The Fair & Foul (Project Gene Assist Book 1) (7 page)

“Chess.” It was a question as much as a statement. Lacrosse in Wales, fencing around the globe, and chess as his go-to game of choice. The man sitting before her had quite the different upbringing than she had. Durham did not waste time waiting for her to answer and pulled out a chess set from a small compartment located near his seat. Durham pushed a small button, and a table rose from the floor.

“Convenient that you have the board ready.”

“Isn’t it, though?” Durham grinned like a child. The pieces were set up in a matter of minutes. “Ladies first.”

Juliane marveled at the board as Durham placed the final piece. It was a beautiful set; each piece appeared hand carved out of marble and polished to a high shine. She hesitated to mar their surfaces with her fingerprints. She moved her first pawn as if it might shatter on impact.

A few moves later, several of her pieces had been captured. As she suspected, Durham was quite skilled with the game. She watched as he swooped in to take out another, this time a knight. With each move, he had grown bolder and bolder while her available moves dwindled.

“Really, my fine doctor, you ought to pay more attention to the game at hand—a couple more moves like that and your king will be completely exposed.” He paused.

She had been hunched forward, studying the board, but looked up when he had begun speaking.

His smile widened to a near leer. "Or are you hoping for an excuse to bare all your secrets?" She glanced down to realize that her neckline had drooped low, providing him with a display of cleavage. She successfully fought back a blush.
Stay confident, Juliane
, she told herself as she acknowledged his comment with a quick tilt of her head and a single raised eyebrow.

She watched as he raised his own eyebrows in surprise. She saw his Adam’s apple bob in a quick gulp before he himself regained his own composure.

Juliane turned her face back toward the game at hand, although she continued to look up at Durham through her eyelashes. “Oh, I think I might still have a chance. Don’t you?” Her voice deepened to a near purr as she reached out to caress one of her chess pieces. “You know, we never did agree what I get if I win.”

“In full disclosure, I feel that I do need to tell you that I’ve beaten some of the best in the world, including Louis. But in the event that happens, you can name your reward.”

“Anything I want?”

“Anything at all.”

“Day spas, shopping sprees, fine dining?”

“Sure. I’ll hand over my card, but you might find yourself needing a big strong assistant to take you to all those places.”

“And you’d be willing to do all that if I win?” Juliane drew the piece she held ever so slightly along her face so that its tip rested just beside her lips.

“All that and more. If you win, I’ll be your personal slave as long as we are in Vegas,” Durham responded eagerly.

Juliane shifted her head so that it rested on her other palm as she placed the piece back on the board, rubbing her thumb along its head. Durham took a quick glance around, as if verifying that they were alone in the cabin. “Well then, I believe you should hand over your wallet, as do I believe you have found yourself in a back-rank checkmate.”

Durham’s eyes darted back to the board. His king was firmly trapped behind his own ranks with no available moves, and it was at the mercy of her queen. Juliane smiled, batted her eyelashes, and said, “Oh, and while you are at it, would you please fetch me another drink?”

The look of shock upon Durham's face was too much to resist, and Juliane threw back her head in a burst of unrestrained laughter.

"What just happened?" Durham asked as he moved to refill her beverage.

"You don't play women often, do you?" she asked as she shrugged a shoulder with a look of mock innocence.

"You play dirty. I'll remember that the next time we play," he replied.

"Who says there is going to be a next time?"

"There is always a next time. Just ask Louis."

"Oh dear. It sounds like I may have bitten off more than I can chew."

Durham launched into tales of he and Louis's various exploits. By the time they landed, Juliane felt much more knowledgeable about her new boss. However, she now understood why Louis hadn't told him the details about her project. Durham was a voice in need of an ear. She found herself looking forward to sharing his company in Vegas.

