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“Mr. Thornton!” He scrambles toward me. Eyebrow raised, I note his haphazard appearance and the flare of panic. “I’m Yuki Hagar. How are you?”
Pressing my lips into a thin line, I let him see my impatience. “Running late for this meeting. Where is Caleb Starr?”
Yuki swallows. “Right this way, sir.”
He leads me to the other side containing large rooms with opaque glass that makes it difficult to see through.
Conference room one is at the far end.
I let Yuki open the door for me.
And I walk in.
* * *
Caleb Starr is an impressive man.
I’ve read about him in extensive detail. The man is a mystery, a rising business tycoon, who made his money from the hefty compensation the FBI handed him after he was wrongly imprisoned for a murder he didn’t commit. He’d already served three years.
He vanished for an entire year after. When he emerged, it was as an up-and-coming businessman. He was ruthless in his undercutting deals as he seized one successful company after the other, creating a portfolio that many envy. Even now, he holds seventy percent of this failing company’s shares.
When he contacted me out of the blue a few weeks ago, I recalled seeing him at a gathering a few months back. He had watched me carefully over the wineglass in his hand while probing me with questions that had had me curious, but he hadn’t cared to expand.
When I heard he’d bought Yulan Enterprise, it had started making sense.
Right now, he’s watching me from a corner of the room with a small smile that gives off the vibe of one predator measuring up another. His voice is cold, like frosted glass. “Mr. Thornton. How was your flight?”
I put my briefcase on the glass table. It’s expensive and surrounded by comfortable seats, which are usually filled by executives but are currently empty.
“Uneventful,” I say shortly. “I was expecting your lawyer at least.”
Caleb appears amused. “Lucas is running late. That’s normal for him.”
“And unprofessional,” I add. Shrugging out of my coat, I drape it over the back of one of the chairs, revealing my sharp grey suit. I tuck my hands in my pockets.
“He’s one of the best corporate lawyers I have come across. If securing him means ignoring a few quirks, I don’t see a problem.”
/> I raise a brow, “Lucas Black? He’s your lawyer?”
“I see you’ve heard of him.”
I approach Caleb. He’s standing in front of a glass window, which looks out over Washington D.C. The view is stunning. I can see the FBI’s office in the distance. It makes me wonder whether this man deliberately chose to situate most of his businesses under their noses to taunt them after they’d paid him money to disappear.
“Lucas Black is a shark.”
“Thank you,” comes an amused voice from behind us. Unperturbed, I glance over to see a grinning man. He closes the door behind himself. “I was told the meeting was half an hour ago.”
The new entrant is tall with mussed light brown hair and sharp blue eyes. He’s wearing a long brown coat, which he shrugs off and carelessly throws over the back of a chair.
“I had to keep up with your schedule,” Caleb calmly responds.
The two share a look. It’s obvious they’re good friends—or as close of friends as the elusive Caleb Starr is capable of being with another human being.
Lucas rubs his hands together, his grey eyes gleaming. “Let’s get to work.”
An oddly friendly person for a lawyer who has been dubbed a shark in business circles.
But this man seems to be hiding a dangerous energy under his smiling veneer.
