Marrying the Boss

Chapter Two

Mark poured himself a drink, downed it, then poured another. It had been that kind of day. The alcohol burned his throat, and he tried not to wince at the bitterness. He never could stand the taste. Another reason Father and the Lion thought he was too soft.

“I’ll take one of those,” his mother said, entering the sitting room.

“Don’t you want to ask what I’m having?”

“It doesn’t matter. After your news, I’ll drink anything.”

He poured his mother a Scotch on the rocks and took it to where she lay on the couch. Except for her sharp dark-blue eyes, she looked weary, her face wilted. She’d swung her feet onto the couch, black spiked heels and all, and reclined as though the effort to sit upright was beyond her. Not a hair escaped her expensively maintained blond twist.

Taking a seat in the Queen Anne chair across from her, he reviewed what he wanted to ask. He’d have to proceed carefully. If his mother didn’t like his tone, he’d never find out anything.

“What can you tell me about Leanne Fairbanks?”

Gloria opened an eye for a moment, then put the cold glass back against her forehead. “She’s the Lion’s daughter.”

“She’s about my age.”

“Hmm? Oh, she’s thirty.”

“I was four. So, Grandmother was alive.” He hated to state the obvious, but he needed to gently lead his mother into disclosing pertinent details. If he didn’t finesse his way around her, she’d close up. “Did she know?”

His mother snorted. “Your grandmother knew everything, from the moment he first saw the tramp. Helen knew every time they got together, God help her.”

“I don’t understand. Grandmother would never have put up with the Lion having an affair.”

“You think not? This wasn’t his first, although it was his last. I’m sure this girl is the only illegitimate child we’ll have to deal with. The Lion was careful. The tramp must have tricked him.”

Mark clenched his teeth. He couldn’t refer to Jenny as “the tramp,” but he didn’t want to dissuade his mother from talking, no matter what terms she used. He could only be thankful she’d called Leanne illegitimate, not something worse.

“So,” he said, “this woman had an affair with the Lion and got pregnant. Then what?”

She shrugged. “Then nothing. Helen insisted he ‘come home and stop this silliness,’ I believe were her words.”

“And he did.” It wasn’t a question. Mark knew the Lion. If Grandmother said come home, then home he’d come. “Are you sure he had multiple affairs?”

Gloria drained her glass. “You are naive.”

“He seemed very much in love with Grandmother.”

She laughed, the sound grating on Mark’s nerves. He put up with it because she was his mother and she’d had a trying day, but he didn’t have to like it. As soon as he got his facts, he’d head for his own condo in the city.

“Mark, you’re either going to kill me or keep me young. I just don’t know where you get that sentimental streak. Yes, yes.” She rose and went to the drinks cart. “He loved Helen. He adored her, but he cheated on her. I believe it was about power and an illusion of youth. I’ve never understood how she could turn the other cheek, which she did until the tramp got pregnant. That she couldn’t abide.” His mother glowered into her glass. “We thought she’d gotten rid of the kid. Obviously, we were wrong.”

Mark snapped his mouth closed. Who was this person speaking so casually of “getting rid of the kid,” as though the baby weren’t important, as though it weren’t family? Not the mother who’d adopted him to fill a yearning for a child she couldn’t conceive. Not the mother he’d known all these years.

Of course, he thought he’d known the Lion. He’d never have believed the Lion would cheat on his wife. Nor that Grandmother would accept it, as long as no children came from such a union. So maybe he didn’t know his mother. Or his father, either.

“Did Father ever…step out?”

Gloria chuckled. “Darling,” she said, dropping ice cubes as punctuation, “I am not—click—the type to turn the other cheek. Click Your father never strayed. Click, click.

Mark let go the breath he’d been holding. His world had changed that afternoon, but some truths still held. “Did the Lion know Leanne hadn’t been…? Of course, he must have known she existed to have named her in the will.”

“I’ve been thinking about that.” His mother fell back on the couch, not spilling a drop.