She had gone into the first boutique more out of curiosity than need. A sideways glance at an exposed tag showed a price well beyond her average means. As she moved through the rows of clothing, Juliane had selected garments without hesitation, interested to see how far Durham would let her take her victory. Rather than stopping her, he had given an indulgent grin along with his personal credit card. She didn't swipe it once. Juliane felt sorry for the sales clerk as the clerk put back what would have been a significant commission.

"You know you really could have gained an entirely new wardrobe," Durham announced as they made their way toward her hotel.

"Thanks, but it wouldn't have been right."

"Why not? You beat me fair and square."

"That was just a game. I'm not going to spend your money on my clothes. Especially not here. Did you see those prices?"

"Chess is so much more than just a game. It's about strategy, and our strategy for the presentation should involve getting you outfitted in something that will take the room's breath away. Please, let's make one more stop. You earned it."

Not waiting to hear her protest, Durham steered Juliane into another boutique. Juliane's eyes widened at the outfits on display. Before she could turn around and leave the shop, Durham flagged the attention of the store's clerk. This clerk was not as willing to abandon a commission, and within a short order, she pulled a white suit from the back of the shop.

It was made of some newly-developed material that put standard cashmere to shame. It was the color of Antarctic snow and accented by subtle lines of silver piping. The sales clerk dragged Juliane to one of the fitting rooms. Juliane couldn't help herself. The fabric was so soft, she had to try it on. The outfit fit as if it had been designed for her and her alone. It complimented her every curve.

"Gorgeous. Simply gorgeous," exhaled Durham as she exited the room.

"I still can't accept this," Juliane sighed.

"That's really too bad, because I paid for it while you were in the fitting room, and I am sorry to say this shop doesn't have a return policy. However, to really complete the look, you really need to do something with your hair. Good thing I've already made you an appointment at the hotel's spa."

"You really shouldn't have," protested Juliane.

"Yes, I should, and you shouldn't pretend you don't want to go. This could be your regular life soon enough." Durham's expression softened. "The world won't know what hit them."

Durham left her at the spa entrance to go check in with Louis. She had been plucked and trimmed with near surgical precision. Her skin, normally pale, had taken on a rosy hue after their ministrations and shimmered due to a post-treatment moisturizer containing a subtle body glitter. Without a single split end to mar her hair's shine, her dark hair cascaded down her back as if it was a blackened waterfall. Looking into the mirror, she had never felt so stunning.

Before he left, Durham had arranged private transportation for her between the spa and the auditorium. Seeing how the bright white shone, she was relieved not to have to risk her new clothes on the monorail shuttle. She entered the recently renovated convention center like a queen, basking in the admiring glances turned in her direction as she made her way down the hallway, all the while pretending it was just another day.
Durham was right
, Juliane told herself. She might as well act like this was a regular day.

Though the common areas were crowded, she recognized Alan’s voice. He was seated under bright lights and giving an interview to a reporter. She acknowledged him with a subtle nod of her head as she passed. The reporter was forced to repeat his question. Alan’s response had none of its usual polish. Her lips turned up ever so slightly as she continued toward her own room.

Finally, she arrived in her auditorium. All the pillars were positioned exactly where she had specified. It was an arrangement four times larger than the original configuration at the ACI campus. Everything was going to plan. The pillars nearly encircled the room, but were placed in such a way that they blended into the room’s perimeter. She could see Chad’s red head behind the array of equipment as she strode up to the podium. As she approached, she had to stifle a laugh. The tan suit he had chosen to wear, combined with the black cords in his hands, made him look like a meerkat. The image was further strengthened when he froze in place at the sound of her approach.

“If that’s how you clean up, I have to find an excuse to get you out of your ivory tower more often.” Juliane spun around to see Louis leaning casually against the auditorium entrance. As if sensing a predator, Chad immediately dropped back down out of sight, continuing his work.

“I’m sure that Durham is happy to be off escort duty now that you’re here,” Juliane replied.

“The last I saw him, he was happy enough with the assignment, and I can see why.”

