by Emma Nichols
“You’re not greedy. You deserve to be paid for what you’ve developed.” I smiled and patted him on the back as we surveyed the convention center. The doors had opened and people were piling in. I scanned the room and watched for the first person to come our way. The games had begun.
2
Blaise
As I surveyed the parking lot, I realized this was one of the few times I wished I’d taken Fredo up on his offer to drive. When he offered, I simply couldn’t see having the man sitting around in a hot parking lot all day. Still, when I saw all the other drivers out here mingling, I imagined it might have been a nice break for him.
As I strolled inside, I scanned the crowd for anyone I might know. On the far left side of the first row of exhibitors, I recognized Ira Gunther and immediately moved the other direction. Listening to him speak was the equivalent of hearing nails being dragged down a chalkboard. Instead of risking a meeting, I walked directly to the back of the exhibition hall, hoping to find some hidden gem of a software program I could use to either grow or protect my business. Most of the time in these places, I waited for something to catch my eye. In this case, as I strolled through the place, someone did. The woman was about average height for a female, with a medium curvy build. Naturally, that was what I noticed first because while I stared at her, she turned around and bent over.
“Admiring the view?” Ira chuckled.
“Fuck.” I stiffened. “What brings you here, Ira? Don’t you have a campaign to run or an ass to kiss somewhere else?”
Ira chuckled. I’m not sure if he knew I loathed him and found it charming, or if he truly believed I was being playful. I wasn’t.
“No, Blaise, I’m here for business. Always looking for the next big thing that might help my candidate win.” He grinned and tapped his temple. “I’m a very forward thinker, you know.”
“I didn’t, but I should’ve guessed. After all, you are backing Sterling Girard, the billionaire who wants nothing more than to increase his wealth and squash the little man, while sticking such a pretty bow on it, the peasants rush to thank him.” I rolled my eyes. “I hate to break it to you, but if you support that man, you’re not a forward thinker, Ira. His ideology is common at best and destructive at worst.” I began to walk away from him. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the woman in the booth, but apparently, he had followed my line of sight and was determined to have the last word.
“Well, I see what you’re thinking about.” Ira snickered. “Watch out for that kitten,” he warned loudly. “She has claws!”
I kept walking, but waved my middle finger in the air. When I heard him chuckle, I knew he’d seen it. Naturally, the woman with the dreamy ass turned, saw me flipping the bird, and glared at me. I froze. Not only was she as captivating from the front as she was from behind, but she barely glanced at me before she turned away and returned to whatever she’d been doing. I frowned and stared at her while I tried to make sense of it.
A hand was laid on my forearm. “Can I help you? You seem out of sorts.” The tall blonde beside me drew even closer when I finally made eye contact.
Without being obvious, I pulled out of her grasp and murmured, “No. I’m good thanks. Just thinking.”
This time her hand landed on my shoulder. “What are you thinking about?” When I glanced in her direction, she batted her eyelashes at me.
I stepped aside and held up both hands, hoping she might back off. “I’m good, thanks.” Then I started toward the woman I could barely take my eyes off of, but before I could reach her, Ira had stepped in front of the booth. I watched for a moment from within hearing distance before pretending to be interested in the adjacent booth.
“We’re inside now,” Ira murmured. He chuckled nervously.
“Yes, we are,” the woman noted calmly. “If you want to know more about the program being offered, you’ll need to talk to Malcolm Wallace.”
My head tilted as I tried to place the name, which sounded so familiar to me. Next Gen Tech. That’s right. A few years ago, he’d been an innovator there, but something happened and he lost his job. Apparently, he had decided to go off on his own. This guy had been working on a security program, the first ever to provide 512-bit encryption. I nodded to myself, but the woman behind the table took it as an invitation to speak with me. “Please, not now,” I groaned. The last thing I needed when I was trying to eavesdrop was an interruption. There was enough background noise as it was to make hearing difficult.
