Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 128413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Charisma’s eyes flared, a rare physical sign of her emotions. “I will,” she said, that unnerving awe back in her tone. “I am the only one who has always been loyal to you, sir.”
While Auden nodded in the moment, she was still chewing over Charisma’s words the next day when she took a seat at the conference table situated in an office building in the nearest town. Her family had purchased it as a local business base after relocating her to this area, in order to keep up the facade of her being the new Scott CEO.
The table was an expanse of black glass, the executive chairs around it glossy leather that proved unexpectedly comfortable. Exhaling, she tried to see through the frosted glass of the wall that looked out into the reception area. Charisma was waiting out there with the nondisclosure agreement. Only once that was signed would she allow RainFire inside.
Her heart stuttered, even though she knew that was foolishness.
Then the door opened.
Charisma walked in first. “NDA signed.” She slid a copy of the physical contract over to Auden. That was a quirk of changelings—they wanted things in physical form.
Auden ran her eyes over it, but saw nothing, her attention on the leopards who waited outside. “Good,” she said out loud. “Let’s get this meeting underway.”
Her skin prickled before he prowled into the room. The predator she’d decided to trust because there was no other choice…and because he’d never yet caused her harm. She couldn’t say the same for any other person in her immediate circle.
“Ms. Scott,” he said, with an incline of his head, while she fought not to let her mouth fall open.
Remi Denier was wearing a suit. A cool gray one he’d paired with a white shirt and a tie in a darker gray. His hair was neatly brushed back, his jaw shaved. You’d have taken him for one very good-looking CEO…but for the wildness that prowled beneath his skin and lived in his eyes for a heartbeat in a glimmer of yellow-green.
Relieved beyond belief at seeing that he was still the same wild creature, even in this corporate skin, she said, “Mr. Denier. I apologize for not rising to greet you.” She’d now passed the eight-month mark, and her body felt like it was all belly.
“Call me Remi,” he drawled, following her lead without a hitch. “And I’d have been insulted if you rose. This is Mliss Phan, my chief operating officer. She’ll be your people’s first point of contact should you accept our proposal. Though, of course, you will always have a direct line to me.”
“Ms. Phan.” She greeted the other woman before waving to the seats. “Please.”
“Ms. Scott,” Mliss Phan responded with a smile. “And please, call me Mliss.”
Tall, with a stylish haircut and a light layer of cosmetics applied with a skilled hand, Remi’s chief operating officer wore a black pantsuit paired with a simple silk shell of dark green. Look at her corporate appearance, her complete civility of expression and you’d never, not for a second, guess that this woman was a changeling, much less a leopard.
“You’ve met Charisma Wai,” she said to Remi. “Mliss, Charisma will be the primary contact person from our end.”
“I think we’ll work well together,” Mliss said with a smile. “From our correspondence thus far, Ms. Wai is efficient and thorough, and I prize nothing more in business.”
Charisma, her seat beside Auden’s, leaned forward to brace her forearms against the table. “I must say the same. I was pleasantly surprised by our interaction. Forgive me if this is ignorant, but we’ve heard rumors of less than businesslike dealings with changelings.”
That was a ringing endorsement coming from Charisma.
“Bit players.” Mliss sighed. “I’m sure you have them among the Psy, too. RainFire takes its business operations as seriously as the DarkRiver leopards in San Francisco. In fact, we based our business model on theirs—no point in messing with success.”
“I see.” Charisma’s telepathic voice in Auden’s mind. This is excellent. While DarkRiver has been problematic in many ways politically speaking, their business reputation is stellar. The only complaints come from the usual quarter.
Those who wish to find loopholes in contracts and throw a tantrum when they can’t, Auden answered. The lack of emotion in Silent Psy had never stopped behavior that Psy like her mother and father found excruciating.
To them, cheating your partner in business was fine—if you could do it in a way that no one ever caught on and there was no risk to your reputation. That they’d both thought that an acceptable way of doing business—and had taught their minor child the same—was an accurate assessment of their morals and values.
The worst of it was that they’d done it to her: made her believe in a truth except for the one right before her eyes. Henry more so than Shoshanna—but even Shoshanna had convinced Auden she had value to her: as a genetic legacy if nothing else.