Portia wanted to ask if they could win but stopped herself. That was a question she was supposed to know the answer to.
Could they though? She had no fucking clue. She’d spent the last few months dragging the company out of the mess her father had made. When she wasn’t doing that, she’d been clawing her way out of grief.
Add in the number of senior management she’d had to cut loose because they were as corrupt as her father and the company was facing a potential corporate showdown with untrained staff and a dearth of trustworthy people.
This sucked. A lot.
If the Solveig Consortium wanted a fight, she’d give them one. She just wished she knew what that looked like.
“What does our—” Portia’s question was cut off by the opening of her office door.
“We need to talk, Portia.”
She stared as Killian strode into her office, more formally dressed than she had seen him recently.
Her assistant followed him into the room. “I’m sorry, Ms. Tremaine. I told him you were in a meeting, but he walked right by me.”
Portia stood, determined to control the chaos in her office. “Killian, we can talk after this meeting.”
He shook his head. “This can’t wait.”
She drew herself up to her full height. How dare he presume to determine what could or couldn’t wait.
He met her gaze. “Please. We have a problem.”
The sincerity in his eyes and the gravity of his tone won her over. “Very well. You can stay.”
She shifted her attention back to her employees. “Thank you for your time. Send me your reports and analysis and be prepared for more questions.” She dismissed them with a nod.
They filed out of her office without another word, but her assistant lingered.
“You can go, Melanie. Thank you.” It was a struggle not to let her exasperation show. She really needed to get a new assistant. That hadn’t been a priority before. Maybe it should be now.
Portia wasn’t sure if she imagined a sneer cross her assistant’s face before she turned and left the office.
After the door clicked shut, Portia offered Killian a seat.
“This better be good, Killian.”
“It isn’t, Portia. It’s potentially very bad.”
Chapter12
Portia staredat the man who’d been her best friend from childhood. They hadn’t been as close since the bombing—and maybe they never would be again—but she trusted him when it came to the business.
“What’s bad?” She sat behind her desk and waited.
Killian took the visitor’s chair. “Aleksander Lind from the Solveig Consortium called me last night asking for a meeting today.” He tilted his head and looked at her. “You’ve met, right?”
Portia caught her breath. That was a very mild word for her encounters with Aleks. She got her mind out of the bedroom and back on the company.
Truth be told, she hadn’t expected the end run, but maybe she should have. Ridiculously, it hurt that he was talking to other people about the Tremaine Corporation. “Yes, we’ve met. He’s the one who requested the meeting with Dizzie. Is that why he contacted you?”
Killian shook his head. He leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees. “He was surprisingly circumspect about Dizzie. His goal was something else.” He looked her straight in the eye. “He wanted my shares.”
Portia gasped. “Your shares?”
“Yes. And he offered a pretty penny for them. A few times more than their worth.”
