He found the three friends seated around the kitchen table. “I’m sorry. I might have overreacted.”
Only Kat looked up at him. Not a good sign. Anna was staring into her coffee cup as though Doctor Spock himself was at the bottom with all her needed answers. Erin stared at Anna with such pain in her eyes that if he could have, Mark would have smacked himself upside the head for what he’d said to them.
“Okay, I guess I definitely overreacted. She’s usually such a good baby.”
He hadn’t been sure Anna was even listening to him until she looked up. “Exactly how much time did you spend over here with her, anyhow? I mean, you’re a good-looking single guy. Yet you’ve obviously spent enough time with Marcia for her to think you hung the moon. Heck, even your brothers seem to know her pretty well.”
“You think I’m good-looking?” He had to fight the urge to puff out his chest and grin like a madman. Shit. What was she doing to him?
“Men.” She groaned, shaking her head. The chair scraped heavily against the floor as she pushed back and moved toward the counter in search of more coffee.
“Sorry.” He took a step back to let her pass, making a conscious effort to ignore the way her robe hugged her backside. “Barb usually invited me for dinner about once a week, give or take. The last couple of months I’ve had a little more time on my hands than usual. I guess I’ve been spending it over here.” He tried to set Marcia down in her high chair, but she kicked her feet making it impossible to sit her down. He nearly groaned with frustration, four feisty females. He hadn’t had enough sleep or coffee to deal with this, but deal with it he would. One way or another.
Anna reached for the sugar and bumped her hip against his. “Excuse me.”
He shifted and smiled. What he needed was five minutes of fresh air. He’d told his brother last night, Anna was taken and he wasn’t looking. So why did the fact she thought he was good-looking make him want to strut around the room as though he’d won the lottery, and since when did he think Barb’s old robe was the sexiest piece of clothing he’d ever seen?
“Doesn’t look like she’s hungry.” Kat’s gaze met Mark’s. He saw the challenge in her eyes. Double shit. Could she tell what he was thinking? Or was she merely daring him to keep Marcia from pitching a fit? Air, he needed air.
“I’ll fix her cereal first.” He’d get through this. Fresh air would have to wait.
“There’s some raisin bran and shredded wheat in the cabinet by the coffee,” Erin said over the rim of her cup.
Kat turned, shooting Erin an incredulous glare. “I think he means baby cereal.”
“Oh, of course.” Erin blushed. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“At least I knew that much.” Anna stepped up in front of Mark and the baby. Her eyes flickered to Marcia’s tiny fingers, clinging to her Uncle Mark. “We’re going to have to come to an understanding of sorts, young lady, or you’re going to wear your Uncle Mark out.”
“Which reminds me, where’s Kevin?” Kat asked.
“Sleeping in.” Mark wanted to take a step back, put some distance between him and Anna. His brain was already scrambled from too much stress and not enough sleep. Her standing so close simply wasn’t helping, but he didn’t dare move. “I thought I’d pick him up when I take Marcia to the office. That way at least one of us won’t be a walking zombie.”
Anna raised her eyes level with his, a silent question pleating her brow.
“I didn’t get much sleep either,” he explained. “I think tonight I might as well camp out on the sofa. Maybe then we’ll all be able to get some much needed rest.” Had he really said that? He needed air to clear his head, not a night under the same roof as a woman who was too quickly getting under his skin.
“I vote we all take a nap now.” Kat raised her hand like a schoolgirl.
“What do we all have to do today?” Erin looked to Mark.
“We wait. Luisa should be here soon.” He felt the air rush back into his lungs when Anna turned away and reclaimed her earlier spot at the table. Had he really been holding his breath while she’d stood next to him?
No. All he needed was some coffee now, and some sleep later. He’d been running too long on adrenaline and caffeine is all. It had been three months since his break up with his last girlfriend. He wouldn’t be a guy if he didn’t notice a sexy woman in such close proximity. Sexy? When did he decide she was sexy? Oh, quit being an ass. Even Brad caught their scent.
