CHAPTER ONE
ELIASGREYSONHADN’Tjust mastered the art of avoiding inconvenient emotion, he’d perfected it—effortlessly ignoring not just his own, but that of all others. To be unmoved in the presence of histrionics made all decisions—be they business or personal related—clinical and easy. Rage, recriminations, pleas or guilt trips didn’t penetrate his armour. No matter the provocation, Elias Greyson didn’t overreact, didn’t get riled, and definitely didn’t make snap decisions in the heat of the moment because he always ensured any heat was eliminated from important negotiations. Emotional reactions led to poor outcomes, he found. A measured, rational, controlled response was right. And if he were occasionally accused of being a cold-blooded, ruthless bastard, so be it.
But today Elias was having a rare,imperfectday. Irritation burned up his spine—an irritation that had been building for the last two weeks. He checked the clock on his computer and said irritation roiled higher. He gritted his teeth. Of all the days for his ultra-efficient assistant to finally fail him. He was flying from London to the US in a few hours and he wanted everything organised ahead of take-off. His latest acquisition target, a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, was proving a difficult fish to hook. While the company would be useful for Elias to push further into the North American market, its chief exec, Vince Williams, considered ‘values’ to be important. The old man’s diligence searches went beyond company balance sheets all the way to any prospective raiding CEO’s silk ones. Apparently perfect Vince had been married to his childhood sweetheart Cora for over fifty years and was known to disapprove of a party lifestyle. Elias wasn’t quite the playboy he’d been a couple of years ago but apparently the fact he was still single was enough to cause ‘concern’. It was ridiculous and Elias would be informing Vince of the fact face-to-face at their meeting tomorrow.
He would also be taking over the firm regardless. But he’d prefer the acquisition not to be hostile, which is why he’d wanted everything squared away in an impeccably prepared offer that would be impossible to refuse regardless of anyone’s ‘values’. So the last thing he needed was to be let down by his primary assistant a few hours before departure.
Darcie Milne had never been late. Not once in the two and a half years she’d worked for him. Usually she was seated at the desk just outside his office before he even arrived, and he arrived early. But that chair was still empty. He snatched up his mobile. The text messages he’d already sent her remained unanswered so now he actually phoned her. It went straight to voicemail.
‘I need you in the office.Now.’ He stabbed the screen to end the call.
Five more minutes crawled by. His supposedly superior ability to ignore inconvenient emotion slipped as a sliver of worry crept in and splintered his concentration. Had something happened to her? Every muscle tensed. Where thehellwas she?
At that exact moment his office door was flung open. Darcie Milne stalked in and slammed the door behind her.
Elias stared, rooted to his seat, jaw hanging. Because Darcie Milne was not wearing her customary office attire of loose-fitting white shirt, even looser grey trousers and boring brown brogues. In the dreary uniform’s place was a knee-length cream-coloured skirt and matching jacket. Both of which were a little too large on her frame, but that skirt offered a very rare glimpse of her ankles and calves and creamy skin. The room temperature shot up at least ten degrees.
He forced himself to shut his mouth and lift his gaze, but she wasn’t looking at him anyway; her focus was on his wide wooden desk between them. She’d not looked him square in the eyes once in the last fortnight.Thathad irritated him, too. He’d gone for so long without being bothered by her. Frankly he’d been proud of the degree to which he’d remained impassive to her presence. Until two weeks ago, that is. Because two weeks ago she’d—
‘What the hell time do you call this?’ he growled, refusing to think of that night. But the effort cost him his customary cool.
‘You don’t remember anything outside of the current deal, do you?’
Shocked by the uncharacteristic bite in her tone, that unfamiliar irritation almost overwhelmed him. Darcie had never given him moody attitude. She—like he—was usually calm. She was diligent. Dutiful. Sure, she sometimes challenged him but only when required, only ever about business and always very coolly. She was quite often correct, too. Not that she was some docile doormat, more an efficient, aloof automaton. One he refused to look at for too long. Only today—now—he stared at her.Hard.
‘What’s going on?’ he clipped.
She put a file on the desk before him. He could see the familiar neon sticky tags she preferred and the neat notes in her clear print.
‘I’ve narrowed it down to five. That ought not to be too taxing for you to have to interview,’ she said.
‘Interview?’
‘The applicants for your executive assistant.’
‘You’remy executive assistant.’
She stiffened and her expression was different again. ‘Have you really forgotten the resignation letter I emailed you a fortnight ago? I left a paper copy on your desk, but I know you read the email. I got the receipt.’
Oh, he’d not forgotten. He just knew his rights. He glared at her grimly. ‘Your contract requiresthreeweeks’ notice. As you sent your letter only a fortnight ago, there’s one week left.’
‘But as I have so much accrued annual leave owing I’m taking the last week of my notice period as a holiday. You’re paying the remainder of my accrued holidays out.’ She shrugged. ‘It’s a lot.’
Something rippled beneath his skin at the unashamed defiance—sass—in her reply. She’d never crossed that line. Not until that night in Edinburgh.
‘So you’re going on holiday now?’ he asked. Where was she going in that ill-fitting cream suit—a nunnery?
‘Correct.’
Elias had lost many employees in the past and initially he’d been determined not to give a damn about Darcie’s unexpected decision to depart. Then he’d decided to get her to change her mind. But he’d not addressed it with her directly yet. Truthfully it had taken more assimilating than he’d expected, especially after that other issue.
But while he refused to beg, he couldn’t stop himself from testing her loyalty. ‘You realise it’s a terrible time.’
‘It’salwaysa terrible time,’ she said, her voice clipped. ‘There is always some massive deal on the table that you need everyone all over. It wouldn’t matter when I handed in my notice. It was always going to be an inconvenience to you.’
‘It’s far more than an inconvenience.’ The admission growled out.
‘You’re being dramatic,’ she said crisply. ‘You’ll be fine. You always are.’