Chapter 13

Good morning, Grey.” Brandy breezed into the kitchen with an entirely different attitude than the previous morning. Getting kissed senseless followed by a good night’s sleep worked wonders for a woman.

She stopped short when she saw all the platters that were lined on her kitchen counter. “Looks like someone is rather hungry,” she said teasingly, meeting Grey’s gaze. It was obvious that he had called up room service.

“Yes, I’m hungry,” he said, uncovering the platters to expose grits, eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast. “Care to join me?”

“Hey, why not?” she said, tossing her jacket across the chair. Brandy immediately went to the cabinet to get a plate. She was glad there was no awkwardness between them after their kiss on the sofa the night before. Evidently they both had looked at what had happened in a mature and logical way, and decided it was something that had been bound to happen sooner or later given their close proximity for the past couple of weeks, as well as the sensual vibes that had been radiating between them.

She crossed the small kitchen to the coffee pot to pour a cup of coffee. As far as she was concerned, her morning didn’t officially begin until she drank her coffee.

“What’s your agenda today?”

She decided to take a sip of coffee before answering Grey’s question. “I have several meetings but all on site and on the fifth floor where most of the meeting rooms are located.”

Grey nodded. If those were her plans today then they were his plans as well. He had no intention of letting her out of his sight unless he knew for sure his other investigators had her within their scope.

She was about to start filling her plate with food when the phone rang. “Go ahead and finish what you’re doing. I’ll get that,” he said, hoping it was one of his men with something to report. “Hello?”

After a brief pause he said, “Yes, Brandy Bennett is at this number.” There was another brief pause. Then he leaned his hip against the sofa and said. “I’ll tell you who I am once you tell me who you are.”

He cast a quick look across the room at Brandy. “Oh, Ms. Constantine. Please hold a minute.” Grey then held out the phone to Brandy. “It’s for you and I think you have a lot of explaining to do,” he whispered, handing the phone to her when she reached his side.

Brandy rolled her eyes. Evidently her mother was her usual pleasant self this morning, she thought sarcastically. “Mom? Hi, what’s up?” She then turned to look over at Grey who had returned to the kitchen. “Oh, that’s Grey. You know, Grey Masters, Quinn’s brother?”

After a brief pause Brandy said, “Grey’s just a friend who came for a visit. No, Mom, the two of us aren’t sleeping together.” After a brief pause she added in a frustrated tone. “Yes, Mom, I’m still on the pill.”

Grey, who’d been about to take a sip of coffee, stopped the cup midway to his lips when he heard Brandy’s last remark. He looked over at her and she gave him with a warm smile and a shrug of her shoulders.

“Enough questions about me and my sex life, Mom,” Brandy said getting a little agitated.“What I want to know is why you told Dad about his birthday party when you knew it was supposed to be a surprise?”

There was another brief pause. “I understand that, Mom, but two wrongs don’t make a right and you should not have spoiled things for him and the family.”

Grey couldn’t help but notice there was a longer pause this time. Evidently Ms. Constantine was trying to explain her side of things and he couldn’t help but smile.

“All right, Mom, but I think you owe them an apology, even if you feel you were right. I love you, too, Mom, and by the way, how’s Dad?”

Brandy rolled her eyes again. “And why would I be asking you about him? Mainly because I’m sure you’ve seen him in the past week. And how would I know? Just call it a daughter’s intuition.” Brandy released a deep sigh. “Okay, Mom, I’ll talk to you later and give Dad a kiss for me.” Brandy hung up the phone and rejoined Grey in the kitchen. He was already eating.

“When you get time I’d like you to give me another Bennett family history lesson. Your conversation with your mother just now sounded like a doozy.”

Brandy sat down at the table and immediately took a sip of her coffee. “It was.”

Grey paused in biting into his toast and said, “I hate to say this and I hope it doesn’t sound too disrespectful, but your mother sounds like she’s a pain in the . . .”—he cleared his throat and decided to say in kindness—“rear end.”

Brandy couldn’t help but chuckle.“That’s a nice way of putting it and yes, you’re right, she is. But my father wouldn’t have her any other way.”

After breakfast before they left to catch the elevator, Grey decided to let Brandy in on the latest development, at least part of it. “I’ve decided to let the local police know what’s happening, Brandy.”

A dark frown deepened her brow. “Why? I thought there would not be any police involvement unless it became absolutely necessary for fear of negative publicity for the hotel, Grey.”

“And that’s still holds true. There won’t be any involvement right now but they need to know about things just in case something major goes down. I don’t like the tone of the last note that was sent.”

Brandy nodded. Neither did she. “All right, Grey. I trust your judgment about all of this. All I want is for things to get back to normal and for whoever is sending those notes to stop.”

