Читать книгу In His Sights - Danica Winters - Страница 12

She hated this, being stuck in yet another stupid meeting. Sometimes she could have sworn her job was to do nothing more than listen to the mindless ramblings of the H&K board and their endless stream of guests.

Mindy Kohl looked down at her watch, trying to subtly check the time without making the members of the Swedish parliament, the Riksdag, think she was being rude. She had to follow the rules of etiquette or risk offending the leaders who would determine the fate of her company’s expansion, but it didn’t make her any less squirmy.

She hated this job. Pandering was best left to those who enjoyed the thrill of the hunt and the glory that came from winning. It was really no wonder her half brother had loved it, right up until he had become CEO of Heinrich and Kohl. Even in his new role, he’d still hovered, constantly reminding her that she was to do her best, as they had much to lose.

Then again, not everything was terrible about her new position: it afforded her a great deal of travel and leisure—though this time she got to stay home in the heart of NYC. She was relieved that after this brutally long and drawn-out meeting, she could go home.

There was a man standing to her left beside the table. His name badge said Jarrod Martin. She didn’t recognize the man, but he appeared to be in his early thirties and comprised entirely of muscle. He’d come in with the entourage that accompanied the parliament members, and was likely acting as a guard. But, instead of bringing her comfort, every time she looked at him, she felt an unwelcome warmth cascade through her.

If only it were a year ago, when her life had been focused on nothing more than giving in to the whims of her heart, she would have easily made the man her lover. She caught herself glancing down, hoping to see if his back was as scrumptious as his front. She wasn’t disappointed.

Her contact, and lead ambassador for the Riksdag, Hans Anders, cleared his throat as he took the floor. He was sitting three down from her at the conference table. His fingers were tented in front of him as he spoke, a look of distaste forming when he addressed Mindy directly. He clearly thought a woman in gun manufacturing was some kind of farce. She’d always thought that the Swedish were more progressive when it came to empowering women, but clearly there were some men in every culture who thought it best for a woman to stay in the kitchen.

Needless to say, she hated the bastard.

“Furthermore,” Hans continued, “it is not in our best interest to allow a machining plant in our countryside. While we welcome international businesses with open arms, by bringing in a gun manufacturer, it could be misconstrued as our implied consent and role in the international gunrunning trade.”

“Sir, while I appreciate your thoughts and hear what you are saying, I humbly disagree,” she said, forcing herself to remain seated even though all she wanted to do was stand, face him down and put an end to this argument. “My company is in no way an advocate for international violence. We pride ourselves on our stellar record within the global market. While we cannot control where or how our guns are used, the same can be said about many other incredibly lucrative businesses—such as pharmaceuticals. Would you deny a person access to a lifesaving medication because you are afraid of the medication being misused?”

Hans opened his mouth, no doubt wishing to rebut, but she didn’t give him the chance to speak. She had the floor, and no matter what some man thought, she was going to keep it.

“What you are talking about is a what-if, while you—and the entire Riksdag—should be focused on the bottom line of our proposal. This year alone, our plants in the United States have brought in $7.2 billion in taxable income. We believe, should you allow us to open our plant, we will either match or exceed this figure every year for your country.”

Hans looked as though he had swallowed a sour grape. Money always took precedence. Really, this endeavor would be a win-win for both parties. All she had to do was prove it.

“Why don’t we take a little break, and we can come back and discuss this further after lunch.” Hans stood up and shuffled through the papers of her proposal.

Though Hans wasn’t the head of the parliament, he sure acted like it. Without his approval, this would go nowhere. She’d spend the next six months apologizing to her brother and the board, and trying to find a suitable replacement for the warehouse and manufacturing building they had purchased in Sweden.

“That sounds wonderful,” she said. “And please note, my family’s company always strives to create a healthy environment for employees. It would be an honor to have our company located in a place that has an empowered and ambitious workforce.”

Smiles appeared on the faces of the men and women around the table.

Maybe she wasn’t so bad at pandering after all.

The guard to her left, Jarrod, stepped closer to her. “If you’d like, I’d love to escort you to lunch. I hear there’s a great deli just around the corner.”

Her mouth watered, but she wasn’t sure if it was because of the man who’d asked her or the prospect of salty, fatty meats. Either way, she was happy to oblige. “Of course, though I thought you were with the parliament members.” She motioned to the group around them.

He smiled. “I doubt anyone will miss me. As it is, I was brought here just to be a visible presence in the meeting room.”

“Oh yeah? Did they think that I was the kind of woman who would jump on the table and threaten them if I didn’t get what I wanted?” She stood up and made a show of her petite, but heavyset frame. “I’m hardly equipped—or likely—to throw my weight around.”

