9. Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
I f one more person interrupted them, Gerard would fire them before they got the door even one quarter open. Bright and early the next morning, he and Rowan met in the conference room and attacked the proposal, running reports, estimating as best they could from publicly available information. They’d made some inroads but still had a lot to do. This proposal would be the biggest and most in-depth of Barrett Investment’s existence. Scott was international and had employees in almost all the world’s financial, industrial, and tech meccas. This bid was important enough that he’d called Brody to say he wouldn’t be there for their monthly poker night. A first for him. He had to get this done ASAP and done right.
Trying to stay focused, they’d ordered in and lunch had come and gone. It wasn’t easy when they both had jobs that required constant split second decisions that needed their attention.
Rowan pulled the clip from her hair and let it fall free. Since that very first day in his office, she’d never worn it down, and he couldn’t pull his eyes away.
“What?”
“Umm, nothing,” he answered, looking down at his laptop and trying desperately to figure out what he’d been working on. “What do you think about using the Drekler Fund as the flagship of the proposal?”
Rowan’s phone pinged, and his irritation returned. If it wasn’t someone at the conference room door, it was her phone. Or his. She glanced at it, frowning.
“Deal with that later,” he said. “Stay focused.”
“I’m sorry. What did you ask?”
“I asked what you thought about—” A tap at the door stopped him from going any further. “What?” he barked.
Sandra stuck her head in. “You have a phone call.”
“I told you to hold my calls.”
“I have been. This one is insisting that he’s not getting off the phone until he speaks to you.”
“Silverman?”
Sandra nodded.
“All right,” he said, giving in. “I’ll be there in a moment.”
After Sandra left, he apologized to Rowan, who still looked preoccupied, and went to his office and yanked the phone off the receiver. “What?”
“Don’t use that tone of voice with me, young man. You’d do well to remember that I can have you removed from your position as CEO.”
“No, you can’t. Not without cause, as noted in the agreement my father set when he retired.”
“In an at will state like California, there are ways around that. Besides, there’s always a cause to be found.”
Was that a threat? “This is a family business. You can’t oust me.”
“You are not invincible.”
Was everyone trying to piss him off today? While he’d be happy to continue this discussion and correct Silverman’s assumption that he would leave willingly, he didn’t have time. He reined in his impatience—barely. This morning, Scott Cybersecurity had set a press conference for Tuesday. That had to be about the retirement fund bids for their entire large corporation, from execs down to mailroom clerks. So Barrett Financial only had three more days to put this proposal together if they wanted to get in before that. Normally, they would need a month or longer, even with their basic outline. He did not have time to placate board members. “What do you want, Richard?”
“I want to know what’s happening with that proposal.”
“We’re working on it. Or would be if I didn’t have to stop every five minutes to answer phone calls.”
“You heard about the press conference?”
“I’m aware. What’s your point?”
“The Barrett Investment Group has had some setbacks lately. If this proposal doesn’t get picked up by Scott Cybersecurity, the board will have to consider its options.”
“Which are?” Gerard was fully aware of what the board could and couldn’t do. They had less power than they wanted, but more than he preferred, thanks to the agreement his father put in place before handing the company over to him and Emersyn. His way of keeping a tight rein on his children. It galled Gerard to no end.
“You know our bylaws as well as I do.”
Oh, he knew all right. He also knew that Silverman had his sights set on taking control of Barrett Investment Group. Since Gerard’s father had retired, Richard Silverman had taken off the gloves and thrown down the gauntlet at every turn. After Gerard’s and Emersyn’s combined shares, he was the next largest shareholder. If he got the board behind him, he’d have voting rights for more shares than Gerard had.
“Do you have a point to make? I would like to get back to work.”
“I think I’ve made my point clear. Ace that proposal or you’ll be out of a job.”
“Thank you for the warning.” He didn’t wait to hear if the man responded. He slammed the phone down, got up, and paced his office.
Silverman was right about one thing. The company had lost money in some funds lately. And two new deals had gone sour in the past quarter. He had an inkling it had something to do with the trouble Murdoch Financial was in, though he had no idea how that would affect Barrett. Still, as soon as this initial bid was done and submitted, he’d be doing a deep dive into that problem. He’d get answers one way or the other and turn things around. He had before. He would again.
While he walked back to the conference room, Gerard tried to clear his head and get back in the game. How in the hell was he supposed to focus with everyone breathing down his neck? He stopped in the middle of the empty hallway as an idea hit him. It wasn’t a smart idea, but it was the only thing he could think of to get this damn project done.
He stared ahead at the closed conference room door, wondering if he had the strength to do this.
