Synergy: New Adult Romantic Suspense (U-District, #1) (23 page)

“That sounds good.”

After they ordered, he turned to Jade. “How has your research been going? Find anything to help our financial situation?”

“No, nothing concrete yet.” Jade sipped water from her glass. “Donald has helped explain some of it, but it just doesn’t add up. I’m still digging into it.”

Bryce’s eyebrows drew together and he reached over and placed his hand on hers. “Maybe there’s nothing there to dig up.”

“Hmm, maybe.” She was distracted by the feel of his thumb caressing the top of her hand. “I thought we weren’t going to talk about business for an hour?” She tilted her head and ran her fingers down the side of her neck.

“Right… personal question then?”

“You can ask.” The corner of her mouth turned up. “It doesn’t mean I’ll answer.”

“Fair enough. What happened when you left Synergy over a year ago?”

She pulled her hand from his and leaned back. That wasn’t something she wanted to talk about. “I already told you. I went to Stanford.”

“There’s something more than that. Gloria talked about you incessantly, and you used to come to the company in your free time. You didn’t say much, but you were always there. Then, just like that”—he snapped his fingers—“you were gone, and she stopped talking about you. I just assumed you’d moved on with your life and weren’t interested.”

Tears sprang to Jade’s eyes. She vividly remembered the day she’d decided to leave. It was a memory she would never forget—and one she now had a lifetime to regret.

JADE LOOKED AWAY FROM BRYCE
as her mind took her back to the last time she’d spoken to Gran. It had been a beautiful, crisp sunny day, not a cloud in the sky, perfect for Jade’s graduation ceremony at the University of Washington.

Gran had arranged to have an early dinner afterward at Anthony’s on Lake Union. Friends and family, dressed in semiformal attire, had surrounded Jade at the white-linen covered table set against a wall of windows. It had been one of the best days of her life.

She’d ordered Alaska king crab with drawn butter. It was sweet and delicious, one of her favorite Pacific Northwest dishes, second to salmon.

Jade was sitting between Aleks and Gran.

“So when do you start the Executive MBA program at U-Dub?” Aleks asked.

Jade cracked a crab leg, twisting it back and forth until it relented and broke free. “The leadership retreat starts on September fourth. It lasts three days. I can’t wait. I’ll get a chance to meet all my classmates.”

Gran’s lips puckered as if her coffee were laced with lemon. “Didn’t you tell your friends you’ll be going to Stanford next year?”

“We talked about this, Gran. I want to work at Synergy part time during the school year and full time during my breaks and summers. If I go to Stanford, I won’t be able to do that.”

“You need to focus on school right now, dear. Synergy will be here when you come home. I think it best you go to Stanford.”

“I know you really like Stanford, and you helped me get in.” The reality was Gran had applied for Jade without her knowledge, but this wasn’t the time or place to discuss it. “I’ve made my decision.”

“I’ve made an important decision as well. I know you won’t understand it, and you will be angry with me, but it is for the best.”

Jade put down the crab. Her stomach knotted. Gran had done it again, hadn’t she?

“Maybe now’s not the best time, Mom.” Grace smiled politely at their guests.

“There’s no point in delaying.” Gloria clasped her hands together and turned to Jade. “There will not be a position for you at Synergy, part time or full time, until you’ve finished the Executive MBA program at Stanford.”

“But Gran, you can’t—”

“I’m sorry, Jade, I know you’re upset with me, but I know you’ll understand someday.”

“This is
my
life. You can’t keep making decisions for me. I’m twenty-one. I’m an adult. I’m old enough to drink.” The pursing of her grandmother’s lips meant the item was closed for discussion. Gran had made up her mind, and she wouldn’t change it.

“Fine.” Jade threw down her crab cracker and stood. “You don’t want me at Synergy? Then you won’t see me or speak to me until I’m ready to come back. I’ll see you in two years when I have my Master’s degree. Since that’s what
you
want.”

She’d left her friends and family at her graduation celebration, packed up her bags, got on the first plane to California, and had not returned until she’d heard the news.

Gran was gone.

BRYCE PULLED HER HAND INTO HIS
, when Jade finished telling him about that horrible day. “Hey, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

She swiped away a tear. “I didn’t know it would be the last time I ever spoke to her.”

“Gloria was a very stubborn woman. She was used to getting exactly what she wanted. You remind me a lot of her in that way.” Jade laughed through her tears. “You were the most important person in her life. She was proud of you and couldn’t wait until you came to work for Synergy full time.”

“But, she said—”

“Given what we know now, I’m guessing she knew she was sick, and she wanted you to be in a position not to just work at the company, but to take over.”

“She didn’t tell my parents that she was terminally ill until a month before she died. She led them to believe her treatments were working. I could have spent the last year with her, but she robbed me of that. How could she?”

