Silver Lining, page 8
“Get home. You know Kelsey will make sure your place is safe.”
Since we returned from Cancún, Kelsey had been staying at my house. She did her best to give me space. There was a pool house on the property, but she stayed in the main house. It was the fact I needed her that was bothering me more than the lack of privacy. Knowing my home had been broken into once still filled me with concern.
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“Remember, I’m headed to Austin. You need to get me that list.”
List.
The list of Architech employees.
“Maybe I’ll go with you,” I suggested.
“You would be impressed to meet the Thompsons.”
Lowering my elbow to the armrest, I nodded. “I’ll be impressed when this nightmare is over.”
“I’m making a day trip. I’ll send Kelsey the information, and she can arrange everything for you and Adam. Change of scenery. And you’ll be able to keep your mind busy with the list you’re going to give me.”
“The list. Yep, that’s what I’ll do after I have a couple fingers of bourbon.”
“Love you,” he said.
“Back at you.”
No, Jeremy and I were not more than friends and associates. That didn’t mean we hadn’t enjoyed one another’s company a time or two. The truth was that in my heart of hearts, I gravitated toward male companionship.
Jeremy did too.
What Jeremy and I loved the most about one another was that as a team, we complemented one another’s skill set. He could find information on anyone or anything. He knew the financial forecasts, had the ability to see trends, and had an uncanny ability to find opportunities. As a Black man, he’d witnessed his share of inequalities present in the world we dominated. While my inequality was gender based, we worked well together.
While I’d been the one who first discovered Architech, Jeremy had been the one to work the acquisition. The roles were often reversed. With the stalker thing, my mind wasn’t on Architech, and I knew Jeremy would succeed.
“Ma’am?” Liv said, “Would you like anything? We have a salad or sandwich for lunch. Iced tea?”
“Two fingers Black Label neat and a club salad.”
“Mr. Dillon?”
“I’ll have the sandwich and the iced tea.” Adam looked at me with a slight grin. “Ms. Montgomery will have an iced tea also.”
Though I flashed Adam a questioning stare, I nodded to Liz.
“You work for me,” I said after she was gone.
“I do. Jeremy’s been after you for a week to get that list done. The last time you started drinking at breakfast, you fell asleep.”
Inhaling, I stretched my neck, thinking about the cabana, the sand, the ocean…CJ. “This isn’t breakfast.” I looked at my watch. “It’s after noon. And considering our earlier excitement, I deserve a triple.” I went on to tell Adam what Jeremy had said about the wannabe shooter. “Do you know any more information?”
Adam looked down at his phone. “Bret Phillips. He’s known for petty crimes. It seems he was in a ski accident in college. Once he met oxycodone, they developed a close relationship. He’s been in and out of rehab. All they’ve gotten so far is that he needed the money, so he agreed to this job. He said he wasn’t supposed to shoot you, only scare you.”
“Ms. Montgomery.” Liz handed me my whiskey.
“Thank you, Liz.”
After placing two iced teas on the table between us, she added, “I’ll have your meals shortly.”
Lifting the tumbler to my lips, I took a hefty sip. The amber liquor burned my tongue and throat before warming my circulation.
I set the glass on the table. “He succeeded.”
“He didn’t get close to you.”
“He scared me. I’m going with Jeremy to Austin tomorrow.”
For a brief second, I recalled CJ saying that Austin was where he currently called home. Of course, over two million other people did also. And there was the parting of ways—back to real life.
“It’s short notice, but we’ll get Montgomery security on it,” Adam said.
“Jeremy said he would call Kelsey, but I know between the two of you, you’ll get it worked out.”
“You can take her if you want. I’m going too.”
The whiskey must be working as I felt my cheeks rise. “This employee thing means I tell you.”
“Right, you did. I’m going.”
Taking a deep breath and letting it out, I looked over at my satchel on the seat beside Adam. “Hand me that. After lunch, I’ll look at the bios. Do you have any idea how many employees Architech employed?”
“That hasn’t exactly been on my radar.”
I rolled my eyes. “Mine either. I guess that’s about to change.”
Chapter Fifteen
Lena
“I emailed you the list,” I said to Jeremy as we walked together toward the Montgomery Holdings business jet. The sun had yet to rise. Nevertheless, in my standard skirt, blouse, blazer, and high-heels, I was ready to embrace the Lena Montgomery. In full disclosure, I was also prepared to get away, if only for a day.
The volume of Jeremy’s deep baritone voice increased in volume due to the roar of nearby engines. “I looked at it briefly this morning, but I’m going to study it more on the plane. There was one name missing.”
My volume also rose to the point I was nearly shouting. “You told me to make the list. If you wanted a say in it, you could have made it and saved me the time.”
Jeremy lifted his hands with a grin before motioning for me to go up the steps into the plane. It was the same plane I flew in from New York less than fifteen hours ago. It was the plane I and others in my company regularly used. The only time I hadn’t was to my hideout week.
Enough about that. This was real life.
Simply stepping into the fuselage lowered the extraneous noise.
“Ms. Montgomery, Mr. Wilde,” Liz said with her ever-present smile.
