Heat suffused her. It wasn’t just the bath water, it wasn’t just the aftershocks of sex. It was him. It was the heat of his eyes and the swelling feelings she had for him. It wasn’t just that she’d never before dated anyone who would call her in the middle of the day and command her to masturbate so they could watch. It was that she’d never before dated anyone who would understand why someone would want to do that. All of her boyfriends had been shockingly practical. And she’d looked for practical men, people without complications, who could have practical relationships and split the check at the end of dinner.
Suddenly knew she didn’t want practical. Suddenly, she wanted bubble bath, and sex over video chat. She didn’t quite know who she was right now, but she found herself enjoying this freer version of herself.
“Don’t drown over there,” Alex said, a soft laugh to his voice.
“I going to die from blushing when I see Sophia next,” Zoey replied.
He waved a hand. “Even if she did hear you, she’d never mention it. Sophia believes that a healthy sex life is the key to longevity.”
“She told you that?”
“Repeatedly.” His face stilled, and became more serious. “Now. Can you tell me what you know about the names I sent you?”
The shift in topic was so rapid that she didn’t quite know what to do with it. She sat up, considered, then drained the bath and grabbed the robe he’d given her. It wasn’t that it was more dignified to have this conversation while she sat on the toilet with the seat closed, but she didn’t feel comfortable talking to him about the downfall of his father’s company with her boobs hanging out. Alex, to his credit, waited relatively patiently. At least, he didn’t bitch about the fact that she toweled off, robed, and sat down before talking to him.
“Alex, I’m sorry,” she said. “I can’t prove any of this, but I know that I don’t have any doubts.”
“Just tell me,” he said. His jaw was tight, his eyes flat and reserved.
“The two companies—they’re both dealing to the Philippines.”
“Sure, that’s logical. They’re a lot closer than we are, it makes since that the Filipinos would find it easier to go through a middle man.”
“No, Alex, you’re not hearing me, or I’m not saying it right.” She took a deep breath. “They’re dealing to opposite sides of the conflict. They have been since the American forces had boots on the ground. Maybe even before that.”
She’d never seen a human being go that still. If he were carved out of topaz, he couldn’t have been any more frozen in place. “What are you saying, Zoey?” His voice was cold, and she had to take a deep breath and force herself to press forward. There was no going back now.
“I’m saying that AEGIS has been supplying both sides of the civil war in the Philippines for at least a year, and probably longer. I’m saying that I can find some evidence that those two men might have even been involved in starting the conflict in the first place.” Alex wasn’t moving. She wasn’t even sure he was breathing. “I’m so sorry.”
He shook his head then. “You don’t have anything to be sorry about. I asked you to find me the truth. I can’t make decisions made on only bits of information.” He nodded to himself almost abstractly. “How sure are you?”
She bit her lip. “If it weren’t for—us, I’d already be on the phone to some people I know, pitching the story.”
“All right, then,” he said. “I need to speak to my mother. Thank you, Zoey. I’ll speak to you this evening.”
“Wait!” He paused, his hand frozen halfway to the phone, presumably to disconnect the call. “She’s dangerous, Alex. You know that, right? Be careful.”
He shook his head. “I accept that she’s dangerous in the abstract, and I will be careful,” he said. “But I’m her son. She’d never hurt me, or Claire. I promise you, Zoey. Whatever’s going on, we’re safe from it.”
She wished she believed him. She wished he’d said he loved her before he ended the call. She wished she’d had the courage to say it, even if he hadn’t.
***
him. It matched the sort of bullshit warmongering that the old man had always been more than happy to engage in. Alex had challenged him about it, once or twice in the past few years, and the old man had scoffed at him. “We make more money off war and pestilence than we do off peace and health,” Philip had told his son. “Don’t forget which side your bread is buttered on.”
Alex hadn’t ever forgotten. He’d just hoped like fuck he’d been wrong.
Zoey had been amazing, giving him exactly what he’d needed, and then he’d behaved like an ass, grilling her about Shaoqiao and Akimoto, not telling her what Leo had said, just hoping she’d say something to contradict his best friend. As if either one of them would lie to him for no reason. He picked his phone back up and tapped out a quick message. I’m sorry I was so abrupt. You were amazing. Let me know if you need to talk at all, I will be here. He thought about adding three more words to the text, but couldn’t quite bring himself to do it. It was too soon, too much, too big. Sometimes, these games can leave people in an uncomfortable head space. I should take better care of you after we play. I promise to do better. It was as much as he could manage.
Her reply was quick and reassuring. I’m okay. If my head space gets weird, I promise to get in touch. Otherwise, I’ll let you know if I find more. I hope things go all right with your mom.
Yes. Olivia. No time like the present.
His mother’s office was the same as it always was: immaculate, and full of both his mother and Aaron Schwartz. Alex found himself wanting to snarl at the other man even more than normal. Whether it was because of Schwartz’s pale, wet eyes or his mother’s carefully calculating gaze he wasn’t sure.
Olivia cut off whatever she had been dictating, and looked her son up and down with a level of shrewdness that she normally did not allow to be made so obvious. “Mother,” he said, before she got a chance to begin. “I need to speak to you about the Philippines.”
Olivia didn’t quite gasp melodramatically, though he thought she might have tried it if she thought it would have had any affect on him. Alex glanced at Schwartz. “Give us a few moments, please.”