“Sorry.” She held her hands up and started to back away, then paused. “In case you have any questions.” She sashayed towards me and passed me her card.
I barely glanced at it before I stuck it in my pocket. Malcolm was speaking now, describing his new program. Ira seemed entirely too interested.
“What if you could know the exact method for convincing your client to work with you, your potential buyer to part with some money, and the best markets and how to reach them? How much would that change your marketing strategy? Imagine the money you could save if you only spent where you knew you’d find success.” Malcolm grew more excited as he worked through his sales pitch.
“Sounds intriguing,” Ira admitted. “I knew I wanted to talk to you.” Then he grinned and the woman disappeared behind the back curtains.
I snickered. Smart lady.
Ira stiffened, but continued questioning. “So, would this work with say…political campaigns?”
Malcolm nodded enthusiastically. “Absolutely. This will work with anything. You throw a scenario at me and I can show you how it would benefit your industry. It’s incredibly versatile.” He passed Ira some paperwork.
“How much?” Ira asked.
I could actually see his wheels spinning, but I was way ahead of him. This program, while incredibly beneficial for business, could pose a huge problem if it ended up in the wrong hands.
“Is it complete, ready to go?” Ira was practically dancing out of his skin.
“Not quite. I have a few tweaks I need to make based on recent tests.” Malcolm fumbled nervously with the papers in his hand.
From the corner of my eye, I saw the woman peeking out through the back curtains. She appeared ready to jump in if necessary. With Ira, it would probably be necessary.
“Give me a date you think you could have it ready. I’m going to go talk to my boss. I think this might be just what we need.” He grinned, but it did nothing to improve his appearance.
“Two or three weeks at most.” Malcolm set down the papers and stuffed his hands in his pockets.
Ira pulled out his phone and opened the calendar app. “Okay. That still gives us plenty of time to impact the campaign.” He closed his phone, passed Malcolm a card, and shook his hand so hard the older man was nearly jerked off his feet. “You’ll hear from me really soon.” Then he darted away and I knew he was going to call Sterling.
I stepped over in front of Malcolm. “Mr. Wallace, you don’t know me…”
“Actually, I know of you.” His eyes widened and he leaned forward. “You’re Blaise Draco.”
I nodded somberly. Normally, I’d be thrilled I had the advantage of recognition when I started a negotiation. In this case, it made me feel terrible because I was about to crush this man’s dream. With just a cursory glance at his booth, his attire, and the age of his demo computer, I could tell he was hurting for money. “You can’t sell this program. And you most certainly can’t let it end up in Ira Gunther’s hands.”
All the color drained from his face. “I don’t think you understand,” Malcolm choked out as his hand yanked at his collar. “I have to. I need this more than you know.”
“This suit is roughly five years old. The brochures were whipped up on the printer at home. The computers, which are the heart of your business, are seriously outdated too.” I leaned on the table with both hands. “Of course I can see you need the money. There has to be something else…”
“There’s nothing else,” he whispered. A sweat had broken out above hi
s brow. I could see his breathing had become labored.
“Have a seat, Mr. Wallace.” I pointed to the metal folding chair a few feet behind him.
Malcolm shook his head a few times, then looked toward the curtain. Already the woman had rushed to his side. She tried to steer him toward the chair, but he couldn’t seem to move his feet. I rushed behind the table to assist, but I wasn’t fast enough. He grabbed her arm as he collapsed, dragging her down on her knees with him.
Maggie
“Daddy,” I whimpered. “Come on. Say something.” The longer he lay there unresponsive the more concerned I grew. His face had paled as he collapsed. I held his hand and glanced at his nailbeds. They were still pink. His lips weren’t blue. With no medical training, I was running out of ideas.
The man knelt down beside him and pressed two fingers to his neck. “Pulse is strong. If I had to guess, I’d say he was having a panic attack.”
