Chapter 32
The need for a drink had brought Aleks to Razor Jack’s. The chance of running into his employers at the hotel bar was too high and the thought of drinking in his room had been too damn depressing. So, he’d come to the one bar in the city he knew.
Who was he kidding? He’d come here hoping against hope to see Portia. He’d automatically headed for her corner and there she was. Like he’d conjured her from a dream.
What he hadn’t expected was the cluster of people at her table. He studied the faces around her. Killian St. John he recognized and nodded in greeting. He smiled at Dizzie. “Nice to see you again.”
She smiled back. Her gaze bounced from him to Portia and back. Something like humor lingered in her gaze.
Aleks didn’t recognize the wiry man who stood next to the table. He’d straightened from a lean when Aleks had spoken. He didn’t look like a fighter, though Aleks had met enough wiry guys to know they could be scrappy.
The woman standing next to him, though. She was a survivor. He recognized the look in her eyes and the way she held herself. She uncrossed her arms and let them drop loosely to her sides. A simple but effective way to show him her wicked-looking cyberarm.
Yep, she was the threat. But like Dizzie, she studied him with interest and curiosity.
“Your father’s back?” Aleks repeated when no one answered his question. “Where has he been? How long? What does he want?”
“Who the hell are you?” the wiry guy asked. “This doesn’t concern you.”
“It’s okay, Ash,” Portia said before the tension ratcheted up any higher. “Aleksander Lind, meet Ash Cutter. Ash, meet Aleksander Lind, employee of the Solveig Consortium.”
“Gotcha,” Ash said, looking between Aleks and Portia. He didn’t offer his hand or apologize or make any of the social niceties. That was fine with Aleks.
“The woman next to Ash is the Jack.”
“I like your place,” Aleks said.
“Thanks,” she said simply. “I do too.”
“What are you doing here, Aleks, I mean, Mr. Lind?”
Aleks wanted to laugh at the correction, but the fact that she was trying to whitewash their relationship hurt. Which was absolutely ridiculous, because he’d done the exact same thing at the meeting.
“You think he’s back to take over the company,” he said, focusing on the more immediate issue.
She nodded, lips pressed tight together.
“Isn’t that his right?”
Portia pursed her lips. “No. Possession is nine-tenths of the law.”
He raised a brow. “That’s probably stretching it a bit.”
“I don’t care,” Portia said mulishly. “He’s not taking my company. He abandoned it and now it belongs to me.”
Aleks was aware of the others paying close attention to their conversation. He’d prefer to get her alone. To hold her and tell her it would be all right because he wouldn’t let anyone hurt her, but that wasn’t his job. His job was to learn as much as he could and report back.
That job description no longer felt right.
“Should we table this discussion until later?” Ash asked.
Portia studied Aleks for a long moment. He implored her with his gaze to let him stay. Finally, she gave him a slight nod. “No. It’s okay.”
“Are you sure you can trust this guy?” Ash again.
If he didn’t stop trying to undermine Aleks, they were going to have words.
“As much as I trust anyone,” Portia said, her tone cool.
“That’s good,” Ash said, “because I don’t think we have a lot of time to deal with your father.”
“Why do you say that?” Portia asked with a tilt of her head.
“He’s obviously back for a reason. Maybe it’s because of them,” Ash pointed at Aleks, “or maybe it’s because you’ve made the connection with the Tremaine Corporation and Vyne. Whatever it was, it was obviously important enough to bring him out of hiding.”
“And?”
“And what would be more important than getting his former glory back?”
His question was met with murmurs of agreement.
“Your dad wants back in and he’s used to getting his way. I don’t know where he’s been, but until the bombing, he ran the company for what, twenty, twenty-five years on his own?”
“My grandfather died when I was three. So yes, twenty-five is about right.”
“Not only isn’t he going to let go of the company easily,” Ash said, “he’s probably got at least one backdoor into the system, if not more.”
Portia paled. “Sonofabitch.” She rubbed her brow. “My father isn’t a hacker. How would he do that?”
Ash shrugged. “Probably found a hacker to do it. Paid them off or maybe—” He stopped speaking and mimicked a blade over the throat.
She frowned. “Did you do that for him?”
He shook his head. “No. It’s just a guess, Portia, and it probably happened years ago.”
She spun her glass around on the table, watching the liquid slosh up the sides. Aleks remembered her doing that the night they met too. “Did you find backdoors or workarounds while you were sneaking around my systems?” she asked without looking up.
“A few,” Ash admitted. “Though I don’t know who used them or who put them there. We can try to cut him off at the pass. Make some educated guesses like overriding his building access and access to your office.”
“Can you cut him out of the whole system?” Aleks asked.
Ash took a few seconds to think about that. “I can try, but it could take days or weeks to find any and all access points.”
