CarnalTakeover

by Tina Donahue

  She dug her nails into her palm, wanting to hang up, scream, fight.

  “Ms. Waite?”

  Tears rolled down her cheeks.

  “Ms. Waite? Are you still—”

  “Of course I am. Where else would I be?” Before he could answer, she muttered, “No need to call him. I’ll do it.”

  “Excellent.” He sounded super cheery despite her froggy voice, and told her exactly when to expect the taxi. “We’ve taken the liberty to arrange some entertainment for Mr. King and Mr. Vincent while you’re with them. Let’s see, the Anchorage Museum, the Native Heritage Center, Ice Museum in Fairbanks, a few tours, specifically—”

  “Wait. Hold it. This is nuts,” she snapped. “If they’re investors, why in the hell don’t they come here? See what they’re actually investing in?”

  The caller cleared his throat. “You can explain the operation’s potential to them while they’re having fun, Ms. Waite. They’re not going up there to rough it.”

  Pussies. Maybe she should entertain them as she had Daniel, Nat, Junior and Red. Maybe her grandfather would like that.

  After a prolonged silence, the caller asked, “Ah, are you still there?”

  Barely.

  The rest of the morning, afternoon, and her flight rolled by without Alexandra really noticing. She kept checking her voicemail and email with both of them empty except for spam messages. She wondered what Daniel was doing right now. If he was even thinking of her…if he ever would again.

  Her doubt continued to grow.

  Maybe he hadn’t had such a great time after all, and his initial tenderness last night was because he felt bad about his decision to dump her. When she hadn’t taken the hint, he’d simply run off.

  She wanted to do the same now, to be anywhere but here. The waitress had just shown Alexandra and her two guests to their table.

  “This is surprisingly nice,” Michael said, regarding the hotel’s blah restaurant.

  Alexandra tried to comment but didn’t have the strength to point out the obvious. That Alaska was still in America and basically civilized. He’d probably expected them to be eating outdoors after they’d killed their food with their bare hands.

  He and Greg had dressed in Abercrombie & Fitch’s version of “the rugged man”. They were both in their early thirties, tall, skinny and pasty, no doubt billionaires from their internet ventures, and not wearing wedding rings. Alexandra wondered if this was about Lucius getting her a group date rather than him acquiring more capital for his holdings.

  “So, what are we doing tonight?” Greg asked, rubbing his pale, thin hands together.

  Alexandra shuddered at the thought of them touching her. “Turning in early.

  “So we’re fresh for tomorrow,” she added at his surprised expression. “I’ve given you a lot to think about.” She’d talked nonstop about the operation with both of them glazing over during her endless, tepid speech.

  “It’s only eight o’clock,” Greg said.

  She leveled her gaze on him. “You’re free to stay up as long as you like. Could be you’ll see the Northern Lights.”

  “You mean the Aurora Borealis,” Michael said.

  “That too,” she muttered, then warned herself to be nice. Not to let her own shitty life affect their vacation in the great outdoors.

  By the third day of their stay, they’d fallen into the same depressed silence Alexandra had. She couldn’t stop thinking about Daniel and didn’t care if anyone else was having a crappy time. Michael and Greg had regarded the Heritage Center and Ice Museum with expressions that said this stuff was quaint at best and boring as shit at most. During the twilight hours, they no longer squinted to see the snowy surroundings, finally ignoring them in favor of whatever was on their iPhones and iPads.

  “If you don’t pay attention,” she finally accused, “you won’t see anything.”

  Greg didn’t bother to look up from his screen. “Without night-vision goggles, who could see anything anyway?”

  Alexandra frowned. “Then why’d you come up here in winter?”

  “Your grandfather insisted on it,” Michael muttered.

  She’d been right. This was Lucius’ way to set her up with these two babies who probably needed her grandfather’s money more than he did theirs. Next to Daniel, they looked as if they hadn’t even gone through puberty yet. Neither of them had to shave more than twice a week. “Did he say why?”

