Chapter 27
Aleks got one last glimpse of Portia before the Tremaine Security guard closed the door behind her. Despite her departure, Mrs. Solveig continued to hurl vitriol at her.
“That woman brainwashed my granddaughter. Why would she want to stay in this horrible city with these horrible people?”
Behind her, one of the Solveig security personnel quietly set her chair upright, then stepped back to his position against the wall.
Her husband grabbed her hand. Cradling it between his palms, he patted it soothingly. She wrenched her hand free, then dropped into her chair with a wail.
Aleks hid his wince. The high-pitched sound battered his ears, but he couldn’t let his discomfort show.
“You!”
He should have known that he would be her next target. “Yes, ma’am?’
“This is your fault. You were supposed to set up a meeting with our granddaughter, not that, that... ”
She trailed off and looked to her husband for a suitable word. He shrugged.
Aleks wished he could do that. Instead, he had to sit here and take whatever abuse she hurled at him with a smile. Like always.
“Why was that woman here?”
Aleks chose his words carefully. “Ms. Tremaine was here because Mrs. St. John requested her presence.”
“Her name is Solveig, not St. John.”
“Why are you concerned that she’s married?” He honestly didn’t understand. From his meeting with Killian St. John, the other man seemed a standup guy. And the sparkle in Dizzie’s eyes and the joy in her voice when she’d announced her marriage—well, that didn’t seem like any kind of problem to him. In fact, that was the kind of thing he dreamed about.
What made the situation even stranger was that Aleks had always believed that the Solveigs had a loving marriage. Had it all been for show? Or had grief and the last six months broken that? Wouldn’t they want that for their granddaughter?
“The marriage is obviously a way to trap her into staying in Seattle and under Tremaine control,” Mrs. Solveig said. “We’ll need to start the paperwork for an annulment immediately.”
She shot him an icy look. Portia did it better. Was it wrong to be amused by that thought?
“Does Portia Tremaine always travel with an armed contingent of guards?” she asked.
He worded his response carefully. “I can’t say.” More like wouldn’t say, but no way would he jeopardize Portia like that. “My meetings with her have been at the Tremaine Corporation headquarters or over the phone.”
“Hmmm,” she said, studying him closely. “And what about this rumored new man in her life?”
Aleks nearly swallowed his tongue. “Pardon?”
She sniffed. “Obviously you haven’t been taking your job here very seriously. I expected you to stay on top of all the news about the company.” Pulling a tablet from her purse, she swiped across a few screens, then slid it across the table. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
The image on the screen had obviously come from the drone he’d taken down. Fortunately, the fog and the buildings’ shadows made the image nearly dark, with few clear details. Just Portia’s blond hair barely visible over his shoulder.
He was so thankful that he hadn’t worn that same jacket today. Likely he could never wear it again, but that was a small price to pay for keeping his relationship with Portia secret.
His brain whirred with possible reactions, most of them focused on protecting Portia from the Solveigs. He settled on, “Sorry, I must have missed that.”
Would she accept it?
“Of course you did. If I didn’t know your implant had failed from the beginning, I’d think that she had tweaked it somehow,” she sniped. “Remind me to send someone more qualified next time. Have you found anything useful about the company that we can use against them?”
The familiar fire burned in his belly at her casual dismissal. All these years, he’d taken it because he’d been told he should be grateful. That he should be pissed at the Tremaine Corporation for the faulty implant in his head. But since he’d been in Seattle, Portia had treated him like anyone else. Warm at times, cold at others, burning hot in his arms in the best moments. But she’d never treated him as lesser. Compared to the people he’d known for years, that was huge.
“Nothing yet,” he lied. He’d keep the secret of Vyne’s origins for Portia. He might not be able to hide it forever, but he’d give her time to solve her problem. “I have some feelers out,” he said.
“Imbecile,” she muttered under her breath. “Get this situation under control. I expect results soon.”
She stood again, as did her husband, who took her elbow. Aleks stood out of respect. Bracketed by guards in front and behind, the couple filed out of the conference room.
Aleks sat and dropped his head into his hands. This whole assignment was getting out of hand. His loyalty was being tested and for the first time, he honestly didn’t know who he would choose.
His brain immediately contradicted that, throwing memory after memory of Portia at him.
Shit, how was he going to get out of this?