Automatically, without very much thought, he pulled her into his arms in a protective embrace. “Me too, and right now I want to be cautious. And one of the positive things is that one of the agents I used to work with in D.C. knows the chief of police here. He’s going to apprise him of what’s going on with the understanding that we have everything under control and they won’t be needed unless we call them.”

Brandy nodded again. “Is there anything else I should know, Grey?”

He thought on her question and decided that it would make his job a lot easier if Brandy was kept in the dark about some things for now. “No, there’s nothing else you should know.”

Carla picked up her phone. “Yes, Michelle, what is it?”

“Yes, Ms. Osborne, there’s a Mr. Jesse Devereau here to see you. Should I send him in?”

Carla inhaled sharply, not believing what Michelle had just said. There was no way Jesse could be here when she’d distinctly told him yesterday that she hadn’t wanted to see him again. Didn’t he understand that they had nothing to say to each other? The subject of whether or not Craig was his son was not open for discussion.

“Ms. Osborne?”

Sighing deeply, Carla decided to see him and try and make things clear with him once again. She would let him know that she had seen her attorney and asked that he do whatever necessary to make sure Jesse didn’t try seeing her.

“Yes, Michelle, send him in but please summon security.”

Carla stood as her office door swung open and Jesse Devereau walked in. “Jesse, I thought I made myself clear yesterday.”

“All I want to know, Carla, is if your son is mine.”

“I have no intentions of answering that.”

Jesse stared at her. “If he isn’t mine then why is my name on the birth certificate as his father?” When she didn’t reply immediately, he lifted a brow, waited. When it became obvious that she had no intentions of answering, he frowned. “Why are you being difficult? All I want is the truth.”

The truth? There was that one word again that had no place between them. How could he want to speak of truth when he had lied to her that night? “I refuse to tell you anything. And just so you know, I’ve contacted my attorney and he’ll take whatever steps are necessary to make sure you stop harassing me.”

Jesse’s gaze narrowed. “Harassing you? All I’ve done is try to find out the truth and considering everything, I felt I should come directly to you for answers.”

“I refuse to tell you anything.” Carla’s attention slid past him, toward the doorway where Michelle and the security guard stood.

“Is something wrong, Ms. Osborne?” Sam asked, entering her office.

“Yes,” Carla said as anger seeped through her every pore. “My conversation with Mr. Devereau is over and I’d like you to escort him out of the building. And please make sure he doesn’t return.”

Jesse’s face lit with anger. Then without saying anything, he was gone with Sam following in his wake.

“Are you all right, Ms. Osborne?” Michelle asked, in a deeply concerned voice.

Carla leaned against her desk. “Yes, I’m fine.” But a part of her knew she wasn’t fine. She would never forget the furious look on Jesse’s face when he had walked out.

Mike watched an angry Jesse pace the confines of his suite, thinking he’d never seen him so angry.

“I can’t believe the woman,” Jesse said after a few minutes of constant pacing. “I’ve made every effort to talk to her and she refuses to have anything to do with me. She has to be the most stubborn person I know.”

Mike chuckled. “Then I feel sorry for the kid if he’s really your son, Jess.”

Jesse stopped. “What the hell are you talking about?” His tone was as cutting as his gaze.

Mike leaned back against the sofa and ignored both. “All I’m saying is that if the kid is yours then he doesn’t stand a chance, having both a stubborn mother and a stubborn father, since you’re the most stubborn person that I know.”

Jesse glared at Mike. “This isn’t funny.”

Mike chuckled again. “Trust me, I can very well see that and I’m curious as to what you plan to do now?”

Jesse took a seat at the desk in the room. “I spoke with John Kline a few minutes ago and things are being taken care of.”

Mike’s brows rose sharply. “John Kline?”

“Yes. I want to see just how stubborn she is when she’s faced with losing her company.”

The next morning Carla and Amber met for breakfast. Just before leaving home Carla had received a phone call from a friend who was a brilliant player on the New York Stock Exchange.

“She wanted to know what new product my company was coming out with for the recent movement in my company stock’s prices,” Carla told Amber, after taking a sip of coffee. “And she’s heard it will really hit gold tomorrow and was calling looking for a hot tip. I told her we didn’t have a new product coming out on the market. Now that has me concerned.”

Amber raised a brow. “What? The fact you don’t have anything new coming out?”

Carla shook her head. “No, the sudden movement of Osborne’s stock. When stock prices jump that rapidly and it can’t be linked to any

type of new innovation, it usually means one thing.”

Amber lifted a brow. “What?”

Carla met her inquisitive gaze. “Someone is buying up a lot of shares of stock.”

Two days later

“So what did you find out, Stanley?” Carla asked the man sitting across from her desk. Stanley Jerrott was Osborne’s senior attorney and if anyone could find out what was happening with the company’s stocks and why, he could.

