Midnight’s Queen (Stroke of Midnight #3)

Chapter 25

Aleks held the door to the conference room open. Two Solveig Consortium security personnel entered first. They brushed by him in their stark black uniforms, reminders of what could have been. The jealousy wasn’t as strong as it usually was. He filed away that little tidbit, then focused on his job: the meeting with Portia and Dizzie.

“Clear.”

Aleks rolled his eyes. Of course, the room was clear. The hotel had been selected as neutral ground. Portia hadn’t even offered a room in Tremaine headquarters, smart enough to recognize that the Solveigs wouldn’t accept.

“After you, Mr. Solveig. Mrs. Solveig,” he said to the couple who stood just behind him. He stepped out of the way to let his employers pass into the room. Agnarr Solveig entered first, moving stiffly with age. His gray hair almost matched his gray suit. His wife, Iduna, followed. Gray hair perfectly styled, she wore a black dress and sensible black shoes.

She stopped just inside the doorway and sniffed haughtily. “It will do, I suppose.”

“Come, dear, let us take our seats,” her husband said.

Aleks waited until they had cleared the doorway, before entering the room. He was followed by four more security personnel. His gut twisted. A half-dozen guards seemed like overkill to him. Surely, the Solveigs weren’t concerned for their safety. His mind conjured up a dozen possibilities for that number of guards, ranging from assassination attempts to corporate espionage.

He turned to close the door and to hide his wince. If he showed any hint of weakness now, they would likely demand that he leave the meeting. And he couldn’t leave Portia alone with them.

That thought pinged around his head with all the others. Ruthlessly stuffing them all down, he faced his employers.

They’d seated themselves at the head of the table on the other side of the room. Security had taken up positions around them, fanning out to the halfway point of the table.

There was an energy to the Solveigs that he’d never seen before. The CEO and her husband rarely traveled together. She preferred to remain close to headquarters, managing the company with an iron fist.

Usually subdued—the loss of her youngest daughter had haunted her for years—she was practically vibrating in her seat. When Dizzie’s existence had made international news several months ago, Iduna Solveig had immediately wanted to rush to Seattle to meet her. Security had discouraged it, citing the continued chaos at the Tremaine Corporation.

Phillip Tremaine’s absence and Portia’s steady leadership had seemed to calm some of her security team’s fears. First, they’d sent a reconnaissance team. Then Aleks had been sent ahead for further study and to make the arrangements.

Initially, he’d had no qualms about getting close to Portia. The Tremaines were responsible for the turn his life had taken when the implant had failed.

And then he’d met her. Seen the softness under her Ice Queen reputation. Never to be confused with weakness. That woman had survived some serious shit this last year.

A small stab of guilt pierced his heart. He was very afraid that he was developing real feelings for her, but his first loyalty had to be to the company. Right? They’d given him a job when all the Tremaine Corporation had done was given him a faulty implant.

“Good morning. I trust you slept well,” he said, his tone formal, his manner respectful. He couldn’t imagine treating the Solveigs with the same informality that had grown between him and Portia.

Mrs. Solveig waved away his greeting. “Where is she? When can we see her?”

The only other time he’d seen them so animated was right before he had left for Seattle. Aleks glanced at his watch. “We have five minutes until the official meeting time. Can I offer you something to drink in the meantime?” The hotel had offered a coffee service for the meeting, which he’d gratefully accepted.

“How dare they keep us waiting like this?”

Aleks bit his tongue. Nothing good would come of trying to reason with her. He wished that Portia and Dizzie would arrive early, but that was unlikely. Portia wouldn’t be at anyone’s beck and call, especially not the Solveigs. He’d even had trouble reaching her yesterday to confirm the meeting details.

Time crawled until, finally, the door opened. A Tremaine Security guard stepped inside. His gaze swept over the room’s occupants, then he stepped back and held the door open.

Dizzie entered first. Aleks immediately picked out her similarities to Portia. How could anyone not have seen them? Then again, he saw hints of the Solveigs in her features as well.

“Anna!” Mrs. Solveig gasped. She bolted up from her chair and likely would have rushed to meet her granddaughter, except Dizzie frowned and took a step backward.

Mr. Solveig tugged on his wife’s arm. She resisted until he said something that Aleks couldn’t hear.

Only when Mrs. Solveig was seated did Dizzie enter the room fully. She didn’t say anything as she took a seat at the other end of the table. Instead of taking the seat directly at the head, she sat just to the right.

The Solveigs scowled, but Aleks was intrigued. From everything Portia had said, she and Dizzie weren’t close. Yet, Dizzie was clearly aligning herself with Portia.

His breath caught when Portia entered the room. Her blue dress was all business and screamed power and control. Of course, he also admired the way it skimmed her body, highlighting the curves he knew intimately.

She entered the room with little fanfare, but she owned it. Even the Solveigs turned their attention to her. It was the first time he’d seen her fully embody the Ice Queen and it was sexy as hell. She was a woman to be reckoned with and the more time he spent with her, the more he wanted to be at her side while she kicked ass and took names.

That was the crux of his problem. He owed everything to the Solveig Consortium. How could he possibly leave them for another company? Because that’s what loving Portia would mean.

But that was a problem for another day. For now, he had to survive this meeting and ensure that his employers—and Portia—did too.

Portia nodded to the Tremaine Security guard in the doorway. He stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. She slid into the empty seat at the end of the table with a grace that Aleks admired.

The Solveig security team shifted nervously in their positions. Were they wondering how the two women dared appear here alone? Obviously, Tremaine Security was right outside, but anything could happen in the time it took them to enter the room. Nerves of steel must run in the family, because neither woman flinched under the scrutiny.

Tense silence hung in the air and no one appeared in a hurry to break it. Until Dizzie spoke.

“You said you wanted to meet me. Here I am.” She held her hands out in a questioning gesture.

Aleks glanced at Portia, curious what she thought of her sister’s opening salvo. Her expression gave nothing away, but he swore he saw a twinkle in her eyes. Had they planned this? It certainly put the ball in his employers’ court.

They were stock still, staring at Dizzie.

Aleks took advantage of the moment to study Portia and Dizzie side by side. When Dizzie caught him looking, something flashed in her eyes and then a corner of her mouth tipped up in a smile. What did that mean?

The silence stretched too long and Aleks stepped in to fill it. “Allow me to make the formal introductions.” He hesitated, realizing that to do this, he would need to snub Portia, since etiquette required he treat his employers as the senior party.

“Mrs. and Mr. Solveig, allow me to present Portia Tremaine, CEO of the Tremaine Corporation. And her sister, Dizzie—” Oh crap, he didn’t know what last name to use.

“St. John,” Dizzie added smoothly.

Portia jerked to face her sister. Dizzie smiled serenely and gave a slight nod.

Holy shit. That was something he hadn’t seen coming.

Apparently neither had Portia. He hoped he’d have a chance after this to talk to her about it, to see how she was taking the news.

But he couldn’t deal with that right now. He had a meeting to facilitate.

“Ms. Tremaine, Mrs. St. John, I’d like to introduce you to Mrs. Iduna Solveig, CEO of the Solveig Consortium and her husband, Mr. Agnarr Solveig.”

Grim-faced nods from both sides of the table.

“Now that we all know each other, shall we get down to business?”