Rowan, completely focused on her laptop and checking out the truth of the text she’d gotten, jumped when the door suddenly opened. Gerard strode in and closed his laptop.
“Come on. We’re getting out of here.”
“What? But we’re all spread out.” She waved to the reports strewn over the conference table.
Her boss began piling things in a stack. “With all these interruptions, we are never going to make our deadline. We’re going somewhere we can work without people constantly needing us. Pack up your stuff.”
“Wait.” She reached out to touch his arm, to stop him from packing up, but thought better of it and pulled her hand back. “If they need us, there’s generally a reason.”
“Sandra will know how to get ahold of me if there’s an emergency. We’re only going to be gone a couple of days.”
“A couple days?” Where the hell was he thinking of going?
“Yes. And you’re not a very good director if your team can’t do the same.”
Wow. He went there. “They can, but I usually have time to get some instructions in place first. Is it wise to have both you and Emersyn gone at the same time?”
“Like I said, Sandra will know what’s important and how to get hold of me. You can check in with your second-in-command on the way to the airport.”
“Where the hell are we going?”
“To a family vacation house. Now, grab your stuff. We’ll stop at your place so you can pack a few things.”
“This is crazy.” She began putting things away in her briefcase.
Gerard shook his head. “First sane thing I’ve done all week.”
Within minutes, they were on the road, David driving. At her house, he literally gave her ten minutes to pack. Actually set a timer. A damned timer.
Rowan threw things into a small suitcase and headed out to the car, hoping she remembered everything. She had her toothbrush. She’d made sure of that.
En route to the airport, she called Michael.
“Where are you?” he asked. “You haven’t answered my texts.”
She put him on speakerphone and checked the texts. “I’m on my way to a quieter place to work on this project, and I’m looking at the texts now. Mr. Barrett is here with me, and I have you on speaker.” From the very pregnant pause on the other end of the line, she knew Michael wasn’t happy their boss was listening in. Damn. Well, she’d have to make amends to Michael later.
“Wait. Tom quit?” She reached to take the call off speaker, but the look Gerard gave her stilled her hand. Damn. Now he would think she was horrible at her job. Damn, damn, damn.
“Left without notice. Just texted both of us that he wouldn’t be back.”
“He’s never liked that I got the director’s position over him. I’ve tried to talk to him several times but finally had to let it go. He refused to speak to me about anything, including work.”
“That’s not the worst part. He took our proprietary laptop with him. And honestly, we’re still checking to see if there’s anything else he stole.”
Great. She cast a sideways glance at her boss, who sat watching her with an unreadable expression. Whatever he was thinking, he had no plans to give her an inkling.
“All right. Cancel all his privileges and, for God’s sake, kill his passwords. Get a hold of the prairie dogs and have them track that laptop. Then call the police and ask them to recover it for us. File a report and tell them we are definitely filing charges.” This time, she looked at Gerard with a question in her eyes.
He nodded first, then spoke. “Glad you’re on top of this, Wentworth. Ms. McCarthy and I have to be away from the office because of a project and cell service is not the best where we’re going. I’m going to give you a landline where we can be reached 24/7.”
Another pregnant pause. Rowan could only guess at what Michael’s thoughts were, and she didn’t like her assumptions. She wasn’t sleeping with the boss, but would Michael think so? Yet another rumor to strike down. Would it ever end? Would she ever be seen for the capable leader she’d worked hard to become?
Chewing her lip in frustration, Rowan stifled the thoughts. There wasn’t time for that now. “Thanks, Michael. I know you can handle this.”
“We have every faith in your ability. Let us know when both the laptop and the man are apprehended,” Gerard added.
Rowan could almost see Michael sit up straighter. “I’m on it, sir. And will do.” There was a pause before he continued. “What about Linda?”
“What about Linda?” she asked.
“I’m not generally one to spread rumors, but word is she and Tom were an item.”
Rowan wanted to beat her forehead with her palm. With Gerard there, she didn’t dare show her growing panic.
“Tell the police. Let them handle any interviews. I want this resolved yesterday.”
“Will do, boss.”
After they hung up, she stared at her phone, digesting the conversation. “Tom Masters was involved in both of those last two bids that went south. Do you think he’s been undermining us?”
“Undoubtedly.” He looked up from the paperwork in his lap. “Apparently, you kept that we can lock down and track our technology a secret.”
“It seemed better to keep that private unless we needed someone to know.”
“There are pros and cons either way, but I prefer your method.”
