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“That’s like what InvoTech did for Liam and Samuel,” Imogene piped up. “They knew they were onto something with their gaming concept, but every bank they went to turned them down since they didn’t have much in collateral, apart from a good idea.”
“If you ask me, having a good idea is enough collateral,” I responded.
“How did you get into this sort of thing?” Alexander pushed, eyeing me with skepticism.
“I worked in the corporate world for about a decade before wanting to do something different,” I answered, giving him the story Henry and I devised for this new person I’d become.
And being the computer wiz he was, Henry made sure everything would be supported in any background check someone might run on me.
Particularly Alexander Burnham.
“Where did you go to college?”
“Stanford.”
“And before that? Where did you grow up?” He kept his razor sharp attention focused on me, studying every flinch or hesitation.
But I’d practiced for this. Henry had interrogated me under worse conditions to the point I’d actually started to believe the lies I told.
“Arizona. My father was a CPA and my mother was a teacher.”
“Any siblings?”
I shook my head. “Only child.”
“Do you see your parents often?”
“Dad,” Melanie hissed, glaring at him. “Stop interrogating the poor guy.”
“It’s okay. He just wants to make sure I’m who I say I am.” I turned back to Alexander. “Unfortunately, the only time I get to see my parents these days is when I visit their graves.”
Olivia touched a hand to her chest, sympathy swirling in her dark eyes. “I’m so sorry to hear that.” She gently nudged Alexander. The heated look she gave silently berated him to play nice. “My condolences.”
“It happened a long time ago. Car accident.”
She briefly closed her eyes. After all, she’d lost her mother the same way.
“But enough about me. I’m probably the least interesting person here.” I tore my gaze away from Alexander and addressed Lachlan. “What do you think Atlanta’s chances are to go all the way this year?”
“It looks to be a solid team, although it’s still early,” he answered, everyone shifting their attention to him.
Everyone except for Alexander, who kept his eyes focused intently on me.
ChapterTwenty-Five
Imogene
“He’s quite handsome, isn’t he?” Mama remarked later in the evening as we sat at our table alone.
Liam had gone to smoke a cigar with Alton and James, Melanie and Olivia had disappeared to the ladies’ room, and Alexander and Lachlan had snuck off to the lobby bar to check the score of the game.
That was over a half-hour ago now.
I couldn’t blame them. I’d much rather watch a baseball game at the bar than be in here surrounded by a bunch of people I had absolutely nothing in common with.
“Who’s that?”
I tore my eyes away from Gideon as he sat at his table, seemingly in deep conversation with a few of the octogenarian women Liam placed him with — the mother of some oil tycoon, a horse breeder, and an eccentric heiress who acquired an entire hotel chain when her husband died. I was pretty sure the wealth in this room alone was higher than the GDP of several small countries.
