Page 16 of Nothing to You
“You don’t know if she’s in there or not.”
“True,” Franco said.“Maybe she’s in trouble.Maybe she fell in the shower or something.”
Was that the hope?If they had to go in and check on her, naked would probably be the guys’ preference.
Sipping her coffee, she appreciated the heat of the java.“Did you try calling her?”Neither of them spoke; they just looked at each other.“I’ll take that as a no.”Her phone was already in her hand.She scrolled to Helena’s name and pressed call only to be greeted by a recorded message.“Hmm… voicemail.”Putting her phone on the table, she looked from Myles to Franco.“Are you two on top of those numbers?Whenever she shows up, that will be her first question.You’ve got to give her hope.”
“We were going to go over them again after breakfast,” Franco said.“Do you really think there’s still a chance for us on See It Through?”
“Unless we can’t figure out how to give the panel more accurate numbers.”
“I think until someone says otherwise, we work off the assumption there’s a chance,” she said, resolved not to ask Hotshot for help.“Get the numbers immaculate.Helena and I will work on getting them in front of the pertinent eyes.”
She could do it without the help of Xavien Rourke.Her independence meant everything to her.She’d never relied on a guy for anything and never would.
Franco’s phone rang.“Helena,” he told them before answering.“Helena…?Uh huh.Yeah… They’re here… Okay.Yeah.”He hung up.Expectation hung between her and Myles.“She wants us to go to the room we waited in before the pitch yesterday.”
Franco was quick to stand up.Myles wasn’t far behind.
She took her time sampling some more coffee.“Why?”
If there were going to be revelations or disappointments, she’d need as much caffeine as possible.If something was going on, there was always the chance of Rourke being behind it.With the way he’d come into her life, he’d proved he was capable of anything.
“She didn’t say,” Franco said.“She wants the three of us there as fast as possible.”
And from the men’s actions and expressions, they were willing to follow orders.
Don’t rock the boat.Be amiable.Okay, this would be tough.Maybe she should just stay silent.She almost scoffed aloud.Yeah, that was likely.
She took another couple of slugs from the mug, then got up to join them on the jaunt to the boardroom.The guys may be in a hurry, she was less dutiful.
Some part of her was skeptical.Almost expecting Rourke to appear from around any corner, she kept her wits high.What was happening?He hadn’t told her to keep their friendship a secret.If she walked in there to him tossing his weight around, she’d be ready and wouldn’t be shy.
The previous day, with him saying almost nothing to her, she’d been full of fire.If he actually opened his mouth, he’d get both barrels.She took no prisoners.The adrenaline high wasn’t all her fault.Something about him provoked her.Not that she hadn’t had cause.
Franco was the first to arrive.He hurried in with Myles close behind.The latter held the door for her, but both men fixated on Helena, seated beside a basic desk at the other side of the room.
“I was right,” Helena said, dropping a pointed finger to a small stack of documents on the desk.
“Right about what?”Franco asked.“The numbers?We cleaned them up.Give us an hour, you’ll see your face in them.”
Another suck up.Maybe she should take lessons from those closest to her.
“We’re out of See It Through,” Helena said.“We won’t progress any further.”
“What the hell?”she said before she could think if it was smart to speak out… again.“They can’t do that.They haven’t heard all the pitches!If the rest of them are—”
“We’ve been offered a contract,” Helena said, silencing her.
It was only then she noticed the glitter behind the woman’s cool eyes.Whatever she was trying to conceal was right there, just behind the fragile shade.
For a moment, no one said anything.The guys were probably, like her, expecting their colleague to continue.
Myles broke first.“What kind of contract?A contract for what?”
“They want to buy the idea,” Roux said, anticipating a ruthless response.“The higher-ups have decided they like it and want to cover their asses by offering us—”
“They want us to develop and institute Huddle Hope,” Helena said.“Not as part of the SIT scheme, completely for real, everything all the way.”