“I’ve always found that one shouldn’t underestimate the power of an angry woman.” He laughed.

“If you don’t feed me soon, you’ll get to see exactly how hangry I can get,” she teased.

“Well, I’m only going with you if you promise not to take me down,” he said with a laugh.

A wave of torrid thoughts washed through her mind. She couldn’t help the heat that rose in her body and colored her cheeks.

She tried to cap all of her dirty thoughts, but it was a losing battle. She hadn’t had sex in six months. A girl only had so much willpower.

Maybe she could just take him during their lunch break. They had an hour, and with the way she was feeling, that would leave them plenty of time to cuddle afterward.

Oh goodness, what was wrong with her?

Maybe going with him to lunch wasn’t such a great idea after all. If things were going to devolve into some midday rendezvous, she was probably better off staying in her office.

Whenever her body took the lead, it never seemed to end well.

When she had been younger, to say she had been a bit of a party girl was an understatement. Until her father’s death, she had been spending her time—and her father’s money—shopping, traveling, hanging out with her friends…and having her heart broken by men.

Throughout the years, people had told her she was spoiled. However, she had never really seen it that way. Though she had been economically gifted, it came at a price. Her mother had died when she was young and her father’s success had taken its toll. During his rare appearances at home, he had spent all of his time in his office yelling at hapless underlings or business associates. He rarely had actual free time, but when he did he liked to spend those days on the golf course. Mindy didn’t blame him for his parental failings. However, she was extremely tired of having to justify how she had become such a headstrong and wild woman—she couldn’t have been anything else, thanks to her free-range childhood.

She allowed the members of the Swedish parliament to exit in front of her in a gesture of goodwill. Jarrod stayed by her side. His arm brushed against hers, making the hairs on her skin stand at attention. It was as though there were a charge between them, something resembling static electricity, but she tried not to pay it any mind. Maybe it was nothing more than her thousand-dollar shoes scuffing against the carpet. It struck her as funny that even now, after all of her dalliances with men, it was still possible to mistake attraction for actual electricity.

That was what it was—her attraction to him was science. They were like two magnets drawn to each other by nature’s cosmic forces—nothing more. But dang, those forces felt good.

She waited for a few moments, until they were alone in the room, and then she turned to Jarrod. “Look, if you have a job to do, we can always meet after work.” It came out sounding far more lurid than she had actually wanted it to. Rather, she had hoped it would be an invitation for a real, grown-up date…one that wouldn’t resemble anything like the Netflix-and-chill dates of her past.

He gave her a melting smile. She got the impression that a real smile was something he didn’t experience often. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m here for your protection.” There was something in the way that he spoke, like each beat was measured and well thought out, which made her wonder if there was something he wasn’t telling her.

“I don’t believe I’ll need a bodyguard with a bunch of old Swedes.”

Jarrod’s smile widened, but a veil of mystery moved over his eyes. “I don’t believe that was quite it.” He helped her with her jacket, slipping it over her shoulders, and then he handed over her purse and phone.

It wasn’t particularly cold outside, but fall in New York was a mercurial thing. One minute it could be sunny and seventy, and the next snow would be floating from the sky with a nor’easter on its heels.

They rode down in the elevator, sandwiched between strangers and so close that she could feel his breath against the back of her neck. Their bodies touched as she was pressed farther into the elevator with each descending floor. Heat radiated from him, and she tried to stop herself from moving any closer. They were already treading on dangerous ground.

It seemed to take forever to get to the lobby, and she counted her breaths in an attempt to think about anything besides the painfully handsome man behind her. If she closed her eyes, she could make out the shapely contoured goatee and the slight curve of his lips. Oh, those lips. She could kiss those lips.

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and once again brushed him—making a fire course up from where their bodies had touched, burning into her cheeks.

When the elevator doors opened, she nearly sprinted out—it was her only chance of escaping. Yet, as soon as she reached the glass doors at the front of the building, she turned around and waited for him.

She could control herself. If nothing else, this was a test. If she could refrain from jumping his bones, she had made significant strides in her personal development. If not, well… She’d have a little more work to do when it came to her boundaries.

“You okay?” he asked, finally catching up to her.

She nodded. “Absolutely, though I have to admit I have a hard time in such enclosed spaces.”

He gave her an odd look, like he was deciding whether or not he should believe her. “From the meeting, it seems as though Hans has something against you. What did you do to the poor guy?”

She was thankful he was changing the subject. “Actually, Hans has always had a thing against my family. My father purchased a building and started developing it for H&K’s expansion some five years ago. Hans has been blocking our move into their country ever since. We’ve finally reached a place in our growth where we’re going to have to do something or start looking at other countries. Unfortunately, our father invested a large sum of money into the development of this plan and if we walk away now, we’d lose all of the time and money that has gone into it.”