She nodded. This was one more cog in machinery that had been breaking down for a while. Before she came on board, but if she didn’t find a way to fix this, she’d get flushed down the drain and possibly take the Barrett Investment Group with her. Should she talk to Gerard? Let him know what she’d just begun to notice? No. She wasn’t ready. She needed more proof, more verification of exactly how bad things were getting first.
He watched her. She could see him in her peripheral vision.
“You and Mr. Wentworth seem close.”
His voice changed as he made that statement, taking on a stronger, more focused timbre. Like her answer was important.
“Michael is great,” she said. “Intelligent, knowledgeable, and good at his job.”
“You made him your second-in-command.”
“Yes. He earned it.”
“And just how did he earn it?” Except for the barest hint of anger in his eyes, Mr. No Emotion was back, his stoic mask firmly in place. What was he trying to get at? Did he think she and Michael—
Rowan straightened as much as her seat belt would let her. “Michael and I are coworkers. That’s all. I resent any implication that there might be something improper going on between us. He’s a married man.”
“But he did make a pass, correct?”
“Twice, if you must know. If I had to guess, I’d say he did that because my predecessor encouraged that kind of behavior.”
He nodded. “That’s the primary reason we asked the man to retire early.”
“I didn’t know that until Michael told me. He and I had a good, long talk about him asking me out, and now I consider him a valuable part of my team.”
“Hmmm.”
“What?”
“Nothing.” Gerard shook his head, his face as unreadable as ever. Was he thinking she’d lied to him? That she was having some torrid affair with her second-in-command? “Michael and I are co-workers. That’s it.”
“So you said.”
The man’s attitude drove Rowan nuts sometimes, but fuming would have to wait since they’d arrived at their destination. Rowan leaned forward to get a better view of their surroundings. This wasn’t the airport entrance she was used to.
David drove them through a gate and pulled up to a large hangar with a small jet outside that looked ready to go. She shouldn’t be surprised at the whole private jet thing, but she was. Rowan glanced out the window as they came to a stop beside the plane. “You never told me where we’re going.”
“I did, actually. A family vacation home.”
Rowan shook her head. “No. I meant where. Geographically.”
“We’ll be near Colorado Springs.”
“We’re going to—” She didn’t even know how to respond. That’s what she got for not asking the right questions before she got herself into things like this.
“Colorado,” he finished. “Yes. My family has a little place there.”
“A little place?” she mumbled to herself.
David opened her door for her, and she stepped out. Did it really matter where this vacation home was? Most likely some monstrosity that could house twenty people in comfort. Like her parents owned. Nestled in the woods of Alaska’s wilderness, her father had built a huge house with all the technological advantages and no consideration for sustainability of the local ecosystem. After one visit, she had refused to go back. The really strange thing was that her father never went there either. It was too far away from his office.
Trying—hard—to go with the flow, she joined her boss, who stood talking to the pilot. In moments, they were settled in cushy leather seats on opposite sides of a table.
“Are you all right being on that side?” Gerard asked her.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Some people don’t do well flying backward.”
“Oh.” She looked around. He was right. She’d never flown facing this direction before. “Well, I guess we’re about to see if I can handle it.”
Turns out, she didn’t have any issues facing either direction.
When they landed and stepped off the jet, he grabbed both suitcases that had been offloaded and headed for a large black SUV.
“I can pull my own suitcase,” she said, catching up to him, breathing hard. “This isn’t some romantic weekend. I’m your employee.”
He stopped and turned back to her. “Are we going to have this discussion every time I try to be the gentleman my mother raised me to be?”
“Well, yes.” She huffed. “Probably.”
“Are you always so insistent on carrying your share of the burden?”
“Yes,” she insisted. “I pride myself on doing my part.”
He held up his hands. “Fine. But you might want to slow down a bit. We’re at six thousand feet here and will be higher at the cabin.” He left her suitcase and continued to the car.
She’d won this argument. Rowan pulled her suitcase behind her, unsuccessfully regulating her breathing and not exactly sure she could count this as a win. Especially when she had to heft the case into the back of the SUV. She found Gerard waiting beside the open passenger door. “I trust you don’t mind that I opened your door?”
Wishing she could wipe the knowing smirk off his face, she chose to take the high ground and climbed up into the tall vehicle, grateful for his helpful hand. By the time she got in and fastened her seatbelt, she was damn near hyperventilating.
“Breathe from your belly and purse your lips as if whistling to help slow your breathing down and deepen it.”
That helped, and within a minute, she could breathe almost normally again. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He closed the door and walked around the car, getting in the driver’s seat.
“You’re driving?”
He turned toward her. “Does that bother you?” One maddening eyebrow arched in her direction.
“Not at all,” she answered. “I’m just used to seeing you with a driver.”
