CHAPTER 7 - SILVER THREADS
Alex's POV
She was thinking about me.
Had to be. The way she'd looked at the ceiling before leaving. Right up at my office. Like she could see through three floors of concrete and glass and expensive lies.
I closed the Liu Industries file for the fourth time without reading a single page. The numbers blurred. Everything blurred except the memory of her standing in that conference room. Navy blazer. Voice shaking just a little when she said "investment, not expense."
My phone rang. Tokyo calling. Right. The expansion meeting.
"Blackwood here."
"Alexander! We're ready to proceed with the merger terms..."
I made appropriate noises. Yes. No. Send the revised projections. My hand moved on its own, opening the security system on my desktop. Just checking. General oversight. Part of my job.
Click. Lobby cameras. Nothing.
Click. Parking garage. Empty.
Click. Seventeenth floor.
There. Authentication lab. She was bent over a microscope, hair falling forward in a dark curtain. Even in grainy black and white, even from this terrible angle, she was...
"Alexander? Are you still there?"
"Sorry. Signal dropped. You were saying about the Osaka property?"
I minimized the screen. Focused on Tokyo. Twenty minutes of numbers that might as well have been ancient Greek. When we finally hung up, my hand went straight back to the mouse.
She'd moved to the spectrometer. That loose strand of hair behind her ear now. When had she done that? What did her hands look like on those controls?
"Mr. Blackwood?" Sandra's voice through the intercom made me jump like a guilty teenager. "The board is gathering for the quarterly review."
"On my way."
I closed the security feed. Straightened my tie. Forty-two years old and acting like a stalker. What was wrong with me?
The boardroom smelled like leather and old money. Twelve faces around polished mahogany, expecting brilliance. I gave them autopilot.
"Revenue up eight percent. Occupancy at ninety-two. The Singapore property exceeding projections."
Evelyn Sharp watched me like a hawk. She'd been suspicious since I hired Bella. Too fast, she'd said. Too much money for an unknown.
"And The Gilded Rose?" she asked. "Your new curator seemed quite... passionate in the staff meeting."
Your new curator. Like an accusation.
"Ms. Martinez brings fresh perspective. We need that."
"Fresh perspective." Richard Lawson leaned back in his chair. The leather creaked. "Is that what we're calling it? Because from where I sit, it looks like you hired a child to manage a multi-million dollar collection."
My jaw tightened. "She's twenty-six. Hardly a child."
"With no hotel experience."
"With exceptional authentication credentials."
"From Berkeley?" Evelyn again. Always Evelyn. "Where she hasn't even finished her PhD?"
The room felt too hot. Or maybe that was just my collar. My temper. The image of Bella's face when Rebecca Liu had probably said something similar.
"Her academic standing isn't relevant to her capabilities."
"Everything is relevant when we're trusting her with this budget." Richard pulled out his tablet. "I've been reviewing her hiring paperwork. Expedited process. No committee review. Salary significantly above standard range."
They all looked at me. Waiting. Judging.
"I make executive decisions when I see exceptional talent. That's why you pay me."
"We pay you to be objective." Evelyn's voice could cut glass. "Not to play favorites with family friends."
Family friends. The words hit like cold water. Is that what they thought? That I'd hired her because of Roberto?
If only it were that simple.
"Ms. Martinez earned her position. Her work will prove that."
"It better." Richard closed his tablet with a snap. "Because if this project fails, it won't just be her reputation on the line."
The meeting dragged on. Budgets. Projections. Expansion strategies. My assistant knocked twice with urgent calls I waved away. All I could think about was three floors down. Was Yamamoto giving her trouble? Had she eaten lunch? Did that security feed show the break room?
"Alexander?"
I blinked. They were all staring.
"The Jakarta timeline?" Evelyn prompted.
"Right. Yes. Henderson has the details. Excuse me one moment."
I stepped out. Pulled out my phone like I was checking messages. Really just needed air. Space. Distance from their suspicious eyes.
The elevator dinged. Someone getting off on twenty. I glanced over and my heart stopped.
Bella. Here. On my floor.
She was looking at her phone, hadn't seen me yet. That strand of hair had escaped again. Her blazer was off now, white shirt underneath that...
"Lost?"
She jumped. Phone nearly flying. "Oh! Mr. Blackwood. I mean. Alex. I mean..."
