He’d expected softer edges after Ryan’s recent marriage, but the man’s glare indicated a strong will. And, if the reports were true, an even stronger desire to prove himself in the face of Howard Blackstone’s obvious preference for Ric Perrini. Just the sort of family infighting that jeopardised smart business decisions—which would, ironically, make his decision to keep them at arm’s length that much easier.
For a week he’d immersed himself in this family—their history, their investments, even the salaciously unreliable gossip. He might be related to them on paper, but loyalty had to be earned. There were only four people in the world he trusted: His secretary. His chief of security. Quinn, who had voiced multiple warnings to watch his back. And his mother.
He didn’t miss the irony. For someone with deep trust issues, he’d placed it with a woman who’d been living a lie.
“OK,” Ric said at length. “Under one condition.”
Jake turned his back to the window, placing his glass on the cabinet. “Which is?”
“No official announcements until we’re good and ready.”
Jake quirked an eyebrow. “And your reasoning is…?”
“You. The speculation alone will be enough to drop stock prices.”
He smiled humourlessly. “And it conveniently stops anything from leaking out…unless one of you is the source.”
Ryan visibly bristled, but Kim put a hand on his arm. “Your identity stays with us until we all agree on where and when to announce it,” she said smoothly. “Not even the assistant we’ve assigned to you knows.”
Great. A company mouthpiece to spout the latest platitudes about Blackstone’s.
“Have you informed your solicitors and the private investigator?” Jake asked.
“We’ve called the P.I. off,” Ric said.
Jake nodded. “So let’s see what I can dig up on this leak before we start making anything official. A week, maybe two, should do it.”
“Once people start seeing you here, it’ll be hard to avoid speculation,” Kimberley said.
“Which is why we’ve given you an office on the executive floor. Limited access. High security,” Ric added.
“I don’t need an office. But I will need complete access to your records.”
“It’s already done.” Bitterness tinged Ryan’s words. How much had it cost him to agree to that? For a brief second, Jake almost felt sorry for him. It disappeared when Ryan fixed him with a cold glare. He saw the enmity written in every muscle on the man’s face.
“The only people who know the truth are family,” Kimberley added.
Family. Jake’s gut tightened at the word, but outwardly he just nodded.
“Vince will want to meet you,” Kim said. “He’s—”
“Howard’s brother. Runs an opal mine in Coober Pedy. Lives in Adelaide and owns a ten-percent share. He’s currently in the States on business.”
“He’s your uncle,” Kim added calmly. “Then there’s Sonya.”
Jake heard the warmth in her voice, saw the emotion that briefly softened Kim’s expression before she blinked it away.
An unfamiliar burst of injustice slammed into him, rendering him momentarily speechless. Sonya Hammond was a mother figure to these people. She was important.
He took a breath, quickly recovering with, “It’s not necessary.”
By the look on Kim’s face he knew his response fell far short of acceptable. Well, hell. This wasn’t exactly his dream situation, either.
Perrini said, “You’ll have access to the internal filing and e-mail systems, plus a master key card to the building.” He punched a number into the phone. “You understand that no files can leave the building, nor are there to be any unauthorised copies made.”
“Naturally,” Jake said smoothly.
Ric continued. “The elevator on the far right is executive use only. It takes you to the basement, so there’ll be no chance meetings with other staff. Your assistant, Holly McLeod, is outside.”
I guess this means the meeting’s over. “I’ll need the current financials.”
“I’ll send them up,” Ryan said curtly. He was the first to rise, striding over to the door and yanking it open. “Welcome to Blackstone’s.”
Holly McLeod waited as everyone exited the boardroom. Ryan, Ric and Garth were deep in discussion as they strode to the elevator. Nothing new there. They lived and breathed Blackstone Diamonds.
Then Jake Vance emerged and the seriousness of her predicament flipped her stomach.
It’s nervousness. That’s all.
He spotted her and gave a brief, humourless smile. “Miss McLeod.”
Her softly murmured name tripped a breath of warm anticipation over her skin, one she quickly covered up by straightening the file in her arms. “Mr Vance—” she held out her hand “—I’m Holly McLeod. I’m to be your assistant for the duration of your stay.”
When his long fingers wrapped around hers, her skin heated with the contact. It wasn’t power he so clearly exuded. It was something much more seductive. Confidence? Control?
Intimacy.
The way his sharp green gaze swept her from head to toe, taking in her hair, her face, her business suit. The way those eyes probed hers until they finally came to rest on the small diamond solitaire at her throat.
She swallowed, withdrew and offered a key card, carefully avoiding his hand. “This will give you access to all the floors, plus the basement car park. You’ve been allocated a parking space for as long as you’re with Blackstone’s. I’ll show you to your office now, if you like.”
“No.”
Holly blinked. “Sir?”
“It’s Jake. I’m not staying.” He stuck his hand in his suit jacket, pulled out a mobile phone and flipped it open. Without a second glance, he pocketed it. “You can give me a rundown of the company history in the car. Get the financials from Ryan Blackstone and I’ll meet you in the basement.”
She hesitated as he made short work of the corridor with his long, devouring strides. So he didn’t want to view his domain, cast an all-encompassing powerful eye over the magnificent Sydney view. Of course. He had the mirror image from his North Sydney complex. Still, she’d anticipated questions, pulled all the relevant files and promotional material and put them on his desk. She’d made tentative meetings with department heads.
“Keep up, Miss McLeod,” Jake said curtly as he pressed the elevator button.
Holly