“That was Gloria’s way, and from what we see now, she got exactly what she wanted. You are CEO.” He rubbed his thumb over her fingers to comfort her.

“Yeah, because she forced me into the position.”

“Frankly, I was shocked when you didn’t sell. It would’ve been easy for you to take the money and never work again. But you made the tough choice instead. Takes guts.”

When he put it like that, it gave her a new perspective. She wasn’t
forced
to take over the company. She’d made the
decision
to do so. And yeah, it was tough. “Thank you, Bryce.”

“For what?”

“For not judging me, and for understanding my grandmother. You loved her, didn’t you?”

He smiled. “I loved that stubborn old woman like my own mother. It killed me when I found out she was sicker than she’d led me to believe.”

“She didn’t want anyone remembering her that way.”

He shook his head. “Stubborn.”

“Exactly.” Jade pulled her hand away when their food was delivered. She scooped teriyaki chicken onto her plate. “We were so close when I was young, two peas in a pod. But when I became a teenager, I wanted to make my own decisions and make my own mistakes. My dad trusted my decisions, and my mom was too carefree to worry about anything. But Gran held Synergy over my head. Every time she made a decision for me, I rebelled.” She pointed to the four gems in her ears.

“Why the different colors?”

“They’re the birthstones of my parents and grandmother. My birthstone happens to be a diamond.”

“Fitting. I have to ask. What led to each piercing?” He twirled yakisoba onto his fork.

“The first one was when she told me I couldn’t go out with a senior at my high school. She said he was too old for me.”

“How old were you?”

“I was a freshman.”

“That’s a big difference at that age.”

“I guess.” She shrugged. “But it was still my mistake to make. The second one was when I didn’t want to do the college program in high school. I wanted the full high-school experience. Prom and all.”

“No prom?”

“College boys don’t like to go to prom, which leads us to the third piercing. She tried to stop me from dating a college freshman.”

“Guys only want one thing at that age.”

“And what is that?” Jade blew on her hot tea and gazed at him through her lashes.

The edges of his eyes turned an intense green.

“You know…” she said, “I have other piercings.”

His fork stopped midway to his mouth. “Where?”

“Not telling.” She licked teriyaki sauce from her finger, very… very… slowly.

The way his eyes darkened as he watched her lick her finger was very satisfying. It was clear he lusted after her just as much as she did him. She wanted badly to grab his tie from across the table and pull his lips to hers. But she wouldn’t risk ruining their relationship again, and they couldn’t risk an employee walking in and seeing them. “Do you have any plans Friday night?” she asked.

“No, what do you have in mind?”

“I make a mean lasagna.”

His eyes lingered on her lips when she sipped water from the straw. “I love lasagna.”

“It’s a date then.” Only it was three agonizing days away.
Why, why, why did I suggest we go slow?

INTENDED TO INTIMIDATE
and impress, the executive boardroom was in a corner office on the forty-second floor, overlooking Puget Sound to the west and Mt. Rainier to the south.

“What’s your flavor, cutie?” Roz held up a sparkling water and a soda to Bryce.

“I think this might call for a soda, Roz.” Bryce was eager to find out how the board of directors would accept Jade as their new leader.

Jade took a deep breath. She twisted the emerald ring on her right hand, a sign that she was nervous.

To the others, all they’d see was a confident young woman in a dark green pantsuit with a small gold brooch on the lapel. Her hair was pulled back in a tight professional bun, and she wore a simple pair of pearl earrings. Bryce had to admit, he preferred her hair down.

“Good afternoon.” Jade sat at the head of the large boardroom table, deliberately making eye contact with each member. “I’m delighted to be here with you today. Shall we get started?”

She rose with the PowerPoint clicker in her hand, waiting for Roz to dim the lights. Jade walked comfortably around the room as she gave the presentation to the board on her strategic initiatives, including quality improvements and on-time deliveries. They asked several questions, and she competently answered them. When everyone voted in favor of the strategic initiatives, she moved on to the next subject.

“Now, on to an important item of discussion. I would like the board to approve the acquisition of a two-hundred-fifty thousand dollar pick-and-place machine for Manufacturing. If you look at the memo Roz is placing before you, you will see that this new piece of capital equipment will pay for itself in as little as three months.”

“We’ve heard about this machine before, Jade,” Andrew, a short, portly board member, said. “Stan was adamantly against it. He didn’t feel the Manufacturing manager’s numbers added up.”

“Stan no longer works here, and the more I speak to our employees, the more I realize that Stan blocked a lot of initiatives that would have increased the profitability of this company. I checked the numbers myself. They’re solid.”

“The bank is already questioning our stability.”

“If we don’t implement the strategic initiatives I just outlined, this company will fail. We need this piece of equipment to meet our product deliverables. Which is why I’m willing to put up my condo as collateral.”