Practice? Mark reproached himself for the thought. The revelations of the day had his head spinning.

“I think,” she continued, “the Lion must have kept in touch. Not while Helen lived. He’d never dishonor her wishes that way.”

But he’d sleep around on her? Mark began to feel as though he’d grown up in a madhouse.

“Perhaps he got in contact after Helen died,” Gloria said.

“What matters is that Leanne’s here.”

“We’ll talk to the company’s lawyer. If we can’t have the will overturned due to its unusual nature—which reflects on the Lion’s mental stability at the time of writing it—”

“Benton will testify Lionel had full possession of his faculties.”

Gloria waved a hand in dismissal. “Of course he will. He’ll be protecting his hide. Our lawyer will make sure the judge understands that.”

Mark could only marvel at his mother’s keen mind. Devious and a little scary, but since she acted from love for him, he couldn’t complain. “And if that doesn’t work?”

“We’ll buy her off.”

“No, Mother, we won’t.”

“I’ll get millions from the Lion.”

“Whatever money you get should be yours.”

Gloria leaned forward and grasped his hand, her scarlet nails biting. “What better thing to spend it on? You deserve control of the company, Mark. The Lion had to have been crazy even to think of handing it over to anyone else.”

“She’s not just anyone. She’s his daughter. His blood.”

“Is that what’s bothering you?” She leaned back. “The Lion loved you, Mark, as much as he loved his own son.”

He nodded, telling himself it might be true.

“In the meantime,” his mother said, “I’ll get our lawyer to recommend a private detective for the case. See what we can find out about little Miss Fairbanks. And her mother.”

Mark opened his mouth, then closed it and looked away. It didn’t sit right, but he knew it to be a wise course of action. Know thy enemy.

Especially if the enemy possessed killer legs.

LEANNE READ her letter to her mother. “‘You are to convene at the Collins Company boardroom next Tuesday or forfeit your chance to be named Chief Executive Officer.’”

She’d scanned it herself, then brought the notice to her mother’s house to discuss. “I don’t want to go.”

“What do you mean?” her mom demanded. “Gloria and the boy stood in front of a judge and tried to have your father declared insane. If you don’t show up, it’s like saying you agree.”

Three weeks had passed since the revelations in the mausoleum. Her letter had arrived by registered mail, relating the details in “lawyer language” and citing the amount of her cash inheritance. A very nice nest egg. Her mother could retire, and Leanne could quit teaching if she wanted.

Mr. Benton had told Leanne the Collins Company lawyer had argued with Gloria against bringing the case to court on the grounds it would hurt the company’s image. Gloria pursued it nevertheless. A judge, who, according to Gloria, “didn’t have the sense God gave tree sap,” had pronounced the will valid. She had turned the air blue when they lost.

Leanne paced the living room. “Why would I want to run CoCo? I’m not even sure I could, but I don’t want it. I don’t want anything from that family. They’ve had no use for me for the past thirty years. I have no use for them now.”

Her mother stepped in front of her, bringing Leanne to a halt. “Sit. You’re making me dizzy.” She dragged her onto the sofa beside her. “Now, listen. Your father pro—”

“Please don’t call him that. He doesn’t deserve—”

“Your father,” she insisted, “provided for you. I received a check every month after he left, before you were even born. I got a check in my eighth month to cover all my doctor and hospital fees.”

“As if he’s some hero for doling out money. Mom, he was rich—filthy, disgustingly rich. It was a payoff so you wouldn’t make trouble.”

“Lionel knew I wouldn’t make trouble. He gave me money to provide for us. For your safe delivery and care. Every month,” she stressed, “a nice check came in the mail.”

“I know, Mom. I get it. Conscience money.”

“He loved me, Lee.”

Leanne bit her lip and dropped her gaze to their clasped hands. If her mother needed to believe that, she wouldn’t argue.

“And he cared about you. That’s what the money meant. That’s why he mentioned you in the will.”

“But not you.”

