Chapter Twenty-Eight #2
She couldn’t recall a word of the CIM if her life depended on it.
The entire time she sat in the passenger seat, she tried to disregard the scent of the man driving.
Closed her eyes against the memory of his hands stroking her hair as they watched the fire while the snow fell outside.
Of the feel of him moving inside her .. .
“Alexandrea . . .”
“You probably shouldn’t call me that at the office.” She didn’t mean to sound so cold, but her words were delivered in ice.
“We need to talk.”
She twisted in her seat. “You had last week ... the weekend. Why do this now?” She glanced at the clock on the dashboard. “Twenty minutes before I have to work, and you can’t afford to be distracted with emotion. Or maybe you won’t have an emotional response.”
“That’s not true.”
“Then pump the brakes, Hawk. I need to work. So do you.”
He didn’t argue ... which, if she were being honest, upset her. She wanted to know what was going on in his head. But he didn’t care to know what was going on in hers enough to push the issue. Hawk drove the rest of the way in uncomfortable silence.
A headline of a tabloid shortly after her father had died described Alex as having the perfect resting bitch face. Most of the time when she walked through the Stone building, she attempted a partial smile to avoid that description.
But no matter how hard she tried, the smile didn’t come.
Alex tucked the file in the top drawer of her desk when Dee walked in with her computer and a cup of coffee.
“Is he going to stand out there all day?” Dee asked.
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
Alex clicked into her schedule. “I don’t know.”
“Is he your bodyguard?”
She dropped her hands on top of her desk. “I would think that’s obvious.”
Dee snapped her head up, looked directly at her, then back down to her laptop. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”
Alex internally slapped herself. “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to jump at you. When I’m here, Hawk is here. It won’t be forever.”
“Okay.”
When her eleven-thirty meeting with Floyd began, Hawk attempted to follow her VP into her office.
“It’s okay,” Alex said to Hawk. Hoping he understood that meant he didn’t need to be in the room.
Hawk pinched his brow together, said nothing, and stared at the man everyone in her family didn’t trust.
Alex witnessed the internal struggle he was having with her request ... a request that was more demand than anything.
Hawk was a distraction. Watching him standing guard reminded her of his cold stare when he’d woken from his nightmare. Then the cold that followed when he refused to talk to her about his obvious trauma response.
Worse, watching him put an ache in her chest she didn’t want to name.
When she agreed to keep their private life private, she never thought it would be this easy to act like they meant nothing to each other.
If anything, there was hostility bubbling between them as the day rolled on.
“I’m right outside,” Hawk said loud enough for Floyd to hear.
Alex placated him with a smile and lifted a hand to the door, requesting that he close it as he left.
“I feel like we have the Secret Service around when he’s here,” Floyd said.
“That’s about right.”
Floyd took a seat on the sofa. “Is there something I should know about?”
Alex sat in one of the chairs and crossed her legs as she sat back. She weighed her response. “Someone personally threatened me.” Alex kept the bomb threat out of it. “Chase and Max insisted on a bodyguard.”
“Really?” Floyd looked surprised.
“Not something very many men have had to worry about.”
He paused. “I’m sorry to hear that. Any, ah ... idea who it could be?”
“We’re narrowing down our search,” she lied.
“Was it personal? Or do you think the threat was something business related?”
Floyd’s question felt off. “We don’t know. Every possibility is being investigated.”
“The police are involved, then.”
“If someone threatened Ann’s safety, wouldn’t you call the authorities?” Alex asked.
“Yes, yes. Of course.”
“Let’s get to work,” Alex said, changing the subject.
Floyd caught her up on their top issues.
They spoke briefly about the Regent lawsuit.
Somewhere in that part of the conversation, Floyd suggested that her father hadn’t considered how Regent would handle an employee of theirs becoming direct competition overnight.
“But breaching a nondisclosure? It will be thrown out before we can think about settlement negotiations.”
“Our lawyers agree. Let’s hope it goes that way. We don’t need more problems.”
Floyd nodded a few times.
“Is there anything else?” Alex asked. “Anything come up while I was away that Chase didn’t handle?”
“No.”
“Good.” She stood. “We’ll be leaving early on Friday for our mother’s wedding. By Monday, it will be business as usual.”
“I thought you were all staying out until Tuesday.”
“I’ve had enough time off,” she said.
Floyd stood and hesitated. “I spoke with Nasser Bakshai.”
She paused, the hair on Alex’s neck stood up.
“Another cocktail hour?”
“Not that. He told me that his father was disappointed that you didn’t attend his event in Dubai. He was under the impression you were going.”
Something that Hawk had said to her when they were talking about the people he spied on during his time in South America echoed in her head. “ Body language says a lot more than the words coming out of someone’s mouth. Look beyond what they are saying. ”
“His impression was wrong,” Alex said.
Floyd shuffled his feet.
Nerves?
Anxiety?
“He’s an important man, Alex. He might even be able to help with whoever threatened you.”
“How exactly can he do that?” Alex asked.
“He has an international reach that local authorities may not have access to.”
“You mean Nasser’s father has that reach?”
Floyd cleared his throat. “Yes.”
Alex folded her hands in her lap with ease she didn’t feel. “I have a feeling Ashraf’s ‘friendship’ comes with strings.”
“I don’t know about that.”
Was Floyd trying to convince her or him? Because he was doing a shit job of convincing her of anything other than the Bakshais making Floyd squirm.
“Why is this important to you?” she asked.
“It’s not.”
His response was too fast.
“I feel as your VP that it’s my responsibility to point out the associates that you want to keep on your good side.”
“ It’s hard to keep a lie straight when you don’t give someone time to think. ”
“How is he an associate? We don’t do business with him.”
“He’s valuable.”
“How so?”
“He just is. Your father kept the Bakshais close.”
“For what reason?” she fired back.
“They’re an influential family,” Floyd offered.
Alex paused to give Floyd a moment to catch his breath.
“So are we.”
Floyd blinked twice ... three times.
“I won’t run to the snapping fingers of anyone. Not anymore. Especially to men like Bakshai.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Floyd asked.
She stepped closer. “To men that don’t have the balls to come directly to me and ask why I chose not to attend an event they hosted. Instead of asking my vice president to voice their disappointment for them.”
“It was a passing comment in conversation,” Floyd defended.
“You went to Dubai, then?”
“No.”
“Then what need did you have to be speaking with Bakshai?”
“I-I’ve known them for many years,” Floyd said.
“It’s personal, then?”
“Well—”
“Golf course conversation?” she asked. Giving Floyd something to anchor his answer to.
He took the bait.
“Exactly.” Floyd lit up and looked away.
You’re lying.
“We were playing a round, and Nasser brought this up.”
You’re still lying.
“At the country club? I think I saw something about it on the expense report,” Alex said.
Floyd nodded. “Yes. I know you don’t golf, but there are still a lot of things that can be learned by hitting small balls into smaller holes.”
Alex smiled in an effort to put him at ease. “I completely understand. An office expense well worth it.”
“Families as rich as them don’t golf at the local course.”
“I wouldn’t expect them to. Still, I have no intention of joining the Bakshais now or in the future.”
Floyd’s face fell.
“You can tell them that ... or not. It makes no difference to me.”
“Can I ask why?” Floyd asked.
“ Don’t show everything in your hand. Make them think you know something that they think you don’t know. ”
She lowered her voice. “I think you know.”
Floyd went white.
Ghost white.