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Applause drew him gently from his thoughts. He joined in only briefly and left the lounge without being noticed.
Bose Cooper and Marley Terrio were the two retired university presidents who had been instrumental in bringing Therin aboard the EYES project. When they’d requested the breakfast meeting, Therin hadn’t thought of refusing. The three were so often busy they rarely had time for phone chats, let alone meals together.
Therin arrived at the private restaurant, La Olivete, quite pleased by the opportunity to meet with his old acquaintances.
“How’s that staff of yours hanging in these days?” Marley Terrio inquired.
Therin’s jaw tightened. It didn’t take more than that seemingly innocent inquiry to tell him the men had been experiencing similar difficulties.
Bose chuckled. “Did you think you were the only one, son?”
“Considering all the shit that’s come down on me since I hung my hat in the political ring…yes. I guess you could say I did.” Therin leaned forward to massage his neck below the collar of his crisp shirt.
Bose and Marley nodded their understanding of the misfortunes the younger man had spoken of.
“I’ve let all but two of my staff go,” Marley said, once he and his colleague shared with Therin all the incidents that had befallen various members of their staff.
“Like you, we were hoping to give the bastards a clear shot at us,” Bose added.
Therin grinned. “Vaughn told me I was a fool to think it’d work.”
The two men laughed.
“I’ve got a feeling the opposition would rather come at us on a more public stage,” Marley said.
“Are you thinking they might try something this weekend?” Therin hesitated on drinking from his coffee mug. “It’d be the perfect opportunity. Hell.” He rubbed a hand across his hair. “Should I be calling off the general’s announcement?”
Again, Marley and Bose shared a chuckle over their young friend’s expense.
“Shep Yale wouldn’t give the jackasses the satisfaction of not using the opportunity to stick it to ’em,” Bose declared.
“We should at least let them know of our concerns,” Therin cautioned.
“Just don’t expect him to back down.” Marley added an obscene amount of sugar to his black coffee. “He’s got a point to prove and when you reach our age, proving points are worth the sacrifices.”
Therin winced over the use of Marley’s final word. He leaned across the table to shake hands with both men.
Therin and Kianti were leaving the hotel by lunch-time and headed for his home just outside Vancouver. Conversation flowed easily between them during the chauffeured ride, but silenced altogether on Kianti’s part when she saw the house beyond the towering brass gates.
“It won’t bite you,” Therin teased from his reclining position across the long backseat. Her uncertainty was easy to spot.
“The way you live…” she breathed, thinking of the condo, the bowing and scraping she’d witnessed during the past several days and now this. “This place is unreal.”
Therin smoothed his thumb across a brow. “This from a woman who keeps a fortress in Pacifica.”
She looked back at him from the window. “Touché.” The house drew closer and she smiled. “You have to admit, though…I’ll bet you couldn’t get around to visiting all the rooms in this place in a year.”
“Hey! The rooms aren’t that big.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Her response to his wounded cry was laced with doubt.
“Thanks, Ed,” Therin called toward the front of the car when the driver pulled to a stop. “I got her,” he said before leaving the car to assist Kianti from her side.
“They’re only here for the event,” Therin said when he treated Kianti to an impromptu tour and introduced her to the house staff.
Kianti bit her lip on a grin as they walked a long bright corridor. “What? You don’t think I’d approve otherwise?”
“I wouldn’t.”
“Goes against your principles?”
Therin eased his hands into his khaki pockets and shrugged.
When they got to the ballroom, where the piano performance would take place, Kianti lost her breath. It was a magnificent space of chandeliers, round glass tables and tall windows with alluring views of the grounds. The piano occupied a corner of the large square oak dance floor. Kianti walked around the room as though she were in a daze. She observed the skylights surrounding the chandeliers and could imagine the effect of the golden light mingled with starlight.
“Can’t believe all this is for me.”
Therin laughed and strolled the long edge of the floor. “What I can’t believe is that you’re so surprised by all this when you’ve probably played in halls four times as big as this ballroom.”