Juliane stifled a laugh. Within moments, his long strides had brought him nearly an arm’s length from her.

Louis changed the subject. “Durham tells me you beat him at chess. I should have warned you against that. Now he is going to be gunning for a rematch every time he sees you.” Louis rolled his eyes. “He can be a little like a dog playing fetch that way.” He laughed at his own joke before becoming more serious. “Now that you’ve demonstrated that you have some skill, if you ever do lose to him, you are going to hear about it until the end of time. Trust me, I know from personal experience.”

Laughter entered back into Louis’s voice. “I swear he is going to make sure that people thousands of years from now know that he once won a game.”

A venue representative ran up beside Louis with a clipboard in hand. “Mr. Evans, sir, I believe we have everything set up as requested. Video and sound checks were great. Guests should begin filing in within the next twenty minutes. Do you want to be in here when that starts or be announced?”

“Yes, I think it might be better to make an entrance. I’ll stand over there and will come on stage after the introductions.”

Juliane looked at Louis and the man, her brows knit in confusion. “What do you mean? I thought I was giving the presentation?”

The man looked nervously from side to side, avoiding eye contact with her. Juliane waited for Louis to respond, while a terrible but oh-too-familiar feeling began to grow in the pit of her stomach.

“I know that this is your project and your baby,” Louis answered. “Nobody in this world would be able to tell the world about its inner workings better than you, but that’s just it, you know too much about its inner workings. We want to sell people on its potential. We want them to dream.”

Louis paused as if waiting for Juliane to come around to his way of thinking. She kept her silence.

“If we tell them exactly what it can do, they are going to focus on what it can’t.” He finished as if it were the most obvious logic in the world.

"But what about the script I submitted?" Juliane asked.

“Yes, thank you for those talking points. They were extremely helpful. Have I mentioned that you look positively amazing? The media is going to have a field day trying to figure out who the gorgeous woman is beside me. Trust me, by keeping an air of mystery about you beyond the initial introduction, you are going to have journalists practically selling out their own mothers in order to get your name and your entire backstory out into the news sphere first. Why pay for marketing when they’ll do it for you?”

“And why should I trust you now?” Juliane exclaimed. “You obviously were planning this for some time, but didn’t bother to tell me.”

“You should trust me because my family has been doing this sort of thing successfully since before you were born.” Gone was his friendly demeanor and in its place was all business.

Juliane’s shoulders slumped. She had no argument that would change his mind. She was going to have to suffer through being a prop once again. Alan would no doubt make a point to stop by and gloat the minute they were back in the labs.

Juliane glanced over to the coordinator by Louis’s side. The man studied his clipboard as if it contained the secret formula for eradicating cancer in all its forms. She then noticed that he also had a few programs of the day’s events clutched under his arm. She snatched one quickly, adding a glare that dared him to object her rude behavior. She scanned the page until she found her event. Printed on the page in black and white was Louis’s name beside her topic.

Louis’s tone softened. “I am sorry you misunderstood my expectations for today. The management group or someone from our public relations department always takes the lead on the topics that we feel have the greatest chance of success. Considering how many people fear public speaking, most people we work with thank us for doing this. I just assumed you knew about the standard arrangement.”

Juliane’s lips had tightened into a fine line. “I guess I missed that fine print. If that is the case, then would it be fair for me to assume that someone has at least briefed you on the latest benefits of the new algorithm? ”

Juliane's barb landed as she knew it would. As the deadline had approached, her progress reports had only covered the barest details. She hadn't felt the need to include everything at the expense of her program. Back when she thought she was going to be presenting, she didn't think the lack of complete documentation would matter.

Louis had the decency to allow the fairest hint of blush to pass over his face. “The last report on your progress was a couple weeks ago. I was planning on just presenting based on that lovely demonstration you provided when we met, just on a larger scale. What should I know?”

“You wanted something that dazzled. Think of this as virtual reality meets one of those ancestry websites meets documentary.”