“We need solitude to work, so David didn’t come along this trip.” He started the car and headed out of the small airfield. “You might want to check in with Mr. Wentworth one last time. We’ll lose cell service within the next half an hour, and I purposely don’t have Wi-Fi at the cabin.”
She did, telling Michael right away he was on speaker with both of them. He updated them, indicating the police had arrested Tom Masters and recovered the laptop, which could not be returned to Barrett Financial for a while as it was evidence, and the police were keeping Michael informed of their progress. Linda had been interviewed and ruled out as being part of Masters’ plan.
After checking her texts and emails, Rowan shut her phone off and looked around at the scenery. “I expected more tall trees and denser woods.” Abundant low scrub blanketed the ground beside the highway, but a lot of open areas and fields did as well.
“That’s a common misconception about Colorado, that we are all spruce and evergreens. There’s quite a bit of farmland too. There will be more trees up at the cabin, though still not as dense as, say, the redwoods of California or the forests of Washington State.”
Rowan nodded and moved on. “You said we’d be near Colorado Springs, but we left that city behind almost an hour ago.”
“Technically, we’re closer to a town called Cripple Creek, but I didn’t think you’d know of the reference.”
“Funny name.”
“It’s an old gold-mining town, but the name came from livestock injured crossing the creek that ran through the town back then.”
“That’s sad, but I suppose the name is appropriate. Such a simple name. So, gold-mining, huh? Is that where the family money came from?” She was finding it hard to stifle her laughter. Something about this drive was relaxing her. It was nice here, in spite of the elevation.
He glanced at her. “No.”
Uh oh. She’d hit a sour chord with that one. “I wasn’t being serious.”
“I hope not.”
The rest of the drive remained a quiet one, and that suited her just fine. They’d passed through Cripple Creek, left civilization behind, and were climbing again. The two-lane road turned into a one-lane road, then they turned onto a gravel road and pulled up to the cabin a couple minutes later. Not a person who loved snow, she was happy to see greenery and no white stuff. Colorado always had snow, didn’t it? At least, that was her perception. They were in the midst of high summer, so she should have figured that one out on her own.
Rowan stared at the small log-sided A-frame. The outside looked dark and dingy, like it hadn’t been cared for, or washed, in quite a while. “Is this the caretaker’s cabin?”
Arched eyebrow was back. “Do you think I can’t live in a place like this?”
“Well, no.” Damn the man for always finding a way to keep her off kilter. “It’s not that. I just assumed—”
“Stop assuming, at least where I’m concerned. It’s irritating that you think me so shallow.”
“It’s not that I think you’re shallow. It’s that I think you’re used to having money, and money buys bigger places than this. At least, your kind of money does.”
“You’re a reverse snob,” he said.
“I may have some misconceptions,” she shot back. “But I’m not a snob by any definition.”
“Money isn’t everything, you know.” He stared out the windshield at the cabin.
For the first time since she met him, Rowan really wanted to know more about Gerard. “What is?” she asked, curious if he would answer.
“Family, power, shaping the world the right way.”
His answer surprised her.
“This was my grandparents’ cabin. The first place they ever lived.”
“Oh. I assu— I thought you came from old money.”
He shook his head. “When they first lived here, with no running water and no indoor plumbing, my grandfather swore he would make a better life for his wife. He did. I keep this place to remind me of what’s important.”
At that moment, her heart damn near melted. She’d misjudged this man and was guilty as charged. Reverse snobbery. She’d assigned him the same traits as her father and brother, and nothing could be further from the truth.
“I owe you an apology. I did judge you.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” he said. “That is the persona the public sees. I prefer it that way.”
“It makes doing business easier, right? Because having a heart can be a weakness?”
“Yes. Companies like Murdoch will exploit any weakness they can find.”
Heat filled her cheeks. One of these days, she needed to come clean about her past. He wasn’t going to like it, and somewhere in the past month, she’d begun to care what he thought. Rowan really wanted to prove herself first. To prove that she was not her father or brother, that she followed rules where they circumvented them. All for money.
Just a little more time. That’s what she needed.
“Shall we go inside?”
“Yes. It’s time to get to work, right?”
“Right,” he answered.
Without giving her a choice, Gerard lifted both suitcases from the back of the SUV and carried them to the door. He set hers down to input the entry code. “I’ve updated some things since I took the place over.”
“The family doesn’t use it any longer?”
“No. Sometimes, Emersyn will come here, but my parents are traveling and loving retirement. They have no plans to settle down anytime soon and rarely even come back to San Francisco.” Not that it kept his father from checking in regularly to make sure his son hadn’t tanked the business.
