“How did he get this?” She muttered almost angrily. “I took this, for photography class in high school.”
“I don’t know, were they talking when you were in high school?” I asked wrapping my arms around her.
She shook her head. “No, I heard from him the first time ever after I graduated and mom got sick, then once again after she died. She would have told me if they were speaking, we shared everything. He must have gotten it some other way.”
“Well we can find out, Love.” I assured her.
She nodded still somewhat distracted. “I think it’s safe to assume that none of the Neil family has been in this apartment, this would be tough to explain to the wife.”
I looked around the office, there were a few other pictures, some of Alyssa when she was younger, but none of his other family. “Yeah, I would say so.”
I started to assure her that we would get her any answers she needed but Tink came into the office cutting off my thoughts. “Alyssa there is someone—is that Marisol?” She asked noticing the picture behind the desk. “Of course it is. Why is she up there?”
“Tink, did you need something?” I asked trying to get her to focus. Though it was a question that we both wanted to know, we didn’t have time to find the answers.
She nodded, “Well yes, someone is at Paul’s—well your office door.”
Alyssa smoothed her hair back making sure that she was still presentable. “Keep everyone in the apartment.” She nodded walking out of the door and sealing the bookcase behind her as she left.
We watched her surveillance monitor, and you could see and hear everything outside of the office. The knocking was constant and impatient and I could even hear Alyssa’s own impatient sigh as she walked over to the door.
“Hello Alyssa,” A very amused voice responded as she opened the door.
Alyssa sighed forcing her voice to civility. “Ah, Scarlett, come in, Rosalia you too.” She walked back around the desk and they entered the office. “I assume there’s something that I can do for you two?”
Rosalia looked around, like she was expecting some drastic changes in the office within the hour she’d been in there. Scarlett however, stood with her arms folded across her chest getting straight to business. “Alyssa Marshall, what exactly is your game?”
Alyssa cocked an eyebrow at her, “What are you talking about Scarlett Neil?”
“Looks like there’s some family feud shit about to go down…” I groaned looking at the door of the apartment.
My dad put a hand on my shoulder, “If anyone can handle it, it’s Alyssa, you can’t blow our position, son.”
“I know dad.” I exhaled looking at the exchange between the three girls in a standoff.
Alyssa was leaning against the desk looking at both of them, listening to Rosalia, “Look you must understand our position, we have spent our entire lives without even a mention of you and now you show up and he wills you Neil Industries and is telling everyone you’re his daughter. Then before we can even get a good understanding on how that even comes about he decided to take a sabbatical making you active CEO.” Her stance was the most non-threatening as if she were trying to be a peacekeeper.
“Though I understand your point Rosalia I don’t really have any more to say on it. He has been worn thin, and asked me to handle things here until his return; anything else we discussed isn’t any of your concern.” Alyssa answered as politically as possible.
Scarlett snapped at her, “Like hell it isn’t!”
“Scarlett.” Rosalia chastised but her sister just held a hand up to let her finish.
“No Rosalia, it is our concern. This is our family legacy she’s playing with not hers.” Scarlett hissed.
Rosalia sighed, “Whether she has a different mother or not, she is still a part of our family. It just needs to be handled more privately than what they are doing.”
“What are you, mom? We cover up enough crap in this family as it is, we don’t even know if she is his daughter Rosalia.”
Alyssa rolled her eyes, “If my paternity is the question then you should be talking to Paul, not me.”
“Daddy seems sure, so that isn’t the question.” Rosalia responded trying to do some type of damage control.
She shook her head. “So we’re just going to ignore what we found on her?”
“Found on her?” Kristen asked shooting her head to Tink.
Tink shrugged looking at all of the nervous faces hiding in the apartment. “I don’t know.
Alyssa cocked an eyebrow at her, “Found on me?”
“Yes, your birth certificate. He’s not on it.” Scarlett spat.
Alyssa looked lost, “What’s your point?”