“I need to pick up a few things.” Anna interrupted his mental tirade. “I don’t want to keep wearing Babs’ clothes.”
Before his wayward brain could paint a picture of Anna not wearing any clothes, Mark took a deep breath and forced his thoughts in a more sobering direction - breakfast for Marcia.
The pounding in his head was exponentially picking up speed. Mark was convinced all seven dwarfs were hiding in his head, mining for the evil queen’s diamonds.
“You ready to go home yet?” Kevin leaned against the doorframe to his brother’s office.
Mark blinked away the pain and looked up with one open eye. “Almost.”
“Man, you look awful.”
“Thanks.” Gathering the papers on his desk into a single pile, he slipped them into his briefcase.
“Anything I can do to help?”
“How fast can you get a degree in architecture?” Mark snapped the latch shut.
“Feeling Tom’s absence already?”
“Tom and Barb. Don’t forget she used to come in and tie up loose ends for us. Cover when we were over-scheduled. Everyone’s being patient with us, but I don’t see how I can pull off the current workload single-handed.”
“What did you do when they took that trip to Europe last year, before Marcia was born?”
“We planned.” He yanked the briefcase off the desk and looked around the room. Nothing was going to be the same anymore.
“This is about more than work overload, isn’t it?”
“My lawyer finally got within range of a cell tower.” Mark held the door for his brother.
“And?” Kevin asked.
Mark turned to his secretary. “Any more inquiries?”
“No, and I’m sorry about the blurb in the paper. We thought we had that covered.” The woman pressed her lips together tightly. Mark could see how badly she felt.
“It’s not your fault. You did your best. I’ll be at Tom and Barb’s if anyone needs me.” He forced a smile and followed his brother.
“You driving?” Kevin asked, holding the front door to the building open.
“I’ve got a killer headache. Would you mind?”
“No problem.” Kevin used the key fob to unlock the doors. “So what did the lawyer have to say?”
“Tom and Barb didn’t have a guardian named.”
“Did they at least have a will?”
“Yeah. It’s three years old.”
“Ouch.” Kevin hissed. “That could pose a problem.”
“Yeah. Depends what’s in it. We’re meeting in Sid’s office tomorrow after the funeral.” Mark leaned back and closed his eyes. Whatever the will said, he’d make sure Marcia was taken care of.
“Did Sid have anything else to say about, you know?”
“I didn’t tell him. Like I said, he sounded distracted.” Mark pinched the bridge of his nose. He wished someone would just hit him over the head with a cast iron skillet and put him out of his misery.
“Do you think they saw the article?”
“Newspapers weren’t their thing last I heard.”
“But it’s got you worried anyhow?”
Mark opened one eye and slanted an irritated glance in his brother’s direction. “You knew them. If she was your best friend’s daughter, wouldn’t you be worried?”
“If she was my enemy’s daughter, I’d be worried.”
“Yeah.” He turned back, both eyes closed. “That about covers it.” He would not let Tom down.
CHAPTER TEN
Bala
ncing her cell phone on her shoulder, Anna slipped a pleated black skirt off the rack and held it against her. As she’d done with everything she’d touched this afternoon, she gave it a cursory glance then put it back.
Hands on her hips, Erin rolled her eyes, sighed, then quietly mumbled, “We’re running’ out of stores.”
Anna frowned, shook her head and placed her hand over the mouthpiece. “Nothing’s right for Babs’ funeral.”
“Anna.” Kat closed her eyes, took in a deep breath then slowly blew it out. “The problem isn’t with the clothes. The problem is Babs’ funeral isn’t right and there isn’t a damn thing we can do about it. Pick anything and let’s get out of this commercial snake pit.”
“What was that?” Anna slid to a stop, grabbed hold of her phone and straightened her neck. “What do you mean it has my initials?” She couldn’t have possibly heard Liz correctly.
