Page 15 of Signed, Sealed, Married

She turned and there was steel in her gaze. ‘First there needs to be job security for all Fontaine staff.’ She raised a hand as if expecting him to interrupt. ‘I understand your concerns about underperformance, but I want it written into any contract that the current rules will apply.’

‘Go on.’

She swallowed, the jerky movement revealing her vulnerability. Adam leaned closer, hit by a wish that they could begin their relationship, not as adversaries but as... What? Colleagues? Lovers?

‘My brother, Julien, has worked hard for the company. It’s his life.’ When Adam didn’t say anything she continued. ‘I’m asking you to keep him in a senior management position.’

‘To save his pride?’

Gisèle flinched, her mouth tightening. ‘It’s not about pride, but belonging and caring. He’s put his heart and soul into the company. No one knows it better.’

‘Yet he stepped aside as CEO and let you act in his stead. I understand he hasn’t been to executive meetings for some time.’

The one thing Adam had found annoying and intriguing was his team’s inability to access internal company gossip about the siblings. As if loyalty to the Fontaines were inbred into its employees.

No one apart from the press had wanted to speculate on Julien Fontaine’s absence yet he’d dropped completely off the radar.

Adam’s imagination had run the gamut of explanations from boredom with working for a living, to a breakdown, or an exciting love affair. His experience of people who’d inherited a successful family business was that they rarely had the stamina to succeed.

One intriguing thing about the Fontaine siblings in recent years was their ability to keep much of their private lives private.

It was remarkable considering the hype that had surrounded the family when they were young. At one stage they, and their parents, had been in the press every week. Adam’s researchers had uncovered so many media reports it was clear they’d once rivalled European royals and rock stars for notoriety.

Gisèle interrupted his thoughts. ‘I assure you Julien’s committed and capable. Taking time off work isn’t unheard of, you know.’

It was when you were the CEO, but Adam wouldn’t quibble. If taking on the other Fontaine and putting him somewhere for a short time where he couldn’t do any harm was the price of getting what he wanted, he’d consider it.

‘And you, Gisèle? Do you want to work in the company still?’

‘You mean apart from being used for photo opportunities?’

She didn’t hide her dismissive tone. Adam saw that as progress—her response was genuine, not what she thought he’d like to hear.

Eventually she continued. ‘It depends on your requirements. If you want people to believe we’re living together I’ll need to live where you do. Do you plan to settle in France?’

Still she couldn’t bring herself to use the wordmarry. It niggled, but he knew he had no right to be annoyed given how little time and choice he’d given her.

‘For the foreseeable future, with occasional trips to Australia and elsewhere. Is that a yes? You do want to work?’

Her eyes rounded. ‘Of course I want to work. I have a career I enjoy.’

‘There are many people who don’t need to work and enjoy a life of leisure—’

‘I’m not one.’

‘Then we’ll find a job for you.’

Gisèle put down the cup she’d been cradling, the chink of cup on saucer loud. ‘No need. I’d return to my old one.’

He shook his head. ‘It was under your watch, yours and your brother’s, that the company failed. You haven’t got what it takes to be CEO.’

Impatience brewed. Had she read his interest in her and decided he’d give her whatever she wanted? A chance to ruin the company a second time? She couldn’t believe him so foolish.

Surprisingly she didn’t look insulted or argumentative. She merely angled her head as if assessing a puzzle. ‘Not the CEO role. My job as head of the ethical sustainability unit. I established it and I’d like to continue its work.’

For the first time this morning, no, make that the first time in years, Adam felt underprepared and taken by surprise.

So much for his satisfaction with the report from his acquisitions team. His researchers had missed vital information. Fontaine’s advances in ethical research were part of the reason he’d been attracted to the takeover. He’d known Gisèle had worked in the area but imagined her in a minor position, perhaps as a glorified trainee.

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