Page 26 of Falling for Raine

“Got it.” He gave a thumbs-up. “Mint and Chipperfield.”

I fixed him with a sardonic stare and flung the door open. “Good day, Raine. Do stay out of trouble.”

“Yes, sir.”

I strode down the hall, my lips twitching as I lost the battle with the smile I’d held from the moment he’d walked into thatoffice. It grew until it hurt my cheeks and startled an employee. I nodded curtly at the young man and schooled my features into something less…jovial.

Damn it.This was not good. This was the opposite of good.

What happened in Vegas stayed in Vegas. That was a rule for a reason. Unnecessary complications caused distractions, and I didn’t do distractions. Certainly not in the middle of an acquisition.

He had to be dismissed…or reassigned. He could be someone else’s assistant in another country. Oh, that was a good idea. It wasn’t his fault our paths had inexplicably crossed again. As difficult as it was to believe this was a coincidence, the shock on his face had been genuine. I was definitely the last person Raine had expected to meet at the office.

What had Julia been thinking? Was something wrong with her? Truthfully, she hadn’t been herself lately at all. She’d been fidgety and nervous…and anxious to leave for Aberdeen of all places, yet she’d stayed for more money. Was she in some sort of personal trouble? I couldn’t guess, but I knew something was amiss.

There was no reasonable explanation as to why she’d hire an underqualified American as an assistant she intended to pass along to me. Raine was completely out of his depth. He looked like what he was…a guppy who’d been dropped into an ocean filled with sharks.

Whatever had led to this…oddity would have to be dealt with later.

I took my place at the head of the table in the Bridge Conference Room, our grandest conference space, named for its dazzling view of Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, and greeted Blower and our teams with a friendly nod. Julia shot a questioning glance my way as she slid over my fully primed tablet filled with notes and tactical points of action.

“Mint and Cooperton is hemorrhaging in Paris,” I began. “According to our numbers, that office should have been closed a year ago.”

“Wait just a minute here,” Blower blustered, sitting taller in his chair.

He was a squat, balding, red-faced man in his late fifties with a gray mustache and a penchant for rich foods and expensive suits. Once upon a time, he’d been a competent, progressive-minded businessman, but success had gone to his head…and his waistline, and left him with a false impression that he held all the cards. He did not.

I motioned for the slideshow to begin and turned the table’s attention to the darkened far wall. “Numbers don’t lie, Blower. It’s unfortunate, but possibly avoidable with an infusion of considerable capital.”

I babbled on about tax laws and capital structure, providing visual graphics to support research and giving detailed solutions designed to preserve the integrity of the institution he’d run into the ground. It was a gentle reminder that this cordial acquisition could be orchestrated with a big budget and minimal bloodshed…as soon as he signed on the dotted line.

Blower twisted the end of his mustache and released a low, grumbly noise. “Keep the Paris office open. I won’t hear of it closing.”

I didn’t react. There was no point. He was an idiot…always had been.

“Paris is smaller and not an immediate issue,” I replied after a moment. “But I don’t like the idea of closing the London branch or?—”

“Absolutely not!” he thundered.

“Relax, Gil.”

If looks could kill, I’d have been dead as a post in seconds flat. The sodding fool hated casual reminders that I knew himwell. If he didn’t know in his gut that I was his best solution, he wouldn’t be here now. The intellectual geniuses at this table might be surprised to know this entire blasted deal was truly a war between pride and greed. Greed would win in the end. It always did with this particular arsehole.

Blower glared a hole into my forehead. “I will not countenance any talk of downsizing or God forbid, closing our home office. So help me, I will walk out the door this instant.”

“You have my word,” I said softly. “However, something has to give. And if anyone suggests otherwise, they’re lying to you. Now…shall we continue?”

“What about Birmingham?”

“Unfortunately, the Birmingham office will close,” I replied, my tone carefully void of emotion.

His cheeks reddened and his nostrils flared angrily. If he didn’t have an audience, he surely would have erupted. “And Padstow?”

I frowned. “Padstow. I wasn’t aware of an office in Padstow.”

“No office, per se, but the property there should be preserved.”

“In Padstow?”