“When Pam came out of Junior’s office and saw me standing only a few feet from her desk...” Liz lowered her voice. “She scrambled to gather up all the papers. You’d have thought they held the combination to Fort Knox.”
“What do you mean scrambled?”
“That’s just it. I wouldn’t have looked on her desk at all if she hadn’t acted so... weird.”
“Weird?” Liz’ choice of adjectives wasn’t helping Anna’s agida any. She felt the muscles in her stomach twist like a street vendor’s pretzel. Liz may not have the gift of sight like Erin, but she had the next best thing, experience and a near photographic memory.
“I could hear Pam giggling before the office door opened. When the door opened, I glanced up at her and she was all smiles. Practically beaming. The minute she spotted me, her cheeks started twitching.”
“Twitching?” That wasn’t a good sign. Anna opened her pocketbook and pulled out her antacids.
“Anyhow she came just short of a full gallop to get to her desk. I moved up close as quickly as I could without making it look too obvious and then did my best to casually glance over her shoulder. It was as plain as the nose on my face. Acceptance of shipment in good order and an authorization for payment on balance due. At first I thought Junior had jumped the gun but then I realized it wasn’t his initials on the authorization but yours. By the time I’d noticed that, she’d already put away all the papers so I couldn’t check the other signatures, but I’d bet a week in Bermuda your initials were on both forms.”
“I knew Junior was an incompetent idiot. It never occurred to me he was a sneaky incompetent idiot.” Damn. This was worse than she thought. Pressing her free hand to her forehead, she began rubbing in slow circular motions. She had to think and think fast. Why would Junior authorize the new shipment? And sign her name? Was that it? Had his plan the entire time been to discredit her? Why? Damn, the pounding in her head matched the churning in her stomach.
“Check with accounting and logistics. See if my authorizations have come through yet. If they have, tell them there’s a mistake and you’ll be hand delivering the correct ones. I’m on my way to Babs’ house now. I’ll fax you copies of my delivery refusal and request to withhold payment. I can’t wait to straighten this out with Italy myself, I can’t go back to New York yet, and I can’t take the time to travel to Italy. I need to buy some time and figure out what Junior’s up to before he notices we’re onto him.”
Anna didn’t need this. Her work was cut throat enough with normal people wanting her job. For heaven’s sake, if Junior wanted her job all he had to do was ask Daddy for it. Why was he trying to destroy her reputation in the process? Or did this have something to do with the VP job? She shook the thought away. It made no sense. None of this did. “Damn,” she let slip.
“I know,” Liz answered. “I’ll get on it right away. Try not to worry.”
“Yeah, thanks.” Anna snapped her phone shut, picked up the black skirt she’d just put back then reached for a matching sleeveless top and jacket. Spinning around to face her friends, she threw the garments over her arm. “Let’s get out of here.”
Erin slanted a quick glance in Kat’s direction. “Should I even ask?”
Anna stopped her march to the checkout counter. “That son of a bitch is forging my initials.”
“What?” Kat asked, skidding to a halt beside her. “Which son of a bitch? Harrison?”
“No,” she snapped. “Junior, but I don’t get it.” Anna was thinking out loud more than answering Kat. “So he screwed up and his new Italian friend botched the order. It’s not like Daddy’s going to fire him. Why not accept his lumps, refuse the order and arrange to have the rest done right?”
“That’s not what he’s doing?” Erin nudged Anna towards the sales woman.
“Not even close. The SOB is accepting shipment and authorizing payment on the balance that we haven’t received. And he’s doing it in my name. If we put that merchandise on the floor I’ll be the laughing stock of every department store in the country.”
“So it’s personal? He’s going after you?” Kat concluded.
“Looks that way. But why?” Anna stopped walking again.
“Did you do something to tick him off?” Erin asked, nudging her along once more.
“Other than veto his choice for manufacturing changes, no. I mean, I told him I thought Giovanni didn’t have enough credentials to meet our standards. His setup was mostly cottage industry. I didn’t mention the man gave me the creeps.”
