Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Atlanta—Present Day
“Let me show you what being under the Bloom Communications umbrella means.” Chris Keller beamed at them across the table at the conclusion of their meeting.
Olivia was a little surprised when the CEO of the global corporation had come to the meeting himself. He was younger than she’d expected, not too many years older than herself. His kind face and a casual attitude were the complete opposite to Declan.
She mentally frowned. Why was she comparing them?
At the end of the meeting, Chris had thrown out an invitation to attend the famous Crystal Gala in New York as his guests.
Kyle’s face lit up at the prospect of a such a high-profile event. “That sounds amazing.”
“It’s unnecessary,” Richard demurred
Kyle glared at his father.
“It would be a great chance for you to meet some of the heads of our other divisions. Show you how Armstrong Electronics will fit perfectly into our corporate family. XEROS’s potential is extremely exciting.”
Olivia smiled. Chris seemed earnest, but she couldn’t help but hear her grandmother’s advice in her ear. “Anyone who promises you everything is lying.”
“We’ll keep all the design functions in-house here in Georgia, but you might need to come to the corporate offices at some point. This way you’ll get to know everyone in a more informal setting, and the next day I’ll give you a tour of our building.”
“Won’t our joining you make it look like we’ve already accepted your offer?” Richard asked.
“Dad, this is how business is done.” The muscle in Kyle’s jaw ticked, and Olivia looked away.
“I understand your concerns, Mr. Armstrong, but I assure you, this kind of thing is done all the time. This deal is a little like a marriage. I don’t know what your other offers look like, but Bloom Communications wants to work with you. And, if we are going to be working together, it is a good idea to see how well we fit.” His eyes drifted to Olivia, and he smiled. She returned the smile, and Kyle scowled.
“Will your fiancée be there?” Kyle cut in.
Was he really going to act like he was jealous? Though Olivia wasn’t sure of whose attention he was jealous. Chris’s or hers?
Chris’s smile didn’t slip, but his eyes dimmed. “I hope Courtney feels up to coming. Recently she has suffered some terrible personal losses.”
Olivia held her tongue, not sure how to respond. The deaths of both of Courtney Bloom’s sons had dominated the news several weeks before. Local news channels had run the story multiple times a day—the macabre draw of murder and money irresistible to the public. The headlines had been lurid. Youngest Son of Billionaire Widow Dead After Multiple Murders Revealed.
With his characteristic lack of sensitivity, Kyle’s eyes gleamed. “I read about that. How crazy is it that she’s your fiancée, and her stepson is the other guy trying to buy us? And, the woman who shot her kid is Declan Bloom’s sister-in-law.”
The air in the room grew thick with tension, and Chris’s jaw tightened. “It was very shocking.” Seeming to shake it off, he cleared his throat and extended his hands palms up. “What do you say? Would you like to attend the Crystal Gala as my guests?”
Richard glanced at Olivia, and she gave him a small nod. “We’d be delighted.”
Olivia smiled. It might be fun. She’d been to plenty of black-tie events in Atlanta, but never something as high-profile as the Crystal Gala.
“Wonderful. I’ll have our jet ready on Friday morning.”
Kyle beamed, and even Olivia had to admit the prospect of flying private for the first time was exciting.
Now seated in the buttery leather seats and accepting a mimosa from the flight attendant, she tried to relax. Richard wanted to wait until after Christmas to announce their decision, but Olivia couldn’t help but worry that at any moment something would fall through. She couldn’t truly relax until the sale was complete.
Olivia sipped her drink as Chris lowered himself into the seat across from her. She didn’t miss how his eyes roved over her crossed legs, and she swung her foot. He met her eyes with an unapologetic grin at having been caught looking.
“Courtney couldn’t make it?” She deliberately referenced his fiancée.
Chris’s face drooped. “She flew back to New York yesterday. She didn’t think she could travel and attend the event on the same day.”
“This must be an awful time for her.”
Chris rolled his lips in before pushing them out again with a thoughtful expression. “Those boys were everything to her. She’s having a hard time… coping.”
A stab of sympathy went through Olivia. Losing your children would be traumatic enough, but the circumstances and stories coming out about the crimes they had committed… had to make it worse.
“I’m trying to help her, but it’s hard.” Chris continued quietly. “Matt and I had our issues, but to find out Trey…” He shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve fully accepted it. Sometimes I wonder if he...” Chris turned to look out the window at the clouds.