The silence hung between them. Leanne wanted to cry out, If he loved you so much, where’s your inheritance? But she wouldn’t hurt her mother with bitter words.

“Let it go, honey,” her mom said quietly. “I’ve had thirty years with you. That’s gift enough.”

Leanne laid her head on her mother’s lap, fighting back tears. “You’re unbelievable.”

She stroked a hand through Leanne’s hair. “I loved him. When you love someone, that’s all that matters. I didn’t care that he was rich. Or married.”

Leanne sat up. “That’s so unlike you.”

“I hope you find a love like that, Leanne.”

She grinned. “You want me to have an affair with a rich married man?”

Her mom chucked her playfully on the chin. “Smarty-pants. I want you to experience a love that will take your breath away. That makes you reexamine everything you thought you knew about yourself. That makes you a new person.”

“I don’t want to have to change to keep some guy. That’s not who I am.”

Her mom frowned. “Is that what you think of me?”

“I don’t know. You never imagined you’d ever be with a married man. Then Lionel Collins came along and you changed.”

“He swept me away. I can’t explain it any better. I saw things in him no one else saw, not even his wife. He was gentle and fun and amazing in bed.”

“Eeew! Don’t tell me stuff like that. You’re my mother.”

Her mom leaned toward her and whispered, “I’ve had sex.”

“Stop it.” Leanne laughed and made her index fingers into a cross to ward her off. “Besides, this is about me taking over CoCo.”

“Well, for one thing, we’ll have to stop calling it CoCo. Keep in mind, whoever runs Collins inherits Lionel’s stock and gets control of the company.”

“Yeah, Mr. Benton explained that.” Leanne picked at the seam of a pillow. “Mark looked so hurt by it all.”

“By what?”

“Lionel’s putting him up against me for CoCo.”

“That’s business.”

“He took it personally. I feel bad. It’s wrong, somehow, to fight him for this.”

Her mom’s hand rested on hers. “If you don’t want to do it, just tell them.”

“It’s just more trouble. I’m not part of the family.”

“So, you don’t want your inheritance, either?”

Leanne heard the hurt in her mother’s voice. By not taking these gifts—if the challenge for CoCo could be called a gift—she rejected Lionel, as well. “Oh, no, I’m accepting the money. There’s enough for you to buy a nice home in New Mexico or Arizona. You can retire from cutting hair and being on your feet all day.”

“No, the money is for you. Buy something you’ll enjoy.”

Leanne smiled. “You think I won’t enjoy visiting you someplace nice and warm in the middle of winter? Or sitting by your pool in the summer?”

“Oh, I’m getting a pool now, huh? Well, okay.” She sighed, a smile dancing in her eyes. “If it’ll make you happy.”

MARK PACED the conference room, glancing at the clock. “Mother, it’s time. I’m going in there alone.” He held up his palm to halt her interruption. “I’ll give you all the details on what transpires.”

“I should go with you. I’ll buy the girl out. Teachers don’t get paid that much. She’ll know she can’t compete against you. It’s a smart move.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. Their personal lawyer had obtained information on Leanne. She held a Master’s degree in Business Management and taught at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “She might not have any appreciable business experience, Mother, but she’s not stupid.”

He picked up the investigator’s report from their lawyer. “She’s not just a teacher, she’s a professor. Well-respected.”

“But not tenured.”

“She’s young for that.”

“Mark, the girl is no competition.”

“I agree. I just don’t want to see her embarrassed. She is family.” And that, he told himself, was the only reason he cared.

“Oh, please.”

“Even with the agreements, it’ll be difficult to keep this fiasco out of the papers. Too many people know already. The court case didn’t help. If I have to wipe the floor with my young auntie, I will. I’d just rather not endure a public farce while doing it.”

“She’s hardly worth your concern.”

“I’m concerned with keeping the business. I’m going to run it, as we’ve always planned.”

