Things had gone back to the way they always were. Her big brother only checked in when he had to, and she only got in touch when she needed something from him.
“Hold up,” Zave said, capturing her wrist to pull her back when she set her sights on a black doorway.
“What?” she asked and wasn’t going to deny him the right to speak to her.
“Here.”
He looked delicious in his suit but so different to the man she was used to seeing on the island. She’d seen him in a button-down shirt and slacks before, but this was different. His shirt was brilliant white, his tailored jacket pressed, even his hair had been tamed into a corporate style.
Pulling a wallet from his inside pocket, he opened it to pull out a wad of bills and a black plastic card.
She resisted when he tried to hand the whole bunch over to her. “What is that?” she asked.
“You’ll need it.”
Money she recognized, the other thing didn’t look like any standard credit card. For one thing, it had no logos on it, no colors. There were embossed numbers, but the whole thing was solid black. “What is the card?” she asked.
“The card will get you anywhere in the world,” he said. “There’s no limit on it. You could buy yourself a fleet of cars and a fucking mansion if you wanted to. But, as I’m sure you understand, card transactions are traceable. So, it’s up to you. You can choose not to use it and stick to the cash if you want to disappear. There’s only a couple of thousand there, but—”
“A couple of thousand?” she asked. Her anger had lingered since yesterday. “You already paid for me once, why are you doing it again?”
“Stop this,” he said.
She tried to leave him, but he grabbed hold of her again. For a man who wouldn’t touch her below the neck a week ago, they’d taken great leaps forward.
If he wanted rid of her then he couldn’t keep pulling her back. “What do you want from me?” she asked.
“This trip is about choice,” he said. “Money gives you choice. You want to take it and spend fifty bucks, you do that. But, right now, you don’t have two quarters to rub together. This gives you enough for a call if that’s all you want to use it for. I don’t know how long this meeting will take, and I’m sorry that I can’t spend the day with you.”
Was he? She wanted to believe that. “Zave—”
“I have a security man down the stairs who will stay with you until you tell him to fuck off, ok?”
Arranging to have her tailed was quite a compliment. “Security?”
“You didn’t think I’d turn you loose to wander the streets by yourself unprotected, did you? That won’t happen while you’re my girl.”
Confused didn’t begin to explain her state of mind. She took a breath. “Your girl? But I thought…”
“I know you did,” he said. “Everything we said yesterday is true, and this is your chance to leave and be free. I’m telling you, I won’t make it difficult if you do choose to go. I won’t come after you or punish you.”
“But?” she asked, sensing that there was one.
“But I am expecting you to be back here at eight PM. You have the rest of the day to make your decision.”
He was expecting her back. Devon couldn’t believe it. She thought he was cutting her loose, letting her down not so gently. Turned out, her assumption was wrong. “Eight PM?” she asked.
“There’s a board room a couple of floors below us, I’ll show you on the way down. Your fingerprint will work everywhere here, so don’t worry about getting lost or locked in. If you’re back in that boardroom at eight PM, I’ll know you’re choosing to belong to me and to our life together on the island. But if that’s not what you want, if you want to go home to your brother, or you want to disappear”—he held the money and the card out to her again—“I’m giving you the means to do it.”
“You said the card was traceable.”
“That doesn’t mean we’ll come after you,” he said. “Knowing where you are and what you’re doing will just make it easier for us to look out for you.” So, she would always be on Kindred radar. That was reassuring, not distressing or discomforting. “You’ll have all day to think about it. Either way, eight PM tonight, we’ll both know.”
A day to herself in a busy metropolis where she’d have to make a decision about the rest of her life. Devon recognized what he was doing, separating their obligation from freewill and conscious choice. She could be with him if she wanted to be, but he would never accept that while she was locked up at his house.
Eight PM tonight, he’d find out exactly what it was that she wanted: him… or not.
TWENTY-ONE
Breaking a hundred in the coffee shop guaranteed her a glare. Every time she turned around, she noticed the security guard Zave had put on her. At first, it was unsettling, like she was being stalked. Then she saw the guy put his body between her and a dude who was running down the sidewalk. He might not have been coming for her, but her bodyguard prevented her from having to think about it. If that guy had come rushing at her, she probably would’ve panicked. As it was, the act made her smile.
Payphones weren’t easy to find, and she didn’t want to stand at a busy booth to talk to her brother. By chance, Devon noticed disposable phones in a convenience store and picked one up so she could talk to her brother and walk at the same time. The initial call was short because Rig was busy. After they hung up, she stopped to peruse some windows.
Her thoughts went to Bess, and she wished her newest friend had a phone that she could call. Devon had never heard a phone ring in Zave’s manor, though the place was so big that no one would hear a phone ring.
The card Zave had given her intrigued her enough that she wanted to try it out. Devon didn’t like carrying a bunch of loose cash, so she bought a purse, half expecting the card not to work. But it did. Picking up a few essentials, she went for another coffee and thought about her relationship with Zave. Being with him was a big commitment, he would need constant coaching because if she didn’t ensure someone was looking out for his needs, he’d neglect them.
