He nodded and stood there alone to watch her leave. Sunlight slanted through a bank of clouds and dazzled her hair with light. Her hips swayed and his gaze fixed on her behind so he could enjoy the view.
The next time he saw her, they would be in Aspen. Surrounded by the Jarrod family, he would be forced to keep his distance from her, and Christian didnât like the thought of that at all. He had a feeling that cleaning up the mess Don had left behind was going to be a lot harder than heâd believed it would be.
Three
E rica was always nervous when she walked into the headquarters of the Prentice Group. Of course, that was the impression her father wanted to make on prospective clients or competitors. Walter wanted people to be intimidated by their surroundings, because then he would always have the psychological advantage.
The building itself was massive, a glass-and-steel tower. Its tinted windows kept the sun at bay and prevented prying eyes in neighboring buildings from peeking in. As if that werenât enough, the décor had all the warmth and comfort of the great man himself. Cold tile, white walls and stiff, modernistic furniture set the scene in the main lobby and that tone was echoed on every floor.
Walter Prentice was a firm believer in the sayingâPerception is everything.â He showed the world what he wanted them to see and that picture became reality. Erica thought about her fatherâor the man sheâd always considered her fatherâfor a second and felt an old ripple of anger slide beneath the surface of the confusion and hurt rampaging through her.
Sheâd been raised to uphold the family name. To be a shining beacon of respectability and decorum. This building was the heartbeat of the Prentice family dynasty. Where her brothers worked with their father. Where family meetings she was never included in were held. Where the men of the family made plans that the women were expected to follow. This was the place she had never felt good enough to enter.
Her father hadnât wanted her here. Heâd made that clear enough. Wouldnât even consider her working in the family business, no matter how she had tried to convince him. Erica had never understood why, but she had been on the outside looking in for most of her life. Today, she had discovered the reasons behind her sense of seclusion.
Did her older brothers know the truth? Was that why theyâd never really been close? As a kid, sheâd wondered why her big brothers werenât like those of her friends. Sure, they were much older than she was, but still, theyâd never paid attention to her. Theyâd never had the kind of relationship she had once wished for. Had they known the truth all along? Was she the only one whoâd been in the dark?
It was time to find out.
She walked across the gleaming, cream-colored tilefloor to the security desk. The general public could just walk up to the bank of elevators on the south wall and take them up to any number of floors. But to reach the top floor, where her fatherâs and brothersâ offices were, required a stop at security where you were given a badge that would get you onto the penthouse elevator. As a child, sheâd always felt âspecialâ going through these motions. Today, she only felt even less a part of the Prentice world.
âGood afternoon, Ms. Prentice.â
âHi, Jerry,â she said. The older man had been working in her fatherâs lobby for twenty years. When she was a child, Erica remembered, Jerry had kept candy at his station so he always had some for her when she arrived. Now that she thought about it, she realized Jerry had always been happier to see her than Walter had. âIâm going up to see my father.â
âThatâs good. Nice for a father and daughter to stay close,â he said as he made a notation in his log, then handed her a badge. âNow that my Karenâs moved out to
Larry Kramer, Reynolds Price