“Wonder if he what?” Olivia bit her lip. That was rude. This must be difficult for him. Over the last couple of days, she’d looked into the story online. One of the murders Trey Crawford, Courtney’s youngest son, had confessed to, before being killed by the woman he had kidnapped, was Chris Keller’s own father. There was a deeper story to all this, she was sure of it.
Chris let out a heavy sigh. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry. Not particularly professional of me.” He chuckled, but his hands clenched in his lap.
Olivia smiled. “It’s okay. Like you said, if we are going to be partners in a sense?—”
“It’s only that you’re so easy to talk to,” Chris interrupted.
Olivia wasn’t sure what to say to that.
His eyes studied her face for a moment, then he leaned forward suddenly, his expression earnest. Olivia instinctively pushed her back into the seat. “I wouldn’t have said anything. I’m trying to let it go… Camellia, she’s the podcaster who killed Trey…The police insist she shot him in self-defense, but I can’t ignore the connection. It seems like an extreme coincidence that Declan Bloom’s sister-in-law just happened to be the one to kill Trey. The Blooms haven’t exactly been quiet about the fact they think Courtney was involved in their father’s death.”
Olivia’s eyes widened in shock. “I haven’t heard anything about that.”
Chris’s expression faltered. “I’m sure it’s just the grief talking. It’s only…” His eyes returned to the window before returning to her. Chris appeared to struggle with his words. “Do your research. You need to know who you are getting involved with.”
The unease that appeared when he had gotten close came roaring back. He seemed sincere, and yet…
Her eyes cut to the other passengers. Richard and Stuart were asleep, and Kyle was flirting with the poor flight attendant. He’d be of no help, anyway.
Sensing her discomfiture, Chris leaned back, remorse written all over his face. “I’m so sorry. That was inappropriate. I like you, Olivia, and I really like XEROS. I’m hoping you’ll accept our offer, but I worry you don’t know what the Blooms, particularly Declan, are capable of.”
“Declan?”
He grimaced. “People have always whispered about how Bloom Communications did business when the Bloom family was in charge. Declan might claim it was a petty move by Courtney to force him out once she inherited the stock, but the fact is, the board had grown weary of how he did business… His less than savory connections made them nervous.”
“There are always rumors about powerful people,” Olivia hedged, intentionally keeping her voice neutral. Her first instinct was to defend Declan, but she realized that the man she wanted to defend didn’t exist.
Olivia had heard the innuendos about David Bloom and his cadre of children. After discovering Declan’s true identity, Olivia had a hard time reconciling the Declan she knew—the man who recited poetry from memory while lying in the Irish sun—with the cutthroat businessman people spoke about.
“Trust me.” Chris’s lips twisted bitterly. “They’re true. I’ve seen first-hand how the Bloom family operates. If you are of use to them, they can be charming, but the second they are done with you… You don’t exist.”
Olivia shifted in her seat, her chest tightening.
“I’m not gossiping. I’m genuinely concerned for you and…” Chris looked at Kyle and the others to assure himself that no one was eavesdropping. “I don’t think you’ve come across Declan’s type before. Not that you haven’t built an impressive business, but Bloom is a global…” He rubbed his palm against his cheek and lowered his voice. “Declan and I were friends for most of our lives. Best friends, really.”
Olivia’s jaw dropped open.
“Does that surprise you?” He tried to make his tone self-deprecating, but there was an edge he couldn’t hide.
“My father was their family doctor and a close friend of David Bloom, so Declan and I were thrown together a lot. We actually had a lot in common… Dec can be a lot of fun… when he’s getting his way.” He sighed again. “But the older I got, the more disturbed I was by the things I saw happening. They all do it. David, Declan, the twins, even Cara. They can turn on the charm and make you feel like you are the center of the universe, but then just as quick, they flip the switch and you are left alone out in the cold. An outsider.”
Her heart ached. Chris’s words hit too close to Olivia’s own situation,
“I know what that’s like,” she said quietly, and Chris gave her a quizzical look. “Family businesses can be a tough group to break into.”
His eyes returned speculatively to the other passengers.
“I imagine even worse when you leave the family. Our situations are similar. I pulled away from the Blooms and… That’s why I still have questions about Trey and Matt’s deaths. Why Courtney is having such a hard time accepting the police version of what happened…” He shook his head. “I know they claim that Camellia Messina got Trey on tape confessing, but she married James Bloom less than two weeks later. Between him and his brother Luke, they know how to work the legal system.
“Then, if you consider their sister Cara is married to some sort of computer hacker... It wouldn’t be hard for them to fake a recording. Who knows how many judges and cops Declan has in his pocket?”