“You think?” I growled at him even though I’d been so panicked when he dropped, the idea hadn’t occurred to me. Now, I was beating myself up for missing the obvious. In seconds, the fear of loss had completely crippled me, but I managed to hide it behind the usual façade. Armed with my fury I turned on the guy. “Why’d you have to go and make him all upset?” I could feel tears pricking my eyes.
“Don’t cry,” the man chided as he laid his hand on my forearm. “He’ll be fine.”
“You think I’m sad?” My brow arched angrily. “You’re gonna wish I was sad,” I growled under my breath as I leaned closer to him. His touch was actually comforting, but I refused to acknowledge it. No way was I going to let him off the hook. He deserved every bit of my wrath. “Listen, jerk…” I prepared to completely go off on him and he hadn’t even flinched.
“It’s Blaise. Blaise Draco.” He removed his hand from my arm and held it out to shake, but I ignored him.
“Fine. Listen, Mr. Jerk…”
Instead of acting offended, he drew back and actually smirked. “Let’s get some medical assistance over here,” he suggested calmly.
I frowned. The look I’d given him had mostly scared men off in the past. This one…still here. While I was baffled, at the moment I was too concerned with my father to give it more than a passing thought. “Daddy,” I began calmly, “say something or we’re going to have to take you to the hospital.”
“He should probably go anyway, just to get checked out,” the man murmured.
“Really? That’s a great idea. Too bad we aren’t sitting on a big fat pile of money.” I turned to my father. “Come on. Get up!”
Almost on cue, my father sat. “I’m fine,” he whispered as he held his chest. His color was still off and his face was covered in tiny beads of sweat. I reached under the table for the tissue box I’d hidden underneath it. After pulling one out, I began to dab at his face.
“I’ll pay. I feel responsible. Please…let me help,” he murmured gently.
I sat there shaking, a combination of rage and fear. Dad really needed to be checked out and we didn’t have any way to pay for it. “Fine,” I grumbled
“Good.” He grinned in a way I found rather disarming, but not enough to have me melting into him.
“Are you following us?” I asked as I scampered around the booth to secure the laptop. Everything else was completely replaceable. The information stored on the hard drive was a wealth of knowledge my father hoped to turn into financial gain. When I finished tucking it into the bag and throwing it over my shoulder, I turned to him. “So?”
“I’m driving. You’re a little too emotional right now.” He held out a hand to help my father stand.
I glared at him. “The last thing I need right now is to be trapped in a car with you. You can follow us, since you so kindly offered to cover the cost,” I carefully reminded him.
Mr. Draco remained silent as he helped me secure the rest of the contents in the booth. In the time it took me to get my father pointed in the right direction and steady enough on his feet to move, the man had already packed everything. There wasn’t so much as a stray piece of lint on the floor or a scrap of paper on the table.
“Are you sure about this?” I gestured to the empty space. “I don’t want us to lose our spot, if we can come back tomorrow. I know how hospitals work. I’d be shocked if we could return tonight.”
He nodded. “That is true, but I already sent a message to the office here. They know what’s going on. They responded to say your spot was secure.” He held out his phone as proof.
I glanced quickly at the text, but managed little more than a grunt. My mouth had gone dry when I realized he had contacts. He knew this world that we could barely figure out how to navigate. “Thanks.” Then I turned in time to see a man pushing an empty wheelchair toward us. “What’s this?”
“Help out to the car. He shouldn’t exert himself right now.” Mr. Draco nudged past me to assist us as my father dutifully climbed into the chair. “There. My car is this way.” He gestured for me to lead the way, while taking up the rear and pulling the loaded cart. “Straight out the front door. I’m in the VIP parking, so once we reach the curb, I’ll pull the car up. It will only take a moment.”
“But we’re in exhibitor parking and we could…” My voice trailed off. As I passed by the glass side door, I realized there were several large box trucks blocking in most of the exhibitor spots, including ours.
