Free Dante's Ultimate Gamble by Day Leclaire

through the opening of the door and gave a patently fake start of surprise. “Oh, you have company. Am I interrupting?”
    A smile bloomed on Téa’s face and she waved the man in. “You’re never interrupting, Connie. Come on in. I’d like to introduce you to Luc Dante. Luc, this is my cousin, Conway Billings.”
    A man hovering somewhere in those unfortunate inches between medium and short entered the office. Out of sheer habit, Luc made a swift assessment. Conway was dressed in an expensive navy suit with a snowy white shirt, the collar held in place by pretentious gold clips rather than buttons. Matching clips decorated the cuffs of his sleeves. He wore his thinning auburn hair as short as Luc’s and was painfully clean-shaven. He also sported an old-fashioned pocket watch on a real gold chain—no doubt a subtle advertisement of Billings’s wares, had gold-rimmed glasses perched on the ball of his stub nose and kept his shoes polished to a mirrorshine. Unlike Téa’s creamy complexion, his glowed an uncomfortable shade of red that clashed with his hair.
    For some reason, Luc’s hackles went up. Maybe it was Conway’s pretense of surprise and ridiculous opening question. The door was closed. He had to have heard their voices. Of course he was interrupting. How could he not be? But then, this man ran Billings. At least, for the moment. No doubt his position meant that no matter who or what he interrupted, it wasn’t an interruption.
    Luc also suspected that someone had alerted him to the fact that a Dante was in the building talking to Téa. And since Dantes was Billings’s biggest client, no doubt Cousin Connie wanted to find out what the hell was going on.
    Luc stuck out his hand. “A pleasure,” he lied.
    “Yes, it is,” Conway lied right back.
    Luc’s eyes narrowed. Okay, at least he knew where he stood. He edged his hip onto the corner of Téa’s desk, staking his claim, only to ruin the possessive maneuver with a wince of pain. Damn hip. “Nice place you have here,” he managed to say.
    “Thanks.” Pride rippled through the single word. “Billings has been the gold standard ever since my great-uncle established it, two and a half decades ago.”
    He placed enough emphasis on the words “gold standard” that Luc realized it was meant as a play on words. Supplier of gold. Gold standard. Ha-ha. Luc bared his teeth in a grin. “Don’t sweat it. Dantes doesn’t mind doing business with newcomers like Bling.”
    Conway stopped laughing. Either Cousin Connie didn’t care for the company’s nickname, or he didn’t appreciate the reminder that Dantes had been around twice as long as Billings.
    “Why are you here, Mr. Dante?” he asked bluntly.
    “Make it Luc.” He waited.
    “Luc,” Conway repeated through gritted teeth.
    “I’m here on behalf of Dantes.” He picked up on Téa’s incipient protest and turned to her. Catching her hand in his, he gave it a light squeeze. “Just six more weeks, isn’t it? We’ve almost left it too long.”
    “Left what too long?” Conway asked sharply.
    He hadn’t missed the touch Luc and Téa had exchanged, an intermingling of fingers that could be taken as a sign of intimacy—and in this case most assuredly was. He regarded the man with the sort of patience one did a child. Good ol’ Connie caught the look, interpreted it as just that and bristled in offense.
    “Téa takes over Billings then, doesn’t she?” Luc didn’t wait for confirmation. “As your largest and most important customer, Dantes wants to make certain all our needs will be met before, during and after the transition. So, I plan to work closely with Téa these next few weeks to ensure everything proceeds smoothly.”
    Téa’s eyes narrowed on Luc in warning before she offered her cousin a reassuring smile. “You don’t mind, do you, Connie?” she asked.
    Conway seized the question with grim determination, using the opportunity to regain control of the situation. “As a