I simply nodded, more interested in Jeremy’s and my conversation than Liz’s greeting. Adam and Kelsey were a step behind us. Leading the way, I went back to the second set of seats and placing my purse in the seat to my side, sat. Jeremy took the seat opposite mine. The placement of the bag was a not-so-subtle hint that Adam and Kelsey were welcome to sit elsewhere.
After taking off his suit coat, Jeremy buckled his seat belt, and continued speaking. “Hear me out. Chandler Thompson truly wants to continue working with Architech.”
“It’s not Architech any longer, not the one he helped create. It’s a Venus subsidiary, a Montgomery subsidiary. We paid over two hundred million for their technology. The last thing we need is a leech hanging on and possibly causing upheaval with the other retained employees.”
Jeremy’s lips were pressed in a straight line. His dark orbs were on me. I’d seen this look before. He had a point to make and he planned to do so. There was no doubt I’d managed to surround myself with handsome men even if they were mostly off-limits.
Today Jeremy’s dark hair was plaited in tight braids giving him a professional appearance. It worked for him. While Kelsey might have been right that Jeremy could rock the surfing cat shirt, I admired the way he filled out his blue suit even without the jacket and tie.
“I’m glad you’re along on this trip,” he said. “You can be the one to tell Chandler.”
I shrugged and narrowed my gaze. “Surely you know me better than that. Firing people doesn’t lose me any sleep. Hell, this isn’t even firing. It’s not retaining.”
Jeremy shook his head. “All I can say is I’ve met the guy on more than one occasion. He’s smart. He created the technology that is already making us money. He has a lot to offer, and I don’t get the sense that he has nefarious motives. I think the guy genuinely wants to stay on.”
“Then why sell?”
“Two hundred and twenty million reasons.”
“Take the money and run.”
Jeremy narrowed his gaze. “When you and I met, we were younger, but we had similar drives.”
I nodded, wondering why we were taking a walk down memory lane.
“Did you stop at your first million?”
“We paid a lot more than one million.”
“My point is,” he said, “Chandler shares our drive. His brother” —Jeremy shrugged— “not so much. Colton is a nice guy, but I get the feeling he’s content with the dollar signs.”
“Chandler isn’t,” I said. “Fine. He can use his windfall to create a never-dreamed-of new technology or turn it into a billion. I don’t care.” I took my laptop out of my bag, placing it on the table. “We can discuss this situation more.”
Liz appeared at our side. “Archie is about to take off. He said it will be three and a half hours from wheels up to wheels down.”
I glanced at my watch. Nothing that waking before four in the morning won’t accomplish. With the time difference we’d arrive before eleven o’clock in Austin. Jeremy had the meeting set with the employees for one. Before that we were scheduled to meet with the Thompson brothers. “Thank you, Liz.”
“Would the two of you like anything before we take off?”
“Coffee,” Jeremy and I said in unison.
Once she was gone, he smiled. “Caffeine type of morning.”
Opening my eyes with a sigh, I rubbed my forehead and nodded. “Can we agree that there are less expensive cities to locate Architech?”
Jeremy nodded. “I’ve informed Colton that we’re currently looking at space in a few different states. I’ve got people looking into the tax breaks and ramifications.”
“Good,” I said.
Jeremy’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Girl, how are you holding up?”
“With duct tape and chicken wire, but I don’t have any other choice.”
“Anything new on the handwriting?”
I shook my head.
His gaze shimmered. “You need another week in paradise with that sexy man.”
My cheeks rose as my lips curled into a smile. “I never said he was sexy.”
“You didn’t have to. I heard it in your voice every time I called.”
“Yeah, well, that wasn’t real life. This is.”
By the time the plane left the ground, we both had our laptops booted up and cups of coffee before us.
“Willingness to relocate is a consideration for retention. I also looked at overlap,” I began. “Under the Montgomery Holdings umbrella, we don’t need two identical departments. It creates chaos and confusion.”
For the next nearly two hours, we went through each of Architech’s forty-two employees as well as the two previous owners.
Jeremy said, “I planned meeting with the Thompsons first and then addressing the employees as a whole. Once that’s done, any individual employee who wants to speak to me may. I’ve had the severance packages worked out for over a week. Now with this list, Gigi is getting the right package assigned to the right employee. Again, nothing is settled until each employee agrees. Our HR team has been on this for a week on the ground in Austin, working out the preliminaries.”
I looked over at my friend. “I’m sorry it’s taken so long for me to get this list worked out. My mind…”
Jeremy reached across the table, turning his hand palm up. With a grin, I took his hand as his grasp surrounded mine.
“Lena, this will end, and you know those two people behind me would never let anything happen to you.”
“I know.” I exhaled. “It’s the randomness that’s getting to me. Nothing happens for two or three weeks, then in one day two fish are found. Add to that, the candy and hell, the guy with the gun... No one should have known I was there. My house, fine—not fine, but you know what I mean.”
“It’s exhausting. I get it.”
Nodding, I briefly closed my eyes and inhaled.
“Any news on Madison?” Jeremy asked.
