"Henry Stevens got that promotion, damn it." Kyra Fortune
wanted to kick something. Hard. But she wasn't willing to
damage a brand-new pair of designer heels, so she
squelched the urge.
"I heard," her assistant said glumly.
Kyra turned around to face the other woman in her office.
Tracy Hudson's pixielike features were drawn into a blend
of sympathy and disappointment.
"What exactly did you hear?" Kyra asked, knowing full well
that the grapevine in Voltage Energy Company was bound to
have complete details by now.And all she really knew was
that she'd been passed over for promotion.
Again.
True, in the years she'd been at Voltage, she'd steadily
climbed the corporate ladder to associate VP in the
expansion division. But it wasn't fast enough for her. Her
own annual review was still months away and she knew that
if promotions were being made now, by the time it was her
turn, there wouldn't be a slot left to give to her. No
matter what she did to earn it.
Tracy set her memo pad down on her lap, leaned forward and
got into some serious dirt dishing. "Mr. Stevens's
assistant, Jolie, told Pam in accounting, who told Jacob
in the mail room who just told me ten minutes ago...."
In spite of the fury still tickling her insides, Kyra was
forced to admire the flow of information. If the top dogs
in this company thought they could keep a secret, they
really ought to step out of their ivory towers once in a
while. "Told you what?"
"You're not going to like it."
"Goes without saying," Kyra pointed out and, reaching
down, snatched up a silver-plated letter opener. Bouncing
the blade end of the thing against her palm, she waited.
"Apparently Mr. Wolff told Mr. Stevens that his work
was 'exemplary' and β"
"Exemplary?" Kyra repeated, stunned to her toes.
"The man can't find the executive bathroom without a
guide."
Tracy's lips twitched, then flattened out again. "He also
said that Mr. Stevens had a promising future here and β"
"God," Kyra muttered, tossing the letter opener onto her
desk. "There's more?"
"Mr. Wolff gave him the corner office on twenty-six." An
unpleasant little squeaky noise escaped Kyra's
throat. "Twenty-six? The office with the blue walls and
the built-in bookcases?"
"The very one."
Yes. The very one Kyra had been mentally redeco-rating for
the last month. Ever since Myrna Edgington had given up
that office to stay at home with her kids. Kyra couldn't
quite understand the former executive's motivation, but
she herself had been hoping to take over Myrna's old
office. It was so Kyra. It was perfect. And damn it, she'd
earned it.
She'd been so positive that no one would be able to deny
the good work she'd been doing for the company.
Yet it appeared that while she waited months for her shot
at another notch up the ladder of success, other people
were stepping on her head on the way to the top. Didn't
seem to matter how hard she worked, how many clients she
brought into the fold at Voltage. All that counted around
here was if Garrett Wolff approved of you or not.
And apparently, Kyra thought with a disgusted sigh, he
didn't approve of her.
Not exactly a news flash.
Her immediate supervisor was a tall, gorgeous hunk of
mean. Garrett never took her seriously. He always looked
at her as if he half expected her to show up in tennis
whites and serve a backhand across the board-room table.
All because her last name was Fortune.
She glanced around her office, taking in the softly
soothing pale-lavender walls, the carefully chosen art
sprinkled around the room, and the comfortable, yet
businesslike chairs. She'd made a place for herself here.
Put her own personal stamp on what would have been a
distinctly impersonal junior executive's office.
But she wanted more.
She couldn't help it. That was just who she was. She knew
darn well that some people considered her spoiled. But
Kyra didn't think of herself like that. She wasn't
spoiled. She was...appreciated.
And why shouldn't she be? she argued silently. She worked
hard. She didn't trade on her family name. She came in
early and went home late. She could have gone to work for
Fortune TX, Ltd. when she left college. But she hadn't.
Hadn't wanted anyone to be able to stand back and accuse
her of being successful simply because she was a Fortune.
She'd come to Voltage specifically to avoid any whispers
of nepotism. And it had worked. In fact, she'd had to work
even harder here to prove herself than anyone else. As far
as she could see, at Voltage, her family name almost
worked against her. Damn it, she'd earned every step she'd
taken up the corporate ladder, and she wouldn't stop until
she reached the top.
No matter how hard her arch nemesis, Garrett Wolff, tried
to prevent her from succeeding.
Just thinking about the man could make Kyra grind her
teeth in frustration. Every time she was around him, her
skin hummed and her temper flared. He was a match to her
stick of dynamite.