This relationship wasn’t going to be easy and laid back; it was going to be intense and need ceaseless nurturing. He’d given her a chance to walk away because he knew he was no picnic. Devon had always been insecure about her worth, but Zave gave her his everything and spoiled her in a way she wasn’t sure she deserved.
He’d noticed her. That first day he’d seen her at the auction. He’d noticed her, he’d told her as much, and she became special to him. Devon had never thought she’d live her life in seclusion with a recluse. Some things would have to change, but she’d steer him because she could only do this if they were equals.
Rig had called her back before she left the second coffee shop and she spoke to him for a while but didn’t admit what had happened between her and Zave. In her defense, her brother didn’t ask. He just wanted to know what she’d been doing and wanted to update her on his own life. Rig always had a woman on the go, sometimes he had several, but he would always choose to tell Devon about his romantic liaisons rather than his criminal ones.
After hanging up, she felt much lighter. She’d had time to consider what she wanted from Zave and knew that her brother was safe. One thing Devon had learned over the last few months was to be grateful for life’s small mercies. In this single moment, she had no reason to be afraid. She had food, liquid, money, and plans for a future that she could only pray Zave would accept.
She would have to talk to Zave before they got onto that chopper, and there was still a chance that he would leave her behind. Choosing hope, she decided to take this opportunity to gather what she thought she’d need on the island because if he did take her with him, she could be there for a while without any chance to stock up on what she needed.
The security guard stayed with her and she began to return to Knight Corp in the dark, and her anxiety did grow. That was when she asked the guard to walk with her, and she got the chance t
o have a conversation with a person who knew nothing about what had happened to her.
Pedestrian lights slowed her down, and when she entered the lobby of Knight Corp, the elevator was so busy it stopped on almost every floor. It didn’t help that she got off a floor before her stop by mistake and was delayed by looking for the stairs.
But eventually, she got to the right place and walked across the conference lobby. The blinds were closed over the room Zave had told her to meet him in and she hesitated for a second, but there was no assistant around.
The bodyguard, Petri, was still at the stairwell door and must have been told to give her a wide berth in Knight Corp, so he offered no help. He’d returned to his passive, blank self, like he had been before she’d engaged him in conversation.
Although she wasn’t wearing a watch, she knew she was late and didn’t want to delay anymore. Taking a risk, she put her shopping bags on the floor to the side and opened the conference room door to step inside.
“I remain unconvinced,” her man said.
Zave was seated at the head of the table with his back to her. There were four people on each side of the table and a few assistants on the perimeter of the room. Everyone was focused on him until he twisted his chair a fraction, just enough to spot her, and they all followed his line of concentration. Turning back around, he glanced at the wall clock then returned his focus to her.
“It’s eight oh three,” he said.
Subduing her smile, Devon loitered in the doorway. “Your elevator is slow.”
“We’ll do something about that,” he said. “Somebody call maintenance.”
It wasn’t only the young assistants who shared confused and uncertain expressions, those at the table did too. Eventually one of the young women near the window stood up and that was when Devon moved forward.
“He’s kidding,” she said, although they could be forgiven for not inferring that. His delivery was more than dry, he looked pissed off and she guessed after a day surrounded with people, he was struggling to keep his cool. “Should I wait outside?”
“Hell, no. Come in and close the door. Where’s your security?”
“Standing out here,” she said. “I’ve been good. I promise. I’m sure he’ll give you a full report.”
Walking to his side, Devon didn’t know what to expect when she got there. Graphs and figures lit up a projection screen at the far end of the room. Contracts and paperwork were spread out on the table, interspersed by coffee mugs and plastic water cups.
If she had to guess, Devon would say that they hadn’t stray far from this room all day. “Maybe you can help us out,” Zave said.
Getting worried that he might pick up one of these contracts and hand it over to her like she was supposed to understand any of the gobbledygook scrawled on it, Devon tensed. “Help you with what?” she asked.
With zero business experience and less than that at a multinational level, there was no way she was going to be able to follow whatever he said next. And there wasn’t any glimmer of possibility that she would be able to do something that these other practiced folks wouldn’t.
“We’re split down the middle,” he said. Devon rested an arm on the back of his chair, strands of his hair tickled her forearm, giving her some confidence. “Here we have Knight Corp.” Zave gestured at the four people seated to his left. “They believe it’s important to baton down the hatches. They want to downsize CI’s presence on the East Coast, to liquidate as many of the fixed assets are as irrelevant to KC and absorb those which can be utilized. Anything that doesn’t fit with the current Knight Corp image should be rebranded or sold.”
So he wasn’t going to throw a bunch of jargon at her and make her look like an idiot. Good, she could cope with explanations like these. “Ok,” she said, signaling her understanding.
“On the other side of the fence,” he said, this time indicating the four on the right. “We have CI who believe it’s important to speculate in hopes of accumulating. They think Knight Corp should use this as an opportunity to diversify, expand the existing brand, and invest in the present CI structure to build on the reputation that they have.”
