Chương 3
Not even anger.
Possession interrupted.
Mercer recovered quickly.
“You’re upset.”
Claire looked as though she wanted to strike him.
Instead, she said, “Leave.”
“We have a board meeting tomorrow.”
“That has nothing to do with my children.”
“It has everything to do with stability.”
Alexander turned slightly toward Claire.
“What kind of board?”
She hesitated.
Mercer answered for her.
“Bennett Medical Logistics.”
Alexander knew the name.
Half the private hospitals on the North Side had used the company during the pandemic, and several of Alexander’s legitimate freight operations had crossed paths with its distribution network afterward.
Claire noticed the recognition.
“So you do know who she is,” Mercer said.
“No.”
Something changed in Mercer’s expression.
Relief, perhaps.
Alexander disliked that more than recognition.
Mercer took a breath.
“Then I suggest you stay out of a corporate dispute you know nothing about.”
Lily leaned toward Alexander and whispered loudly, “He talks like that all the time.”
Sophie said, “It’s exhausting.”
Grace snorted.
Claire pressed her lips together.
Even Alexander could not prevent the corner of his mouth from moving.
Mercer flushed.
For the first time, his polished control cracked.
“These children need discipline.”
Alexander’s amusement disappeared.
“They have a mother.”
“They need a father.”
Lily raised Alexander’s hand with both of hers.
“We found one.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Alexander looked at Mercer across the table.
The decision he made next was foolish, unnecessary, and almost certainly going to create problems he did not yet understand.
That was not how Alexander Hayes usually made decisions.
“Apparently,” he said, “they did.” fileciteturn0file0
Mercer stared at Alexander long enough for the performance of civility to become difficult to maintain.
Claire stared longer.
“You cannot be serious,” she said.
Alexander reached for his tea, found it cold, and set it down again.
“That depends on which part you mean.”
“The part where my daughters apparently recruited you into our family between pastries.”
Lily leaned toward Claire.
“He said five minutes.”
“I did not specify a duration.”
“You said okay.”
“I did.”
“That counts.”
Alexander looked at the child.
Lily looked pleased with her legal reasoning.
Mercer did not.
“This has gone far enough,” he said.
Alexander’s gaze shifted back to him.
“Then leave.”
Mercer gave a small incredulous laugh.
“You don’t get to dismiss me.”
“In this café?”
Alexander glanced toward the counter.
“I suspect the owner could.”
Mercer’s face tightened.
“But since you are standing at my table frightening four children, I am comfortable making the suggestion.”
“I am not frightening them.”
Emma finally spoke.
“Yes, you are.”
Mercer turned toward her.
The speed of his reaction made Claire step between them.
“Do not look at her like that.”
“Like what?”
“You know exactly like what.”
“No, Claire, I don’t, because lately everything I do gets turned into some kind of—”
“Daniel.”
The warning in her voice stopped him.
A phone buzzed inside Mercer’s coat.
He ignored it.
Alexander noticed Claire watching the pocket where the sound came from.
That interested him more than the interruption.
Mercer lowered his voice.
“You have a fiduciary meeting at eight tomorrow morning.”
Claire’s expression changed.
Not fear this time.
Weariness.
“You don’t need to remind me.”
“I clearly do.”
“This isn’t the place.”
“You made it the place when you walked out of my office.”
“I walked out because you threatened me.”
A barista carrying two cappuccinos slowed near the neighboring table.
Claire noticed and lowered her voice.
Mercer smiled again, because now she was embarrassed.
“I explained the board’s concerns.”
“You said if I did not agree to your proposal, you would make sure they removed me before the acquisition vote.”
“You’re leaving out context.”
“I’m sure the context makes blackmail adorable.”
Sophie’s eyes widened.
Emma whispered, “Mom.”
Claire seemed to remember the children were listening.
Her anger folded inward.
Alexander had seen that happen to parents before.
Adults sometimes believed that if they swallowed panic quickly enough, children would not taste it in the room.
They were usually wrong.
Mercer looked at Alexander.
“This is a business disagreement.”
“Then why are her daughters hiding under furniture?”
“I have no idea.”
“I do,” Grace said.
Everyone looked at her.
Until then, Grace had spoken less than her sisters.
She stood with one hand gripping Emma’s sleeve and the other pressing a thumb against the edge of her ribbon.
“He came to our house last night.”
Claire went still.
Mercer’s eyes sharpened.
Alexander turned toward Grace.
“Was your mother home?”
Grace shook her head.
Claire’s face drained.
“What?”
“He rang the bell.”
“Grace, when?”
“After Mrs. DeLuca went downstairs.”
Claire looked from Grace to Emma.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Emma’s jaw tightened.
“You were already crying.”
The words landed harder than anything Mercer had said.
Claire looked away.
For one second she was not an executive in an expensive suit or a mother managing a crisis.
She was simply a woman who had discovered that her children had been protecting her from information because they believed she could not carry more.
Mercer exhaled through his nose.
“This is ridiculous.”
Alexander’s attention returned to him.
“You went to their home while their mother was away?”
“I dropped off documents.”
“At the door?”
“Yes.”
Grace shook her head.
“You tried the handle.”
Mercer stared at her.
Grace moved closer to Alexander.
“I did not.”
“You did.”
“She’s a child.”
“She’s also standing three feet from you.”
Mercer’s voice hardened.
“I said I didn’t.”
Alexander looked at Claire.
“Do you have a doorbell camera?”
“No.”
Her answer came too quickly.
Then she rubbed her forehead.
“The building does.”
Mercer’s eyes moved to her.
Only for a fraction of a second.
Alexander caught it.
So did Claire.
The silence changed.
Mercer pulled his phone from his coat.
“I have a meeting.”
Claire laughed quietly.
“You just said this was important enough to follow me here.”
“It was.”
“And now it isn’t?”
“I’m not going to participate in whatever theater this has become.”
May you like
He looked at Alexander.
“With respect, Mr. Hayes, you have been given a highly distorted version of a complicated situation.”
