Chapter Twenty-Three
Alara sat in the back of Ollie's Cullinan with Reaves, clinging tight to his hand. She knew that wasn't fair. He was the one who should be nervous, not her. She looked over at him, and he smiled and squeezed her hand. He didn't look nervous in the least. That calm stillness seemed to radiate off him this morning.
Delaney sat up front with Ollie. The four of them were on their way to Sterling Hartman's offices—and she hadn't expected that. To be fair, none of them had. The meeting was supposed to happen at the estate. Aaron and Caleb were going to come to them. But everything had changed yesterday, when Delaney had called to say Caleb wanted them to come into the offices.
Delaney hadn't seemed too surprised. She'd said it was a move—that they liked to make people come to them. Made them feel important. Reaves wasn't flustered by it. But Alara kept trying to figure out what it meant, and she couldn't.
When they arrived, she stared up at the tall steel building and shuddered. Reaves put his hand at the small of her back.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just this place. It doesn't look like…" She stopped herself. She didn't want to say anything about it not being where House of St. James belonged—and that wasn't what she meant anyway. She smiled. "But this is the business side of things, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is." He looked up at the building, too. "And the business side is what we need. We've got the heart, and the art,and the talent covered. Sterling Hartman is just a structure and a delivery system."
Delaney smiled at him. "Exactly. Now, are you ready to do this, champ?"
He let out a short laugh and rolled his eyes at Ollie. "It feels like we're back in Little League and she's trying to talk me up."
Ollie laughed with him, and Delaney said, "Hey. I'll do whatever it takes. I know you're out of your comfort zone here."
Reaves stood a little taller. "That's the whole point, isn't it? House of St. James got a little too comfortable. That was the problem. And besides—this is only uncomfortable because it's unfamiliar."
"True," Delaney agreed. "And once the deal's done, these guys will just be part of your everyday operations." She looked around at them. "Ready to go in?"
"I am," said Ollie. "And you're sure you want me to keep quiet?" he asked Reaves.
"Yeah. I need to handle this. I'll give you the nod if it becomes necessary. But I've got it."
The four of them rode up in a brushed steel elevator, and Alara couldn't help thinking it felt about as far from Charles's estate as you could get in this town.
An assistant showed them to the meeting room, and Delaney rapped on the door before marching straight in. Reaves turned to Alara before they followed Ollie.
"You okay?" he asked quietly.
"I am. Are you?"
"I'm good. It's all good. And it's all gonna be all right, no matter how this goes."
The meeting room was huge, a wall of windows looking out over the valley. Alara suspected that was the whole point of bringing them here. It felt as though they were saying,look how far above it all we sit.She brought her attention back to the room.
Aaron Sterling got to his feet and smiled in greeting. Caleb Hartman didn't look up, not at first. He was reading something, and he finished the line before he even acknowledged them.
Delaney's lips pressed into a thin line, and Ollie glanced warily at Caleb as he shook hands with Aaron. Reaves strode across the room and put his hand out to Aaron as though he owned the place.
"Aaron. Good to see you again." He turned to Caleb and thrust his hand out. "Caleb. Thanks for making the time."
Alara tried to hide a smile as Caleb got to his feet to shake hands. It was like watching a chess match. Caleb had tried to establish his authority—and Reaves had just quietly refused to play the game.
Once they were all seated around the table, Aaron went first. It was like good cop, bad cop. Aaron was warm and funny, obviously the visionary of the pair. He welcomed them and explained a little about their offices and the way they worked. Caleb didn't say anything. He sat, and he watched.
And as she watched him watching them, it dawned on her that she wasn't frightened of him. She recognized him. He wasn't watching and judging. He needed to be sure about the people he was dealing with.
When Aaron had done his welcome, Delaney laid the presentation out across the table. The gold leaf on the labels caught the light from the window, and Aaron smiled when it caught his eye.
"You've seen the concept," Delaney said. "I won't try to sell you on what we all know you already want.Rooted in Stillness.It puts House of St. James exactly where the Provenance line lives—heritage, permanence, the real thing in a market full of the manufactured kind. Aaron, you told me yourself it was the strongest thing you'd seen come across your desk this year."
Aaron glanced at Alara and gave her a slight nod.
