Chapter 14
14
River
“ C hrista doesn’t know where we stand. She doesn’t know how this might work for us in the long term. And frankly, we weren’t too clear about it either,” Cassius says during a conversation regarding Christa’s refusal to tell us what’s really going on.
“Even so, we’ve been here for her. For anything. And she knows that. We deserve better than what she was about to pull.”
He gives me a wry smile. “You’re still mad.”
“A little hurt, maybe.”
“And then Teagan came in—”
“Oh, don’t get me started,” I groan and rub my face with both hands. “The timing that girl has is nothing short of catastrophic.”
“Truer words have never been spoken.”
“We’re partially responsible. We could’ve kept our distance.”
Cassius sighs deeply. “Come on, River. You know that wasn’t an option from the moment Christa walked into the chapel and we saw her again for the first time in seven years.”
“I guess. I don’t know, man, I feel bad about the whole thing, but I don’t want to put an end to it either.”
“We don’t have to end it. Christa doesn’t want to,” Cassius says.
“For now. She’s still spooked and on edge. I have a feeling she’s going to try to run again. We can’t hold her against her will.”
“Whatever she brought back with her from LA, it’s big and dark enough to generate a reaction,” he says. “We should do a little digging on our own. Independently.”
“Nathan has the right connections,” I suggest.
Cassius nods slowly. “He’s already on it. The sooner we figure out what happened with Perry-Sage that scared her this badly, the better.”
“She’s trying to protect us,” I chuckle lightly. “It’s endearing, really.”
We’re in agreement there. Our approach may differ slightly outside the bedroom, so to speak, but my brothers and I are working toward the same goal: keeping Christa in our lives. For the rest of our lives.
“I think she needs us now more than ever.”
Cassius is about to agree when Alexandra interrupts us, walking in with a perky smile and a green folder in one hand. “Good morning, gentlemen. Am I interrupting?”
“Not at all,” I say, giving her a polite smile.
“I was hoping I could have a word with you about the equipment order,” she says, and Cassius gets up from his chair on the far side of my desk.
“River can handle that. I need to leave for a couple of hours.”
“Not a problem,” she quips and waits for him to leave.
As soon as the door closes behind my brother, the air in the room shifts, becomes charged with a subtle but unsettling kind of pressure. Alexandra hasn’t toned down any of her thinly veiled passes at me, but I can’t accuse her of creating a hostile work environment. There’s enough finesse in her approach that makes anything untoward she does difficult to prove.
Even so, I’m uneasy when she’s around.
“What’s wrong with the equipment?” I ask.
Alexandra takes my brother’s seat and hands me the folder. She lets our hands touch intentionally.
“You smell nice today,” she comments. “Musk and orange blossom, is it?”
“Tangerine, actually,” I reply with a flat smile. “You said you wanted to talk about equipment.”
“I do, yes,” she says. “I’m not sure we want to go with this particular line of windmills. They’re one generation too old, and I don’t think they’re worth the money. With your approval, I’d rather look in the northwestern market to see if we can find a vendor who will meet our demand with newer equipment.”
“That would cost more to transport. The mileage alone, the logistics of carrying each of the palettes and the cores… it’s a bit of a hassle, don’t you think?” I ask, looking over the figures listed in the green folder.
“I guess. But it’ll pay off in the long term. Newer equipment will last at least five more years before it breaks down. Especially if we invest in weekly maintenance protocols.”
“Fair enough. Do you have a vendor in mind?”
“I know of a few in the specific regions highlighted at the end of my report. I just thought I’d run it by you first, before I make an official suggestion.”
“Official suggestion?” I ask, slightly confused.
Alexandra gives me a soft smile. “At the next departmental meeting. When is the next one, by the way? It’s been a while since I’ve been with all three Hawthorne men in the same room.”
There’s a double entendre there, and I know it’s intentional. It’s also a tad frivolous, considering none of the Hawthorne men are interested in Alexandra beyond the professional scope—and even there, she’s more of a means to justify an end for us.
“We could lock an hour down somewhere toward the end of the week,” I cordially reply. “I’ll confirm with the guys by the end of the day.”
“Good. Thank you. I’ve got a good feeling about this, you know?”
I give her a curious look. “You do?”