“We definitely don’t have that kind of time,” Portia agreed.
“What about people loyal to him? He ran the company for years. Does he have people in place he can use as proxies?” It was an obvious question to Aleks. Computers and technology may run everything, but it was the people-to-people connections that made and broke companies.
Portia rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Fewer than there were, but probably more than I know about.”
“You think he still has loyalists in the company?” Killian asked. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“When?” Portia asked. “It’s not like we’ve been on speaking terms most of the year.”
He ran his hand through his hair. “Right. But you could have told me.”
She sighed. “I’ve barely been keeping my head above water, Killian, fixing all the problems my father’s absence created. Every time I turn around, there’s a new problem from one of his old programs. I’ve eliminated some of his old cronies, but I have no idea who’s on his side. How would I?”
“I think a lot of people are loyal to the company, not a specific person,” Dizzie said.
Everyone looked at her. “What do you mean?” Portia asked.
“People like me were so far down the corporate ladder, you and your father were really just names. It never felt like you had a direct impact on our lives.”
“You were loyal to the company when you were a courier?” Portia’s tone said she didn’t believe her.
Dizzie shrugged. “I didn’t think in terms of loyalty. At least not to the company. I was loyal to my friends. Mostly, I did my job and dreamed of paying off my contract. I wasn’t disloyal. I just didn’t think about it at all.”
“Well, that’s helpful,” Portia snapped.
“I wasn’t alone, Portia. The company may have raised us, but it also kept us on a financial leash. Most of the people on the lower rungs just want to live their lives with as little interference from above as possible.”
Portia dropped her head to the table with a thunk. The action took everyone at the table by surprise.
Aleks circled around the Jack and Ash and placed a hand on Portia’s shoulder. “Are you okay?” He ached to pull her into his arms and comfort her.
Portia raised her head. “No, not really. Everything I’ve worked for is falling apart, my father’s back, and my company is a shithole.” She took a deep breath.
“Maybe Dizzie’s right. Maybe with all the shady shit that my father did, the company isn’t worth saving. Maybe I should just abandon it to the Solveigs and walk away.”
“Anyone got a direct line to the newsies?” the Jack asked.
Everyone’s heads swiveled toward her. Portia sat up and glared at the other woman. “What the hell? I thought I could trust you with this.”
The Jack sneered. “Oh, you think I’d be calling them about your business problems?” She snorted. “Nah, I just want to let them know to change your nickname. You’re not the Ice Queen. You’re a fucking drama queen.”
Against the shocked silence around the table, Portia’s gasp was loud. Loud, angry, and horrified all at once. Aleks choked back a laugh.
“How dare you?”
“Aw, is the poor little rich girl getting mad? About damn time!”
Aleks turned away because he did not want to piss off Portia by laughing. Dizzie didn’t seem to have that concern, because her laugh rang out around the table.
“She’s right, Portia,” Killian said. “You’ve faced worse than this. If anyone can do this, it’s you. But you’ve got to commit, because we’re all risking something by helping you.”
Portia glared at the Jack. “Fine. I get what you’re saying, but you didn’t have to be such a bitch about it.”
“Right,” the Jack said. “Because you were just going to pull out of that spiral on your own.”
“You have my support whatever you decide to do, Portia. Whatever you need, I’m here,” Killian said. “As long as it doesn’t harm Dizzie,” he added.
“Mine, too,” Dizzie added. “But I’m not going with the Solveigs. That I refuse to do.” She glared at Aleks when she said it.
“Can you keep the investors calm, Killian? Make sure none of them sell to the Solveig Consortium?” Portia asked.
“I’m on it,” he said.
Ash and the Jack weren’t as quick to align themselves with her.
“I prefer to keep my business separate from the corporations. I don’t need the scrutiny or trouble that comes with the multinationals,” the Jack said.
Portia nodded.” I understand.”
“That said, we’re already intertwined and there haven’t been any serious repercussions. Yet. I’ll provide what assistance I can when possible. For a price.”
Ash elbowed her and she sighed. “Fine, I’ll give you the friends and family discount, but that’s as low as I can go.”
Portia looked surprised. “Thank you.”
“Locating the Vyne lab will be our priority,” Ash said. “I’ll close the backdoors we talked about as soon as we’re done here. If you want others identified, you’ll need to find somebody else. Want me to put Mendez on it?”
Portia’s sigh was long-suffering. “If you think he’s up to it, then yes.”
“We don’t have a lot of options, you know.”
“Fine, do it.” She rolled her eyes.
“What about me?” Everyone’s gaze laser-focused on Aleks.
“Just don’t tell your employers.” Portia looked up at him, her eyes pleading.
“I won’t.” The words felt like a vow.