Jarrod gave a thoughtful nod. “Did your father ever let you in on why Hans didn’t want you there?”

She shook her head as they walked out into the New York air. She both loved and hated the way the city smelled of people—sweat and body odor—cars and industry. In many ways, she didn’t miss this city when she spent time at H&K’s DC offices.

Though she hadn’t talked to him in a couple of days, Daniel was probably chomping at the bit to learn how this meeting had gone. They had a lot riding on this deal and it was her first run of this kind. Just the thought of letting him down made her stomach ache.

Ahead of them in the mash of people was Hans. His bald head looked like something on a bobblehead doll, bouncing as the man walked among his guards and the other members of the parliament.

Her heels clicked on the concrete and they stopped at the crosswalk. “From what I know about Hans,” she said, motioning in the direction of the devil in question, “he had a distaste for my father. I think it had something to do with a former business deal gone bad. Something in the nineties. My father never went into great detail, but it’s abundantly clear that Hans is the kind of man who can carry a decades-long familial grudge.”

“I know all about those,” he said.

“Where are you from?” she asked.

He looked at her for a moment, like he was deciding if he wanted to answer. Or maybe it was more about how much he wanted to reveal to her—she couldn’t be sure.

“My family is from here, the Bronx, actually. However, we just moved to Montana. I’m here finishing up some last-minute things before heading west.”

“Montana?” She’d heard wonderful things about the state and its picturesque scenery and wildlife. “Aren’t you afraid of the bears?”

“Once again, I find angry women far more terrifying.”

“That sounds like it comes from some dark and horrific place. I’m going to need to hear that story,” she said, giving him a teasing smile.

“I wish I were kidding, but I have a faint bite mark from one of the women I had to guard. It’s just above my knee,” he said, lifting his leg like she could see the mark beneath his dress pants. “I swear it gets sore to the touch before any major storms.”

“That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. And I would hate to ask what the woman was doing that had her at knee height.” As she spoke, he seemed to gain a bit of color.

The crowd shuffled and they were pushed nearer to Hans, who was standing precariously close to the passing New York traffic.

“Sir,” Mindy said, tapping Hans on the arm, “you may want to take a step back. Cabs pull right up to this curb.”

Hans gave her a look like she had murdered his first grandchild. “Are you kidding me?” he asked, his voice flecked with his Swedish accent. “First you think you can tell me what I should do with my power inside the parliament, and now you even wish to dictate how I cross the street? You Americans think you know everything.”

As the last words fell from his lips, there was the screech of tires and a man’s yelling. The sound was strangled, some foreign tongue that Mindy didn’t recognize. But even not knowing exactly what the man was saying she could tell by the look on Hans’s face that it wasn’t good. As the car grew closer, something pitched out of the window. From where she stood, it looked like an envelope. As it hit the ground a plume of white powder erupted into the air. Jarrod grabbed her and threw her to the ground, covering her with his body.

She couldn’t breathe, but she wasn’t sure whether it was because of his weight or how he had pinned her. As she struggled, her throat burned and her eyes began to water. She tried to push Jarrod off out of some instinctual need to survive. After what seemed like an excruciating amount of time, he rolled off her. As she took a breath, her lungs burned.

He looked as she felt. Tears were streaming down his face and there were dabs of saliva at the corners of his mouth and goatee. She glanced around, a few paces away from them, where Hans was lying on the ground. He was coughing, his body in a fetal position. When he rolled over, she could see that his eyes were swollen shut and blisters had erupted on the skin of his eyelids. There was blood dripping from his face and mouth.

Hans moved as though he was looking at her, even though he couldn’t possibly have been able to see her. And then she heard the scream, her scream. Hans reached out in her direction, but she didn’t move. She couldn’t.

Though she knew she should act and help the man, she feared moving any closer to him. Hans rolled on the ground, his body convulsing.

Whatever the man in the car had thrown at them, it must have been some sort of poison.

Reaching into her purse, she grabbed a wet wipe. It would probably do nothing to help, but she couldn’t simply watch Jarrod deteriorate like Hans.

Jarrod took the wipe from her and cleaned his face. “Thank you.” He looked dazed, but he got to his feet, tugging her up with him. “We have to get out of here. Now. You’re not safe.”

From what she could see around her, no one was safe.

She grabbed her phone, dialed 911 and threw the device to the ground in hopes that it would be traced—she could get another phone, they were a dime a dozen.

Jarrod took her hand and pulled her away from the area. She wanted to stay to help, but Jarrod was right. The safest place for them right now was as far away as they could possibly get from the effects of the powder while they waited for EMTs to arrive. For once, she didn’t just have herself to think about… Now, she also had Jarrod.