She scurried up, stumbling in her heels as she erratically searched for her bag of contracts. A scream of pain erupted behind her the moment she reentered the bedroom and grabbed the abandoned bag. When she ran back into the living room, the hitman’s firing arm was grotesquely dislocated, Dee holding him down and phone to her head.
“Take care of this!” Alicia raced out of the penthouse, as if either she or Dee had any other recourse!
Adrenaline fueled Alicia over the half hour it took her to get back in the car and rolling down the avenue right before the morning rush. She caught her breath and stared at her phone. She wasn’t looking to call her wife or the police. Instead, she turned on the camera and fixed her hair and makeup.I can’t go to the shareholders’ meeting looking like this.Russell would be there. She needed to look extra pretty for him – the man who had taken yet another hit out on her life.
“Everything all right, ma’am?” the driver asked.
Alicia shut her compact. “Everything’s fine now, thanks. Just a small disturbance in the apartment.” She closed her eyes and meditated the rest of the way to the office. No sense marching into that morning meeting with fear shaking her veins.
“Fucking bastard,” Alicia muttered. “This ends today.”
Luckily, there were no more attempts on her life between the car and the executive office. Alicia had composed herself by the time her driver let her out of the Town Car. The doorman rushedto greet and escort her to the executive elevator. She had the whole thing to herself for the next two minutes.
The doors opened to a busy, frantic office.
Every major shareholder was there. More than last time, anyway. Most of those men were the same, but there were new faces that Alicia had only ever seen in pictures. Few were women. Most were older men who had about as much love for her as they did for rats. They gave her a few greetings, since she was titledMrs. Moreau, after all, but none of them held any real respect for her. Fine with Alicia. With luck, most of these men would be out of her hair by lunch.
“Danica.” The moment she saw her wife, Alicia fought the urge to demand to be held.Not here. Not now.Later. “Can we talk?”
Her wife pulled away from a group of shareholders and followed Alicia into her office.
As Alicia hoped, both Clayborns were sitting in her office, dressed in their usual pantsuit uniforms. Only now, Nigel sported some fresh bruises and cuts on his face. He visibly flinched as Danica approached from behind.
“Don’t be surprised if you get a call from your bodyguard,” Alicia said. “Your father hired a hitman to kill me this morning. Dee’s taking care of it.”
Danica’s eyes grew. “What?” The Clayborns expressed the same sentiment when they turned to look at Alicia.
“I’m not kidding. I almost got shot in the head. The fucker even explicitly said that your father hired him.”
“That’s…”
“Keep in mind that this is the man who lit your mother on fire and litmyapartment up. He is not above hiring a fucking hitman to put a bullet in his daughter-in-law’s brain.”
“Holy shit.”
Alicia met Sarah’s gaze from across the room. The assistant was the first to avert her eyes. “Your father is a monster. Youknow this. I’m only telling you about what happened right now because I want you to know what we stand to lose if this meeting goes south.”
“Alicia.” Danica’s hands were on Alicia’s arms, holding her in place as if she were in any danger of running away. “I know what we stand to lose. Something I refuse to lose.”
“Same here.” Alicia pulled her wife’s head down for a much-needed kiss of comfort. “Let’s go kick some ass.”
“For what it’s worth, I would never tell that you were almost killed this morning.”
“Thanks. That was the look I was going for.”
Alicia beckoned for the assistants to follow them out of the office. The main conference room was already populated with most of the guests. Alicia went in last, catching the eye of Russell Moreau after he got off the phone with someone.
He was shocked. And greatly displeased.
“Good morning, sir,” Alicia said in the most deadpan voice she could muster. “Hope that you’re doing well. I know that I am.”
Russell sputtered something as his daughter-in-law went to the front of the room.
“If we could have everyone’s attention, please!” Better Danica than Alicia saying that. Not only was she by blood a Moreau, but her voice carried in ways Alicia’s could never hope to achieve. “We have something incredibly important to address before we formally start this morning’s meeting. I know most of you have places to be later this afternoon, and I fully intend to make sure you get there on time. Thank you!”
One by one, the chairs were filled. Alicia flipped open her folder of contracts. Behind her, Ms. Clayborn quickly hooked her boss’s phone to a projector. Mr. Clayborn was effectively useless, but at least he looked pretty with his cuts and bruises. By pretty, one meant he at least represented the physical prowess existing between the married Moreau couple.Danica will kick your ass,too, if you piss her off enough. Doubtlessly, she hid how much she stewed in thought over what had happened to her wife that morning. Either that, or she was still in shock. Alicia knew she was.
“What’s this about?” asked one particularly aged man in the front of the room. His glasses were so thick that he had to use an assistant to relay what was written on the projector. “I thought the meeting didn’t start until nine.”