Mr. Draco followed my eyes. “They’re bringing in some of the catered lunches. It could take hours. The exhibitor parking is safe to block. None of the exhibitors leave until after the show closes each night, so no one is inconvenienced.” He shrugged.
“Mr. Draco, did you know this when you offered to drive?” I tilted my head as I awaited his response.
He offered a half-smile. “I may have suspected,” he murmured. Then he added, “Please call me Blaise.”
I sighed. “Fine. Blaise.” I frowned. “Happy?”
He chuckled. “Ecstatic. I’ll pull up the car.” He took one step away from me and a woman made a beeline toward him.
“Hello,” she murmured as she batted her eyelashes at him.
“Hello. I’m leaving,” he announced as he stepped off the curb.
“I could go with you.” She reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Computers are boring.”
“No, thank you. I’m on my way to the hospital with a friend.” Blaise gestured toward me, toward us, I suppose.
“Oh.” She frowned. The she looked at me and her frown deepened.
I shrank back uncomfortably and studied him, utterly confused. As she walked away, he grinned but remained close until he seemed sure she was out of earshot. “Do you…”
“No. I’ve never seen that woman before in my life. Be right back.” He gave my hand a squeeze and dashed across the parking lot.
“That was strange,” I murmured.
“I’ve seen it before. Happens all the time,” my father mumbled.
“What? Women throw themselves at him?” I moved to stand in front of my father so I could watch his face as we conversed.
“All the time,” he repeated.
I glanced up at the man pushing the wheelchair. His head was nodding vigorously. “Really?”
“Yes. I’ve seen him around for several years. All the time.” He shrugged. “Women seem to find him wildly attractive.”
I stiffened and swallowed hard. “Well, I don’t. Nope. Not me.” Then I shook my head.
“Well, if not, then you’re the first. Maybe ever.” The man laughed quietly.
As the car pulled up, I started having second thoughts. “Maybe we shouldn’t go with him. Maybe he’s some weirdo and we’re putting ourselves in danger.” I gnawed nervously on the side of my lip.
“He is the head of Draco Security,” the man announced. “You couldn’t be in better hands.”
After popping the trunk, Blaise stepped out of the vehicle and strode over to us. He effortlessly lifted the cart, and crates into the trunk, then reached for the ba
gs, including the one on my shoulder. I held up my hand to stop him. “Actually, I’m going to keep this with me.” I stared at him, firm in my resolve to not fall under his spell like apparently every other female.
“I understand.” He reached out and shut the trunk. “You’re next.” He smiled warmly at my father as he helped him into the back seat. The man with the wheelchair began to back away, but Blaise stopped him. “Thank you.” He held out his hand and I realized he had a hundred-dollar bill folded into his palm as they shook hands.
“No, thank you.” The man winked at him, stuffed the bill in his pocket, and strolled back into the building with the wheelchair.
“Madam.” He gallantly held out his hand to me.
I stared at his palm a moment, hesitating before taking it. From the corner of my eye, I could see his lips twitching as he tried to hide a smile. Suddenly, this felt like a challenge. I was no simpering female. I wasn’t going to go all weak in the knees at one touch. Carefully, I placed my palm in his and wrapped my fingers around his hand. “I’m Maggie.” I glanced at my father who sat staring forward. “Thank you for this.” Then I moved to slide into the back seat even though I was acutely aware of how his warmth seemed to be spreading through me.
Once I was seated, Blaise held onto my hand an extra second and gave it a squeeze while eyeing me curiously. “It’s really nice to meet you, Maggie.” Then he released me, but somehow, I already knew I’d never quite be the same.
3
Blaise
“Stop scratching your chin,” Maggie grumbled and wiggled uncomfortably in her seat while we waited to see her father. He’d been taken to have some testing done and they promised to call us and bring us to be with him as soon as they set him up in a triage room.
“It’s itchy. You can’t possibly understand.” I shook my head and continued to scratch at the scruff on my face. I’d forgotten to shave this morning, and by now, it was threatening to become a full-blown beard.