  “He wanted us to see the real Alaska,” Greg mumbled.

  Uh-huh. “Which didn’t include the site, what you’re supposed to be investing in.”

  Michael answered, “The truth is, he told us you needed to get away. You could explain everything perfectly well about the operation while we were having fun.”

  Alexandra arched one eyebrow. “Are you guys having fun?”

  “No.”

  They’d said it together.

  “Want to go home?”

  “Do you mind?” Michael asked, looking really down and nerdy.

  “Not at all.” She patted his shoulder, feeling sorry for him and pissed as shit at Lucius. “Let’s make the arrangements. No need to tell my grandfather. Let him think we’re still here enjoying ourselves.”

  Hours later, she was back in the village, cursing herself for not having driven to the terminal on the day she’d left. She hired a taxi to take her to the cabin, tossed her luggage inside, then hopped in her SUV. Even if Daniel didn’t want to talk to her right now, she had to be where he was.

  If he was still at the barracks.

  She drove faster than she should have on her way to the site. Once there, she searched for his pickup but didn’t see it. It wasn’t at the terminal either, she would have noticed. Maybe he and the guys had gone to the pizza parlor for another game of poker or pool.

  Alexandra was about to head there when she warned herself not to ambush Daniel in front of the guys. He wouldn’t appreciate it. She’d have to wait until he came back here. Run into him near his cubicle, room or the dining hall.

  Thinking of that, she headed for her office and stopped abruptly. A guy she’d never seen before came out of the room, holding some of her printouts in his hands.

  “Hey,” she snapped. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  He spun around. Strangely enough, he reminded her of Michael and Greg. Tall and gangly with a sallow complexion. In other words, a pussy, even though he was dressed in a flannel shirt, jeans and construction boots. All his clothes brand spanking new.

  Alexandra grabbed the edge of her papers. “Give me those.”

  He held tight. “Ms. Waite?”

  “Who else?” She tugged again. At the ripping sound, he finally released them. “Who are you?” she growled. “What were you doing in my office?”

  “Getting those.” He gestured to the printouts. “They’re not on the computer, and I needed them.”

  “What the hell for?”

  “To do my work.” His face was now the shade of a Hawaiian sunset and getting redder by the minute. “I’m Todd Zimmerman, the new team lead.”

  The hall shifted so quickly, Alexandra had to brace herself to keep from losing her balance. “What? Wait. What are you talking about? Daniel Upton’s the team—”

  “Not any longer,” Todd interrupted. “I’ve replaced him.”

  Alexandra put her hand on the wall to steady herself. She couldn’t breathe. This wasn’t happening. Daniel couldn’t have wanted to get away from her so badly that he just left. “You’re saying Daniel quit?”

  Todd’s face turned super red. “Actually, he was let go. Your grandfather—”

  “What?”

  He backed away from her. “Your grandfather wants to streamline operations. I can do that perfectly well. Mr. Upton’s projections were overly cautious. We can cut corners easily without affecting—”

  “Over my dead body,” she growled. “You’re not touching anything here, got it? I’ll have Nat throw you off the premises.”

  “Mr. Stern
e doesn’t work here any longer,” he shot back. “Nor do the rest of Mr. Upton’s team. They’ve all been let go, and your grandfather said I’m in charge.

  “Ms. Waite!” he called.

  She slammed her office door and locked it. If he had a key and tried to come inside, she’d knee him in the balls. This was why Lucius had ordered her to wine and dine his investors. He’d wanted her off-site so he could take over, put creeps in here who didn’t give a shit about the environment or people’s lives.

  Turning an obscene profit was all that counted no matter who it hurt.

  Alexandra punched in Lucius’ private phone number, something she never did, not really expecting him to answer. He picked up on the second ring and spoke first. “So you know. It’s for the best.”

  She had no idea how to respond to such a cold and inadequate comment. No apology. No trying to reason or calm her down. It was simply for the best, and she was supposed to accept it.

  Like fucking hell.