“You know how to do good business, I’ll admit. The green energy project is insanely promising, but your expansion into the fintech market as well. That’s not just bold, it’s money begging to be made. I’m glad to see you growing your father’s business beyond the original steel mills.”
I chuckle lightly. “The mills still employ tens of thousands of people across the state, Alexandra. We’re doing alright with just that on our plate.”
“Oh, I’m well aware. It’s just that I’m rooting for each of your endeavors to run seamlessly. We all stand to profit from them. Speaking of fintech, how is Christa doing?”
“She’s brilliant,” I say without hesitation. “She understood the products and immediately built upon them. Personally, I’m impressed by how much she has been able to do in the relatively short time she’s been with us.”
“I hope Colin isn’t giving her any grief,” Alexandra mutters.
“He’s fine. Christa can handle herself. I wasn’t worried, truth be told. Colin may be rough around the edges and somewhat resistant to change, but he is one of the best in his field.”
“I guess all the great ones are difficult to work with until you figure out what makes them tick, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Was Christa the same? Difficult at first?”
I shake my head, fondly remembering our first work sessions together when she presented her vision on what our fintech products could do on top of what we had already agreed to.
“No, not at all. She knows what she’s doing, and it’s evident in every aspect of her work,” I tell Alexandra.
“I heard she worked wonders for the people at Perry-Sage on similar products.”
My interest is piqued, but my instincts are also flaring as I give Alexandra a curious glare. “How do you know about Perry-Sage? It’s supposed to be confidential.”
“It is,” she says with a delicate smile. “Don’t tell her I know. I’m aware of how much she values those nondisclosure agreements she had to sign.”
“What do you know about Perry-Sage?”
“Not much. Just that Christa was instrumental in developing several investment products that funneled billions into Perry-Sage. The clients were thrilled with their returns from the first six months,” Alexandra says. “I don’t know what happened with the company’s downfall, though. There are all sorts of rumors in the fintech field, but rumors aren’t truth.”
“Even so. What do the rumors say?”
Alexandra takes a deep breath, looking rather uncomfortable. If Christa won’t tell us anything, I might as well gather information from wherever I can get it. Whether it’s accurate remains to be seen.
“Well, it’s not good.” She sighs and lowers her gaze for a moment. “Of course, I’m not buying whatever those Perry-Sage lawyers tried to sell about their former employees in court, but apparently, a handful of inner-circle developers, Christa and others included, orchestrated a maneuver from within. Money laundering for criminals. Fraud. Embezzlement. That sort of thing. They could never prove it, of course, hence why the entire corporation went down.”
“I doubt Christa would’ve had a hand in any of that,” I immediately reply.
Alexandra is quick to agree. “No, absolutely. I’m not even suggesting otherwise. Just that maybe you should look into it. Get her side of the story. I have a friend who’s connected to the Perry-Sage higher-ups’ former legal counsel. If you’d like, I could call them.”
I think about it for a moment. I’m rather conflicted.
On the one hand, Christa might not like this. She’s been so secretive about her time at Perry-Sage, citing NDAs and trying so hard to keep her past buried. But after what happened the other night, I cannot bring myself to fully trust her again, not without knowing more. If Alexandra can get us the info we need, I don’t see any harm in it.
Finally, I conclude with a heavy sigh, “As long as you’re discrete about it. I have to admit I’d appreciate learning more about Perry-Sage.”
“Nobody will ever know,” Alexandra assures me.
It doesn’t make my uneasiness with Alexandra go away, but she might be useful, at least for gathering intel. Whatever Christa is running from must stem from what Alexandra is about to dig into.
“The more information we have, the better,” I say, my voice low.
A pang of guilt cuts through me, but it’s nowhere near as uncomfortable as the feeling I had when I realized Christa was about to disappear. It’s the one thing I want to prevent.
“I’ll see what I can find out, but you’re probably right. Christa is a great woman, a true professional in her field,” Alexandra says. “The fintech industry can be pretty cutthroat, to be honest. I get the importance of secrecy and nondisclosure agreements.”
“So do I.”
Yet this is about more than just our professional relationship here. Christa is involved with us on a much deeper, personal level. What happened at Perry-Sage is impacting that as well, which is why I’m fine digging into it without getting Christa involved.
Even if I’m not the one who’s doing the digging.