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One
“Lili...look alive! The boss man himself is about to arrive.”
Liliana Accardi swung away from the microscope to impale her coworker with a glare, his rhyming—whether he meant it or not—annoying her.
But it was just as well he’d interrupted her. Instead of the gray-scaled cells she was supposed to be studying, she’d been seeing only red. Ever since she’d heard the news that would end all her professional and scientific dreams. No way was she rushing off to go stand in line while said new “boss man” inspected them like a shepherd inspected his newly acquired flock.
Brian Saunders raised his hands in a “don’t kill the messenger” gesture. “I just think you should come, if only to get firsthand word on the direction of his management. Maybe he’ll allow you to carry on with your work, after all.”
“Yeah, sure. From what I’ve read about him since I started my morning with the delightful news of his takeover, Antonio Balducci rules his empire with a steel fist. He’ll never allow me independence.”
Brian spread his arms. “You know me, I never say never.” At her hardening glare, he grinned. “I’m in the same hijacked boat as you. I just decided to deal with my captivity and go on the journey with a different attitude.”
She huffed, deflating in her chair.
Brian was right. He was just another victim of the tsunami takeover. She should save her wrath for their new boss.
But Balducci wouldn’t be her boss for long. Not if he insisted on sweeping years’ worth of work and results under the rug and forcing them to dance to his profit-hungry tune.
Despite a medical degree, two master’s degrees and lucrative offers, she’d spent years at Biomedical Innovation Lab with a salary that barely paid the bills. All to do marginalized but necessary research.
Until Balducci Research and Development opened its bottomless maw and swallowed them whole. They now sloshed deep in its belly among other chomped-off acquisitions.
What most galled her was the humiliating speed with which everything had been initiated and finalized. The commercialized global whale, a major tentacle of the Black Castle Enterprises leviathan, had assimilated them in mere hours.
Antonio Balducci, the billionaire celebrity surgeon, had tossed a hundred million dollars their way—chump change for him—and once again proved that money was the most powerful incentive on earth.
“Uh-oh.” Brian took a step back as he spoke. “You’ve got that look on your face.”
She frowned. “What look?”
“The one you get when you’ve decided to go to war.”
She huffed a chuckle, half amused, half embarrassed. “I didn’t realize I was that easy to read. After all the years I spent battling my verbal incontinence, thanks for letting me know I’ve only developed the mental and emotional variety.”
An indulgent smile lit up Brian’s genial face. “You’re just straightforward and spontaneous.”
She rolled her eyes. “Which are the PC words for unrestrained and blunt.”
“And it’s something everyone is thankful for.”
She groaned. “You mean it’s not only you as my best friend who can see through me? Everyone else can read me like a ten-foot neon sign?”
Brian’s grin was appeasement itself. “And they love you for it. In a world full of pretense and games, you’re a rarity and an incredible relief. Not to mention extremely cute.”
“An outspoken five-year-old is cute. A transparent thirty-one-year-old is not.”
Brian wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gave her an affectionate squeeze. “You’ll be cute when you’re a hundred and thirty-one.” He pulled her up. “Now let’s go meet our new boss. I have a feeling this won’t be as bad as you think.”
Taking off her lab coat, she tossed him a challenging glance. “I bet you it’s worse.”
“You’re on.” He never could resist a challenge. “If I’m right, you go on a date with one of the restless bachelors that plague my serenely married existence.”
Unable to resist Brian’s infectious good cheer any longer, a smile spread Lili’s lips. All nine of Brian’s brothers and brothers-in-law were either single or divorced. He and his wife, Darla, were always trying to set them up.
“But if I’m right,” Lili said, “you strike me off your list of possible bachelordom cures. I’m the last woman on earth you should consider for such a task, anyway.”
“I know, because you’ll never get married. You’ve told me a hundred times.” He grinned knowingly. “All the women who turn out to be the best wives say that. Including Darla.”
Lili stifled a scoff. “You’re comparing me to Darla, the paragon of domesticity and motherhood, and a savvy businesswoman to boot, when I can barely manage a single life that consists of work, exercise, sleep, study, rinse and repeat?”
“Details, details.” Brian winked as he held the door open for her. “You could well be twins where it counts.”
She shook her head, but let him have the last word. She was nothing like Darla or any other woman born with the ability to conduct intimate relationships or nurture families. Like her mother. And she’d long been at peace with that.
So she was confident she’d win their bet, and at least one good thing would come out of their current mess. Brian would finally stop trying to shove her into his version of a fulfilling existence.