“My point is that there was no type of DNA indicating who your biological father is. For all we know, it could be anyone.” She shrugged. “We aren’t sure what type of woman your mother was.”
“Oh shit.” Kristen muttered waiting for Alyssa to snap.
Doc seconded her. “We should go out there.”
“We have to stay put Doc,” Jackson sighed waiting for the same thing we all were.
Alyssa’s hands clenched the desk she was leaning on, no doubt three seconds away from putting Scarlett on her ass, not that she noticed because she kept talking. “Was there any type of DNA to prove that he was your father?”
“No,” Alyssa said simply, “and I didn’t seek Paul out, he found me, so I’m not after anything.”
Rosalia chimed in, “Well I’m sure you see where our concerns lie.”
“Perfectly,” Alyssa smiled, “and it isn’t a concern of mine. I promised Paul that I would take care of Neil Industries until he returned. You have my word that I’ll take care of your precious ‘legacy’ Scarlett. As far as Paul goes, as soon as he wants it back he can have it.”
There was a knock on the door before Scarlett or Rosalia could protest. Alyssa sighed standing straight and walking to open it. “Hey there Miss Marshall, I just wanted to get those security passes up to you right away, you said it was urgent.” It was Ralphie, one of the security guards for the building.
“Why thank you.” She smiled taking the large manila envelope from him and starting to close the door.
He gave her a subtle cough letting her know he wasn’t finished. “Mr. Watson also thought you would want these.” He handed her three files as he explained. “It’s everyone with upper level security clearance within Neil Tower.”
“This is actually very helpful.” She praised, even though it was something Tink pulled up herself before we even set up here. “I actually have something for you to give to Mr. Watson.” Walking over to the desk she put the file inside and placed the manila envelope with our id’s on top as she lifted a stack of files to find the right one to give him.
Scarlett huffed impatiently walking over and opening the door wider. “Beat it Ralphie, we’re in a meeting.” Rosalia just touched the bridge of her nose and sighed.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt Miss Neil.” He apologized, though it looked more like a sneer. You could tell she wasn’t one of his favorites either.
Alyssa shook her head losing her patience walking back to him, “Scarlett go over there and sit your ass down or our meeting is over.”
She threw her hands up and went to where Rosalia stood while Alyssa apologized and gave him the new security measures Dario and I mapped out. As she explained it to Ralphie in hushed whispers, Rosalia and Scarlett lingered curiously around Alyssa’s desk.
“And...there goes the snooping.” Dario muttered watching Scarlett open the envelope of ID badges and cards, spreading them across the desk.
Kristen just smacked her lips, and Macon chuckled at her. “If they aren’t careful, they won’t survive the month.”
“I give them a week.” Doc muttered rolling her eyes.
When Alyssa finished with Ralphie and shut the door, she turned around completely unsurprised by their intrusion. “Find anything you like?”
“You�
�re making changes to Daddy’s security?” Rosalia asked looking over the badges.
Alyssa covered things smoothly, “Just a few extra precautions. You never can be too careful you know. Each one of them is the best in their field.”
Scarlett lingered over the pictures, her look intrigued. “You have quite the new additions. This one, do you know him personally?”
She looked at the picture with an amused smirk. “I’ve met him a few times.”
“Will these people be on the premises often?” Rosalia asked picking up one and tilting her head.
“Every day.” Alyssa promised, locking the desk discreetly while they were distracted, just in case they decided to further their snooping.
Rosalia picked up another, she seemed to look at the cards and IDs a bit more curious than hungrily. “I know this one, she works for you doesn’t she?”
Alyssa shrugged. “Yeah she does, she’s my best friend. The best assistant I could ask for, couldn’t adjust to the change without her.”
“Why is Alyssa not ripping them new assholes?” Jeff wondered.
My dad answered, “The Neil sisters could make things very difficult for us if she got too far on their bad side. We don’t need the extra burden.”
