I chewed slowly, swallowed, took a sip of water, and said absolutely nothing. While I was used to his crazy schemes, Iwasn’t used to being told I had to work with someone I detested for the next few weeks, but I wouldn’t refuse to work with her either.
Acquisitions often required partnerships. Especially if we wanted to keep the business in question running, which in this case, we obviously did. It wouldn’t matter that I couldn’t stand her. I would have to set my personal feelings aside and just get on with it.
As if trying to prove that she could do exactly what I’d just realized we would have to do, Kate slid seamlessly into the conversation. “Our firm already has twenty years of financial history with Hinds. We can provide long-term behavioral patterns and risk tolerance metrics that could strengthen the bid.”
She was smart. That was unquestionable. I’d known it the first time I’d met her. Sharp, precise, and clearly fluent in the language of acquisitions.
Hell, I’d even heard rumors that she’d worked on the floor of the stock exchange for several years—a job that sounded like psychological warfare disguised as employment to me. I couldn’t imagine voluntarily subjecting myself to that level of chaos, but apparently, she had.
She smiled coolly. “If we coordinate our efforts early on, it increases the likelihood that Hinds will sign with us before competing consortiums have even finalized their offers.”
“She’s right,” Alex said easily.
I didn’t disagree, even if I hated that I had no reason to. Both of them were right.Un-fucking-fortunately.
The conversation shifted into timelines, data-sharing protocols, and preliminary-valuation frameworks. I listened but avoided eye contact with her like her snarky self-righteousness was contagious.
Alex looked between me and her when Will had finished summarizing his part of the strategy. “You’re going to have to come up with a stellar bid, guys.”
Will suddenly leaned forward, grinning at me like he’d just discovered a new hobby. “I think you’ll get along. What a great team. Nate and Kate. Natey and Katey.”
I looked over at him and scowled. “Shut up before I start calling you Willie.”
The room went quiet for half a beat before Alex cleared his throat, pretending he wasn’t entertained by the fact that those were the first words I’d spoken in this meeting. I caught Kate looking at me as I turned toward my oldest brother, and there was the faintest hint of a smile tugging at her mouth too, something between amusement and being impressed, kind of like she appreciated the lack of diplomacy.
The moment our eyes met, however, it vanished. Her expression reset instantly into polished stone, her gaze dropping back to her tablet like the reaction had never existed. I stared at her for a second longer, suddenly aware that this partnership was going to be less about strategy and more about survival.
“I have a lot of work to do if you’re serious about this stunt,” I said, closing my lunch container and standing up. “Excuse me.”
Alex nodded like I was being entirely reasonable. Will looked like he wanted to say something else that would undoubtedly have been incredibly unhelpful, but Kate didn’t even look up from her tablet.
Thank God for small mercies.
I headed back to my office before anyone could stop me, and as soon as I’d walked in, I shut the door, drew the blinds, and slid out of my jacket. The city hummed faintly beyond the glass, but the noise was muted and distant, which was exactly how I preferred my interactions with the world at large.
As I opened my laptop, I was already mentally compiling task lists. If Alex was going to gamble the company on Abram Hinds, I intended to know every decimal point before we placed the bet. Ten minutes later, I was interrupted by a knock on the door.
I sighed, not ever happy with an unexpected intrusion, but my concentration was shot now anyway. “Come in.”
The door opened and I glanced toward it just in time to see Kate Vanderhaul stride in with her bag hanging from a strap over her shoulder. She shut the door behind her and crossed the room without hesitation, dropping into one of the chairs at the small table in the corner where I took private meetings.
I frowned at her. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, we’re sharing this office now,” she said pointedly, flipping her hair over her shoulder. She pulled a laptop out of her bag and opened it up in front of her.
The movement sent a wave of citrus and vanilla drifting across the room, the scent clean, warm, and unbelievably distracting. Her hair fell in thick, glossy waves down her back and she tucked a strand behind her ear, then immediately adjusted it again like it required constant supervision.
It got in the way. She was always touching it and it drove me absolutely fucking nuts, but at the same time, some deeply irrational part of my brain wondered what it would feel like to run my fingers through it.
“Your brother said it would be a good idea,” she said. “Otherwise, you’ll apparently avoid me like the plague. I wouldn’t mind that, but Alex seemed to think this would make sense, considering that we actually really do need to work together.”
My jaw flexed, my teeth grinding just enough to register the pressure. God, I hated this girl so much, but it looked like the universe—and Alex—were dead set on throwing her at mewherever I went. I just could not, for the life of me, figure out exactly why that was.
CHAPTER 4
KATE
The driver dropped me off beneath the awning of the swanky high-rise Alex had rented for my stay. I tipped him and walked into the polished marble lobby with only my computer bag slung over my shoulder, the rest of my things having been brought here after I’d been dropped off at the Westwood and Sons HQ this morning.
