“If you understood the core of what we really do, you might not see it that way.”
“I understand the core of what I want to do, and it isn’t this. So I’m starting my own firm.”
“I see. And you have clients?”
“A few.”
Lissa chuckled. “My guess is that I might recognize a few of their names.”
“Some of your clients might want to go with me if they appreciate what I offer.”
“And they must admire your sense of loyalty too.”
“They can see the conditions; the restrictions I’ve been working under. They are intrigued by how things might be and want to give it a try.”
“Well then, since you have used your time on my payroll to ingratiate yourself to them, I don’t suppose you’ll need my good wishes.”
“Don’t be snarky. There’s no reason we can’t part amicably.”
“There isn’t? You’ve lied to me about how you were looking out for my business. I’ve heard about the rumors you spread in an attempt to ruin my reputation. I assume that was part of the effort to steal my clients to fund your own business. And now you think I should be a good sport?”
“Your reputation? You are a great number cruncher and are known to crusty academics as brilliant. Nothing more.”
“Then why was it necessary to start rumors that I was a drug addict?”
Tina scowled. “I didn’t—”
“Tina, despite your low opinion of me, there are people in the business world that like me—enough to tell me how you ran to them with those lies and insinuations. If you didn’t think they’d be more than happy to repeat the rumors along with the information that it came from you, then you aren’t very clever.”
Tina scowled. “It’s business to run down the competition.”
“It might be your way of doing business, which suggests you leaving to start your own company is a very good idea. I suggest you start now. I had your computer locked and I’ll change all the passwords and key locks. Take whatever is in your desk that’s yours. I have to assume you’ve already stolen anything of value to you before showing your true colors, but even with the horse gone the barn door should probably be locked. I might have another horse one day, after all.”
“What barn?” Tina asked.
“It’s a metaphor. Now get your ass out of my building.”
Tina stood stiffly and walked out of the inner office and straight to the front door. As she’d guessed, Tina had already cleaned out her desk. Telling Lissa had been nothing but a formality and a chance to gloat. Angry with herself for not seeing Tina’s greed sooner, she picked up the phone.
“Hello Abby, it’s Lissa. Yes, I’m back. How would you like to work for me again?”
“I won’t work for Tina.”
“She’s gone. You’d work for me.”
“I don’t know about being a secretary again. It’s a thankless job.”
“No, I’ll need you to hire a secretary. I want to give you Tina’s job. That’s even more thankless, but it pays better.”
She could hear the woman breathing. “I can hire our secretary?”
“Right. When can you start?”
“It’s Friday. I can start Monday.”
Lissa smiled to herself. “Monday would be great. See you at nine.”
When she hung up after talking to Abby, hearing her cheerful voice, she felt that she’d turned a corner, shed some baggage. It was time to hit the street and let the world know she was back and fighting. She looked at her watch. The day was kind of a bust, and she didn’t have much heart for putting on a superhero costume and spending Friday afternoon righting the wrongs of the business world. She picked up the phone again.
“I didn’t expect you to call,” Joan said.
“How is it going?”
“It’s quite a learning experience. For instance, I’ve learned that with three boys, I’m going to need a larger diaper allowance. And I’ve learned that providing the three with proper care requires perpetual motion, but we are all doing fine and I’m getting back in shape.”
“Would it be interfering in your new career path and turf if I wanted to come home and spoil my children for the rest of the day?”
Joan laughed. “Since they don’t have grandparents to do that, someone needs to pick up the slack. If you were to bring lunch from a deli, you could consider me appeased.”
“Now there is something I can do.”
Thinking of the children made her feel deliciously happy, although as always, her happiness was tinged with thoughts of the elusive Julio. What the hell had happened? It still hurt to think of him, and it launched her on an emotional roller coaster that took her brain traveling along an endless loop of angst, disbelief, and self-pity—the last was the most unpleasant of all of those feelings. None of them were profitable. As she always did, she allowed herself a moment of self-indulgence and then shrugged it off. She had the boys and she had Joan. On Monday, Abby would be back and fitting into her new role. In the glow of hindsight, she knew that getting rid of Tina and promoting Abby was a change she should have made long ago. With her in place, she had a team good enough to take on any opposition, and she’d find out more about what Tina had been up to while she was in the hospital.
CHAPTER SIX
Julio wasn’t in the best of moods. He’d been tense and jumpy during the flight and all the way from the airport. Willa let him be grumpy. She sat back in the limo, letting herself feel a little thrill. Getting him here had been a challenge, but important for her plan. Of course, getting Julio to come to New York City had been a matter of making him think it was necessary and he could do some things to help him win the Milan project.
Unfortunately, the reason that Julio was so unsettled was that this was Lissa Edwards’s city, and that meant a danger of them meeting. Out there somewhere in this vast forest of skyscrapers the woman was working, trying to find an angle that would involve her with the Milan project too. Everyone wanted that plum job.
Her presence was a risk she had to take. She couldn’t very well keep him away from her forever. Sooner or later they’d meet, and she just needed to postpone it until she had cemented her position.
Willa knew that being so close to Lissa had put him on edge and kept him there. She was so close, and yet he had no idea how to contact her. Well, Willa didn’t intend to let him dwell on that woman for long. She had some important things to accomplish here. First, however, she needed to remind him of their purpose in New York. If he focused on that, things would be okay.
“I don’t like this city,” he said. She knew that was true. Julio wasn’t a big fan of America, and New York City represented most of what he disliked.
“Since you can’t clone yourself, we needed to prioritize.”
“It’s a hellaciously complex bid as it is, Willa. You’ve seen the documents. I still haven’t resolved some of my misgivings about the plans as they are. And yes, I could use help. I think some of the assumptions the consortium has made need investigating before we get too far in our plans. That means I should be with experts in Milan doing that, not sightseeing in goddamn New York City. What an ugly place it is. How do people do any creative work here?”
Willa held her breath. For the past few days, his uncertainties about the project had been making Julio uneasy. Now he was getting closer to understanding what was wrong—but not quite there. Going back to a consortium and telling them there were problems with their basic idea was risky, but that’s how he operated. She worried that they weren’t looking for feedback, just someone to do what they asked. It took balls to take the gamble of asking them to make fundamental changes in the plan, or telling them they needed to change their thinking, but that was Julio. If they refused, he wouldn’t even bother to submit a proposal. He didn’t want to be part of a project he thought was fundamentally flawed. He only involved himself with projects that he was certain would be successful.
“You need to put together your team for the bid, Ju