Page 13 of American Royalty

The familiar sensation of eyes on her body tingled along her skin as she traversed the length of the room to reach Henry. She’d wanted to project business while also using all of her charms to her advantage. Hence, the black Tom Ford pin-striped suit that huggedher curves, the skirt ending just above her knees, white lace bustier, and four-inch black-and-white Jimmy Choo pumps.

She kept her eyes trained straight ahead, so she felt, more than saw, each chair swivel discreetly as she passed.

Just as she wanted them to.

Control the image. Control the narrative.

“Thank you, Henry. I hope you’re well,” she said, presenting her cheek for an air-kiss instead of a handshake.

Pulling back, she smiled, noticing the blush high on his cheekbones and the way his gaze lingered on her cleavage. She dropped gracefully into the chair he held for her and glanced at the stony faces. “We’re finally doing this thing!”

“We’ve had our eye on you for a while,” Henry said above the laughter, taking the seat to her left.

“You and everyone else,” she said.

“Right you are. You and your company burst onto our scene and made quite the impression.”

“Mela-Skin is the real deal,” Andrea said, chiming in. “We’re honored that a company of your stature has recognized what Duchess has created.”

“We have. Which is why we were excited about bringing Mela-Skin into the Genesis family.”

Dani’s chest tightened, making it hard for her to breathe.

Were?

Andrea caught her eye and nodded imperceptibly. “It’s a great match. And we’re willing to do what’s necessary to ensure the process goes smoothly and there are no surprises.”

“Excellent,” Henry said. “Then let’s begin.”

Almost as if it had been choreographed, they all swiveled to face the large screen on the wall. Henry pressed a button, the lightsdimmed, and the Mela-Skin logo, a capital M topped by a crown, appeared.

“Mela-Skin has done what other companies haven’t: you’ve specialized in one area and perfected it. Other companies we’ve acquired in the black beauty space try to be all things to all people. They’d be great with hair, but their skin products weren’t as good. Or they had a great makeup line but tried to branch prematurely into skin care. Your company started with skin care and stayed in that lane. That takes a wisdom and patience we recognize and appreciate.”

Some of Dani’s anxiety eased with his words.

Dani had started Mela-Skin because one of her favorite brands had made that unsuccessful move Henry had mentioned. Dani had wanted skin care to be her sole focus. Whenever an investor or executive tried to convince her to branch out, she refused.

But she understood why some of those companies made the choices they did. Women of color had long been an underserved market. No one had been reaching out to them. Those companies saw an opportunity to serve a market in need and make money. She wasn’t going to judge them for that.

“Financially, your company appears sound. Some look great from the outside but upon closer inspection they turn out to be a collection of dysfunction and chaos. Luckily, that hasn’t been the case with Mela-Skin,” Henry said, his smile testing the bounds of condescension.

Luckily?

It wasn’t luck, it was hard work. Periodt. End of sentence.

Dani didn’t consider herself a real businesswoman. Yet. But she was smart. When she’d started her company, she’d been honest in her assessment of what she could and couldn’t do. Those thingsshe didn’t excel at? She hired people to do them for her. But that didn’t mean she abdicated her responsibility. Mela-Skin was her company. She owned eighty-four percent of it. She made sure she always knew what was going on.

She held her tongue, nodded, and smiled, keeping her eyes on the future and not willing to risk offense before a deal had been signed.

“Once we’d conducted our initial due diligence, we wanted to get you in here. See if we could do business.”

Dani crossed her legs. “Seems like you believe we can.”

“Yes, well...” Henry’s assured demeanor began to crumble. “That was before.”

Dread wrapped its frosty fingers around her heart. “Before what?”

Andrea frowned and leaned forward. “What’s going on?”