To hide her feelings, she turned away from Tracy's too-
knowing gaze and stared out the window.
The spring sky was the kind of blue you only found in Red
Rock, Texas β as bright and sharp a color as the
bluebonnets that dotted every meadow in the state. A few
high, white clouds scudded across the wide expanse of sky
and tossed shadows onto the buildings below. Just outside
San Antonio, but officially within the city limits, Kyra
thought wryly, the business park had all the charm of a
maximum security prison.
The buildings were tall and bland. The landscaping
consisted of tiny patches of grass with the occasional
baby tree, boasting a branch and a half each, plopped down
in the center of said patch. No flowers brightened the
sterile environment. Actually, there was no color at all,
except for the postage stamp-size splotches of green. The
windows in the buildings were mirrored, so that a view
only gained you a picture of another building from a
different angle.
It would have helped if she'd been able to open up one of
her windows and actually feel some real Texas air sweeping
in. But they were all sealed tightly, with the gentle hum
of an air conditioner blowing recycled air through the
rooms, mimicking the wind.
And she wouldn't even mind the ugly view or the sameness
that hung over the ugly business park β if her view had
been from the corner office on twenty-six.
This was all Garrett Wolff's fault.
In her mind's eye, she saw him, as she did every morning.
Mr. Tall, Blond and Oblivious. He looked like a Nordic god
and had all the charm of one as well. He rarely looked at
Kyra, and when he did, she sensed his disapproval.
Well, too bad.
If he thought for one minute that she was going to be
swayed by this last, completely illogical decision of his,
he had another think coming. Kyra Fortune never gave up.
Never quit.
"There's still one more promotion to be filled," Tracy
stated, in a determinedly cheerful tone.
"True," Kyra agreed with a sigh. "But I'm not up for
review again until October." She turned around, pulled out
her high-backed, leather desk chair and plopped down onto
it. Leaning back, she thought of all the things she'd like
to say to Garrett Wolff.
She'd like to stomp down to the elevator, ride it to the
top, charge past his ΓΌberefficient and mildly terrifying
administrative assistant, Carol Summerhill, then
personally flatten him with a few pithy, well-chosen
insults.
But she wouldn't.
Because to advance at Voltage, she needed to impress, not
threaten, Garrett Wolff.
Damn it. "Kyra?"
She ran the tips of her manicured nails across that letter
opener in an idle, stroking motion.
Tracy snapped her fingers a few times.
Jolted out of her thoughts, Kyra smiled at her
friend. "Sorry. Daydreaming."
Tracy's dark brown eyes sparkled with humor. "And in this
daydream, did you get away with arranging an 'accident'
for Mr. Wolff?"
This is why she worked so well with Tracy. Sarcasm came in
handy and a sense of humor was essential. "Not only got
away with it," she said, leaning forward and grinning with
real relish, "I took over his job and personally held the
very tasteful memorial in his honor."
"Ooh," Tracy said, smiling. "Nice touch."
"I thought so." Kyra straightened up in her chair, checked
her desk calendar with a quick glance, then shifted her
gaze to Tracy. "Anyway, promotions, daydreams and wayward
wishes aside, we still need to get some business done."
"Right." Tracy flipped open her memo pad, clicked her pen
and got ready.
"Okay, then." Kyra pulled a file folder off the stack at
her right and said, "Let's get started with the Harts-
field letter. We need to get the property rights tied up
before Fortune TX, Ltd. steps in and claims them."
"You're always one step ahead, Boss," Tracy said, nodding
in approval.
"It's the only way," Kyra agreed, and tried to push
thoughts of Garrett Wolff to the back of her brain.
At least for the moment.
Garrett couldn't push thoughts of Kyra aside today. Not
when his superiors were making such a pitch for him to
promote the damn woman.
As senior VP of the expansion division, he should be able
to make these calls himself. But he knew better than most
just how slippery the slopes were in corporate America.
He'd been at Voltage since leaving college, and he'd
eventually worked himself into a position of power. And
yet he was being coerced into promoting a woman he didn't
feel was ready for the job.
All because of her name.
Disgusted, Garrett stood up, walked across the plush, dark
blue carpet toward a credenza on the far wall. Inside the
gleaming wood cabinet sat a coffeemaker. He reached for a
heavy porcelain mug and poured himself a cup. Carrying the
steaming brew with him, he stalked back to his desk and
reread the memo that had arrived only an hour before.
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