else.
Claire gives me a weak smile and motions me toward the door. I hesitate and study her for a moment. Normally, she’s upbeat and obnoxiously positive, but now there’s something timid about her demeanor. It’s unsettling.
“Please… they’re waiting,” she says.
I snap out of it and nod my understanding. I shuffle toward the door, my mind racing a million miles a second, and give a light knock before pushing my way inside.
Wade’s office is the same as always, aside from the fact that there are now three men standing around his desk. Wade is one of them, standing across from an older man who looks vaguely familiar, though I can’t quite place him. The third man is…
My eyes widen.
Calvin?
His beautiful blue eyes connect with mine, stopping me dead in my tracks. What in the world is he doing here?
“Ms. Bennett, I presume?” the older man prompts. His tone makes it obvious that he’s used to being in control. I jerk my head in a quick nod. “Wade mentioned you were on your way—glad to see he’s good for something . Please, come join us.”
My eyes dart back and forth between him and Calvin. The two of them couldn’t look more different from each other if they tried. The older man is wearing a nice, but aged, suit. He has a thick goatee that is as gray as his wispy hair. And he looks pissed about something.
Calvin is wearing a finely tailored black suit with a red power tie. He has his usual confidence about him, as though nothing in the world can faze him.
Wade, on the other hand… He looks like a mouse surrounded by hungry cats with nowhere to go.
I keep my eyes mostly turned downward while I join the three of them. Still, I risk a few questioning glances at Calvin. There’s something reassuring in the looks he gives me, although I’m pretty sure it’s going to be impossible to settle my nerves until I find out what in the world is going on.
The older man gives me the briefest flash of what might be confused for a smile as he thrusts his hand toward me.
“Sofie Bennett, I’m Jack Hodgins,” he says.
It takes me a second to place the name, but when I do my stomach lurches into a free fall.
Jack Hodgins. The CEO of Emerson Global.
What in the world is he doing here?
I try to return the smile as I shake his hand, but I probably look more terrified than anything. I shoot Calvin another nervous look, but there’s no change in his confident facade. If he’s trying to play it cool to show me that everything is going to be all right then he’s a horrible failure.
What have I gotten myself into?
After giving me a firm handshake, Mr. Hodgins is all business.
“Good, now that we’re all here we can get down it…” he begins. “Wade, as you may or may not know, Mr. Black and I have a long history together. In fact, I’d go so far as to call him an old friend. We’ve done business a few times over the years, so you can imagine my surprise when it came to my attention that there was some confusion about the way one my people has been behaving.”
I struggle to keep my composure, but I can’t stop my eyes from widening in surprise. Calvin is friends with the CEO of Emerson Global? I know he is well connected, but it never occurred to me exactly who he might know.
The concerned look on Wade’s face melts into something bordering on total panic.
“I’m sure it’s just some kind of misunderstanding,” Wade says.
If he’s trying to act reassuring, he’s not fooling anybody. The cracks in his voice and the way his eyes dart around, nervously, give him away.
Mr. Hodgins lowers his chin, leveling Wade with a stare so fierce it even leaves me unsettled.
“I hope so, son. For your sake.” The blood in Wade’s face drains, leaving him a pale, sickly color. Mr. Hodgins holds the stare for a moment longer before continuing. “Mr. Black seems to think that one of my people—you—is going out of their way to interfere with his personal life. You wouldn’t happen to
Claire gives me a weak smile and motions me toward the door. I hesitate and study her for a moment. Normally, she’s upbeat and obnoxiously positive, but now there’s something timid about her demeanor. It’s unsettling.
“Please… they’re waiting,” she says.
I snap out of it and nod my understanding. I shuffle toward the door, my mind racing a million miles a second, and give a light knock before pushing my way inside.
Wade’s office is the same as always, aside from the fact that there are now three men standing around his desk. Wade is one of them, standing across from an older man who looks vaguely familiar, though I can’t quite place him. The third man is…
My eyes widen.
Calvin?
His beautiful blue eyes connect with mine, stopping me dead in my tracks. What in the world is he doing here?
“Ms. Bennett, I presume?” the older man prompts. His tone makes it obvious that he’s used to being in control. I jerk my head in a quick nod. “Wade mentioned you were on your way—glad to see he’s good for something . Please, come join us.”
My eyes dart back and forth between him and Calvin. The two of them couldn’t look more different from each other if they tried. The older man is wearing a nice, but aged, suit. He has a thick goatee that is as gray as his wispy hair. And he looks pissed about something.
Calvin is wearing a finely tailored black suit with a red power tie. He has his usual confidence about him, as though nothing in the world can faze him.
Wade, on the other hand… He looks like a mouse surrounded by hungry cats with nowhere to go.
I keep my eyes mostly turned downward while I join the three of them. Still, I risk a few questioning glances at Calvin. There’s something reassuring in the looks he gives me, although I’m pretty sure it’s going to be impossible to settle my nerves until I find out what in the world is going on.
The older man gives me the briefest flash of what might be confused for a smile as he thrusts his hand toward me.
“Sofie Bennett, I’m Jack Hodgins,” he says.
It takes me a second to place the name, but when I do my stomach lurches into a free fall.
Jack Hodgins. The CEO of Emerson Global.
What in the world is he doing here?
I try to return the smile as I shake his hand, but I probably look more terrified than anything. I shoot Calvin another nervous look, but there’s no change in his confident facade. If he’s trying to play it cool to show me that everything is going to be all right then he’s a horrible failure.
What have I gotten myself into?
After giving me a firm handshake, Mr. Hodgins is all business.
“Good, now that we’re all here we can get down it…” he begins. “Wade, as you may or may not know, Mr. Black and I have a long history together. In fact, I’d go so far as to call him an old friend. We’ve done business a few times over the years, so you can imagine my surprise when it came to my attention that there was some confusion about the way one my people has been behaving.”
I struggle to keep my composure, but I can’t stop my eyes from widening in surprise. Calvin is friends with the CEO of Emerson Global? I know he is well connected, but it never occurred to me exactly who he might know.
The concerned look on Wade’s face melts into something bordering on total panic.
“I’m sure it’s just some kind of misunderstanding,” Wade says.
If he’s trying to act reassuring, he’s not fooling anybody. The cracks in his voice and the way his eyes dart around, nervously, give him away.
Mr. Hodgins lowers his chin, leveling Wade with a stare so fierce it even leaves me unsettled.
“I hope so, son. For your sake.” The blood in Wade’s face drains, leaving him a pale, sickly color. Mr. Hodgins holds the stare for a moment longer before continuing. “Mr. Black seems to think that one of my people—you—is going out of their way to interfere with his personal life. You wouldn’t happen to
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