Сьюзен Мэллери – Lone Star Millionaire (страница 3)

“Of course.”

“Just send a check.”

She kept her smile hidden. If Cal wasn’t “involved” with a woman, he got fairly reclusive. Society matrons loathed his dry spells, as he was often the life of their parties. It would take him a couple of months to find someone to replace Tiffany, then his social life would be off and running.

“I’ve heard from the number ten rig,” he said. “The engineers figure another three to four days, but I think they’re going to hit in the next twenty-four hours.”

He never ceased to amaze her. Ada’s contacts had said the same thing. The difference was Cal made his assessment from his downtown office with nothing more than daily reports to guide him. Ada’s source was an old oil man from way back who phoned her when they were getting close.

“What does Ada say?” he asked.

Cal watched as Sabrina tried to hide her annoyance at his question. She didn’t like that he knew about her “source” in the office and would have preferred him to think she figured everything out on her own.

“The same,” she admitted. “Within the day.”

“Anything else I should know about?”

“The clerical supervisor is still having trouble keeping his hands to himself. A couple of staff members are filing official complaints.”

Cal leaned back in his chair and rested his hands on the padded leather arms. “I can’t say that I blame them. I hate it when this happens.”

The coolly spoken words were enough to make Sabrina straighten. She reached for a pad of paper on the edge of his desk and grabbed a pen. “Go ahead.”

“He’s already been warned. Have Human Resources investigate the allegations and prepare the case, then fire him. Oh, I want them to promote from within this time—all the better if it’s a woman so we can regain a little trust in that department—but tell them to be sure it’s the best candidate, someone with a good record of employee interaction.”

“That’s it?”

He gazed at his personal assistant. Her wide blue eyes met his unblinkingly. “What did you expect? That I would call him out at dawn? Pistols at twenty paces?”

“I thought you’d at least threaten to beat him up.”

Cal thought about the self-important young man who had been with the company less than a year. He’d been hired out of college, all cocky and convinced he was the next industry leader. Cal had put him in a supervisory position to season him. Obviously it hadn’t worked.

“I would like nothing more than to show him what it was like to be physically intimidated by someone with the authority to hire and fire, not to mention someone physically stronger. However, letting him go under these circumstances is going to be plenty of punishment. He’ll be left with a black mark on his employment record. So much for a rapid rise to success.”

“Do you want to give him an exit interview?”

Cal grinned. “Let Ada do it.”

Sabrina shook her head. “You are too cruel. That’s perfect. He’ll hate it.”

“And Ada will adore it. I call that a win-win. Oh, and set up a department meeting with the clerical staff in the next few days. I want to talk to them myself. I don’t approve of that kind of behavior. It’s illegal and immoral. I want to reassure everyone that the situation is being corrected. Immediately.”

Sabrina nodded as she took notes. She bent her head slightly, and the afternoon sunlight slipped through the window and caught in her short red hair—a layered cut falling just to the bottom of her collar. Her features were even, pleasant, if unremarkable. She had a nice smile, intelligent blue eyes and a figure that, after six years, was still something of a mystery to him. Despite the fact that she’d accompanied him on several working vacations, she always wore tailored clothing. Even her shorts-and-shirt sets had been proper and slightly loose. The only time he’d seen her in a bathing suit, it had been dark, and the shadows had prevented him from catching more than a glimpse of the occasional curve.

Not that he was overly interested in Sabrina’s body. It was more male pride than desire. She was the perfect assistant—smart, attentive and not afraid to say what she thought. She had a gut instinct he’d come to rely upon, about people and situations. She didn’t call attention to herself, and when he asked, she was willing to take care of his dirty work. The fact that she didn’t turn him on was a plus. He didn’t want the distraction and he couldn’t afford to lose her.

He wondered what her reaction would be if he told her that the phone call she’d interrupted had been with an editor from Prominence Magazine. A letter had come to his house yesterday, telling him that he’d been named one of the world’s most eligible bachelors by the magazine…and he’d been trying nicely to withdraw himself from such an “award.” Unfortunately, he’d hung up agreeing to do an interview instead. He could just imagine the way Sabrina’s eyes would sparkle with amusement once she heard about his most recent “honor.” He would definitely wait to tell her.