I looked around for Liz. When I caught her eye, I lifted my coffee cup. Her nod meant she would arrive with a refill. Turning back to Jeremy, I answered. “It’s looking good that Wisconsin will lower her charge to a class F felony. The psychiatric reports put her capable of going to court, but not of taking care of herself. They’re concerned that she could be a danger to herself or others if rightly provoked. If they change the charge, she can agree to mandated treatment at a secure facility.”
“Have Donovan or Julia chimed in?”
I shook my head. “No, they support me supporting Madison. Van said he’d drop all charges, but he can’t. It’s the state vs. Madison Thomas.”
Jeremy sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you ever feel like screaming?”
Warmth filled my cheeks as I grinned. “I did a few times in paradise.”
“Details please.” He looked at his watch. “We have over an hour before we get to Austin and a three-and-a-half-hour flight home. Come on, spill.”
I shook my head. “I want to keep it.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “Close to the heart.”
“It’s nothing and something. I blocked his number.” Sighing, I looked at my friend. “Firing people is easier than that was. Telling this Chandler guy to go on with his life will be a cakewalk.” I shrugged. “I couldn’t say goodbye to CJ, not again.”
“He got to you.”
Liz appeared with the coffee pot. “Would you like breakfast before we land?”
A peek out the side window told me that the sun was up, and the day had started.
“Yes,” I replied. “Fruit, yogurt, and granola.”
Liz nodded and turned to Jeremy. After he ordered a breakfast sandwich, Liz walked away.
“He got to you,” Jeremy repeated.
“It’s that I’m in a weird place with everything happening. I guess I could say it was refreshing to let my guard down. I can’t do that in real life. I can’t do that today in the meetings. The impenetrable walls keep me detached.”
“You’ve let me in.”
I smiled. “You’re different.”
“Speaking of the Shermans, did I tell you that Donovan called while you were away?”
“Don’t tell me that he heard I was gone and wanted to invoke his right to temporarily run Montgomery.”
Jeremy smiled. “He called about Architech. Wanted the details.”
“Sorry, Van. I beat you to this one.”
“That’s what he said. He also offered to double whatever I make with you to start working for him.” Jeremy furrowed his brow. “I think he could have been serious.”
“You can’t leave me.”
“No worries. I told him that no number of zeros could get me to leave.”
I sat taller. “See, if Chandler Thompson didn’t want to sell, the same would be true. He sold. It’s time for him to go.”
“No one knows the technology like he does.”
“You really want to retain him?” I asked.
“My gut tells me it would be the smartest move. What if something goes wrong or needs to be tweaked? Chandler knows all the ins and outs. You yourself said this technology is a gold mine. The purchase price will be made up in profits, but not if we can’t manage what we have.”
“Surely someone else—”
Jeremy shook his head. “I gave you the bios. There are some excellent employees, but the nuts and bolts, that has always been the Thompson brothers. I think we’d be foolish to turn down this opportunity.”
Chapter Sixteen
Chandler
“I’m not a fan of suits,” I said to Colton as I tugged on the sleeve of the suit coat. Together we were standing in what used to be his office at what was Architech, the company we’d created from the ground up. The company name and everything else about it was no longer our decision.
When I turned my brother’s direction, the empty bookcases and lack of furniture hit me like a punch in the gut. “Hard to believe that after today we may never step foot back in this building.”
Colton nodded. “It sounds as if Venus is planning a move, a physical move—out of Austin. Out of Texas. They’re inquiring and have the possibilities down to three or four cities, all in different states. I’ve talked to some of the people out there” —he tilted his head toward the door— “and most people are willing to make the move to stay with Architech.”
“I’m willing,” I admitted. “Talking to Jeremy over the last few weeks, I felt pretty good about the ability to stay on, but now…now that it’s the day, I’m getting a bad vibe.”
“Listen to me. It feels good, cutting the cord. Just think, you could spend more amazing weeks in Cancún.”
I scoffed. “It wasn’t the place that made the week fantastic.”
“Have you called her?”
“The way the call drops, I think she blocked my number.”
Colton’s eyes opened wide. “Oh fuck. I’m sorry.”
Leaning against the wall, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Maybe I’m stupid, but I don’t think she blocked me because she doesn’t like me, but because she does. At least that’s what I’m holding onto. We agreed on one week. Worst agreement ever made.”
“Worse than selling Architech, that’s big.”
“I’m staying with Venus, barring a restraining order.”
Colton laughed. “Yeah, you can be tenacious.” His expression sobered. “You’ll meet that special someone. Give it time.”
I thought I had. I didn’t go to Cancún to meet my forever, but now that time has passed without Lena’s smile and laugh, without waking up with her sexy body at my side, I realized that she was someone special, maybe not mine but definitely special.
“Maybe that someone is in a new city,” I said, “wherever Venus takes Architech.”
The door to the office opened as Peter, our top assistant, peered inside. “Jeremy Wilde just called. Their plane has landed.”
The coffee in my gut churned as my gaze went from Peter to my brother. “It’s showtime.”
“He also said,” Peter added, “that the owner of Venus is with him, a Ms. Montgomery.”
Colton stood taller as he inhaled. “Big guns.”
