ChapterTwelve
“Is now a bad time?” Bianca asked. “If you’re busy…”
“No, it’s fine.” Scarlett returned to her seat behind her desk in the CEO’s office of the startup Connect and shuffled through some papers. “I’m just finishing up. It’s been a long day. Connect’s new CEO will be taking over next week, so I’ve been working overtime to ensure a smooth transition.”
‘Working overtime’ was Scarlett’s default state. In her deep red blouse, which matched her lipstick, and a pencil skirt and heels, she looked every bit the opposite of Parker. That was doubly true when it came to their personalities. It was sometimes hard to believe the two were related.
She glanced up from her papers at Bianca, who sat at the other side of the desk. “What brings you down here?”
“Just wanted to say hi. And get out of my apartment. I’m going a little stir crazy. Between Mom and my new bodyguard, I feel like I’m under lock and key.” Since the Connect offices were in the Black Diamond Building, Sam had permitted Bianca to visit her sister without making a big production of it, only opting to stand guard outside Scarlett’s office door.
“I know it’s annoying, having to deal with these restrictions. But it’s only temporary. Until this all blows over.”
“Do you know what’s going on? Because Mom refuses to tell me anything.”
“I don’t know much either, but I’m sure it’s nothing you need to worry about. Mom and Dad have it under control. Everything is going to be fine.”
Bianca folded her arms across her chest. “You sound exactly like Mom, you know? I’m not a kid. I don’t need to be protected from these things.”
“You’re right,” Scarlett conceded. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be patronizing.” She set her papers aside and folded her hands on the desktop neatly. “In all honesty, I don’t know anything. Dad is being tight-lipped about it too. Which tells me it’s probably business-related.”
“Business-related? How?”
Scarlett was silent for a moment. It was a silence Bianca knew all too well. Her sister was internally working out how to sugarcoat her words for Bianca’s sake. Her whole family did it to her. It was as good as lying.
But to her surprise, Scarlett didn’t hold back. “Let’s just say Dad has pissed off a lot of people over the years. Black Diamond competitors. Business rivals. Even former business partners. His cutthroat approach when it comes to the company is something I intend to change once I take over. It’s made our family plenty of enemies. I think this security situation is related to that. Someone wants to pay Dad back for something he did. Hit him where it hurts.”
“You mean, us? Mom, his kids?”
Scarlett nodded. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”
Bianca leaned forward. “What do you mean?”
“You would have been too young to remember it. It was almost 20 years ago. Someone tried to blackmail Dad and was threatening to take down Black Diamond and ruin our family name. It turned out to be a former exec Dad had passed over for a promotion. He was clearly unstable, so Dad upped security and wouldn’t let any of us go out without protection. I had a personal bodyguard assigned to me. Parker had security following her around at school. You weren’t in school yet, so Mom holed up in the penthouse with you and wouldn’t let you out of her sight.”
“I don’t remember that at all.”
“It was only for a few weeks. It quickly came to a head when the man was arrested and sent to prison for some old insider trading offenses. Between you and me, it wouldn’t surprise me if Dad had something to do with his crimes being brought to light. He was furious that someone had come after his family.”
“Wow.” Bianca sat back in her chair. She’d always known her family had its share of secrets, but this one was new. “I had no idea that happened. So you think it’s what’s going on this time?”
“It certainly feels that way. And Black Diamond has been on a roll lately, acquiring smaller companies from across the country. Connect to start with, then Exarch Innovations, Paragon Perry, Origin Tech, half a dozen others. Some of those companies weren’t that small to begin with. And some of those ‘acquisitions’ were more like hostile takeovers. We’ve ruffled a few feathers over the past year.”
“Huh…”
“Anyway, it’s just a theory. I might be wrong. And it doesn’t explain everything. Dad is usually upfront with me about matters relating to the business, but he hasn’t told me a thing about this. And Mom seems more concerned than Dad, which is odd.”
So it wasn’t only Bianca who got the sense their mother was hiding something. Still, this theory of Scarlett’s was better than anything else Bianca could come up with. Maybe I should try talking to Dad about it.
But it was unlikely he’d tell her anything, especially given that he was keeping things even from Scarlett. His oldest daughter was poised to take over his position as CEO of Black Diamond Holdings any day now, and he considered her his right-hand woman.
Bianca, on the other hand? The two of them were nowhere near as close. Not that her relationship with her father was a bad one. Bianca appreciated that he took her seriously and treated her like an adult instead of babying her like everyone else did. That was how he’d treated all his daughters since the day they were born.
The flip side was that Bianca’s charms didn’t work on her father like they did everyone else. She wouldn’t be getting any information out of him.
Sensing Bianca’s concern, Scarlett gave her a warm smile. “But like I said, I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. Mom and Dad wouldn’t let anyone get to us.”
“You’re probably right.”