I still hadn’t managed to make sense of this new twist of events when Aaron joined Breanna and me outside our room less than ten minutes later. We were expected to meet at the main building for dinner. It had been made clear in the materials provided that part of the team building was sharing dinner. Missing the evening meal was not acceptable. Neither was skipping breakfast. Lunch could be solo or in groups, but the first and last meals of the day were to be a ‘team’ thing.

The autocracy of it annoyed me.

What if I didn’t want to eat with everybody else? What if I had a phobia of people watching me eat? What if the sound of other people eating drove me or somebody else here nuts?

I doubted Lukas would care. He’d already made it damn clear he was more interested in throwing his weight around than anything else. That’s what this retreat was about. I had no doubt of that.

Lukas had been alllll about telling me what to do.

I huffed out an annoyed breath, and it was loud enough that Breanna glanced over at me. “Are you okay?” she asked.

I was tempted to confess the whole mess to her. If Aaron hadn’t been there, I probably would have, just to get it off my chest.

But Aaron was there, and I wasn’t about to let him in on the fact that our new boss was also my reluctant savior.

Giving her a weak smile, I said, “I think I’m just hungry.” Once inside, we all headed straight for the buffet. It seemed like lunch had been ages ago and everything smelled amazing.

To my surprise, I was starving. I hadn’t had much of an appetite ever since the plane crash. I told myself it was the change in altitude, but more likely it was the adjustment in learning to live with somebody. Somebody who mostly only ate Chinese takeout.

Now, though, I was starving, and I filled my plate until it almost overflowed.

Breanna joined Aaron at me at our table along with a couple of others I didn’t know particularly well. We made idle chatter for several minutes when we noticed abruptly that we were the only ones talking. A chill raced down my spine, and I had to resist the urge to close my eyes and shake my head.

Not yet. I thought. Not yet. But in the next moment, I heard Lukas’s voice boom out over the room.

“Good evening,” he said, his voice sending a shiver down my spine. “I’m Lukas Grayson. I’ve recently acquired your firm.” He paused a moment. I sat with my back to him so I had no idea what he was doing, and I refused to turn around and look at him. Others were craning in their seats or had half-turned them so they could see him. I was doing everything I could to not see him. Aaron glanced over at me with a frown on his face and did a little turn around motion with his finger.

I stubbornly remained as I was.

“This firm is just one of several I’ve purchased, and once I’m assured that it runs smoothly, I’ll be around less and less. That’s part of the reason for this weekend. I want to see how you work together, your strengths, your weaknesses.”

As he spoke, I had the odd feeling he was staring right at me, all but compelling me to turn and look at him.

Don’t be stupid. He doesn’t even know you work for the company. You know how big business works…this purchase was probably months in the making.

“We’ll be working on a project while we’re here, and I want to tackle it in a different manner. I’ve broken you into teams, and each team will prepare a marketing tactic for this project. I’ll be the judge of which team has the best approach, but I’m not just looking for creativity. I’m looking for teamwork, initiative.”

As he continued to speak, Aaron reached over and touched my hand. “We got this, babe,” he said in a low voice.

“I’ve already selected the team leaders,” Lukas announced. “Aaron and…Stella.”

I jerked at the sound of my name on his lips, and unable to resist, I finally turned and faced him.

He was staring out at the small sea of faces watching him.

He did glance our way, though, because Aaron had just risen to his feet, his charming smile fixed firmly in place. “Mr. Grayson, appointing Stella as a team captain hardly seems fair. She’s the least experienced employee, and she just graduated–”

“I’ve seen several of her current projects,” Lukas said, dismissing Aaron. “What she might lack in experience, she makes up for with creativity. And her co-captain will be Breanna. I believe Breanna does have the experience.”

My face flaming, I turned back around in my seat and reached for my glass of water. My hand was shaking slightly, but I didn’t know if it was because of what Aaron had just done…or because I was still trying to process Lukas’s appearance.