Chapter 14
Aleks stared at the door, his spinning thoughts nearly drowning out the ringing phone.
Dammit! He just needed a minute to focus. Why couldn’t they leave a message and let him call back?
He grimaced. He knew why. The Solveigs were used to getting their way—as the owners of the company, no one ever told them no. Given that everyone here in Seattle had turned down their offers, this conversation was going to be fucking delightful. He wished, not for the first time, that he could just quit this job. But where would he go? When his implant had been classified as a failure, the Solveigs had kept him employed. They could have easily sent him to work in the factories instead.
The ringing stopped for one blessed moment of silence before starting up again.
Aleks grabbed his shirt and pulled it on. It was time to man up and deal with his employers. He counted to ten, focusing his thoughts as best he could, before picking up the phone. “Yes?”
The expected tirade started immediately. “Where have you been? Why didn’t you answer immediately? You’re expected to report in regularly.” Mr. and Mrs. Solveig spoke over each other, nothing new.
He dropped onto the sofa as the words washed over him. “My apologies. I was... indisposed.” The Solveigs’ heads would explode if he admitted to having been making out with Portia Tremaine.
“Hmmph” was Mrs. Solveig’s only response. Aleks’s employers didn’t do sympathy. At least, not for the hired help.
“How were the meetings? How many investors have agreed to sell their shares?” Mr. Solveig asked eagerly.
This was the part he’d been dreading. “No one is willing to sell.” He spoke cautiously, then held the phone away from his ear while they threw question after question at him.
“Turn on the camera,” Mrs. Solveig demanded.
Smoothing his hand over his hair, he prayed that Portia hadn’t left any marks. No, that wasn’t right. He’d love it if she marked him. But for this call, he had to hope that they weren’t visible. Aleks shoved all thoughts of Portia away. He’d need all his wits about him to navigate this conversation.
Aleks turned on the camera feature and his employers filled the screen. In their late sixties, both had gone gray. Mrs. Solveig kept her hair in a short, sleek style that might have made her look younger if not for her perpetually sour expression. In contrast, Mr. Solveig was rounder, with rosy cheeks and a salt-and-pepper beard, but his expression was grave.
“What do you mean, they won’t sell their shares? Did you point out how much over market value we’re offering?”
“Yes, ma’am. I made that point several times. I think one or two may have been intrigued, but no one took me up on the offer.”
“Then you must have made a mistake,” Mrs. Solveig said.
Aleks bit back his response. Arguing with them never went well. “I met with Killian St. John today. He informed me that the other shareholders wouldn’t sell because they fear the Tremaine family.”
“This man, this coward—he’s the one who is squiring our granddaughter around?” Mr. Solveig asked.
Aleks nodded.
“He’s afraid of the Tremaine family?”
Aleks paused, considering everything St. John had told him. “No, he’s not afraid of the Tremaines. I believe he’s loyal to them. To Portia, at least.”
“Portia?” Mrs. Solveig asked.
Fuck. He’d slipped up. “Loyal to Portia Tremaine, not Phillip Tremaine,” he corrected quickly.
“Phillip Tremaine is dead.”
It would solve a great many problems if that was true, but no one had been able to prove it. “Presumed dead, according to the people I’ve spoken to.”
Mr. Solveig waved his caution away. “That bastard must be dead. His daughter is the only thing standing between Dizzie and her rightful place at the head of the company.”
He and his wife shared a long look, communicating without words the way some longtime couples could. There was a gleam in their eyes that made the hackles on Aleks’s neck stand up.
“All we have to do,” they said in unison, “is eliminate Portia Tremaine.”
His blood froze. They couldn’t have just... Aleks stared at the Solveigs. “What?”
“Removing Portia Tremaine from the picture will destabilize the Tremaine Corporation. No company can survive the loss of two CEOs in such quick succession. With her out of the way, our granddaughter will be able to step into the CEO position.”
There were so many layers to their plan that he could barely process them all. His brain latched onto the most obvious question. “Have you heard something to indicate that Dizzie wants to be CEO?”
Mrs. Solveig pinned him with a sharp gaze. “Does it matter?”
Aleks shook his head. “When you say eliminate P—, Ms. Tremaine, what do you mean?”
“Remove her from the CEO position by whatever means necessary.”
His gut churned. Sure, he solved problems for them, but they usually didn’t outright ask him to murder people.
Snuffing out the light that was Portia Tremaine? He didn’t think he could do it, but there was no way he could admit that.
His brain started to buzz. Fuck. Not now. He raised his hand to his head.
“Is there a problem, Aleks?”
He winced and rubbed his temple. “No, no problem. My head is spinning with options.” All of them bad.
They both stared at him for a long moment. “We trust you’ll choose the right one.”
“Of course.” Surely among all the options, there was one that didn’t involve killing Portia.
“Excellent. Once that is accomplished and Dizzie is at the head the company, we’ll begin the process of assimilating Tremaine into Solveig Consortium. Within the year, there should be no trace of the Tremaine Corporation—or family—left.”
Holy. Shit.
The Solveigs could hold their own in the backstabbing world of the multinational corporations, something they’d managed for decades, but this was unexpected. Honestly, he hadn’t thought they had it in them.
If only he’d been right.
Aleks swallowed hard. He couldn’t show any doubt. If he did, they could easily pull him off this task and replace him with someone who would have no compunctions about taking care of Portia.
“Timeline?” he asked.
Mr. Solveig looked at his wife. Whatever unspoken conversation they had ended with her pinched smile and sharp nod. “Sooner is better than later,” he said.
Well, that was no help. Aleks considered his words carefully. “It will take time if you don’t want this traced back to you.”
“I don’t care,” Mrs. Solveig snarled. “They must pay for taking our daughter from us.”
Mr. Solveig placed his hand over hers, a loving gesture Aleks had witnessed countless times before. Tonight was the first time it chilled his blood.
Who were these people? Was the loss of their daughter driving them to these new depths? Or had he just been blinded by gratitude when they gave him a purpose after his dreams had been ripped away?
“I’ve been seen with Portia Tremaine and would be the obvious suspect. St. John and the other investors could link any action to the consortium.” Aleks tried to thread the needle, without outright countering their orders.
Another one of those silent, married-people conversations. “An accident would be better. Our granddaughter will be able to take over more easily,” Mrs. Solveig said.
“But don’t make us wait too long, Aleks. Justice has been egregiously delayed,” her husband added.
“Of course.” Aleks nodded.
“We’re counting on you, Aleks. Don’t let us down.” With that, the screen went dark.
He dropped his phone next to him on the couch and grabbed his head with both hands. Once those words would have filled him with pride. Tonight, they sounded like a threat.
He’d known that his employers had unresolved issues with Phillip Tremaine. Anyone who worked for the Solveig Consortium knew that they held him responsible for their daughter’s death. Aleks knew they wanted revenge—he’d even hinted at it with Portia and St. John. But he’d never suspected that they would want an-eye-for-an-eye revenge.
Aleks had his instructions. His brain had already started working on the problem of eliminating Portia. Imagining the vibrant woman who was slowly coming back to life dead turned his stomach.
There had to be a way to subvert his orders. To find it, he would need to study every possible option. His head already hurt from using that much processing power... and it was only going to get worse.
Aleks lay on his back and closed his eyes, praying that he could find another way.