“You’re staring at that ID pretty hard Scarlett, would you like to take it home?” Alyssa smirked taking them all and putting them away, saving the one in her hands for last.
Scarlett shook her head and rolled her eyes and for a flicker of a minute, I saw the relation between the two women. “No need, I plan on being around anyway.”
“Oh?” Alyssa asked innocently, “A little desperate don’t you think?”
Scarlett scoffed and leered at her, “Not for him, to keep an eye on my father’s business. To make sure it isn’t ran into the ground in his absence. I have an office on the twentieth floor, it’s about time I used it.”
“That’s going to be trouble.” Danny muttered, I could tell by the way he kept looking at the door that he was feeling restless.
“Well it’s nice to have a babysitter.” Alyssa smirked crookedly, sarcasm in her voice.
Rosalia suppressed a grin of her own and put a hand on her irritated sister’s shoulder. “Let’s go Scarlett, we have an appointment with mother at four. See you around Alyssa.”
“I’m sure we will Rosalia,” She dismissed leading them back to the door. “See you around Scarlett.”
She locked the office door behind her and walked quickly towards the bookcase. “Tink, I need to know if they can contest Paul signing Neil Industries over to me.” She requested before she even got through the door, knowing that we could hear her. She kicked her heels off in frustration, unlocking the door and coming up the apartment stairs.
Tink had an answer for her the minute she was through the door. “My contract is solid…I promise. She can contest, and it may cause headache, but you’ll come out on top.”
“Good.” She exhaled deeply the minute that I put my arms around her. “It’s nice to know, even though I’m sure they won’t make it easy for me.”
Kristen’s phone beeped and she silenced it. “Chance you might want to put your shoes back on. We have a meeting with HR about scheduling a mandatory meeting with the upper level managers next week.”
“What time is that meeting?” She asked clutching me tighter.
She tapped at her phone again, “Ten minutes from now, let’s go.”
“Is it too late to quit?” She asked frowning, her nose wrinkling as she pouted up at me with those green eyes.
I ran my finger down her nose smoothing out the wrinkle before kissing the tip of it. Her nose was one of the things I loved most about her, it was the sexiest thing when she would laugh or frown because she never noticed she did it. “I’m afraid so love.” I chuckled letting her clutch me a little tighter before I removed her arms, only able to unlock them with a kiss on her lips as a distraction. “Besides we have our own work to do. I’ll make it up to you when we get home.”
“Fine.” She groaned handing Dad the key to her desk. “Here Liam, you guys can rake through the place while I’m gone.”
“Come on Chance, we’re Human Resources bound.” Kristen repeated.
She groaned again pulling her shoes back on. “I want a bath with bubbles for this shit.” She grumbled threateningly as she paced back down the stairs, but it ended the moment she hit the last step, assuming the role of CEO all over again.
Chapter 25- Chase
“That better not be work in your hand,” I threatened my girl, who had just gotten home from work, and that was after putting in ten hours of fake work at Neil Industries. After over two months and going through Neil Tower with a fine tooth comb floor by floor we were unable to find a bomb anywhere. So she was slowly making appearances at the other surrounding Neil owned businesses to start the process all over again.
Her day started with a six am meeting at the Gravity office making sure we were ready for any updates that would come and keeping constant contact. Then she would spend two hours with my dad, going over what she would need to know for her upcoming business meetings, how to sound like she knew what she was talking about. What points she had to cross, what deals he personally would sign and what deals he would not sign and why.
Dad secretly looked forward to this part every day, because he had missed this part of his life. He owned his own textile plant while he and my mom were together and I was a kid. When he was home he saw to the day to day running, and when he was away on army duty his partner would handle things. When my mom and dad split he sold it, moving us away and after he retired I thought he would start another business venture of some sorts, but instead he went Merc.
