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“Morning Janice.” Lara nodded across the woman who rose to greet them. “Is he busy?”
The ice-maiden stood up from behind the desk and eyed Draco up and down with interest as she did so. “He’s expecting you. Go right in.”
She didn’t point out the way, but Draco supposed Lara would know exactly where they were going.
The receptionist smiled at him, which barely altered her ice-like appearance. He nodded at her. Lara watched. Was she going to supervise his every move? It didn’t bother him, but he figured all the attention might go to his head.
They approached the first non-glass door they’d encountered in the Compton offices. It bore a sign stating Compton Senior. Interesting. Compton Senior had two juniors in house, not including Lara who wasn’t even officially in house. Presumably he’d adopted the “Senior” part of his title when he invited his sons on board. To save confusion, or as some sort of announcement about their eventual destiny? Draco suddenly didn’t blame Lara for trying to elbow her way in here, under the circs. If his own sisters were treated as outsiders there’d be hell to pay for everyone involved.
Lara paused at the pale grey door, one hand raised as if to knock, the other on the polished steel door handle. The pause was overly long.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I’m about to put you at the driver’s seat of this crazy rollercoaster, God help me.” Her cheekbones were stained red, her eyes bright.
“You love the danger.” She really did, even if she was fretting about how it would go. There was a thrill there too.
Her eyelids lowered a fraction and she gave a wry smile. “Maybe I do, but could you try not to mess this up for me, please?”
“Chill. I’ll play my part, no messing.” Not yet anyway, he silently added.
She straightened up and took a deep breath. “Right. Ready?”
Standing to attention, he saluted. “Yes ma’am.”
She rolled her eyes. “I hope I’m not going to regret this.”
He reached out and put his hand on her arm to stop her turning the handle. “I’ll get you what you need, I promise.”
She might regret his involvement later down the line, but he’d cover his trail so she wouldn’t be implicated, and he would uphold his part of the contract. She nodded, her eyes searching his, and then tapped the door before turning the door handle.
Draco’s attention quickly focused as he entered the stronghold of Compton Finances. The office was jaw-dropping. It wasn’t the impressive office suite, the plush easy chairs around a meeting table, or the astonishing view from the windows. It was the wall of screens opposite. Floor to ceiling, they scrolled information. Trading figures, he guessed. One screen alternated bore a list of cities with digital clocks showing local time and temperature.
The man behind the desk looked powerful and wealthy, as expected, but Draco wasn’t prepared for the troubled eyes and the overcast expression. They shadowed the rugged features of the man who put out his hand as he rose from his desk.
“Welcome, Steven. Lara’s told me a lot about your skills.”
She had? “Thank you for the opportunity, Sir.”
Draco took the outreached hand and clasped it firmly, thinking of Sean standing in court, handcuffed and awaiting sentencing.
Compton Senior scrutinised him, and Draco recognized some of the keen edge he’d seen reflected in Lara’s eyes.
“We don’t take on many students, and those we do usually hope for the opportunity of a vacancy later on. If you do well, it’ll put you in a good position for any Finance house, not just this one.” He sat back down. “Right, I have a little project I’ve organized for you two to work on together.” His attention went to Lara and he smiled.
Lara seemed relieved. Perhaps she thought he’d put them on separate projects. It suited Draco to keep her close at hand. He figured it would quickly get boring otherwise.
“What did you have in mind?” Lara asked.
“Since you spoke so highly of your Steven’s IT skills I figured a database project, something you can both sink your teeth into. It’s a pretty big task, couple of week’s work, maybe more.” His attention returned to Draco. “Unless you turn out to be some sort of wonder kid, young man. Lara seemed to think you would be.” Humor flitted in his eyes as well as assessment.
“I hope Lara hasn’t raised your expectations too high, Sir.” Draco glanced her way. Her cheekbones were flushed and she looked unsure.
However, Compton Senior gave a loud belly laugh. “She clearly wanted you by her side, young man.”
Draco was getting irritated by the young man reference he kept getting. It was unnecessarily patronizing. Clearly he’d only given the opportunity because his daughter requested him to do so. Little did Compton Senior know. Draco could hardly wait to see his face when he found out Lara was plotting to outdo her brothers in sourcing the company’s breach.
He resisted the temptation to smart mouth the company owner. The less her dad suspected the better. Right now he seemed to just think he was doing his daughter right by keeping her love interest handy.