  Wanting to hurt something, she shoved her laptop aside. It skidded to the edge of her desk. A folded piece of paper peeked out from beneath it. At the top was a large “A”.

  For Alexandra? What else.

  “Things are already running smoothly,” Lucius added.

  Ignoring him, she read the note.

  I’m assuming by now you know that your grandfather fired me and the guys. I’m aware it’s not your fault, no matter what Lucius said. You wouldn’t have done this. Apparently, he found an engineer willing to circumvent the rules. I can’t let that happen. I know Lucius is your family and your loyalty belongs with him. However, if anything happens, the people and wildlife here will suffer. He’ll simply write it off as the cost of doing business. I can’t have that and will be reporting him to the authorities.

  Sorry.

  I wish things could have been different. You made these last days more wonderful than I could have imagined. I’ll never be able to thank you enough.

  Be happy, Twinkie Lady, and drive carefully. You take too many risks. It would kill me if you got hurt.—D

  “Alexandra,” Lucius barked. “Are you still there?”

  She fingered tears from her eyes and steadied herself, her sorrow replaced with cold rage. “Did you tell Daniel and his team that this was my idea?”

  “Of course. You’re in charge. I didn’t want them to think that I came in and changed that. This way, they still believed you ran things.”

  Even though she hadn’t.

  “This will work out much better, you’ll see,” he said. “Todd graduated from the best schools. He’s smart as hell. His father’s a big shot on Wall Street.”

  What else?

  “I know this takes some getting use to,” Lucius finally muttered at her silence. “But no one’s indispensable. Anyone can be replaced.”

  “Even me.”

  “What?”

  “Me,” Alexandra said, more calmly than she would have expected. “If you can replace anyone so easily, then you’ll have no trouble doing it with me, Lucius. From this moment on, I’m not your granddaughter any longer. I’m not family. Hell, I’m not even a damn employee. I quit. You’re never going to see me or hear from me again.”

  “You’re being absurd.”

  “I’m being what Dad never was with you. Honest. Don’t bother me ever again, Lucius. We are so done.”

  “You’re being—”

  She slammed down the receiver, cutting him off.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Daniel stood in the river, water rushing past his rubber waders, his fly rod hanging limply in his hand. He tried to concentrate on the steelhead he’d come here to catch, the taste of them grilled in butter with garlic and red pepper.

  Couldn’t do it.

  His thoughts kept drifting to an entrée of peanut butter and Beer Nut sandwiches followed by Twinkies. Hardly his favorite dessert given that he didn’t like sponge cake at all. Not even as a kid. He’d preferred Hostess cherry pies or their little cinnamon cakes.

  Now none of that would do.

  He missed Alexandra. God, like a crazy stupid teen he yearned for her.

  Three weeks he’d been away from her teasing, laughter, heated skin, luscious curves and he couldn’t get her out of his mind. Not that he hadn’t tried, keeping busy every fucking minute.

  First, he’d warned the proper authorities what might be going on with Lucius’ project. They’d grilled him as though he were the one stepping over the line, asking if he had absolute proof of what he’d claimed. Like what? A video of Lucius threatening to ruin the environment or a signed confession saying he was a selfish creep? They kept bringing up the fact that Lucius had fired Daniel and his team. He insisted right back that he wasn’t out for revenge over losing his job. This was about the environment, people’s lives.

  The powers that be promised to check out his story. That’s what they called it. A story. Fiction.

  He didn’t have a lot of hope that they’d do anything. But Alexandra would. She had integrity to spare and would make things right, while also protecting her grandfather. What a mess Lucius had left her with. How they could have shared the same DNA was a mystery to Daniel. Maybe she’d been adopted.

  You’re thinking about her again.

  Had to stop that. He concentrated on the new job he’d lined up. In two weeks, he’d be in Canada, toughing out the snow and ice on another project, this one good for nine months. After that, he might go overseas. Who knew? For the next three days, he’d be in this remote campground in Washington state, catching and cooking his meals, if he ever snagged anything.

