Synergy: New Adult Romantic Suspense (U-District, #1) (3 page)

What does it matter anyway?

As she walked inside Smith Tower, warm air confronted her, causing a shiver to ripple up her spine. Jade automatically punched number eighteen on the elevator panel.

When the door opened, her grandmother’s lawyer approached her from the hallway. “Jade.”

“Mr. Dawson.” Her voice was a shadow of a whisper. She wasn’t prepared when he pulled her into his arms.

“Your grandmother was a remarkable woman.”

Her throat clenched. Mr. Dawson was right. It really sucked she’d been fighting with Gran too much to tell her that.

“Please, come inside.” He offered her his arm and led her into the familiar high-rise office.

The floor-to-ceiling windows revealed the murky sky, which deadened the Seattle skyline and the water of Puget Sound. No cheery colors offered the promise of a bright sunny day. No dark, angry thunderclouds filled the sky with sparks of energy. Everything looked dull and lifeless, mimicking the bleakness in her heart.

As Mr. Dawson sat down behind his desk, she focused on the room around her and gasped.

Bryce?

“I’m sorry for your loss, Jade.” Bryce took a tentative step toward her with his arms outstretched and then he stopped. To her disappointment, he shoved his hands in his pockets.

Oh, how she wished he would envelop her in his strong arms and nestle her into his chest. Maybe then some of her pain would ebb.

She hadn’t seen him in years, and of course, here she was, looking like crap in jeans and an oversized sweatshirt. On top of that—no doubt—her nose was red and her face blotchy with dried tears. There he stood, all perfect in black dress slacks and a crisp white button-down shirt with a red tie under his suit coat, not a dark hair out of place. Only his hazel eyes reflected her grief.

This is not the way I imagined meeting you again.

She inhaled a deep breath and held it, desperate to hold back the floodgates.

I’m not going to break down, not here, not yet, and not in front of you.

She had to sit. When Jade was sure she could speak, she focused on her grandmother’s lawyer. If she so much as looked at Bryce right now, she’d lose it. “I don’t mean to sound rude, Mr. Dawson, but what are the two of us doing here?”

Mr. Dawson slid a pair of black reading glasses over his thin nose before opening a manila folder. “As you know, your grandmother left your mother and father most of her possessions. However, she left something for you as well.”

“Her pearls?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, she did.” He turned to the locked credenza behind him and pulled out a black velvet case. He placed it on his desk in front of her.

She opened the case, revealing the double-layer pearl necklace with matching pearl and diamond earrings. The set was as stunning and classy as her grandmother had been. A brief moment of comfort warmed her chest.

“But the necklace is not why I brought you both here today.”

“Then why?” Jade closed the velvet box, placed it in her lap, and rubbed her fingers across the soft, soothing nap.

Mr. Dawson folded his hands together. “I feel it best to be direct. Your grandmother has left you Synergy Technologies.”

Jade’s breath caught. “You must be mistaken. Gran would have left the company to my parents.”

“Your father’s a respected orthopedic surgeon and your mother a gifted artist. Neither one has business skills.”

Jade’s eyebrows drew together.
“Who else knew about this before today?”

“No one other than myself and your parents.”

So how did Mr. Creepy Stalker know?
And
why didn’t my parents tell me?

It was bad enough they didn’t let her know Gran was sick, even if her grandmother had hid the severity of her illness from them until a month ago. And it really ticked her off that Gran didn’t want Jade to come home and get caught up in her illness. Once again, her grandmother had taken away her choice. Jade would have transferred to UW or taken a year off school to be there for Gran.

Jade stole a glance at Bryce, whose mouth was open in shock. Clearly, he hadn’t known about this before now either.

“Gloria has named you, Bryce Radisson, as chief operating officer. Jade, do you concur?”

“Yes, of course.”

Bryce seemed taken aback by her quick response.

Let him try to figure that one out.

“Do you accept this position, Mr. Radisson?”

“Yes… Yes, I accept.” His lips curved into a slight smile.

“Excellent.” Mr. Dawson made notes on the paper in front of him. “She has named you, Jade Buchanan, as chief executive officer.”

“What?” they both said in unison.

“For the company to transfer ownership to you, Jade, you must accept the position within ten business days of the reading of this will.”

“But I—I have finals next week and won’t be ready to run a company in two weeks. I still have another year of college. What was Gran thinking?”

“This is ridiculous,” Bryce said. “She’s too young to run a company. No offense, Jade.”

She glared at him. “And thirty isn’t too young to be COO?”

Mr. Dawson attempted to settle their brief sparring match. “Your grandmother was a very smart woman. She’s been training you for this since you were—”

“Five years old.” Jade remembered Gran teaching her about quality-control measures in their attempt to make the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Still, she’d been meant to work her way up the organization and learn the ropes from Gran. She’d hoped one day in the distant future to take over the company from her parents.

“Since we can’t change the will, let’s discuss stock.” Mr. Dawson pulled out another document.

Jade’s curiosity was piqued when he started talking about preferred company stock, especially when he said that her shares were double that of Bryce’s, and combined they had more shares than the board of directors.

Why would Gran give Bryce stock? What is she up to?

“In the event that you do not wish to continue as CEO after twelve months of service, Mr. Radisson will be named CEO. You will have the ability to earn profits, despite no longer working at the company.”

Jade straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. It was so like her grandmother to make decisions for her even from the grave. She wanted to refuse Gran’s wishes just to make a point. “And if I don’t want to be CEO?”

“The company will be sold to the highest bidder.”

And there it is.

Jade gritted her teeth. Gran always had a counterattack.

“The hell it will!” Bryce jumped up and started pacing the back of the small office.

