Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
ANA
I ’ve had an extremely interesting morning. I wasted no time in filling in the forms and then settled down to the real reason I’m here. I’m grateful for the privacy screens because I can work with no distractions and I spent the first hour familiarizing myself with the accounts I manage.
I am staggered by the sheer amount of money that passes through these books and eye-watering sums dance before my eyes as I delve into every transaction.
Many of these companies are unknown to me and I make a note of their names, intending on amassing information on them by feeding it back to my team in Russia when I head back to the hotel later on tonight. My intention is to discover every secret The Rose Foundation is hiding and if there is any connection to my family, I will know about it.
I’m aware my father was involved. I discovered the secret file he kept on it, but from what I could decipher, he merely donated several hundreds of thousands of dollars to it every year for tax advantages. There is no other reason I can tell why he would donate and knowing the woman who started it was a friend of my mother’s should be reason enough.
However, my brothers uncovered a connection to this business with an organization that my father was also involved with. One that is not so honorable and definitely more underhand. Is there a connection to them and if there is, will it lead to the answers we seek? It is my job to find out.
I’m unaware of my fellow workers and I’m surprised when David pops his head around the partition and smiles. “Fancy some lunch?”
“Excuse me.”
I’m confused, and he laughs softly. “Lunch, Ana. A necessary part of the day and a requirement in law to take a break.”
“I don’t take lunch.”
I’m annoyed at the intrusion and even more annoyed at the suggestive gleam in his eye as he shakes his head.
“You know what they say when all work and no play makes Ana a dull girl.”
“Then they’d be right.” I fire back because this situation needs shooting down in flames right from the start.
I say coolly, “Forgive me, David, but I have a lot of work to do to become acquainted with my position. I intend on working through lunch today, but thank you for the offer.”
He makes to speak and I say as an aside, “There is also my meeting with James Warner at two pm and I need the preparation time.”
“I see.” He shakes his head and chuckles softly. “Watch out for him, Ana.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s a smarmy son of a bitch who believes he’s God’s gift to women. There’s not a woman here who hasn’t fallen for his charms, and I doubt you will be the exception.”
“Then I will delight in proving you wrong, David.”
I fix him with a cool stare, leaving him in no doubt at all that I mean every word I say. “I am not here to find a love interest. I’m here to do a job that I’m being paid for, and that is all. You have my word on that.”
He appears a little taken aback and lowers his voice. “Listen honey, I know it’s your first day and you want to make a good impression, and I must commend you on that.”
I stare at him blankly as he whispers, “There really is no need. We’re not ogres here, and lunch is something you’re entitled to. Nobody will think any less of you for taking the hour and if you want to fit in here, it also involves making time to socialize with your colleagues.”
“Thanks for the advice, David. Maybe I can take a rain check on that lunch.”
I force a warm smile because he does have a point. Gossip can reveal many secrets that spreadsheets never can, but it’s not David I’ll be asking. The man who will be an invaluable directory of information to me is sitting in front of me now and isn’t interested in me in any other way than an ear to offload into. Perhaps I will take that drink after work and the man I’ll be accompanying will be my soon to be new best friend, Eric.
Just before two pm, I head to the door at the far end of the corridor as instructed. I’m fascinated to meet the current CEO of The Rose Foundation because by the sound of him, I’ll hate him on sight.
I’ve met men like him before who use their position of power to their advantage. Believing they own the right to control their staff to suit their agenda and I hate everything they stand for.
As I approach his door, I steel myself to meet a man who may hold all the answers I seek, but I remind myself to remain guarded around him. If he knew why I was really here, I would be out as quickly as I came and I mustn’t underestimate him at all.
At exactly two pm, I knock loudly on his door and hear a gruff, “Enter.”
As I push through the door, I notice him sitting at his desk and as he raises his eyes in my direction, we say at the same time. “You!”
He appears as shocked as I am and I wish I could disappear into thin air because how is this possible?
He stands and stares at me with a wild disbelief and shakes his head as if he doubts his own eyes. However, I keep my cool because I’ve been trained all my life for that and merely stare at him with a blank expression.
“This is awkward.” I remark and he raises his eyes.
“You think.”
He runs his fingers through his hair and it’s strangely endearing and I hate the way my heart is fluttering right now.
“Was last night part of some kind of plan?”
His words irritate the shit out of me and I snap, “Don’t flatter yourself. You were merely a means to an end.”
He raises his eyes. “So you didn’t know I was your new boss?”
“Of course not. What kind of woman do you take me for?”
He raises his eyes and I hiss, “Don’t answer that.”
I take several deep breaths and say with a slight cough, “Okay. We can’t change what happened, but we can agree never to speak of it again.”
“If that’s what you want.”
He shrugs, effectively dismissing me, and points to the chair in front of his desk.
“Welcome to The Rose Foundation, Miss Starling.”
His mouth twitches as I hold out my hand and say formally, “I’m pleased to meet you, Mr. Warner. Thank you for the opportunity.”
He raises his eyes and I note a hint of amusement in them and as his hand folds around mine, I hate the irresistible urge to hold on to it for longer than necessary .
“So, the Candyland account.”
He wastes no time in bringing us back to the reason for the meeting, and I nod, extricating my notes from the file I have read and then re-read several times already.
“I have some questions.”
He says nothing as I fix him with a blank expression. “They have been donating to The Rose Foundation for the last five years. The same amount every year, despite the fact their company accounts show their profits fall year on year.”
He raises his eyes and yet says nothing and I continue. “Their owner, Mr. Michael Harrison, insists on running the business himself with no board, or no heirs to his empire. He is considered out of touch and failing at business, caught in the past and disconnected with the future.”
I stare him straight in the eye and say coolly, “The one consistency on his balance sheet is the amount he pays to The Rose Foundation every year. Does that strike you as curious, Mr. Warner, because it raises many questions with me?”
He says nothing and merely stares at me with a blank expression, and it’s a tactic I’ve used many times myself over the years. It creates tension and usually prompts the person to carry on talking, but I’m too aware of it for that and merely stare back at him, waiting for an answer and wishing like hell I wasn’t having flashbacks to last night .
My heart races as I dwell on his dirty kisses, the slide of his skin against mine and the way his touch fired up my soul.
“You appear to have gone the extra mile with your investigations, Miss Starling. Surely it is no concern of ours how he spends his company’s money. If he chooses to donate a set amount each year, he must have his reasons and it makes no difference to us.”
“You disappoint me, Mr. Warner.”
I am dismissive and yet he appears amused by that.
“How?”
“You look at business in a one dimensional way. Money is all you consider and you disregard the bigger picture.”
I lean forward and stare him straight in the eye and say icily, “I expected more of you than that.”
You could cut the tension in the air crackling between us and then he arches his brow and says coolly, “If I disappoint you, Miss Starling, that is no concern of mine. I am not here to gain your approval and must remind you that it’s your job to impress me, not the other way around.”
He casts a disparaging look at the file open on his computer and says with no emotion. “Candyland is one of our biggest benefactors and is considerably important to us. Michael Harrison is a good man and a close personal friend of our owner and is treated accordingly. If he chooses to donate his dwindling profits to charity, I can only imagine it’s because he has no heirs to leave it to and wants to help unfortunate children and other such worthy causes. I fail to see the mystery in this, or the problem, so unless you have anything further to add, case closed. Move onto the next.”
For a moment, I say nothing and we stare at one another, both reluctant to be the one to back down.
Then I nod and gather the file together and say coolly, “Will that be all, sir?”
As I stare into his eyes with a composure I certainly don’t feel inside, his voice scratches against every nerve I possess as he drawls, “No, Miss Starling. That is most definitely not all.”