  The fog settled lower, bringing a fine gray mist. Silvery green and muddy brown were the predominant colors of the forest, the day dreary as hell. Fitting his sorry mood.

  His line tugged. He looked up just in time to feel it loosen again. His meal gone.

  Okay, so maybe he’d be eating the stuff he’d bought in town last night. Snickers. Milky Ways, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, PayDays. The four major food groups.

  He’d made that comment to her, hadn’t he? Daniel tried to recall if Alexandra had laughed. Somehow, he wanted to remember her doing that. For the millionth time, he wondered if he should have stayed and at least said goodbye. That would have been the right thing to do, but he’d been too scared to give away his feelings. Not that he was pissed at Lucius, which he was, but that he needed her, everything she was. The sound of her voice, her giggles and the way she screeched when he tickled her.

  Daniel smiled wistfully at how she’d elbowed him, smashed the Twinkie on his groin, then ordered him not to let his cells divide, as if he had any control over that.

  Damn, she was something. And he needed her more than anything or anyone since he’d become a man.

  It wasn’t a feeling Daniel liked or could dismiss. His gut churned, reminding him how lonely he was, which he hadn’t even noticed prior to meeting her. Shit. Why hadn’t he gravitated toward one of the other women on the project or the few females in town? They would have been easy to leave. He’d done it before, having fun, turning away, not thinking about those encounters for a second. Never wondering if the women pined for him.

  Did Alexandra?

  She’d been ready to cry outside her cabin that morning but that could have been embarrassment or humiliation at him being a prick. Could be she’d already moved on since he’d been out of her life. Maybe she’d hooked up with the guy who’d taken his place on the project.

  Daniel pictured that for a second before his clenched jaw began to throb. Loosening it, he told himself he had no right to be jealous. No reason to judge. Alexandra didn’t screw around, no matter what she’d claimed that night in the pizza parlor. She’d been lonely then too. He and the guys had been there, so she had…

  No. He wasn’t going to go over the past again or debate whether he should call her to at least say “hi”. He’d come close to doing that more times than he could count, always pulling back at the last moment. Telling himself to stop.r />
  He wished he hadn’t.

  Hell, he wished he’d never come here. He was tired of standing in this fucking cold water. His appetite for fish, camping and anything except sleep was long gone.

  Daniel turned back to the shore and stopped dead before he got there. He blinked, then squinted to see through the mist.

  The muscles in his face went slack.

  Grayish plumes swirled around Alexandra. She stood at the edge of the river, dressed in her puffy jacket, jeans and boots, watching him.

  Every part of Daniel froze except for his outrageous joy, thudding heart and whirling thoughts. He couldn’t comprehend how she’d found him here. This area wasn’t a tourist attraction. He’d been incognito. Running scared.

  Sadness and longing filled her eyes as though she already knew that. She called out, “If you want me to go away I will.”

  “No,” he yelled, slogging through water to get closer. “Don’t. How did you know I’d be here?”

  She smiled wanly. “It wasn’t easy. I had to talk to practically everyone in your life. Your parents. Relatives. Friends. Nat. He mentioned this place. Even with that, it took me forever to find you.”

  It had taken Daniel a lifetime to meet anyone like her.

  “You left me a note,” she said, her voice cracking. “You called me Twinkie Lady.” Her eyes glittered in the somber light. A tear skidded down her cheek. “How could you have called me that and left?”

  Daniel didn’t recall writing the endearment. He’d been crazy pissed at the time, saddened too that he wouldn’t be seeing her again. “I’m sorry.” He sloshed through the water toward her.

  Alexandra backed up, hurt on her face.

  He stopped.

  She pulled in her arms as if she were cold or needed to protect herself. “You couldn’t wait to get away from me that morning. Why? I thought you had a great time. You acted like it. Then bam, suddenly you’re racing away because you had stuff to do. What stuff?”

  He lifted his hands in appeasement and suddenly remembered his pole, lowering it. “I don’t recall.”