Bryce’s display of temper was unusual, but she couldn’t blame him. He hadn’t grown up with a grandmother who had a hidden agenda behind every decision she made. Obviously, Gran wasn’t going to let someone else take over her company. Jade’s gaze drifted down to the black velvet box in her hands.

I can’t think about this right now.

She stood.

Mr. Dawson rose. “Jade, your decision?”

She walked out of the room, leaving the two men staring at her back.

AFTER CAREFUL DELIBERATION
about whether he should find his friends at his favorite sports bar or head home, Bryce decided on the latter. He was in no mood to socialize after the meeting with the lawyer. He locked his silver Nissan 370Z sports coupe and wiped a smudge from the hood with his sleeve. She was his baby, an extravagance he probably shouldn’t have indulged in, but what was the point of making money if not to enjoy it.

He held the elevator open for a woman with groceries and let her young son press the button to his fourteenth-floor condo.

When the elevator door opened on Bryce’s floor, the tall blonde from two doors down was standing outside, waiting. She shot him one of her naughty smiles. “Hi, Bryce.”

“Uh, hi.” For the life of him, he couldn’t remember her name.

“Are you alone? I’m heading to a party if you want to—”

He stepped into the hall. “Just getting in. Kenzie’s expecting me.” He had no idea if Mackenzie was home. That wasn’t the point.

The blonde produced a fake pout meant to be sexy. “Oh, well, maybe next time.”

Bryce unlocked his door, glad she gave up so easily. She was pretty, but he’d never consider a relationship with someone so unpredictable. Today she was hitting on him, last week she’d barely said a word to him.

And speaking of unpredictable, what was Gloria thinking, making her granddaughter CEO? Hell, Jade couldn’t even show up at the lawyer’s office dressed appropriately. The girl was immature, disrespectful—and downright beautiful. Her crazy windblown hair, multiple piercings, and baggy clothes hadn’t masked the beauty of her wide green eyes, high cheekbones, and lush lips. She’d be eaten alive in the business world.

Which gave him an opportunity. With a significant investment in Synergy Technologies, he was in a position to shape the company’s future.

If Jade doesn’t get in the way.

He threw the keys on the oak table in the hallway and closed the door harder than he’d intended.

Kenzie glanced away from the flat screen.

“Sorry.” Bryce was glad she wasn’t putting in another twenty-four-hour shift. As usual, she sat curled up on the far end of the tan microsuede couch they’d picked out last month, no doubt watching reruns of her favorite show,
Grey’s Anatomy
.

“That bad?” she asked.

“I’ll tell you about it in a minute.” He headed to the kitchen and slid his damp jacket over a barstool. He craved a bitter microbrew and chose a Redhook IPA. “Want anything?”

“Uh-uh.” Kenzie gave him her typical don’t-bug-me-this-is-the-good-part response.

Bryce sat on the couch to let the beer dull his raw nerves. He wasn’t interested in watching television.

When a commercial flashed on the screen, Kenzie said to no one in particular, “There’s no way he would have lived with those massive internal injuries. I don’t care how brilliant the surgeon is.”

He knew better than to ask her why she watched the show when she was an ER nurse herself. The last time he’d asked, she’d said she watched it for the relationships and some guy named McDreamy.

Kenzie uncurled her legs and turned toward him. She had faint bruising around her left eye.

“What the hell happened?” Bryce turned her chin to get a better look.

“It’s not that bad.” She pulled her head away. “Some guy with a stab wound came in high on meth. He had to be restrained.”

Bryce’s jaw clenched. No man should ever hit a woman. “Need me to kick his ass for you?”

“Thanks for offering, but security beat you to it.” She smiled. “So… tell me, do you still have a job, or do I need to start looking for a new place to live?”

“Yeah, I still have a job, and I like having you here.”

“That’s because you need a girlfriend.”

“I work ten-to-twelve hour days. I don’t have time for a relationship,” Bryce said.

“Commitment-phobe.”

“Hey, commitment doesn’t bother me, relationships get… complicated.”

“Not every relationship will be like your parents’.”

True. He’d never allow himself to lose control the way his dad did and hit a woman. Bryce drank a swig of his beer. “I was promoted to chief operating officer.”

She frowned at him before smacking him on the shoulder.

“What was that for?”

“First, for changing the subject, and second, for making me think you were being fired. I did all that worrying for nothing.”

“I didn’t say I was getting fired, and it wasn’t for nothing.” The tension dropped from his shoulders. It was nice to have someone worry about him.

“So why the strange behavior?”

“Gloria gave the company to Jade and named her CEO—if she agrees to it.”

“You’re serious? How can someone so young run a company?”

He tipped his beer bottle in her direction. “Good question.”

“At least you can hire someone to help you now.”

“With this economy and the hiring freeze, it’ll be a while before I can replace my position as business development manager. I’ll be wearing two hats until things improve.”

Kenzie muted the commercial. “Maybe Gloria doesn’t want someone else running her company. She probably wants it to stay in the family.”

“The lawyer said it was because Jade is passionate about the business.” Bryce stretched out on the couch and rested his head on the arm of the sofa.

“You don’t believe it?”

“Not in a heartbeat. I used to hear stories about how she loved to follow Gloria around the company when she was a little girl. By the time I came on board, she was a rebellious teenager who wanted to be anywhere but Synergy.”

“Well at that age, she’d be more into boys. I know I was.”

“You like boys?”

“Very funny.” Kenzie pinched his leg.

“Ow.” Bryce chuckled.

“Do you know if Jade will accept the position?”

“She left us hanging.”

“At least you’ll be there to keep her from making any big mistakes.”

“Yeah, fun. I get to be a babysitter if she accepts, and I’ll be looking for a new job if she doesn’t.”