Chapter Fifteen
Alex woke with a sharp breath.
She’d been dreaming. Something warm and exciting.
She squeezed her eyes closed and tried to remember what the dream had been about.
Then it came to her.
Hawk.
He’d been smiling down at her. Even though Alex couldn’t remember what was said right before his smile, she did know that grin. The one that said he’d won. He’d said something, and she had no choice but to bend to his will. And he’d done so without any true demand.
The smile was arrogant and yet not.
The words in her dream floated in her head.
“ I want you safe, ” he’d whispered.
The way his lips moved when he uttered those four simple words, and the depth of his eyes ... that was the warmth and excitement she’d taken with her when morning crashed in.
Alex looked at the clock on her bedside, closed her eyes, shook her head, and looked again.
Eight. It was eight in the morning, on a Tuesday.
This was going to be her first full workday at the estate, but her day did start at eight.
Alex swung her feet off the bed and rushed around her room.
Cell phone in hand, she called Dee while pulling the T-shirt she wore to bed over her head.
“Ms. Alex Stone’s office. How can I help you?”
“Dee, it’s Alex.”
“Good morning, Ms. Stone.”
Alex paused to steady her breath. The bra she was about to put on was poised in one hand. “I won’t be in the office today. Redirect my nine o’clock to next week ...” Shit, there was something else that needed to be moved to work with the timeline she, Chase, and Hawk figured out.
Half-naked, Alex moved back into the bedroom from the walk-in closet and quickly opened her laptop. “And make my three o’clock a Zoom call, then send me the link.” Alex set her phone down and pushed into her bra.
“I can do that.”
“I’ll conference call you in twenty minutes to go over the rest of today’s schedule.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Alex ended the call, tossed her phone to the side, and finished getting dressed.
Twenty minutes later, Alex sat behind the desk in her father’s home office.
Dee stared at her through the screen of a computer and discussed the modified schedule for the day.
Piper poked her head past the door and lifted a cup of coffee in the air.
Alex placed a hand on her chest and said, “Yes, please.”
Piper disappeared as Dee continued with the schedule.
By the time she was off the call, Piper had returned with a cup of coffee and two pieces of toast.
“You didn’t have to—”
“Shut up and eat.”
Alex busted out in a laugh as she picked up a piece of bread. “We’ve come a long way.”
Piper took a seat across from her.
“Hawk suggested more security at the wedding.”
“Sadly, he’s probably right. But who knows, maybe the police will have a lead by then.”
“I hope so.” Piper sipped her coffee. “We can postpone our honeym—”
“Stop right there. You and my brother deserve time away. It’s been a hard year for both of you.”
“It’s been a difficult year for everybody,” Piper corrected. “When are you going to take some time off?”
“When I turn fifty?”
“Alex,” Piper chided.
“Let’s get everybody married. Get our Play-Doh bomber caught ... then maybe.” Alex took another bite of her toast.
“If you’re going to work remotely, you don’t have to do it from here.”
“This is where the security cameras are, and where the opportunity for someone to place a bomb under my car is least likely to happen.”
“Your father had homes in other countries. Why not work from there?”
Alex leaned forward, put the remainder of her toast on the plate. “Listen, I appreciate what you’re trying to do. If I went to Italy, the time zone alone would make work even more difficult.”
“Then go to Colorado. You have a lodge there. Do some night skiing, work four hours a day, and then try and remember what life was about before all this.”
Alex placed her arms on the desk and thought about what it might be like to sip hot chocolate in front of a fire with snow falling outside.
And then, without wanting to, her thoughts drifted to how many employees across all platforms were at risk of losing their jobs. How she needed to minimize those numbers so people could keep food on the table. How would they feel if she was out playing in the snow while their worlds fell apart?
“And if the power goes out and I can’t log in to get that work done?”
“Then don’t work.” Piper leaned forward. “I guarantee you, this company is not going to crumble if you step away for a week.”
Alex sighed. She wanted to believe that.
“Besides, if there is still a threat—”
“If there is still a threat, then what? I still have security surrounding me? Hawk won’t let me walk in a room before he scopes it out first. How does that work flying down a hill on a snowboard?”