After Alyssa’s meetings with Gravity and my dad, her real work started, because she and Kristen were at Neil Tower no later than nine am. She attended her meetings every day, signed deals, and negotiated like no tomorrow, because she never deviated from what terms my dad suggested. She would keep all seventy floors of Neil Tower on their toes, sitting in on lower level meetings as well, picking out anyone that may have been frustrated enough with their job to cause harm. When that was over we would have one more meeting at Gravity to go over suspects before we retired.
Right now, our main suspects were the CFO and Paul’s lawyer, mainly because of the way they acted in the meeting a few weeks ago.
"Miss Marshall," Mr. Wendell, Paul Neil's lawyer started, his voice obnoxiously smooth and filled with what seemed like concern, "your father not consulting with me before stepping down was a bit of a shock. He was pretty certain that you'd want nothing to do with Neil Industries when he came to me about willing it to you, but wanted you to make that decision..."
He went on to say that Alyssa had options. That the Neil family was willing to give her a substantial amount of money to allow Paul’s co-chairman to act as CEO in order to save Neil Industries’ image. Alyssa just shrugged, she didn’t care about money and we all knew that, but then Mr. Wendell seemed to drone on and on in legal-ese about things that meant even less to her than money.
It didn't help that I didn't like the guy. That feeling had been instant. He seemed shifty, and money hungry. He had sweaty palms and had paled at the first sight of us. Alyssa’s "bodyguards" that had entered the room the same time Kristen and she had, which made Macon and I smirk at each other. It also bothered me that he didn’t want Kristen to sit in on this meeting, even though the Neil Family, CFO, and COO were in attendance.
Alyssa simply told Kristen to take a seat and, if they wanted to say anything that they better get on with it. Rosalia and Stephanie Neil were both shocked at her gall but urged Mr. Wendell forward.
Alyssa sighed, her gaze slipping just past the weasel-like lawyer to the unusually bright day D.C. …and then to Macon and I, as I leaned against the glass. I looked over myself and he looked just as bored as I was. It seemed to take everything in Alyssa to suppress a giggle that I knew was coming when Macon started imi
tating the haughty CFO as he took his turn. Alyssa paid attention to him even less.
"So whatever you decide, Miss Marshall..." Mr. Wendell urged, meaning I'd totally zoned out.
"Hmm?" She asked, sitting up straighter.
"Do you want to assign Mr. Maxwell as the CEO of Neil Industries, Miss Marshall?" he huffed, clearly frustrated that she wasn't hanging on his every word.
"No," She stated curtly with a shake of her head. "He may stay on as an advisor to me, but Neil Industries will be ran by me."
Maxwell's face stayed impassive for the most part except for the cock of an eyebrow as he looked over to Mr. Rawlings, the CFO. Mr. Wendell however, had a more verbal reaction, which caused both Macon and I to pay more attention.
"Miss Marshall..."
"Alyssa," She corrected sharply, because this guy was rubbing her the wrong way.
"Yes, of course, Alyssa. I've been privy to Mr. Neil's affairs for about a decade, and he was fairly sure that you wouldn't want it. That you would most likely sign it over to, Mr. Maxwell… in his absence, Mr. Fletcher. He was aware of your...lack of interest in this company, and I'm sure he'd hate to see it run improperly."
"I'm sure he would, but he isn’t dead, and was in sound mind when he signed it over to me.” She pointed out, gesturing to the legal papers in front of Kristen, who hid her smile quickly and shook her head ‘no’ solemnly before Alyssa went on. "Mr. Wendell, I urge you to keep in mind that you are employed by Paul Neil. Your job is to represent him and carry out his instruction to the letter. Anything else isn’t needed, I'm sure Miss. Edmonds knows how to contact you.” She snipped using Kristen’s maiden name since we weren’t allowed to interact in front of others.
“Yes, she does," the now put-out man sniffed. "My only concern is for you, Alys...Miss Marshall. I promised Paul that I would look out for your best interest, and with all the... business that your father has done throughout the years, I'm just not sure that you're capable of...handling Neil Industries."
The Law of Motion (Law Series) Page 39