“Stay right where you are, Aaron,” Olivia snapped back, her voice crackling like a whip. Her eyes flared with quite fury. “I’m not quite sure who my son seems to believe he’s speaking to, though it’s clearly not his mama has in mind. Maybe that skinny bitch the gossip rags are so excited about this morning?”
Alex managed not to wince, but it took an effort. “That’s not what I’m here to talk about, Mother. If you want to do this in front of Schwartz, then fine, but I’ll ask you to guarantee his silence.”
He hated that she’d won even this much from him, but outside of bodily removing the man, he wasn’t sure how else to proceed. Schwartz was standing at his mother’s right hand as if his feet had been nailed there; it was clear the older man wasn’t going to move on his own, and Olivia apparently wasn’t going to throw him out.
“I want to know where your sister is,” Olivia snapped, before Alex got another word out.
He swallowed his surprise as thoroughly as he could. He’d been under the impression that Claire had been in touch with their mother. If she hadn’t, well, that was between him and Claire, not him and Olivia. “She’s safe,” he said. “That’s all you need to know.” He couldn’t help his gaze from shifting rather pointedly towards Schwartz, who returned Alex’s gaze with one just as intense.
“She’s at your apartment, then?” Olivia didn’t look at Schwartz, just gestured with a single finger. “Send someone to retrieve her.”
“No,” Alex said. He took one step sideways, not quite blocking the doorway, but making it so that the older man would have to push him out of the way before he would exit the room. “She’s safe. She’s not going back to your home unless it’s of her own volition.”
“She’s a child,” Olivia snapped.
“She’s still living with a relative. You want to deal with the press that happens when one of your thugs tries to drag her out of my apartment, unwillingly, and the police inform you that you don’t have the right?” Olivia snapped back like she’d been slapped. “That’s right, Mother, I looked into the law years ago. It’s actually quite simple. All she has to say is that she doesn’t feel safe with you, and they won’t touch her. You could pursue it through the courts, if you wanted to, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”
Olivia was still as a statue, except for her eyes, which burned and crackled with anger.
“Now,” Alex said. “To the matter I came to discuss.” Philip had always made sure to throw Olivia off balance before attempting to discuss anything with her. He’d observed it for years, and it made him a little sick to use the technique himself, but not so sick that he wouldn’t do it. “It has come to my attention that AEGIS has been selling to two different Asian companies, both of whom are supplying the conflict in the Philippines, but on opposite sides.”
It was a boyish hope, he supposed, waiting for a reaction from his mother. Some sort of outburst, some sense of horror. Anything but the cool expression on her face as she leaned back in the black leather chair. She was a small-framed woman, and the huge chair was made for a much bigger person. She seemed dwarfed by it, though it didn’t decrease her power in any meaningful way. “Alex,” she said, her tone chill and chiding. “Surely you understand that once our products are sold, what happens to them next is outside of our control? AEGIS has carefully observed all trade regulations and embargoes that were put in place by both the American government and the United Nations at the start of the Filipino conflict.”
A chill ran down his spine as he understood the whole of it. “We’re dealing with the Chinese and the Japanese because we can’t legally deal directly with the Filipino,” he said. “Holy Mother of God.”
“Everything is perfectly legal, I assure you,” she said again. “It is not our fault of those to whom we sell choose to sell on our products. At a very impressive mark-up, I might add. Off the record.”
His guts churned. He’d had hangovers that left him feeling significantly less sick than he felt at that moment. He swayed ever so slightly on his feet, and grasped the back of the chair across from his mother—no, Olivia, this woman had never been warm enough to give birth to anyone, not him, and certainly not Claire—to steady himself. “This can’t go on,” he said. “I’m calling a meeting of the board. Effective immediately, we are going to begin dismantling the weapons production divisions at AEGIS, and work to shift those resources towards doing some damn good in the world.”
“You can’t,” she said, coolly. “I control the shares of the company that your sister will eventually inherit. You don’t have majority votes without me. You need me, Alexander.”
He hated the way she said it, so cold and uncaring. Rage surged through him. Perhaps it was his growing relationship with Zoey that encouraged him to be bold. He wasn’t sure. Normally, he had significantly better control of his emotions and his words than that. “I don’t need you,” he said, willing his voice to carry the same cool, arrogant confidence that she’d had, that he’d learned at Philip’s knee. “I have Cindy Walden.”
She was too well bred for her mouth to drop open, but the expression graced her eyes, all the same. He left while she was still off balance, turning on his heel and slamming her office door behind. Childish? Sure. Satisfying? God yes.
He stormed back towards his office. Brianna looked up from a mouthful of lo mein and swallowed quickly. “Mr. Blankenship?”
Apparently his expression was that grim. He tried to press his lips up into a smile, but got the idea that the affect was worse. “I need you to get on the phone and arrange an emergency board meeting. Tomorrow morning at the latest. Clear my calendar for this afternoon. I will be in my office, but I am not meeting with anyone. I need to prepare for the meeting.”
“Of course,” Brianna said. He wasn’t sure she had it in her to be rattled, not really. “Shall I give the members any reason for the meeting?”
“Tell them that there’s an unfavorable profile of AEGIS that is likely to see print in the next few days, and that we need to strategize a response and get ahead of the story.”
“Sir?”
“Do it, Brianna.”
He felt ever so slightly bad about that. He’d always given her more information than she truly needed. It helped her do her job better in the long run. But now—now, there was nothing to be done but wait.
“Of course, sir.”
Alex went into his office, and he began to make phone calls.