“You don’t tell anyone where you’re going.” Piper scooted forward. “Consider it, okay? Everyone in this house is worried about you. You’ve lost weight.”
“I haven’t.”
“You have. I know the sale and closing of some of the Noel properties has you stressed.”
“Nobody likes putting people out of work.”
“It’s business,” Piper said. “And you didn’t cause the problem. Just think about how many people would eventually be without a job if these properties continue to siphon profits from the larger company? Folding any arm of Stone Enterprises is gonna hurt. That has been weighing on you.”
There was no arguing that. “I know.”
“The wedding is less than two weeks away. Chase and I will be back a week after that.”
“I thought you were going for ten days,” Alex said.
“Do you think I can really be away from Hailey for that long? Take the week off before your mom and Gaylord show us how weddings are supposed to look. We all have four days in Texas with that. We come back refreshed.”
Alex couldn’t see her schedule breaking up enough to pull it off.
“If you don’t do it for you ... do it for Chase.”
Alex narrowed her brow. “Chase?”
“We’ve gotten married, had Hailey ... we’re getting into our new house. All of which you’ve covered him for. He’s feeling guilty, Alex. Max has even asked how he can take something off your plate. You’d be taking time away for everybody. Not just you.”
When Piper put it like that, it was hard to flat out say no.
“I’ll ... I’ll think about it.”
“Thank you.” Piper stood and walked out of the office.
Alex stared at the bookshelves and the dark walls that didn’t do a great job of brightening up the place, even with the many windows letting the sunshine in.
Once again, Alex felt the weight of her father’s dead soul in her space.
His space.
She pushed those thoughts aside and logged in for a conference call.
By noon, Alex walked through the estate, searching for Max.
She found him in the garage putting floodlights on his new truck.
“Modifying it already?” Alex asked.
Max smiled as he tightened a bolt of some sort. “The sooner, the better. If someone steals this one, at least it won’t blend as much as the first one.”
Max’s home in the high desert had been broken into shortly after the world learned who he was.
The new truck she and Chase had purchased for him was their way of convincing Max that they weren’t lying to him about being the heir to a multibillion-dollar estate.
What took him a bit to figure out didn’t take any time for the thieves that trashed his rental home and stole his truck.
Alex briefly wondered what would have happened had Max been home when the thieves broke in.
Her thoughts flashed to her apartment and the cameras Hawk had installed.
No one had broken into her place, but she was arguably just as large of a target.
Max wiped his hands on a towel. “What’s up?”
“Are you good with tech stuff?”
“What do you mean?”
“I want to turn the guest house into a temporary office. I won’t last long in Dad’s space without going crazy. It’s hard enough at the office. I need to move the computer, printer. And if I unplug any of that stuff, it will never get plugged back in the right way.”
Max stepped away from his truck and crossed to her. “I can do that.”
“Thanks.”
“You’ll need a desk in there.”
“No. The dining table is fine. It’s temporary.”
“Do you want that now or tonight?”
“By morning would be great.”
“You got it.”
Hawk had the day off from being glued to Alex’s side. Which was probably a good thing, considering how often he found himself staring at her lips.
With the estate covered by an on-site security guard watching cameras and readily available should something happen, Hawk continued the oversight of equipping Stone Enterprises with the updated technology to avoid a repeat of the bomb scare.
The building was much busier than it had been the day before. It seemed more people were comfortable with coming to work after the threat ... or maybe they didn’t think it was wise to push the PTSD card.
Word of his team increasing the safety of the building spread. No matter where Hawk went, he was greeted with smiles and thanks for being there.
Over the weekend, a construction team had been brought in, and the lighting in the garage was no longer an issue.
Contracts for the keyed garage entry system were signed, and that would go in the following weekend.
The small and inadequate security office behind the walls of the main lobby was moved temporarily while space for a much larger area started construction.
Hawk went over the plans for the new space with the owner of the construction company and the foreman who would be used on the job. A digital wall for monitoring the cameras, a steel impenetrable door with keyed entry. Automatic battery backup for the new system. And he wanted it all yesterday.
Chase and Alex had given him a virtual blank check. Doing so ensured that crews would be working around the clock to get everything in place.