Chapter 53
“Are you sure everything is ready?” Portia asked. Again.
“Ease up, Portia.” Ash was getting annoyed, but Portia wanted—needed—this meeting to go well. If it did, the Solveigs would be out of their lives for hopefully ever.
“We control the video feeds. We have access to air traffic control if we need it.”
“And the flight’s on time?” She was never this micromanage-y, but this had to go right. It had to.
“Yes, the flight is about an hour away. It will be landing right about the time of your meeting.”
Portia paced across her office. “You and Mendez will be standing by for any technical help?”
“Yes, Portia. We’ve got this.”
He didn’t understand. Nobody did. No one knew how much she had riding on this transfer. Sure, she retained control of the Tremaine Corporation if the Solveig Consortium disappeared into the sunset. But that wasn’t all. Aleks would be free to come back to her.
Ash followed her movements with his gaze. “Sit down. You’re making me dizzy.” He laughed at his little joke. Portia rolled her eyes.
“I’m worried we missed something.” Anxiety churned in her stomach.
“Then we’ll handle it.”
Did she believe him? Sure, mostly. But there were so many little factors that you could never fully control for.
Her office door opened and Mendez strode in, followed by her assistant. “I’m sorry, Ms. Tremaine. He said you needed to see something, said it was urgent, but he wouldn’t wait for me to announce him.”
“That’s fine, Melanie. Thank you.” She waited until the door shut before turning to Mendez. “What’s so important that it couldn’t wait?”
He looked between Portia and Ash. “I was digging into that project you gave me.”
“What project?” There was so much going on, she was surprised she remembered her own name.
“Model SSB-2103-12. It’s a brain implant.”
“Oh!” Aleks’s implant. “What did you find?” Mendez had her full attention now.
“Well, first of all, it isn’t a Tremaine product. Not exactly.” He handed her his tablet. “See, the files start right there.”
Portia took his tablet to her desk. She flipped through the files Mendez had uncovered. When she reached the end, she looked up. “You’re sure about this?”
He nodded. “Yes. I checked it multiple times. Checked it again when we infiltrated the Solveig system this morning.”
“Thank you, Mendez. This is... well, this is amazing. You’ve sent me those files?” There was no way she would risk losing them.
Mendez nodded. “Yes, ma’am. They should be in your email now.”
“Wonderful work. Add them to the presentation, please.” She checked the time. “I’ve got to go. Let me escort you out.”
“I can stay,” Ash said. “Run the project from here.”
“Nice try, but no. I need you at the other location, keeping an eye on the incursion.”
“Fine,” Ash grumbled. “But it seems like all the excitement is happening here.”
“All the excitement,” Portia said, “will be at the meeting. Speaking of that, I’ve got to go.”
She grabbed her bag and ushered the men out of her office first.