Olivia couldn’t hide her shock. “You think they murdered?—”
“No.” He sagged in his seat. “I don’t know. The whole situation is so hard to accept… I’m sorry, I never should have said anything.”
Olivia was deeply uncomfortable with the conversation but nodded, hoping Chris would take it as a signal it was over and return to his seat.
There was clearly a lot of animosity between Chris and the Blooms, Declan in particular. She was getting a terrible feeling that Armstrong Electronics was going to end up as collateral damage in whatever war the two men were waging.
The flight attendant stopped by to let them know they would land soon, and Chris stood staring down at her for a long moment, his hand resting on the back of her seat.
“Whichever company you choose, be careful. Declan has a reputation for a reason.”
Olivia gave him a bland smile, not wanting to reveal how much the conversation had unnerved her.
But as the plane made its descent into the New York area, a sudden disturbing thought hit her.
Does Chris know about our history? He said he’d been best friends with Declan. Would he have told Chris about the week together the way she had told Jessica? Was this his way of warning her not to make the same mistake? Then again, Declan didn’t know her real name, and he hadn’t remembered her…
“What were you and Chris Keller speaking so cozily about?” Kyle hissed in her ear as they waited for their luggage to be put in the black SUVs waiting for them.
“He was just trying to muddy the waters of his competitors.” Olivia slipped on her sunglasses even though the day was overcast.
“Right,” Kyle grunted. “Don’t screw this up by flirting, Livvy. It will only make you look stupid and embarrass my father. He’s way out of your league. Though maybe that’s your goal? To embarrass me more?”
With an intentionally bored look on her face, Olivia took a few steps away from Kyle under the guise of supervising their luggage. His fingers grabbed at her elbow, but released almost instantly, and Kyle let her move away. Olivia’s heart raced, and she struggled to maintain her calm fa?ade. She hadn’t survived Kyle with her job intact for him to ruin it for her now that they were divorced.
The stress of the potential deal was bringing out the worst in Kyle. Since she moved out, and their divorce finalized, he’d been unpleasant on the rare occasion they’d been forced to interact, but Olivia suspected he was as happy as she was that their marriage was over. However, over the past several weeks, his behavior had shifted back to what it had been when they were married.
Olivia tightly controlled the air entering and leaving her lungs. She was so close to being completely free of him. With the buyout, Kyle would most likely leave the company to live the life of leisure he’d always wanted. Not that it would look much different from the one he led now, but it would mean he no longer came to the office, and hopefully, she would never see him again.
Once in her room, Olivia tried to settle her nerves, but she still had hours to go until the event that evening. Tea, she needed tea. Fortunately, there was a café only two blocks away, and by the time she returned to the lobby, her tea had cooled enough for her to drink.
Clutching her cup of mint tea, Olivia waited for the elevator that would take her to her floor. A petite woman jabbed at the button, balancing a drink carrier with three coffees and what looked like several individual pastry bags. Two bags slid to the side, clearly in danger of ending up on the floor.
“Argh,” the woman growled.
“Do you need some help?” Transferring her cup to one hand, Olivia carefully stacked the bags in the center of the carrier so that the coffee cups blocked the edges. “Hopefully, that will hold you until you get to your room.”
“Thanks.” The young woman flashed a brilliant smile at her. “I volunteered to get sustenance for my sisters… Well, I guess only one is technically my sister, but I know Dahlia will be soon enough,” the woman said, as the elevator car arrived and they stepped on. The young woman barely paused as she continued to speak. “I know Dahlia says she wants to wait a year, but I’m a big fan of fast weddings…” She stopped cheeks flushing.
Olivia tried to follow the woman’s train of thought, but her violet eyes were distracting.
“I’m babbling, aren’t I?” The woman huffed a breath that ruffled her golden hair. This woman was seriously stunning. “I babble when I’m nervous, and my anxiety about tonight is about as high as it can be.”
Olivia hummed what she hoped sounded like agreement, then the words swirling in her brain slipped out. “You have the most beautiful eyes.”
“Thanks. I used to hate them. My brothers used to tease that the color made me look like a cartoon character. Which is so dumb because one of them has the same—” The doors dinged open. “Is this your floor?”
“Car-bear,” Olivia said, instantly wanting to kick herself when the young woman’s eyes grew huge in her face.
“How did you?—”
Olivia practically leapt off the elevator as the doors slid shut behind her. Rushing to her room, she fumbled with her key, splashing tea on her hand. Shutting the door behind her, she leaned her head against it and tried not to cry.