I call the achievers. They’re loyal and strive to do not only the best, but more.”
When Leeds paused, Kirk held back his reaction to the flattery.
“You’re one of the men in that category. Kirk, I’ve built a large business on my ability to pick the right man for the right job—”
“And the right man will be overseeing me?” Kirk cut in, not wanting to hear any more whitewash.
For a second after he’d spoken, Kirk saw his boss was uncomfortable.
Gregory Leeds laughed: a good clean sound that caught Kirk off guard. “I deserved that. Kirk, you are doing the best job possible at Twin Rivers. Murray already told you so, but I’ll reiterate it for you. I am extremely pleased with your handling of the ranch—period; nothing more can be added.”
“Mr. Leeds, may I ask you a question?”
“Fire away.”
“If you’re satisfied with my work, even though Twin Rivers is running in the red, why is a vice president of Leeds International coming to look over my shoulder?” Although he knew better than to be this blunt, Kirk didn’t really care. He wanted at least one answer to what was becoming a giant-size crossword puzzle.
“You don’t pull punches, do you? Very well,” Gregory Leeds said, “have a seat.”
Kirk went to the nearest couch and sat as Leeds did the same in a chair across from him. When they sat, Leeds crossed one leg over the other.
“The vice president I’m sending with you is my daughter. Kirk, I find myself faced with a rather unique problem. My daughter, Cassandra, has decided she wants to be a business executive.”
“That’s not unusual today,” Kirk replied after recovering from his initial shock.
“No, it’s n
ot, except for the fact that Cassandra turned twenty-seven two weeks ago and has never worked a day in her life.”
Kirk tried to keep his face expressionless but could not stop the sudden arching of his eyebrows. “And now she wants to work?”
“It was a perfect match! Perfect! She was supposed—” Gregory began but stopped himself. “But she picked up this…bug about wanting to prove herself. She wants to work for a year. At the end of that period, well, I wouldn’t worry about it,” he said offhandedly.
Kirk was even more confused than before. Powerful men like Gregory Leeds do not unburden themselves to their employees, not without good reason. “So you made her a vice president?”
“In a manner of speaking. She has no experience. I couldn’t let her work in a position of any importance without experience. But she is my daughter, and she wants to prove herself.”
“And Twin Rivers is unimportant enough to let her do that?” Kirk asked sarcastically. “I’m sorry, Mr. Leeds, but I take my work seriously, even if you think the ranch is a toy.”
A momentary flash of anger showed on Leeds’ face, but he managed to control himself. “I’ve fired people for less than that,” he warned.
“But not for failing to make a profit?” he asked dryly.
“That too, if the failure was because they didn’t do their jobs properly: you, on the other hand, besides having a tricky temper, do your job well. And I do not regard Twin Rivers as a toy. In fact, I regard the ranch as a very important part of Leeds International.”
Kirk eased off. Something about the way the chairman of the board spoke made him retreat a little. Sitting back on the couch, he waited silently, ever wary.
“May I get back on track?” Leeds smiled as Kirk nodded. “I intend to have Cassandra spend a year at Twin Rivers, getting firsthand experience and learning about business. I expect you to continue on as you have been, running the ranch and doing your usual excellent job.”
“You’re saying your daughter will be a figurehead, a vice president in name only, and I will continue to make all decisions?”
“Basically. You would make the majority of decisions, especially on important matters. Cassandra would be the nominal head of the ranch, as a vice president of Leeds International.”
Silken Threads Page 4