"Mr. Blackwood is fine." During business hours. In the building. Where anyone could see us. Where I couldn't think about how her neck flushed pink when she was flustered.
"Sandra called. Said you needed the authentication reports for tomorrow's investor meeting?"
I hadn't asked for any reports. Sandra was getting a raise.
"Ah. Yes. The reports."
She held out a folder. Our fingers brushed when I took it. Lightning. Every time. How was that possible?
"Are they treating you well? Down in authentication?"
Her smile went tight. "Everyone's been very... educational."
Yamamoto. That passive aggressive fossil. I'd deal with him later.
"If you need anything..."
"I'm fine." Too quick. Too bright. "Just. You know. First day stuff."
The boardroom door opened. Richard's head poked out. "Alexander, if we could continue?"
His eyes landed on Bella. Sharpened. I saw him catalog everything. Young. Beautiful. Standing too close to me.
"Ms. Martinez was just delivering reports." I stepped back. Professional distance. "Thank you. That'll be all."
Dismissing her like an employee. The flash of hurt in her eyes nearly killed me.
She nodded. Turned. Walked to the elevator with her spine straight and her pride bruised. I wanted to call her back. Apologize. Explain.
Instead I went back to the boardroom and pretended to care about Jakarta.
The rest of the day was torture. Conference call with London where I agreed to terms I'd probably regret. Email chains about Mumbai that might as well have been written in Sanskrit. All while my security feed stayed minimized but not closed. Like an itch I couldn't scratch.
Four thirty. She was in the break room now. Talking to someone I couldn't see. Laughing. What was funny? Who was making her laugh?
"Mr. Blackwood?" Sandra again. "Roberto Martinez on line one."
My blood went cold then hot then cold again.
"Put him through."
"Alex! My friend! How's our girl doing?"
Our girl. Jesus Christ.
"She's settling in well. Very professional."
"Professional? Bella?" He laughed. Warm. Trusting. The sound of a man who didn't know his best friend was obsessing over security footage of his daughter. "She must be nervous. First day and all."
"She handled the senior staff meeting beautifully."
"Of course she did! She's brilliant. Just like her mother."
Elena. Who'd made me promise to look after Bella. Who'd trusted me. Who was probably spinning in her grave right now.
"Listen," Roberto continued. "I was thinking. Maybe you could keep an extra eye on her? These corporate types, they can be harsh. And Bella, she acts tough but she's sensitive."
Keep an extra eye on her. If he only knew.
"Of course."
"You're a good man, Alex. I knew I could count on you. Oh! And dinner Sunday. You'll come? I have someone I want her to meet."
My hand tightened on the phone. "Someone?"
"Thomas Walker from my accountant's office. Good boy. Stable. Perfect for Bella."
Perfect for Bella. The words tasted like battery acid.
"I might have a conflict Sunday."
"Nonsense! You never miss family dinner. Six o'clock. Don't be late."
He hung up. I sat there holding the dead phone. Staring at the minimized security window.
Family dinner. Where I'd watch Roberto parade some account boy in front of Bella. Where I'd smile and play uncle while my chest caved in.
I opened the feed one more time. She was at her desk now, frowning at her computer. That concentrating face that made me want to smooth the line between her eyebrows.
My desk phone buzzed. "Mr. Blackwood? Ms. Martinez just left for the day. She asked me to tell you the reports for tomorrow are actually on your desk. She forgot to mention."
I looked down. No folder. No reports. Just Sandra being Sandra.
"Thank you."
I waited until the elevator showed her leaving. Then I grabbed my jacket and headed for the authentication lab. Just to check the equipment. Make sure everything was properly shut down. Due diligence.
The lab smelled like her perfume. Light. Floral. Dangerous.
Her notebook was on the bench. Not snooping. Just... looking. Her handwriting was terrible. All loops and urgency. Notes about pigment analysis. Questions in the margins. "Ask about previous authentication attempts" and "Yamamoto hiding something?"
Smart girl. Yamamoto was definitely hiding something. Like his resentment over being passed over for the hotel project.
I was losing my mind. Standing in an empty lab. Breathing her perfume. Reading her terrible handwriting like it was poetry.
I left before security could wonder why the CEO was haunting the seventeenth floor.
But back in my office, I opened that security feed one more time. Just to watch her leave the building. Make sure she got to her car safely. Roberto asked me to look after her.
That's all this was.
That's all this could be.