They spent the next hour going through business. “Don’t forget the trip to Singapore at the end of September,” he said. “We’re discussing the joint drilling venture.”

She continued to make notes. “I remember. Maybe we can stop by Hong Kong on our way back and have some Chinese food. There’s a lovely little restaurant there.” She glanced at him, and her expression was innocence itself.

“I remember,” he growled.

“Oh, Cal, you’re not still sore that I beat you, are you?”

“I was never sore about anything. You got lucky in the fourth quarter.”

“I was ahead the entire year. You’ve just conveniently forgotten that part.” She grinned. “I’m also ahead this year.”

He ignored her comment. For the past five years they’d had a bet on the stock market. On January first, he fronted them both ten thousand dollars to play the market. Whoever had the most money at the end of the year was the winner. The loser had to treat the winner to lunch anywhere the winner said. Last year, Sabrina had won and had claimed a taste for Chinese food…from Hong Kong.

“Actually, this year I’ve been thinking of Italian,” she murmured.

“Rome?” he asked.

“Maybe Venice. I’ve never been to Venice.”

“You’ve never been to Rome, either.”

“I know, but Venice sounds so fun. All that water, those boats. Venetian glass.”

She was already up twenty percent. It was his own fault. When they’d started their game, she’d insisted on a handicap. He wasn’t allowed to invest in oil or gas stocks, the one area he was guaranteed a win. She, on the other hand, invested heavily in his own company. Last year that had been enough to push her over the top.

“I know a great Italian restaurant in New York.”

The phone rang. She reached for it and grinned. “Don’t even think about weaseling out of it,” she said before picking up the receiver. “Mr. Langtry’s office. This is Sabrina.”

Cal didn’t pay attention to the call. It hadn’t come in on his private line, and Sabrina took care of most of his other business.

After a couple of minutes, she put the line on hold. “You’d better take this one,” she said.

“Next year the rules are changing. Either I can invest in my industry or you can’t, either.” He put down the paper he’d been reading and glanced at her. “Otherwise— Sabrina, what’s wrong?”

She’d gone pale. She didn’t have much color in her face, anyway, but the little that was there had drained away, leaving her ashen.

“Is it Tracey?” he asked, knowing his older sister was usually responsible for any trauma in his life.

“No. It’s your lawyer.” She motioned to the phone. “You’d better talk to him.”

Before he could ask her anything else, she rose and crossed the room, then let herself out. Cal frowned. He couldn’t think of a single thing he and his lawyer had to discuss that would require privacy. Sabrina knew almost all of his secrets. It was part of her job.

“Jack,” he said, when he’d picked up the receiver and released the hold button. “What’s going on?”

“Are you sitting down, Cal?”

He didn’t like the sound of that. “Get to the point, Jack. Whatever you said chased Sabrina from the room, and she’s pretty unflappable.”

“Okay. Do you remember a woman named Janice Thomas? You had a relationship with her back in college.”

Cal frowned as the memory fell into place. “That was about twelve or thirteen years ago. Between college and grad school. We went out for a summer. What does that have to do with anything?”

“It seems she had a baby. A daughter. From what I’ve found out, when she discovered she was pregnant, she approached your parents. She wasn’t interested in marriage as much as money. They agreed on a very tidy sum with the understanding that you would never know about the child. Unfortunately, Janice died in childbirth. The baby was given up for adoption. Her adoptive parents were killed in a car accident nearly a year ago. She’s been living with an aunt in Ohio, an older lady who no longer wants responsibility for the girl. That’s why I’m calling. I thought you’d want to know. If you don’t take the girl, the aunt is going to make her a ward of the court.”

Cal knew intellectually there weren’t any fault lines in Houston, so the sudden tilting he felt couldn’t be an earthquake. But that’s how it seemed. As if his whole world had just been jolted from its axis.