Chapter 28
“Bring Me to Life” - Evanescence
Pierce
I whistle as I walk down the corridor to my office. My assistant, Hillary, looks up as I approach. “Everything okay, Mr. St. James?”
Tossing her a wink, I move toward my door. “Better than okay.”
I’m not sure where my good mood came from, but I’m flying high.
Maeve and I have been seeing each other nearly every day since that atrocious date night, and I’d be lying if I said it hasn’t at least contributed to my feeling lighter.
I’m meeting her again tonight, and I’m already counting the hours.
“Before you go,” Hillary says, standing up from her desk, and I turn back to face her. “Did you get the memo I sent you earlier?”
I frown, trying to recall the various things I handled this morning. “I’m not sure. What about?”
“Dr. Hewitt called. He was trying to reach you. He heard about HavenNet and was concerned about continuing to fund the Wilson Foundation.”
At the mention of Maeve’s pride and joy, my nerves go on high alert. “Did you tell him I’d return the call?”
My assistant pulls back slightly. “No. Was I supposed to? I told him we’re not affiliated with the Foundation outside of our partnership through HavenNet, and that any of his concerns would need to be directed at them.”
I fight the urge to snap at her. Technically, she did the right thing.
Luminara Tech has no business interfering in things that don’t involve us directly.
Not only can we not afford the risk to our own reputation, but we’re far too busy creating life-changing technology to worry about small things like a single donor being displeased with a current partner of ours.
But this is Maeve we’re talking about. If Dr. Hewitt already called her, she’s probably freaking the fuck out right now.
“No, that’s fine,” I tell Hillary. “I’ll handle it from here.”
She gives me a surprised look but nods. “Okay.”
I walk into my office, already pulling up Hewitt’s contact info on my phone.
He answers on the third ring. “Pierce St. James,” he says, sounding jovial. “What can I do for you?”
“Sorry to bother you.” I take a seat at my desk. “My assistant told me you called earlier about the Wilson Foundation.”
“Ah, yes.” He clicks his tongue. “You know Lord Wilson is a friend of mine, but I can’t help but be concerned about the direction things have taken in the past few years.”
“Can I ask what kinds of things we’re talking about?” I lean back in my chair as he tells me about various vague insinuations and miscommunications. “I can assure you those were nothing but rumors.”
He sighs heavily into the phone. “I’ll be honest with you, Pierce. I’m just not comfortable with his daughter leading the organization. She doesn’t seem capable.”
I press a fist to my mouth to keep from saying what I really want to.
Maeve is far more capable than her asshat of a father ever was.
“I know Maeve quite well. We’ve been friends a long time,” I say, although one could argue that what we are now is a far cry from “friends.” “She is definitely capable of leading the Foundation.”
“I’m just not sure . . .” Hewitt trails off, hesitation still lingering in his voice.
“She’s got the most brilliant mind of anyone I’ve ever met,” I say.
“Her ability to lead a team, to rally them around a central cause, is remarkable. In the three years she’s been at the helm, the Wilson Foundation has doubled its annual donations, which is the only reason we were able to create HavenNet.
There were some mishaps there, yes, but none of those were Maeve’s fault. ”
“I’ll admit, the HavenNet fiasco has been the main cause for my concern,” he says.
“It was a major disaster on all fronts, but Maeve is leading us toward a rebrand and relaunch. The final product will be even better than the original. I don’t think you’ll have any regrets if you continue your sponsorship.”
Hewitt sighs again, then lets out a small chuckle. “Well, lad, I must say, you put up a fine argument for the girl. You sure you’re only friends?”