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THREE

Leo grinned as he greeted everyone on his way up to his office that morning, from Larry, the night security guard at the front desk, through to his personal assistant, Catrina. Everyone else had mostly smiled back or wished him a good morning, but Cat squinted at him suspiciously. "What's her name?"

Leo stopped dead. "Who?"

"The name of the woman who put that dopey grin on your face. Was it a reporter at the Times ? Is that why you made the front cover?"

"I'm on the cover of today's newspaper?" Leo couldn't imagine why. He hadn't done anything particularly noteworthy lately.

Cat handed him the folded newspaper. "You're up to five thousand messages this morning already, and your personal inbox has crashed the office email spam filter twice. You can't imagine all the things I've seen, and it's only eight in the morning. So please tell me her name, so I can send her the bill for a lifetime supply of brain bleach." She coughed. "Oh, and congratulations on being named Times Bachelor of the Year, I suppose."

Leo unfolded the Times . At least it was a good shot of him. He dropped the paper back on Cat's desk. "My good mood is entirely because of you, and the best Christmas present any personal assistant ever got their boss in the history of...well, everything. I am officially in love with the Felix 5000."

Cat laughed. "It took you this long to try it out? I told you it was the best. My teenage sons can't get enough of it, and I've even caught my husband playing with it. Much more convenient when you can work out in your own backyard instead of venturing out in the woods where some conservationist might try to catch you for breeding purposes." She shuddered.

Leo shook his head. "That's what you get for being an endangered species. At least when someone sees you in the forest, they don't come at you with tranquiliser guns. Those things seriously sting, and even if you can shift and take the dart out in time, you're still out there, naked in the woods, which takes some explaining."

"Well, after this morning's cover story, I'm sure there are at least five...no, now it's six thousand single women who'd be happy to camp out in the woods near your place in the hope of catching a glimpse of you naked, so I'm sure it's best for everyone that you can work out at home." Cat glanced at the screen again, shuddered, and raised her head to meet Leo's eyes. "And if you like that, wait until you see what I've got you for your birthday." She winked.

"Any chance you'll give it to me early? Or maybe even just a hint? I have a board meeting today. I could do with a distraction." Leo turned his best persuasive kitty eyes on Cat.

Of course, being a Scottish wildcat shifter herself, she was immune. "Not a chance. Your birthday's not long to wait. Besides, you'll need something to look forward to after the board meeting. I've already ordered all your favourites for lunch, so you'll be raring to go when the meeting starts at one. Jeremy's had Shenzi asking me for daily updates on the Hea Sanctuary project, and I haven't had any news to give her. If you ask me, I think Jeremy knows something we don't, and he'll surprise you with it at the meeting. If you want to make some phone calls this morning, I've cleared your schedule. Just don't tell me what you find out until after I see Shenzi tomorrow. That way I'll have plausible deniability when she tells me everything she heard at the board meeting."

Leo bowed low. "You are the epitome of assistants, the world over. What did I ever do to deserve you?"

"Yeah, just as long as you remember that, come Christmas bonus time. My kids saw there's a mouse plague in Australia right now, and they're begging to go there for our next family holiday. Flights to Australia are not cheap."

"Don't they have kangaroos there, too? I heard they're a challenge to hunt, and good eating, too."

Cat grinned. "You've been talking to my husband, haven't you? Ever since he was a boy, he's wanted to catch and kill a kangaroo, because apparently they taste like venison."

He had not heard that before. Maybe he should take a holiday in Australia. After Cat and her family got back, of course, so she could book him into all the best places to go.

"Phone calls first. You can think about holidays after the board meeting," Cat reminded him.

The woman was a mind reader. One who definitely deserved a big Christmas bonus.

"On it," Leo promised as he headed into his office and closed the door.

He ignored his emails and went straight to his contact list.

"Council Planning Office, this is Ed."

"Ed, my favourite planning officer," Leo began smoothly. "How are planning approvals going for you these days?"

Ed grunted. "King. I've been expecting a call from you, wishing I had good news so I could call you first. But if wishes were fishes..."

Leo laughed. "Yeah, we'd all be dining like kings on fresh sashimi, every night of the week. What's the hold up? Your office is the most efficient in the country. I could set my clock on how quickly you process development applications, your system has been such a smoothly run machine. At least until now." Leo paused. "What's gumming up the works?"

"Not what, but who," Ed gritted out.

"Ahhh." Leo knew the problem couldn't be Ed and his team. "Who have I pissed off this time?"

Ed laughed. "Oh, I doubt it's anything you've done. Councillor Clyde doesn't even know you exist. Or anyone who isn't Craig Tremotino. For years, he's mostly slept through council meetings, happily voting for anything that crosses his desk. Until this new Tremotino village project appeared. Now, he can't shut up about it. Every tiny detail he disagrees with, even when the plan's been revised a dozen times, it's still not good enough. He says if the heritage assessment is dodgy, then there's no telling what else might be wrong with it, so we have to check everything, then ask the project manager for a new plan, before taking a fine tooth comb to that, too, until the next council meeting, when he picks the new plan apart all over again..." Ed coughed. "It's driving everyone mad, but he's argued so loud and so long, now he's got some of the other councillors on his side, or at least willing to sit back and see how long he can keep this up, and he refuses to let the meeting discuss any other project until this one is either approved or dead in the water."

Interesting. If Tremotino could provoke such a strong reaction in a man who normally didn't care about anything, he was definitely someone to watch. The real question was whether he was someone to go into business with, or avoid entirely. Much like Blaze Argyros. The man was a glorified gardener, but what he didn't know about archaeobotany wasn't worth knowing. Not to mention his family had records dating back to before the conquest, so Leo had learned that bringing him in on potential heritage sites as a consultant was well worth his substantial fee.

