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“Vecs!” her father called down. It was then that she tuned in to the doorbell’s chimes. Quickly, she set aside her coffee and rushed for the boxed wooden staircase that would take her down to the main level.
“Got it, Dad!” she called on her way down. Within seconds, she was opening the front door to someone she wouldn’t have expected, but was pleased to see.
“Vectra, thank God.” Minka Gerald appeared more relieved than pleased.
“Minka? You okay?” Concern heightened, Vectra pulled the woman inside with a tug to her elbow.
“Sorry for the theatrics, I—” Minka paused to inhale a calming breath. “I went to see you at the gallery, but your staff said you were working from here today.”
“Why didn’t you just call me?” Vectra steered the woman deeper inside the loft.
Minka shook her head and gave a mystified shrug. “I’m not working on all cylinders today.”
“This calls for tea,” Vectra said, guiding them back toward the staircase.
“Incredible.” Minka inhaled again, taking the time to observe her surroundings. “I heard your dad had some place.”
“Yeah—” Vectra laughed “—he doesn’t laze about in it as much as I do, though. Keeps to his office.” She looked toward the ceiling and huffed.
They made it up to the second level. There, Minka went wild over the stunning view. Mirrors practically walled the wide open space. Smaller picture windows filled the chrome-and-granite kitchen while wider ones lined the alcove and enclosed the dining room on three sides.
Vectra set a shiny black kettle to boil. “So why isn’t your brain working on all cylinders?” she asked.
Minka set her wrap and tote bag to the dark gray tiled kitchen island and sighed. “It’s probably got a lot to do with the fact that I’ve drained a great deal of its power into investigating a coworker.”
* * *
“Are you sure, Mink? This is serious stuff.”
“You’re tellin’ me?” Minka gulped down more of the herbal blend she’d been guzzling while relaying her suspicions of Will Lloyd’s embezzlement of funds from the Wilder Warriors Foundation.
“I went home the night before thinking I was the worst kind of person for snooping into something like this and then I come back to work yesterday knowing I had to snoop into it.” Minka leaned forward, pressing the backs of her hands against her eyes and shaking her head. “Thank God Sim decided to take yesterday off.”
Vectra cleared her throat and poured a third cup of the wonderful-smelling blend. “Minka...why are you telling me this? I mean, isn’t there a rule against spilling company secrets?”
Minka rolled her eyes. “I’m not sure if Qasim had this type of thing in mind when he helped set the company bylaws.”
“From what I hear, he’s a great boss. You should talk to him.”
Minka gaped. “Are you crazy?” She moved to reach for her mug then squeezed her hands closed when she saw how badly they were shaking. “I mean, did you hear all Will’s war stories the other night? The man saved Qasim’s life. My guess is it’d be pretty hard to believe anything bad about someone who did that, you know?”
“So what are you gonna do?” Vectra studied the pattern she tapped out around the mouth of her mug.
“I’m doing it. I’m asking you to talk to Qasim.”
“Are you crazy?” Vectra bolted from the deep Queen Anne chair she occupied in the alcove where they enjoyed the tea.
Minka had grown utterly calm. “He’ll listen to you, Vectra.”
“How do you figure?”
“He’s in love with you.”
Vectra returned to the chair with a hard bounce. “How do you know that?”
“Anyone with eyes would know that.”
Vectra blinked, absorbing the other woman’s words.
“Minka, listen.” Vectra smoothed her hands along the chair arms. “Most men don’t like it when people meddle in their business. Especially women they...love.”
“He’s got to be told.” Minka leaned forward in the matching Queen Anne, extending her hands in a needy display. “I’ve already put my foot in my mouth and made Will look bad when we were debating over the hotels. Qasim might see this as a petty attempt to get something started.”
“You’re his assistant, Mink. He counts on you to point out when he’s making stupid business decisions.”
“Once bitten, twice shy.”
Minka’s simple defense drained Vectra’s will to argue. After all, Vectra thought, hadn’t she been battling with the same line in defense of her own actions?