“I made a few phone calls, Ms. Carla Osborne, and the news isn’t good. Osborne Computer Network has become the target of a hostile takeover bid.”

Color drained from Carla’s face and her eyes widened in shock. “But—but, I don’t understand…why? It’s not like we’re some Fortune 500 company. We’re a little guy compared to other major computer companies, so why us?”

Stanley shrugged big, massive shoulders. “I wish I knew, but the only person who can answer that is the man behind the takeover. But in a way, I’m really not surprised given the current merger fever in this country. However, like you I am surprised they would want us. It’s not like we make millions every year, so this doesn’t make sense.”

Carla nodded. She then stood and walked over to the window, not wanting to believe what Stanley had just told her about the takeover attempt. Mergers happened to big companies like IBM and Hewlett-Packard. In fact, Osborne Computer Network wasn’t even listed in the top one hundred computer companies in the nation. And their clientele was basically regional, although a lot of discussion had been done lately about expanding those boundaries.

She turned back to Stanley. “Have papers been filed with the SEC?”

“Yes.”

Stanley’s voice had been low when he’d answered but she’d heard his response just the same. She also knew what it meant. Anyone going after more than a certain percentage of a publicly held stock had to register their intentions with the SEC. With that out of the way, whoever the person was who’d set their sights on Osborne was free to begin acquiring vast quantities of the shares on the open market. All that he needed was enough shares to give him control of the firm.

Carla sighed. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing the company and not just for her sake—her main concern was her employees. If the company was forcibly taken from her, what would become of them? She’d heard numerous stories of how long-time, faithful employees got tossed out in the cold with mergers and she couldn’t stand the thought of that happening. A good number of them, like Stanley, had planned to retire in a few years and now with the threat of a takeover even that was threatened, since the company’s retirement plan could be eliminated.

She walked backed over to her desk but couldn’t sit down. She was too angry to do so. “Who is he, Stanley? Who’s the person trying to take over Osborne Computer Network?”

Stanley didn’t have to open the folder he held in his hand. The man’s name had been branded onto his memory. A few calls to friends he’d made on the West Coast had basically told him everything he needed to know about him. He was well known as a corporate raider; his reputation for taking over companies was legend. However, most of those Stanley spoke with were surprised he had ventured so far south for his newest acquisition. “A man by the name of Jesse Devereau.”

Stanley’s expression took on a high degree of concern at the sound of Carla’s gasp, as well as the way she suddenly sank down in her chair. Her features appeared in shock. He immediately stood. “Carla, are you all right?”

It was awhile before she answered, and even then he noted she was trembling. “Yes, I’m fine,” she said in a soft voice that had Stanley not believing her. Her reaction to Jesse Devereau’s name had him curious so he pressed forward.

“Do you know Mr. Devereau?” he asked, and had a feeling she did even before she answered.

Carla nodded slowly. “Yes, Stanley, I know him.”

The next morning

Carla picked up the phone. “Yes?”

“Have you seen the newspaper this morning?” Brandy asked quickly.

Carla raised a brow. “No, I just brought it in but haven’t had a chance to open it yet. Why?”

“Open it, read it, and call me back.”

Carla frowned. Whatever Brandy wanted her to see had to be important. “All right.” Hanging up the phone she reached for the paper on the table and opened it. She inhaled sharply when she saw the headline on the front page of the Orlando Sentinel.

Wealthy West Coast Industrialist sets sights on Osborne Computer Network

After completely reading the article, Carla angrily tossed it aside. Jesse wasn’t wasting any time letting his intentions be known, which left her at a disadvantage since she hadn’t made any type of announcement to her employees. Seeing the article in the newspaper was a lousy way for them to find out that their jobs might be in jeopardy. To counteract the damage caused by the newspaper article, she would schedule a meeting with all of her employees once she got to work and follow it up with a brief press conference.

But what really tore her heart in two was the statement in the newspaper that her mother had sold her shares to Jesse, thus giving him enough shares in the company to control it. Angry beyond belief, Carla picked up the phone to call her mother only to be told moments later by Charles, her mother’s second husband, that Madeline had left that morning for Memphis and he didn’t expect her back for least three days. Carla hung up the phone thinking, How convenient, but she intended to confront her mother when she returned.

Although they were not what one would consider close, nevertheless Madeline was still her mother, and as far as Carla was concerned that constituted some sort of loyalty. But her mother had betrayed her and had turned her back on her in the worst possible way. She had literally yanked from under Carla’s feet any financial stability she’d had for herself and Craig.

Carla inhaled deeply as she picked up the phone to call Brandy back as she’d promised she would. She needed the support of her friends now more than ever.