“Maybe you should charm the girl, keep her off balance. Just don’t let this little Miss-Nothing-from-Nowhere bring down the business with a scandal. No one needs to hear about her harlot mother becoming the Lion’s mistress or raising his illicit offspring all on her own.”

Mark swung around to berate his mother, but stopped. Leanne stood in the doorway, ashen and wide-eyed. He took a step toward her.

Leanne backed away. Her gaze held his, and it seemed she checked her tears by sheer force of will.

“So you’re here,” Gloria said. “I suppose it’s time for you two to get your first assignment.”

Leanne nodded slowly, then straightened her shoulders. “Yes, I do believe it’s time to begin.”

Mark followed her out the door to the next room, unsure what to say. He could strangle his mother for her hateful words. He wished he’d had the chance to defend Leanne. He felt awful. The poor woman had stepped into a vicious world of cutthroat dealings. She’d be out of her element. No one was exempt from cruelty here. No matter how stunning her green eyes, how shapely her legs.

He pulled his thoughts back into line. This woman, for all her claim to be related to his adopted father, was a stranger. A stranger who would try to take his birthright from him.

Well, no, he checked himself. Actually, it was her birthright. His by right of adoption and years of damned hard work. He was the non-blood Collins, the outsider. They were related only on paper.

Does that mean we could…?

With an irritated grunt, he stepped into the room behind her. Introductions had taken place while he’d been standing in the hall like an idiot.

“Mr. Mulvany.” Mark reached across and shook the man’s hand. He greeted each of the six board members and Todd Benton. He watched Leanne slide into a chair, then took the one next to her. They sat facing the board across the table. He shook his head. Just like on the TV show.

Harrison Mulvany III reached inside his coat pocket and slid a white envelope across the table to Leanne. “I’ve been entrusted with this, my dear. I don’t know the contents myself. I’m just passing along a favor.”

He reached into his pocket, then slid a cream envelope toward Mark. Mark watched out of the corner of his eye as Leanne slit hers open. Her mouth tightened; her eyes narrowed.

He slit open his own envelope. The Lion had left him a brief note: “I’m counting on you to prove I haven’t wasted all these years. Prove you’re a Collins.”

Mark very carefully folded the note, then fitted it back into the envelope. He put it in his inside breast pocket, against his heart.

When would he fit in? What the hell did he have to do to finally belong to this family?

The Lion had just answered those questions. He’d fit in when he won. Only then would he prove he was a Collins.

“No,” Leanne said.

He looked at her, forgetting she’d just received a note from the dead, also.

“I’m not interested.”

Mulvany nodded, then slid her a cream-colored envelope. “From your father.”

Mark started. This one came from the Lion? “May I ask who the first note was from?”

She turned her head and looked right through him. “I’m sure you know.” Then she turned her attention to the sheet of stationery. After a moment, she put it in her purse.

Benton cleared his throat. “Shall we begin?”

Mulvany nodded.

“You’ve met the board members,” Benton said. “They wanted an opportunity to look you over. Now all but Mr. Mulvany, Mr. Garland and Mrs. Metcalf will leave.”

The other four filed out. The door closed, and silence descended. Mark’s throat tightened. He knew he would win. Leanne had no experience while he’d had twenty years working right here at Collins Company. Still, the tension of being measured against the Lion’s expectations bored into his head.

Benton opened a folder in front of him. “This is how we proceed. I have given the first challenge to Mr. Mulvany, who will oversee the competition. The three board members present will reconvene after each challenge’s time limit to review your effort. They will determine who wins each phase. The last challenge carries the most weight in their determination of the winner for the position of CEO and control of the Lion’s stock shares. Questions?”

Leanne shook her head.

Mark asked, “Is there any recourse other than this competition?”

“I’m sorry, but no,” Benton said. “Should either of you choose not to compete, you will be disqualified. The CEO position and stocks will be awarded to the other person.”

Mark looked at the board members. “As acting head—” It grated on him to phrase it that way. He should be in charge. “—of Collins, I want a written promise from each of you to ensure total confidentiality. This would hurt the company should it turn up in the papers.”

