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He carried so much anger beneath that veneer of reserve. Even in college, she’d sensed a simmering discontent within him she’d never understood because he seemed to have everything. Yet he’d given it all up, turned his back on his family, and joined the military.
In some ways, despite having sex with her last night, he was still the stranger who’d shown up at her office and announced he was her bodyguard.
The knock on her door sent flutters of anxiety to wreck her stomach. “Come in.”
When Don stepped inside her office rather than Ryder, she sagged against the back of her chair.
“I didn’t want to say anything at this morning’s meeting, Nathalie, but you look terrible. Take some time off. Given the circumstances, we can ask the DoD for an extension.”
She gave him a wry smile. Ten miles of bad road. That’s what the face in her bathroom mirror had looked like. Puffy, bloodshot eyes. Sallow skin. Today was a heavier-than-normal makeup day. She wasn’t about to tell her VP that industrial espionage and the assault on her employee were only half the reason she looked so terrible. “There is no way I’m delaying this presentation. It will be ready on time.”
“Are you sure you want to forge ahead?” Don lowered himself into the chair in front of her desk. “No one would blame you if you stepped back for a while.”
“Whoever’s behind last night’s theft isn’t going to win. Losing Ravi for a few days is a setback, but a minor one.” She huffed out an exhausted breath. “You know me, I’m a perfectionist. I’ll be making last-minute fixes as we are walking into the Pentagon. If the Air Force buys into our concept, we can move forward in our discussions with the two major aerospace companies to incorporate the technology into their Next Gen Fighter designs.”
Don nodded. “And then what? Once the military validates the initial design concept and we move past proof-of-concept into production, Ravi can take over. As president of the company, you don’t have time to be a project manager. Are you willing to give up control over your baby?”
Nathalie spun her chair toward the bank of windows at her back. Fluffy white clouds drifted along hidden currents in the pale blue sky. Years of hard work had culminated in a technology that had been her father’s dream. And the stress of it all had taken him before he could see it to fruition. Her throat swelled. She missed him.
“Nathalie,” Don’s voice was gentle, “where do you go from here?”
Frowning, she swiveled back to face him. “What do you mean?”
“This was Ben’s dream, sweetheart,” he said, echoing her thoughts. “I loved your father like a brother, but I suspect your life would have gone in a different direction if you’d felt you had the choice.” Don rested his palms on her desk. “You’re young. You have your entire life ahead of you. What doyouwant to do with it?”
Travel.
Paint.
Love Ryder.
She couldn’t voice any of those longings to Don.
“I don’t know.” She fidgeted under her VP’s steady regard. What would he think if she told him she didn’t want to be president of the company her father started? That she wanted the freedom to find out who Nathalie Williams wanted to be when she grew up?
Don checked his watch. “I have a meeting outside the office at ten.” He stood and gave Nathalie a sad smile. “I think, despite the demons that drove your father after Reese’s death, he’d want you to be happy.”
Ryder finished perusing the police report from last night’s break-in. He didn’t believe the man who’d attacked Chaudhary and stole Nathalie’s software design was no longer a threat.
And he couldn’t shake the feeling he had a connection with this man. His hand drifted to the bruise beneath his ribs.
Standing, he stretched stiff muscles and glanced around the empty conference room that served as his workspace today. The reality of personal protection was much less glamorous than portrayed in the movies. Much of it involved long periods of sitting or standing around, waiting on the client.
It gave him too much time to relive making love to Nathalie.
His body hardened at the memory of her tight, wet walls gripping his cock, the feel of her soft skin against his roughened palms, the sound of her breathless screams each time he’d made her come.
Before he discovered both she and his father had betrayed him.
He’d lain awake most of the night, processing that painful truth.
If he’d known about her father’s business problems, could he have done anything to help? Nathalie was correct that his father had controlled his finances when he was at Oxford.
Oliver Winfield wouldn’t have offered Williams Advanced Avionics that contract if Ryder had asked. Winfield had done it because of his long-standing relationship with Philip Montague.
Ryder strolled to the window. Dark gray clouds had replaced the white ones from earlier, threatening rain. The overcast sky dimmed the sunlight enough for him to glimpse his reflection in the glass.
If he hadn’t joined the military, what kind of man would he be today?