“Who cares?” Adrianna—polo Killian’s new wife—asked with a derisive snort. “Moose Springs is small potatoes.”
“Neglecting small investments in favor of the larger ones is a mistake,” polo Killian disagreed, not unkindly. Adrianna’s background in marketing was strong, but she had a habit of coming into these meetings trying to flex her muscle. As much as polo Killian adored her, he was a Montgomery through and through. Business always came before emotional attachments.
“Your inexperience is showing, Adrianna,” Lana told her, causing a frustrated expression to flash across her features.
“And so is your hangover,” Adrianna shot back.
“Lana doesn’t get hangovers; it would require her to stop drinking long enough to feel bad,” Silas said with a smirk.
Okay, so that comment might have been somewhat unfair. Just because she had developed a bit of a party girl reputation by throwing parties at the Tourist Trap in her downtime didn’t mean Lana drank to excess. The constant low-level jockeying for position in the company always upped itself when Jessica or Langston was present.
Maybe they weren’t bees. Maybe they were scorpions…willing to turn and sting one another to death.
Lana opened her mouth to tell Silas where to stick that particular comment, but Jessica spoke first.
“Enough, children.” Lana’s mother sighed. “If my daughter was overimbibing, I’d be the first to know. I know everything that happens in this family. Besides, she wasn’t the one making a fool of herself in Australia last week, Silas. Really, dear, try to be a little more professional when there are attractive people around. We do have a reputation to maintain.”
The man sigher turned a bright shade of red. Race car Killian snickered, earning an amused look from polo Killian and a nasty one from Silas.
Polo Killian had been sitting in on these meets for his parents for years now, while Lana’s aunt and uncle spent most of their time in Beijing and Singapore, facilitating Chinese investment opportunities for the Montgomery Group. Her aunt and uncle always had thrown a fabulous party, and for as much time as polo Killian spent on his Argentinian estates, indulging in his favorite pastime, he was the first to jump on a plane and join them.
The entire family’s heart was in the region.
Lana knew the feeling. Her heart was in a region too. Only her region was much smaller, much less wealthy, and could do very little to increase the wealth of a conglomerate used to massively complex, billion-dollar business deals.
Moose Springs didn’t matter to the Montgomerys, which made Lana nervous for the town.
“Hold on. Langston is joining the call,” her mother said. “My aide has been sending him the meeting minutes, so he’s abreast of the topic.”
“I’m not sure Father is going to be interested in our extracurricular activities,” Lana murmured.
“And yet I get informed of them constantly,” a male voice said drolly, the audio feed patching through before the video of Lana’s father became visible on the conference chat screen. He was seated in a leather bucket chair on the company’s private jet, sipping a cup of coffee despite the low-level turbulence shaking his image.
Lana’s father, Langston, was almost—almost—the powerhouse his wife was. The fact that both were on this call had everyone sitting up straighter.
“I might be on a delay.” Her father’s voice was the same calm, authoritative baritone that commanded the attention of those around him. “We’re flying near the Andes.”
Of course he was. Because it only made sense for her mother to be in Chicago while her father was somewhere in between Buenos Aires and Lima. Next week, he’d be in New York, and she’d be in Paris. The following week? No one knew except their assistants.
Even though her parents loved each other, Lana never understood a life where the person you were supposed to come home to was always thousands of miles away.
“We’re discussing Lana’s pet project and how much her current level of distraction is costing the company in man-hours,” race car Killian informed her father in a lazy drawl.
“Woman-hours, dearest.” Lana knew he was teasing her but was unable to keep from rising to his bait. “And I’m handling my business fine. Good morning, Father.”
He was a man who rarely showed his feelings, but she knew him well enough to know the watch on his wrist was a birthday present from her when she was seven. The tie was from her mother last Christmas. The affection was there. They just struggled to show it to one another.
“Lana, Jessica.” Langston nodded, his sharp mind focusing instantly on the heart of the problem even from half a world away. “Lana, tell me why you’re physically in Moose Springs. All this could be handled remotely.”
Rattling off her many responsibilities was easy. Convincing her parents someone else wasn’t equally fit to cover those responsibilities was harder. By the time her father’s plane began to descend in altitude on approach to Lima, she was ready to throw her hands up in disgust.
“It’s the holidays,” Lana said, her tone indicating she wasn’t willing to discuss this anymore. “No one is doing much until the start of the fiscal year. I’m going to stay and attend to affairs in Moose Springs until Christmas, then I’ll reevaluate where I’m needed by the first.”
“They must really like you in this place,” Travis said, tapping his pen against the side of his laptop.
Race car Killian almost managed to cover his laugh. “Something like that,” he said.
He’d spent time in Moose Springs too, and he was more than aware of Lana’s lack of supporters in town.
As soon as the video call ended, Lana’s laptop immediately pinged with a second—entirely expected—call. “Yes, Mother?”
“You look tired,” Jessica said. The words weren’t meant unkindly and instead were an expression of concern. Still, Lana forced herself to ignore an instinctive reaction to touch her hair in response to the comment.
“Really? I thought I’d paid the beautician enough to make sure I never look tired again,” Lana quipped. Free of other eyes, she leaned back in her chair. “Do you agree with them?”
“I agree your Moose Springs project is distracting you, which is a concern in the long run. We need you in the European markets. You know how well you and Killian work together.”
“Silas is doing fine.”
“Silas is a snot. If he sighed one more time, I was going to have Travis duct-tape his mouth shut.”
Lana laughed. “Someone needs to.”
“Did you meet someone?”
Lana blinked. “I’m sorry?”