“You think that was enough to want you fired?” Erin asked, stopping at the cash register.
Anna dropped her choices on the counter. “I don’t know. I didn’t even get the chance to explain to old man Peterson why I thought it was a bad idea. Junior had gone behind my back, gotten his father’s okay and signed on the dotted line as soon as we landed in New York.”
“I hate to ask this, but did you ever talk to Peterson yourself?” Kat asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You know. Did he tell you he knew you didn’t like the idea but agreed with Junior’s plans?”
Anna handed the sales woman her credit card. Oh Lord, she hadn’t. The room seemed to sway beneath her feet. “No.” She let out a heavy sigh. “I took Junior’s word for it.”
“And he signed the new contract in his name?” Kat stepped up closer to Anna.
Any other time in her life Anna would have told Kat she was letting her writer’s imagination get away with her. After the drama of the last few days and the surprise of Liz’s phone call, she had a horrible sinking feeling that Kat’s imagination wasn’t the half of it. “The contracts I saw had Junior’s name.”
Kat blew out a deep breath, clearly relieved. “That’s good.”
“Is it?” Anna accepted the bag of clothes from the sales woman and moved rapidly towards the door. She needed to get home and fax those papers to Liz. Then somehow she was going to have to get her hands on the contracts filed with legal and make sure they were the same papers she’d seen with Junior’s name on them, not hers. And if that wasn’t enough, she still needed to make friends with a sweet little baby who considered her to be one step lower than the Wicked Witch of the West.
“Are you planning on joining us for dinner?” Mark turned the overhead light on in Tom’s office. The bright light made him thankful he’d taken enough ibuprofen to cure an elephant’s headache.
“I’m not hungry.” Anna drummed her fingers on a stack of papers and didn’t bother to look up from her laptop.
Her gaze remained steady, and yet he’d have been willing to bet his corvette whatever was on her mind had nothing to do with the work in front of her.
Alone in the room with only the tiny desk lamp and dim glow of the screen to outline her delicate features, she looked nothing like the battle ready general from a few days ago. “You don’t want my mother to think you don’t like her cooking.”
She blinked before glancing up at him. A sliver of a smile teased at the corner of her mouth. “I can’t believe the mountain of food she brought. She has to be part Italian.”
“I’ll have to look into it.” Debating with himself whether he should return to his family in the kitchen and give her some more time alone or push for her to join them, he hesitated a few seconds before sitting down across from her. “You’ve done all you can for now.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “Maybe.”
Mark leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “Liz said she’d gotten the fax and that she would deliver the right papers first thing in the morning.”
“I wish I could have gotten them to her before half the department had gone home for the day.”
“I know, but the important thing is that she beats Junior to it. You said Accounting hadn’t received Junior’s falsified authorizations?”
Anna nodded. “It looks that way.”
“Then you’re still one step ahead of him. In the meantime, you’ve given Liz a battle plan and you’ve got a phone call into Henderson.”
“Harrison.”
“Right.” He’d never met the man but he was already sure he didn’t like him. If Mark had a woman like Anna needing him at one of the hardest times of her life, he wouldn’t ignore her calls for hours on end. Hell, he wouldn’t have let her go clear across the country alone in the first place. “Leave it alone for a while and come eat a little something before Mom sends the troops after us.”
“If your mom’s anything like mine, I don’t have much choice in the matter.” She flashed a tiny smile, closed the lid of the laptop, and pushed back from the desk.
It surprised him how much he’d give at this moment to see a full blown grin. She hadn’t had a single reason to really laugh since her arrival, and he found himself desperately wanting to be the one to bring a heartfelt smile to her face. He stepped aside and waved for her to lead the way, watching her back as she walked out of the room. What was the matter with him?
“There you are,” his mother announced from her seat at the table.
The Champagne Sisterhood Page 10
