My heart only beat faster for business these days. I never even brought women home anymore. It was a rule I’d made for myself. Hotels only—or their place, not mine.
My condo at the St. Regis was a sacred place to me, a sanctuary I rarely even allowed my brothers into. It was the only place I had that was truly mine and I guarded it jealously, like the bulldog the press liked to compare my personality to.
Usually, that was enough for me, going to work all weekend, coming home, having a drink, and then sleeping like the dead while I could, but it’d been a while since I’d felt a touch other than a firm handshake.
It was time for a little something more than that. A lot more, actually. Honestly, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Jane and it was getting to the point that it was becoming hard to sleep at night.
I’d had enough of mediocre orgasms, alone in my bedroom at night while fantasizing about a girl I couldn’t have. Fuck, it was like I’d gone back to being fifteen—not a particularly proud period of time in any guy’s life.
What I needed was to knock the memory of her scent from my mind and to forget what it’d felt like to have her skin against mine. Fuck, she’d only shaken my hand and I was acting like she’d given me a lap dance. Fully naked. For hours.
Yeah, it’s time to get over it.Frankly, I didn’t know of a better way to do that than by getting roaring drunk and going back to some random woman’s studio apartment on the west side.
So, that’s my plan and it’s pretty fucking important at this point.
“Well, you might want to sit for this,” Dad said mildly, but leaned back in his chair and didn’t push the issue.
My Spidey senses tingled again, that suspicion rolling like an avalanche through my gut. “I might want to sit down for what?”
“I spoke to Nora Thayer last night.” Dad thumbed the top sheet of the stack of paperwork. “Lovely woman. Excellent breeding. If she’d never married Court, she still would’ve been Chicago royalty.”
“Uh, okay.” I cocked my head at him, taking a step forward to grip the back of the chair he’d offered me. “If this is your way of telling me you’re ready to start dating again, you’re off the hook, Dad. It’s been almost fifteen years since Mom died. No one would blame you for?—”
“Good god, no.” Dad’s eyes widened like he was utterly stricken I’d even think that. “This isn’t about my personal life, Alex.”
“Oh.”Great?“So I’m assuming she’s aware then that we’re vying for two seats on the Thayer board?”
“I think she’s hoping you’ll be successful on that front,” Dad said, propping his elbows on his desk and steepling his fingers. “She told me she was rather desperate for her daughter to take over the company after Court’s conviction, but the board went against the family’s wishes and voted in her brother-in-law. She didn’t have the votes to overrule them.”
I frowned. “So she doesn’t support Andrew Thayer’s appointment?”
Dad snorted and I was so surprised, my eyes nearly bulged out of my head. He never made noises like that.
“No, Alex. Of course, she doesn’t support him. Have you met the man? He spent most of his first, and hopefully last, year asCEO burning what little cash reserves they had on trips to his estate in the Caribbean.”
I nodded. “With her support, this is basically a done deal.”See, nowthatgets my heart pumping faster and harder than any woman I’ve met in years. “So this is it, huh? It’s over?”
Dad met my gaze, and instantly, I knew it wouldn’t be that simple. “No, it’s not.”
“It’s not?”
He shook his head. “She’s a placeholder, a ceremonial sacrifice to keep a Thayer on the board of directors after her husband’s downfall. That’s it, but there’s something else. Something the feds weren’t able to take from them.”
He handed me one of the papers, the one from the top of the stack that he’d kept brushing his thumb against earlier. I took it, finally sinking into the chair as I scanned through the text.
Dad launched into an explanation while I was reading. “The old money families are notoriously smart when it comes to keeping our wealth and influence intact. The Thayers are part of that group, and what it all comes down to is protected estates. Nora’s board seats are one example.”
“And Jane’s trust fund is the other,” I concluded, glancing up at him after skimming the first half of the paper. “It was already transferred to her name before all their assets were seized?”
“Precisely, but keep reading,” Dad said, motioning at the paper again. “Once she’s married, Jane’s future husband would be entitled to two votes in the seven-vote quorum. It’s rare, but legally valid. If a divorce was to happen, those votes would revert to Jane, giving her a seat at the table.”
My eyes slammed shut and suddenly I was furious. “Jane has aPhDin management. She isn’t just going to roll over and be someone’s wife.”
“It doesn’t matter who she is or what she’s like, Alex. At the time this was written into the estate, Court Thayer himself waslikely a newborn. This?” Dad pointed at the paper. “This is how families like theirs, and ours, stay afloat in times of crisis.”
“Yeah, maybe, but it’s still bullshit.”
“No, Alex. It’s protection, written in stone, and it’s the only reason Nora has retained her board seats. It’s also the one way you’re going to get a seat at that table and enough votes to hold the majority. Those board members you and your brothers have chosen to go after won’t fold, regardless of how skilled Zach is in the art of persuasion.”