“Except the reputation is floundering,” said a woman on the left side of the table. “That’s the real concern here. They’ve had no one at the helm for too long, and all the breakdowns indicate that Grant McCormack wasn’t particularly focused towards the end.”
“That may be,” Zave said, switching his attention to the CI side in expectation of a retort.
They weren’t reluctant to come up with one. “CI is well-respected across the world. We’re a serious company who builds life-altering products. Knight Corp is known for frivolous ventures. A company that caters to the rich. CI saves lives, we facilitate medical advancements through scientific research and technology.”
“At the end of the day, we all do the same thing,” said the KC woman. “We invent new products and bring them to market.”
“CI sells to expert industrial clients,” CI retorted. “You sell to department stores and online retailers.”
“Commercial clients,” the KC woman corrected the CI man. “We’re a global brand, recognized by almost every person in the Western World, and we cater to those in the upper income brackets, yes, but we have a vast range that appeals to the young hipsters too. If you walk into any coffee shop, university, or corporate board room, I guarantee you’ll find a Knight product. No one has ever heard of CI.”
“Yes, because we’re busy saving lives in unison with the scientific community,” the CI man said.
Zave opened his arms. “And so you see the problem I’ve been dealing with all day,” he said, tilting his chin up without actually looking at her. “Both sides make valid points and are territorial, and it all means shit to me.”
“You built Knight Corp from the ground up,” said the blonde on the KC side. “You’re the reason we’re here. The reason it exists. You have to understand that we’re trying to protect—”
“My father built this company,” Zave interjected. “Yeah, I made you all rich, myself too, but the hard work was my father’s. Things are going to change, or this bullshit will bring both companies down. You’ll find me more engaged, Anita. Lives are involved, the lives of our employees and customers, and they don’t give a fuck about this kind of pissing contest.”
Devon ferreted that piece of information away to share with Bess later if she should return to the island. “So you had no intention of listening to us?” the stuck-up CI man asked.
“On the contrary,” Zave said. “You can’t count on my loyalty being with KC. My uncle was a good man. He sacrificed his life for Cormack Industries. The man sold me his house, gave me stability. And it was the loss of my cousin’s life that brought us all to this room.”
Stuck-up CI man had the decency to lose some of his bluster. “We are sorry for your loss. All of us at CI share your pain.”
Zave didn’t respond to the condolence. “Both companies are family to me. I want what’s best for them both. I’m acting not only for my interest, but for my cousin’s too. So making the right choice is vital to me.”
All of the faces at the table considered each other. It made sense that the KC lot were trying to protect what they’d built, and they weren’t used to Zave coming in to pull rank. Devon understood that he’d continued to pull the strings from the island through the previous years, dealing with a few select members of management. She wondered if that included these four and if there was a professional relationship between him and these people.
CI was at a disadvantage, this wasn’t their home turf. They would know nothing of Zave save for what they’d read on the Internet. The man who’d inherited their company, Brodie, was nowhere in sight to defend their interests.
“How would you like us to proceed, sir?” the blonde on the KC side, who Zave had referred to as Anita, said. Devon didn’t miss how the woman ignored her.
Zave took an arm off the table and stretched it around her t
o pull her closer to the side of his seat. With his arm coiled around her thighs, there was no mistaking his message to the others that she was important to him, that they were intimate.
Devon liked having that assurance and being next to a man who was proud of her. “What do you think, shy?” he asked.
If she addressed the room as a whole, she’d be too intimidated to talk. So, she chose to pretend it was just this one man, the one she trusted, asking the question and expecting an answer, without the audience being a factor. “I think there’s always a middle ground,” she said. “You do have to protect KC and you can’t change what it means. That will affect your customer’s opinion, and they might not like being associated with a stuffy medical company.” Stuck-up CI man opened his mouth to object. “But the work that CI does is important, they can’t be ignored. They’re doing what they’ve always done, they’re just under new management. There must be a way to share resources and save both sides money. But you shouldn’t do it at the expense of one company or the other.”
“I agree,” Zave said, and she was so shocked that she gaped at the top of his head. “We need to streamline everything. This isn’t the time to expand. We can’t get our legs under us enough to have one productive meeting. We’ve been here for hours and come to no conclusions. Instead of presenting to me the facts about two different companies, I want to hear about integration, how we can help each other. I want a full investigation into how we can pool resources. I know a couple of consultants and I’ll review all the paperwork myself, as well.”
“Who will head it up?” Anita asked, edging nearer in anticipation, maybe seeking the job herself. “Which side?”
“I will,” Zave said. Bess was going to be catatonic when she heard about this. “I want every department in every division in both companies to submit a full report of assets fixed and variable, labor costs, stock, everything they have that belongs or contributes to what we do. We’re going to look for duplication, look for sites that can be merged. For now, both companies keep doing what they’re doing until we figure this out.”
Falcon (Kindred #5) Page 23
