To say he'd been shocked when he found out the new general counsel of the Miami-based import company his private equity firm had just bailed out was a woman named Stephanie Morgan was an understatement. Surely it couldn't be Stevie who, the last he'd heard, had skyrocketed her way to an early partnership at the top-rated international law firm she'd joined after their graduation from law school. After all, Morgan was a pretty common last name.
But a quick Google search and a few phone calls had confirmed that was exactly who it was.
He looked over at Burt O'Connor who was still standing awkwardly behind his desk, red-faced and sweating, holding the stack of papers Mike had given him just before Stevie walked in.
"Why don't you take those with you, O'Connor, and give it some thought."
The man visibly swallowed. "Yes, I – that's a good idea." He walked around the desk and crossed the office, avoiding eye contact with Stevie when he passed her.
She looked at Mike and raised an eyebrow in that way she did at meetings in the law review office when questioning his judgment on a submission or some other issue. Then she reached back and shut the door and turned to face him.
"You just threw the man out of his own office."
"It won't be his office for long. Those are severance papers. If he's smart, he'll sign them. And have his resignation letter on my desk by 5:00 today."
"What's going on here? What are you doing here?"
He leaned his hip on the desk and watched confusion and speculation run across her face.
"I was about to ask you the same thing."
"Should I assume there's been a hostile takeover?"
"Only hostile to the fool that was mismanaging this company for far too long," Mike said, gesturing toward Burt's empty chair.
She lifted her chin and met his eyes squarely. "Do you have a set of those papers for me?"
Was she actually afraid of losing this job that had to be a ridiculously major step down for her? What had happened at her old firm, and what was she doing taking a job as general counsel for a company that had been practically run into the ground already by an executive who talked a good talk to his board of directors all the while having his head up his ass?
He hoped she wasn't hiding out here in the aftermath of some scandal at her old firm that he had yet to hear about. Because if that was the case, fond memories notwithstanding, she'd be out the door in a heartbeat. His job was to rebuild this company, then flip it for a nice profit. The last thing he needed was complications.
"I thought it would be a challenge," Stevie said, as if she'd read his mind.
A challenge was the deal he read about last year that she'd brokered for one of her firm's clients in Brussels. And the negotiations he'd heard rumors about between a major U.S. corporation and the government in Hong Kong, where he understood she was based.
But when he'd make discreet inquiries yesterday about whether the Stevie he knew was even still with the global law firm, all he'd been able to find out was that she'd taken a leave of absence a few months ago for personal reasons. Other than that, there wasn't even a murmur.
"So tell me, Stevie," he said. "What the hell are you doing here?"
* * *
No. This was not happening. What was she going to do in Miami – where she'd just signed a lease on a condo and barely gotten Maddie settled into her new home? Now she was going to have to uproot her again? This was a nightmare. There was no way she could work with Mike. She'd closed that door a long time ago, and reopening it could destroy everything she'd worked so hard to build. But it was pretty obvious he didn't want to work with her either, so maybe that wasn't even going to be an option.
She took a deep breath.
"I'm sure you know very well that I've just started the position as general counsel of the company."
"My question is why."
"That's not really any of your business."
"Well, Stevie, that's actually not true. You work for me, now."
"And if you're thinking of letting me go, I suggest you take a look at my no-cut employment agreement before you buy yourself a lawsuit for wrongful termination."
He leaned back in his chair and studied her. "Why are you so hostile?"
"Hmm, let me think. This is my first day on the job, and I walk in with no warning to see you handing my boss his severance papers. You didn't even give me the courtesy of a phone call over the weekend, even though you obviously knew I was starting this job today. And now you have the nerve to ask me what the hell I'm doing here? Like finding me in this job is some sort of an insult?"
"I think we just got off on the wrong foot this morning."
"I didn't like you in law school and I like you even less now."
"Really? Seems to me there were a few things you liked about me once upon a time."
She choked. "We agreed never to bring that up again."
"And I kept that agreement." He paused. "I wasn't talking about what happened on Thanksgiving."
She stared at him, puzzled. "Then what –"
"Damn it, Stevie, I was talking about Paris."
She felt the color drain out of her face. "Paris?"
Oh my God. Could it get any worse?
"Look, whatever happened in Paris-"
He got up from the chair and walked over to her, standing close, too close.
"I never made you any promises in Paris." His eyes narrowed and he gripped the sides of her arms.
"Mike," she started, and was never so glad to be interrupted but a knock on the open door. She took an abrupt step back.
"Mr. Wellington?" A woman Stephanie recognized as Burt's executive assistant stood tentatively in the doorway.
"I'm not sure where Mr. O'Connor went, and he's not picking up his cell phone. There were a number of appointments for this afternoon. . . "
"I'd suggest you cancel them," Mike said. "And then give me an email by 5:00 this afternoon summarizing all of Mr. O'Connor's appointments for the remainder of the week."
"What do I tell them when I cancel the meetings?"
"Tell them someone will be in touch with them by the end of the week." He glanced over at her. "Anything else, Ms. Keane?"
"No sir," she said and hurried down the hallway.
"You do a good job intimidating the staff," Stephanie said.
"My initial assessment is that this office is overpopulated with incompetent, lazy employees who are worth about one-half what they are being paid." He looked sideways at her. "Present company excluded, of course."
"Of course," she said coolly. "So what's the verdict, Mike? Do I still have a job?"
"You may be the only person here who still has a job." He leaned against the corner of Burt's desk, and almost smiled. "After all, I can hardly blame you for the mess Burt created when you've only been General Counsel for" – he looked the expensive watch on his wrist – "thirty-five minutes."
Mike shifted his weight and his tone turned serious. "I want your analysis of all current and pending contracts, and your recommendations, on my desk by the end of the week. Can you do that?"
"I can do that."
"We'll discuss your report over dinner on Friday."
"I have plans."
"Cancel them."
"No."
"No?" He waited and she didn't say anything.
"Don't press your luck, Stevie."
"I'll keep that in mind." Her heart was pounding, but she turned coolly and walked out the door. Never let them see you sweat.
But as soon as she got to her own office she shut the door behind her and leaned against it, closing her eyes.
How was she going to make this situation work? Obviously Mike wasn't going to step in as CEO of the beleaguered company on a permanent basis. His private equity firm was either going to put it back on track under new, competent leadership then step back and just let the profits roll in, or they were going to build it up enough to flip it and make their money that way. Either way, Mike wasn't going to be here more than a few weeks – maybe a month at most. Then he'd be on to the next acquisition target. She remembered that his company was based in Miami, so that complicated things a bit, but she still couldn't see him wasting his valuable time in this business any longer than absolutely necessary.
All she had to do was get through the next few weeks and convince Mike that Miami Imports was headed in the right direction, then he'd move on and be out of her life and she could focus on what was really important. The only thing that was important. Maddie.
But what worried her the most right now was Mike's comment about Paris. The plan after graduation had been for her to spend the summer in Paris, perfecting her conversational French while she studied for the Bar Exam. But it hadn't worked out that way. Stephanie hadn't gone to Paris that summer. If something happened with Mike in Paris, it hadn't been with Stephanie. And the person who could tell her what Mike was talking about wasn't here anymore.
Her sister Samantha was the one person in the world Stephanie had always been able to trust with anything. They'd never had any secrets from each other.
But it looked like there had been one secret Samantha had kept after all.
How had Samantha ended up spending time with Mike while she was taking Stephanie's place in Paris? While Stephanie was in Wisconsin for the summer, pretending to be Samantha.
And having Mike's baby.
Author's Note:
Paris? What the hell happened in Paris???