He opened the door, picked up her suitcase, and led the way inside. She followed and turned to close the door. He watched her closely as she slowly pirouetted to view the inside. He wasn’t sure why, but he wanted her opinion to be a positive one.
“Oh, this is completely different from what I expected.” She moved farther into the small living room.
“I remodeled the inside a few years back.” He smiled as he looked at the white-washed shiplap walls and the natural pine wood ceiling that followed the A-frame up.
“It’s really beautiful.” She ran her hand along the back of a light brown suede couch, the oversized, overstuffed cushions nestled inside a rustic wooden frame. He’d had the cushions made, but built the frame himself, and he was proud of it.
“I went for comfortable. I wanted that here.”
“Homey and comfortable.” She looked up at him with curious eyes. “You surprise me at every turn.”
He smiled, happy she liked his vision for the cabin. When had that become important? Her eyes seemed lighter, as if joy had pulled some of the darkness from her life. His gaze dipped to her lips. So kissable and something he wanted to touch.
He couldn’t do that. It would complicate things so much more. And there was that damned pledge. Fuck. Pulling every bit of self-control he had out of the bag, Gerard stepped back, away from everything that tugged him closer to her, and saw the hint of confusion.
“Wait until you see the kitchen,” he said, trying to leap past the awkward moment.
After watching him a moment longer, Rowan walked in the direction he’d indicated.
“Wow, you weren’t kidding.”
Gerard enjoyed cooking and had spent money here, obviously sparing no expense. Open shelves above, knotty pine cupboards below. Bold granite countertops and high-end appliances finished off the chef’s kitchen.
“My custodian stocks the refrigerator, and I thought we’d cook while we’re here. As you probably noticed, there aren’t any restaurants close by.”
She chewed her lip, a habit he was growing to like. “I don’t cook much.”
“I wish I had more time to cook.” And someone to cook for.
“Thank God. Really, we’d starve if I had to make anything besides salad. I do make a pretty mean one, though.”
“All right. You’re on salads; I’ll do main course and side dish.”
Rowan’s bright smile lit up the room as she nodded. He liked seeing her happy. Joy looked lovely on her face. He reached out to touch her cheek, then stopped and dropped his hand. He could not do this.
“I’ll show you your room.”
Her eyes widened again at the large bedroom off the living room. There was even a gas fireplace. “This can’t be where I sleep. This must be your room.”
“It’s where you’ll be sleeping while we’re here. I’ll take the loft.”
“I can take that. You should sleep here.”
He set her suitcase on the bed. “There’s little privacy in the loft, but it’s very comfortable, so don’t worry about that at all. There is only this one bathroom, though.”
“Oh? I had visions of stepping to the outhouse to do my business.”
He smiled. “Grandfather had a bathroom added a long time ago, and it’s been updated since then. Just remember that there are two doors.” He led her from the bedroom’s entrance to a bathroom that sported a soaker tub Rowan oohed and ahhed over, a shower he could stand tall in, two sinks, and a roomed off toilet. She twirled around. There was that much open space in the blue and gray room.
“This is luxurious compared to mine.”
“I can’t imagine it’s very big, what with so many apartments inside that blue monstrosity you live in.”
“My condo building is not a monster. It’s vintage. And fun. I like it. But I do believe I’ll enjoy this while I’m here.”
She ran her hands along the side of the tub, bringing up a vision that was hard for him to set aside. He cleared his throat. “Well, I’ll leave you to settle in. We won’t get much done this evening as it’s already time for dinner. How about we take an hour, then you can make your salad, and I’ll grill steaks and asparagus. Will that work?”
Her eyes were shining when she turned to him. “That will be great. Gives me time to shower.”
He squeezed his eyes shut. It didn’t help. The picture of her, naked, in a shower big enough for two, slapped the sides of his brain until his mouth went dry. He backed out of the bathroom. “Just be sure you lock both doors if you do.” He turned to leave.
She caught up with him at the bedroom door. “Do I need to worry about water usage?”
“I wouldn’t go crazy, but no, you don’t.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you in an hour.” She closed the bedroom door, and he stood at the closed door for a long time, shoring up his willpower when he really wanted to open the door and suggest they make good on using that shower. Together.
He turned and climbed to the loft. He’d gotten rid of the twin beds when he remodeled, but a queen still downsized him from his Cali-King. Thankfully, it was comfortable.
He hit his head on the sloped ceiling. “Ouch.” He’d be fine as long as he remembered to duck.
Stowing his suitcase, he went outside to cut some wood and stack a ready-to-go fire in the pit for after dinner. If he had to spend all evening indoors with her, he’d go batshit crazy.