He withdrew affidavits for each member and slid them across the table. “The Collins lawyers drew these up. You may have your lawyers look at them, but know that I will not continue with any discussion of this farce until these are signed.”

Taking the last paper out of the folder, he set it in front of Leanne.

She looked at it, then him. With raised eyebrows, she asked, “Where’s yours?”

“My what?”

“I want a guarantee of your silence, as well.”

“Trust me, I don’t want this to get out.”

“Nor do I. However, in the interest of fair play—” Her cold glare indicated that she considered him incapable of being fair. His neck warmed, but he held her gaze when it clashed with his.

“I want to make sure,” she continued, “that when the challenges are awarded in my favor, and should I be granted succession of the line—”

Her cat-like smirk reminded him of his “heir apparent” remark in the mausoleum. Heat crept from his neck to his cheeks, and he only hoped it didn’t show on his face. He allowed a smile to flirt with his lips, acknowledging her jab, but not bowing before it.

Her smile flashed, then disappeared. “I want to be assured you won’t run to the papers to cry foul or try to destroy CoCo once you no longer head it.”

“CoCo?”

Her cheeks appeared a shade pinker. “Our pet name for the Collins Company.”

“‘Our pet name?’ Yours and your mother’s?”

At the mention of her mother, Leanne’s face hardened. A sore spot. Good to know, although he doubted he’d use it against her in business. However, the knowledge might come in handy for their private jousts.

Leanne turned back to the table. “Mr. Benton, do you see anything in this document that would make you advise a client against signing?”

“No, it looks standard. However, I would advise you to seek your own counsel—”

“Very well,” Leanne cut in. “Thank you. Now, if we could make a copy of this please? I wouldn’t want Mr. Collins to be without his own copy to sign.”

She sat back and crossed her arms.

Mark nodded to Benton, who rose and called in the Lion’s secretary, Mrs. Pickett. While Benton handed her the paper and gave her instructions in a low voice, Leanne sat up and spoke to the board.

“I notice you obey the directives of Mr. Collins. He has merely to nod, and his wishes are fulfilled. I would hope that as we are competing for the same prize and I might be appointed the head of this company, you will award me the same honor.”

The board members shifted in their seats.

“What are you saying, Ms. Fairbanks?” Mark asked.

“If this is to be a fair game, so to speak, I will need the aid of the staff as well. I know you’ve worked for the loyalty you command. I don’t expect any. I’m sure I’m considered an interloper. Little Miss Nobody from Nowhere.”

Her arrow hit its target. Mark couldn’t let that pass without comment. “I’m sorry you overheard that, Leanne,” he said quietly. “My mother is very upset.”

She threw him a look that expressed her disinterest in his mother’s feelings.

“Please understand that her opinions are not necessarily mine,” he said.

“But then, to you, I’m just the ‘auntie’ you’re going to wipe the floor with.”

He turned away. He wouldn’t apologize for his determination to win control of the Collins Company or to prove himself worthy.

“Ms. Fairbanks,” Mr. Mulvany said, “I will oversee this farce, as Mark calls it. Rest assured you’ll be given every cooperation. I’ve been informed you’re the Lion’s natural child. Lionel Collins held my respect as a businessman and a friend. May I say welcome to you, and good luck.”

She tipped her head in acknowledgment. With queenly presence, Mark thought.

“Thank you,” she said. “Under those conditions and with your conscientious administration of the contest, I will agree to compete.”

Mulvany beamed.

Mark swore under his breath. With one show of vulnerability, Leanne had made Mulvany her champion. From the smiles on the faces of the other two board members, Mark knew favor had shifted to her. Now he was the big baddie, trying to trick this sweet young innocent out of her inheritance.

He set his shoulders. Fine. She’d won this round by getting them on her side. Mulvany would look out for her welfare. It wouldn’t be easy for him to overcome her personal victory, but he would. Just because they liked her didn’t make her a good businesswoman.