Free The Successor by Stephen Frey Page B

eyebrows, pursed her lips, and gazed out the window.
    Almost longingly, Allison thought to herself. As though despite all the success she’d achieved, something inside her caused her to wonder what it would have been like to have had a simpler life. As though there was even the tiniest seed of regret about how her life had turned out.
    “But I ended up in the insurance business,” Graham continued.
    “How?”
    “My father owned an insurance brokerage business in Philadelphia. He died suddenly when I was a junior at the University of Florida, of a heart attack, and I had to come home and run the business because my siblings were too young to do it. Never went back to college,” she said ruefully. “I sold the business four years later to a big firm, then took a job with Mutual of Pennsylvania.” She fluttered her hand in the air and rolled her eyes. “The rest, as they say, is history.”
    “Things turned out pretty well.”
    “I suppose.”
    “What is it that you like about reptiles?” Allison liked digging into the psyches of successful people, especially older women. She’d been looking for a role model all her life.
    “The fact that a lot of them haven’t changed much in millions of years. I like that kind of consistency because I believe it’s consistency that builds dynasties and longevity, which reptiles have certainly enjoyed.” Graham smiled. “You’re a beautiful woman, dear.”
    Victoria Graham was fascinating, not stiff and reserved as Allison had anticipated. Reputed to be tough as nails—she’d have to be tough to have been so successful in the male-dominated worlds in which she operated—she had a soft side as well. It seemed as if she said
exactly
what was on her mind, too. Something most people would never dream of doing. “That’s nice of you to say.”
    “You’re lucky.” Graham shook her head and motioned toward the door. “I’ve done everything I can for Marcia. Poor girl. Plastic surgery, weight-loss spas, makeup specialists. But it hasn’t done much good. She’s the best assistant I’ve ever had and I love her like a daughter. But she’s going to die a spinster if she doesn’t watch out. She wants a husband so badly, but she’s going to have to lower her sights if she’s ever going to get a nibble.” Graham smiled. “You, on the other hand, must be beating them away with a stick.”
    In her midthirties, Allison was pretty. Blond and vivacious with a body that still got those long whistles from Manhattan construction workers, Allison understood that she’d been blessed. She tried not to stick it in other women’s faces during the day, keeping her outfits conservative for business. But when she went out clubbing on weekends, she loved dressing provocatively. It was fun and she didn’t mind the stares. When the stares stopped, that’s when she’d worry.
    “Are those real?” Graham asked, pointing at Allison’s chest.
    Allison put a hand on her blouse and smiled self-consciously.
“Excuse me?”
Christian hadn’t said much about Victoria Graham, but he had warned Allison that there wasn’t a question the older woman wouldn’t ask. Allison had just assumed he meant there wasn’t a
business
question she wouldn’t ask.
    “They’re just so perfect.”
    Allison burst into nervous laughter. “Jesus.”
    “Oh, I know, I’m direct.”
    “I’d say.”
    “But it’s fun.”
    “Maybe for you, but—”
    “And you don’t have to worry, I’m not a lesbian. That’s not why I’m asking.”
    “Oh, God.”
    Graham chuckled. “I’m a little peculiar, too, I guess.”
    “Well, I don’t know about—”
    “Christian probably told you.”
    Allison hesitated. She didn’t want to get anyone in trouble. “He didn’t say anything like that. All he said was that you’ve been one of Everest Capital’s biggest supporters for a long time.” Allison had been a managing partner at Everest for a while, but this was the first time she’d ever met Victoria Graham.