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“I’m here to see Carter,” I tell her, resting my purse on her desk.
“And you are?” she asks me, softly smiling, and I can tell right away that she knows exactly who I am. I mean, it’s not like I want to brag, but everyone knows who I am. 25 years old and worth $250 billion dollars? Hell, even God knows who I am; I’m just surprised he hasn’t called and asked me for a loan.
“Eliza Seymour,” I reply nonetheless, and Carter’s secretary just smiles politely and pretends to look down at her laptop for a few seconds.
“Well, Carter’s busy right now, but I think he’ll be able to squeeze in a few minutes for you, Ms. Seymour,” she says, her eyes appraising me, almost as if she’s trying to find out why I came here and what my intentions are when it comes to Carter. Yeah, this woman is more than just his secretary; their relationship goes beyond the usual secretary-boss dynamic. No, I’m not saying they’re sleeping together (I hope not, at least—wait, why am I saying that?); I’m just saying there’s a lot of trust between these two. And how do I know that? Well, if there’s something I’m good at, it’s at appraising people. Call it a sixth sense.
“Eliza?” I hear Carter’s voice, and I turn around to meet him. He’s standing outside of his office, the huge double oak doors opening and revealing a huge room behind him. “What are you doing here?”
“Can’t a girl visit her father?” I say, slinging my purse over my shoulder and walking toward him. I stop just a few feet away from him, and I have to look up to meet his eyes. Carter—just like Derek—is a head taller than me, and God, that just makes him all the more sexier.
He looks at me for a few seconds in complete silence, as if he’s trying to search for the right words, and then he waves at his office. “Sure, come in,” he tells me, and I don’t wait for more; I walk past him, strolling inside his office with a casual gait and sit down on the chair across from his desk.
Instead of sleek and modern, Carter’s office has more of a classy look. A Goya picture hangs on one of the walls and, even though the sun bathes the whole room through the floor-to-ceiling glass panels, there’s a certain sobriety to the whole place. In such a context, more than looking like a modern-day CEO, Carter looks like nobility.
Closing the doors behind him, he walks around his desk and sits in front of me, the glint in his eyes telling me that he’s more than happy to see me.
“I’m glad you came by,” he says, his eyes never leaving mine, and I feel that he’s truly happy to see me. At least as much as I am. I know, this might be a little creepy to say, but what the hell; it feels good to be across from him and know that there’s some chemistry between us. What if he’s my stepfather? It’s not like that matters. We aren’t blood related and, besides, it’s not like he ever really played out his role as my father.
“I just wanted to hear your thoughts,” I start, not bothering to beat around the bush. As much as I wanted to see Carter again, I came here with a definite purpose—to hear his thoughts on Derek. Yeah, that might be a backhanded thing to do, but we’re not talking about investing in a bakery; we’re talking about a fortune big enough to start a war (and to finish it).
“My thoughts? What about?” he asks me, but I think he knows exactly what I want to ask him.
“About Derek. After the two of you left, he called me about some investment options and … I’m just not sure. I know you don’t see eye-to-eye, but I think you can be rational about this. I want to know if I should invest some of my money with Derek.”
Carter’s smile starts fading away from his face, his lips becoming just a thin line, and then he looks away from me and sighs, leaning back against his chair. Breathing in deeply, he sits up straight in his chair, places both his hands on the table and looks me straight in the eye.
“I’m sorry, Eliza. I can’t help you with that.”
“Oh? That’s odd coming from you. You spoke your mind back at my apartment, why this now?” I ask him, feeling confused for the first time since I landed back in the US. From what I’ve gathered, Carter was more than happy to have me invest solely with him. In fact, he went out of his way to demean Derek and his financial savvy … and now that I’m offering him a chance on a silver platter to bash Derek, he’s bowing out of it.
