Page 2 of Succumbed

Shane leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped loosely in front of him and ice blue eyes laser-focused on Lex. She’s radiant in a simple fitted suit the color of merlot, her blazer open over a loose-fitting black silk camisole. Even next to the modelesque Preston Brooks in her electric blue dress, Lex holds us all captive.

“That passion is well-documented, and a big reason why we’re so pleased to have you and Preston co-hosting our annual Bay’s Brightest luncheon to honor women in the startup community next week.” Cass tilts her head to the side, her brows furrowing minutely. “Your own path to success has had its own share of challenges, hasn’t it?”

Lex’s bright green eyes flash with something unreadable, and my gut tightens in response.

“It certainly has,” she answers smoothly, “And that’s a big part of why I’ve invested my time, energy, and funds into causes like these. I don’t want the next generation of female leaders to face similar hurdles.”

“Could you share an example with us?”

Lex’s lips twitch up at the corner as she glances down. “What I’ve always been most offended by, if I’m honest, are the women who climb up by stepping on others. While I’m not the type of person to preach sisterhood–”

Preston snorts, then covers her mouth with wide eyes as she holds back a laugh. Lex smirks and presses on.

“I do believe every woman who has a seat at the table should save one for another.”

“Preach, sister,” Preston agrees, raising one hand toward the ceiling.

Lex chuckles as she glances at her, then refocuses on their interviewer. “I’ll share a specific example from several years ago. My business partner, Van Costa, and I were waiting to hear a pitch from a promising young startup.”

“Oh shit, here we go.” The proximity of Linc’s voice is jarring, and I flinch away as he eagerly leans in.

“Why the hell are you still on top of me?” I demand, shoving away from him only to find Shane still hovering by my other side. “Seriously, you two have zero fucking physical boundaries.”

They glance at each other over my head, then shrug in unison.

“You’re both impossible,” I mutter, turning my attention back to the interview.

The three women are laughing, Preston’s eyes shining as she looks between the other two. “Sorry, Lex, couldn’t help it. Please, continue your story.”

Lex inclines her head, then turns back to Cass. Her expression hardens as she speaks, her features sharpening. “One of the four startup founders was a woman who has since made quite a name for herself in this community. She waltzed into the conference room as Van and I stood to welcome them, but she went straight to Van.”

Her eyes lose focus and she gazes into the distance, then huffs a laugh. “She shook his hand and introduced herself, then looked me dead in the eye and said, and this is a direct quote, ‘I take my coffee black and a water would be great. We’ve got a lot to cover with Mr. Costa.’”

“The hell she did,” Preston gasps, her expression murderous.

Cass clears her throat and shoots the mouthy brunette a pointed eyebrow. Preston winces in response.

Undeterred, Lex tucks a short lock of auburn hair behind her ear and continues. “She did. I’ll never forget it.”

“What did you do?” Cass asks.

The smile that settles slowly onto Lex’s face is cold, calculating. Something stirs in the pit of my stomach in response.

“I got her a black coffee, then sat down with Van and listened to her pitch. Neither of us said a word.”

“Oh, you’re good,” Preston praises. “You let her set up her own fall.”

Lex’s nonchalant shrug is impossibly elegant. “So to speak. When she finished, her business partners knew something was off, but she was too arrogant to notice.”

“Tell me you eviscerated her.” Preston leans forward.

“That chick is bloodthirsty,” Linc laughs. “I fucking dig it.”

“Shut up.” Shane snaps his fingers, then points at Lincoln, his gaze never leaving the TV.

My brother’s lips part, then draw into a frown as he crosses his arms and sits back against the couch with a pout. I am surrounded by children.

“I didn’t eviscerate her, no. But I was honest. Their tech was promising–incredibly so–but they didn’t have enough hard evidence to back up their claims. I was skeptical from the start, and shared that, but her failure to know her audience? That was unforgivable.”

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