Page 28 of Hate On

As Edie talked, Julianna started to run figures in her head because as soon as they left here, she and Charles had to talk about the bid. The CFO was going to meet them in the boardroom and they needed to be ready. The CFO was a tight-fisted son of a bitch and they would need to have all their ducks in a row just to get him willing to bend on something new like this. She could tell him it wasn’t even a risk, because she had solid data about the mines they would also acquire and the mines alone were worth the money, but this new tech…

She wanted to swoon.

But she managed to keep a straight face, even if a smile did occasionally break through.

“You look like the cat that stole the canary,” Edie said as she finished summarizing what she’d been able to extrapolate in the short time she and Tommy had had with the prototype.

“Ifeellike the cat that ate the canary,” she replied. There was a faint twinge of guilt, but she pushed it away. She hadn’tmadeanybody do anything, something she’d do well to remember.

* * *

Later,as they sat down with the CFO, Julianna realized that she wasn’t going to have to do much convincing at all. Her father had brought the partially cut stone with him and the CFO, Roger Morris, was studying it with something akin to amazement on his stern face.

Anybody who worked with Castle Jewels for long had to be something of an expert when it came to gems and Morris had been with the company for more than twenty years. He didn’t have the science background that Julianna had, but he knew his stones.

With an avid gleam in his eye, he looked at daughter, then father. “This could make us the number one player in the game.”

“We alreadyare,” Charles said, his voice full of arrogance. Then he laughed. “But this will take all doubt out of the equation. We’re going to win this bid, Charles. Find the money. Wherever you have to, whatever you have to do. Get the money.”

“How high?” Finally, some of Morris’s normal caution returned to his face as he leaned back in his chair.

Charles named a figure and even Julianna blanched.

Morris looked like he wanted to have a stroke.

But after a few more looks at the stone, he nodded. “Very well. I’ll get the money.”

* * *

Julianna’s dayconsisted of a working lunch at her desk and constant interruptions—people wanting her approval for this purchase, or her insight about that design.

With her father training her to take his place when he retired, more and more people were coming to her before going to him and while she was glad to take on more responsibilities, it would have been nice to eat her sushi in peace.

Of course, once she was the CEO of Castle Jewels, she wouldn’t have a lot of dayswithoutinterruption, so she might as well get used to it.

Her phone buzzed just as she dumped the trash from her lunch into the garbage.

She almost ignored it, but a quick glance revealed Roman’s name. She smiled at the photo she’d found online and programmed into her contacts after she’d added his number the other day. There wasn’t really any reason for her to have a picture of him. She didn’t know any otherRomans. But she liked seeing his blue eyes staring out at her from the screen of her phone.

Picking it up, she swiped her thumb across the screen to access the message.

How is your day going?

She pursedher lips at the casual, bland question.

I havea revolving door on my office. How is yours?

There was a very brief pause,followed by:

LOL.About the same. Are you ready to do the handoff?

Idly,she thought of the device in her purse and she smiled faintly. With a shrug, she tapped out her response.

I can’t wait.

* * *

A cold windcut through her coat as she stepped out of her car in front of Montrose Jewelers. She smiled at her driver. “I might be a few minutes if you want to circle around the block.”