A fee he'd reduced significantly to work on Hea Sanctuary, because he believed in the project as ardently as Leo.

"Any idea when he'll get bored and let the councillors discuss other projects again?" Leo asked.

He could almost hear Ed shrug. "When I know, you'll know. That I can promise you." He sighed. "If Councillor Clyde would just break his leg or something and be stuck in hospital or even just an elevator for the next council meeting, life would be so much easier. He'd only have to miss one meeting, and we could get rid of the entire backlog of projects. Not that I wish anything bad to happen to Councillor Clyde. He's always made sure we have the best food at the council staff Christmas party. Other councillors have tried to cut costs, but he won't hear of it."

"And you and your staff deserve it, I'm sure, what with all the hard work you do. I'd take your whole team out for lunch any day of the week to show my appreciation, but with the rules and regulations on what the government considers corruption, I wouldn't want to impugn your good name. If you ever choose to resign, though, the offer's still there."

Ed laughed, though it sounded forced. "When I retire, I might just take you up on that offer. But not before."

"It's a date. You know how to contact me. If you want that lunch, or if Councillor Clyde caves and Hea Sanctuary finally makes it onto the agenda. Whichever comes first."

They ended the call, leaving Leo with even more questions than before. He considered calling Shaw, the developer on the project, but he probably wouldn't know any more than Ed had already told him. What he needed was the equivalent of the village gossip, and in this industry, there was only one man who knew all the gossip.

"Roy Raiden, consulting engineer. How can I help?"

Leo grinned. "You can tell me why Councillor Clyde hates Craig Tremotino."

Roy let out a breathy chuckle that ended in a cough. Roy swore he'd die with a lit cigarette in his hand, and he wouldn't stop smoking until then. "Is that Leo? You're not usually interested in idle gossip, even when it's about your pet project."

"So you do know about the beef between them?"

"It's not beef so much as money. If the rumours are true, Clyde owes Tremotino quite a lot of money, and he doesn't want his wife to know."

That made no sense. "So why does he hate him, then? I would have thought he'd be doing his best to suck up to him, not make him public enemy number one."

"Oh, it's a fun one, this story. You see, Tremotino owed Clyde a favour, so when Clyde's new mistress wanted to cruise the Mediterranean in a yacht, Clyde asked Tremotino. Tremotino called in a few favours of his own, and got him the yacht, which Clyde promptly ran aground and sank, leaving Tremotino with a hefty rescue and repair bill. Now Clyde owes him the money, but can't risk his wife finding out about his mistress or the pleasure cruise, so he has to route the money from his secret offshore investment accounts, which is taking some time. Time he's spending in Tremotino's pocket, furthering the man's agenda."

It still didn't make sense. "How is delaying Tremotino's project doing him any favours?" Leo asked.

"Well, Tremotino's other pet project got put on indefinite hold thanks to some do-gooder by the name of Blaze Argyros. You might have met him, seeing as he's one of the contractors on your Hea Sanctuary project."

"He is." Leo knew better than to give the old gossip any more information than he needed.

"Well, Tremotino is the sort of man who holds a grudge. And when he saw an opportunity to take an eye for an eye on one of Argyros's projects, he took it. Putting your project on indefinite hold, if I'm not mistaken."

"Son of a hatchet-faced harpy," Leo swore.

"Ah, so you've met Tremotino's mother. I think she lives on a tropical island somewhere now, all alone. I might have to look her up, now I'm retiring. Feisty lady, for sure."

"You're retiring?" That shouldn't have come as such a surprise, yet it did. Roy had been in the industry forever. Dad had always said Roy would probably die at his desk. Yet his father was the one who'd done that, and Roy would go on to retire at the beach house of Tremotino's mother.

"Yep. I figured it's about time. I only hung on because I agreed to sub in for Verre while they're on hiatus, but rumour is they'll be up and running again in a matter of months, well before your Hea Sanctuary gets council approval. You don't need me any more, and I think I'm overdue some cocktails on a beach."

Weren't they all? Leo couldn't remember the last time he'd had a holiday like that. "Enjoy your retirement, Roy. I take it my invite to the party is in the post?"

"No party. No point. I always wanted to ride off into the sunset, and now's my chance."

"I'll still send over a retirement gift. You can't ride off into the sunset without a proper hat. I'll make sure it's on your desk by Friday."

"Meanwhile, you make sure you have a happy birthday. Tremotino's been boasting that you'll be the guest of honour at his ball. Might be a good opportunity to talk to him about your project, and see what it'll take for him to focus his attention on something else."

Leo tipped an imaginary hat to Roy. "Will do. What will I do without you?"

Roy let out a hacking laugh. "Same as your father, I'm sure. Ask for my advice, then ignore it and do your own thing. I'd tell you to drop this Hea Sanctuary thing. With all the bad luck and delays, write it off as a bad debt and give your time to the projects that aren't cursed."

"It's not cursed. It's just...delayed, that's all. Blue sky projects like this one are a risk, but the good kind of risk, where they take on a life of their own. I want to be there to see it take its first breath, so to speak. I have a really good feeling about this one, Roy. You'll see," Leo said.

"Just like your dad. Keep building things until you can't any more, then leave a legacy, preferably with some offspring to pick up the baton. Like your dad and Verre did. There are worse things in life." Roy sounded wistful now.

"Have a cocktail on the beach for me, Roy."

"Will do. Good luck with your cursed project, King."

Fairytales and curses didn't exist, Leo told himself as he ended the call. But Hea Sanctuary would exist, if he had to burn Tremotino's petty vendetta to ash to do it.