Alex scoffed and stepped back in disgust. “I would never work for you.”
But Benjamin only shrugged. “Suit yourself. I suppose you’ll have more time to practice your needlepoint and watercolors. All those feminine pursuits you always turned up your nose at. Make yourself a good little wife for Lucien Taylor. Ah, there he is now.”Alex turned and her gaze immediately tangled with Lucien’s. They stared at each other for the space of one heartbeat, until her father took his arm and led him inside the conference room.
“This won’t work, by the way,” Benjamin said by his ear. “But it’s a good effort.Veryromantic.”
Alex cast him her most withering look. “As if you would know anything about that.”
She then stormed off, his dry laugh following in her wake.
When Alex entered the conference room, Lucien was already seated at the table. Her father waved from the other side of the room where they were to sit and watch the proceedings. As Alex passed, Lucien shot her a glance and gave her a small smile. Alex did her best to return it, but she was so nervous that it must have looked more like a grimace.
“They’re going to start by summarizing Chisolm’s accusations,” her father murmured by her ear as she sat next to him. “Then Lucien will speak on my behalf. I’ve already denied everything, but I thought this could help sell the idea that he is to be my successor, and he’s far more popular than I am at the moment.”
Alex gave a single nod. It was a sound strategy. “Fine.”
“And then there will be a vote.”
She balked. “That’sit?”
Her father nodded. The fight seemed to have left him, and Alex hated seeing him so resigned. “That’s it.”
This was appalling.
She looked over at the conference table as the stragglers were all taking their seats and her eye caught Benjamin’s. He had the nerve to actuallywinkat her before sitting down.
Alex growled under her breath.
“I am very tempted to give that boy a good thrashing,” her father said.
“He isn’t worth it,” Alex replied and crossed her arms.
As the meeting began, her gaze kept wandering to Lucien. He was staring at the speech her father had given him, and speaking to himself, likely memorizing it. Alex found herself riveted to the movements of his mouth as he formed the words with his full lips. A shiver went down her back as her unruly mind recalled the feel of those very lips on her mouth, her neck, her—
“Here we are,” her father muttered and Alex blinked.
It was time for Lucien to speak. She shifted in her chair and forced her focus to return to the meeting.
He tapped the papers on the tabletop and cleared his throat. “I have been asked here today to speak on my experience working with Atkinson Enterprises, both as a client and as a future member of the family.” Alex didn’t think she had imagined his hesitation on that last part and her cheeks heated in mortification. “I am supposed to assure you all that I plan to take on a very involved role in the company upon my wedding to Miss Atkinson and help usher Atkinson Enterprises into a bold new era. That you are all in good hands thanks to my stewardship. And that the lies spread by Mr. Benjamin Chisolm about Miss Atkinson’s outsized role in the company are merely a shameful attempt to frighten shareholders and gain control of the board himself.” Lucien then paused. Alex looked up to find his gaze fixed firmly upon her.
“But I am not going to do that.”
“I didn’t write that,” her father grumbled, sounding more confused than concerned, and the entire room broke out into murmurs.
“Instead, I am going to tell you why Atkinson Enterprises does not need me.”
“I didn’t writethat, either,” he said more urgently now.
But as he began to rise from his seat, Alex placed a hand on his arm. “Wait.”
He shot her a frustrated look but obeyed and sank back into the chair. Meanwhile, Potts had appeared and was handing out papers to everyone in the room. When he reached Alex, he gave her an encouraging smile and for the first time in twenty-four hours, Alex felt something close to relief.
Beside her, Father snatched the paper from Potts. “What is this supposed to be?”
But her secretary merely tilted his head. “You’ll see.”
Alex scanned the paper and frowned. It was a list of businesses they had invested in. How on earth was this supposed to help? She looked back to Lucien but he was watching the room, waiting until everyone had a paper. Then he continued: “Before you is a list of every business Miss Atkinson single-handedly championed, often clashing with her father and even more than a few of you. Yet these companies have all proved to not only be highly profitable but in a few cases revolutionary in their industries. At the bottom of the page is an estimate of the total profits generated by Atkinson Enterprises’ founding shares in these companies. As you can see, that is a substantial total and it is all due to Miss Atkinson’s visionary thinking.”
Alex was frozen in shock. She could do nothing, say nothing, only watch Lucien as he defended her so beautifully. Sopublicly. He turned to her then, as if he had heard her thoughts.
