Page 66 of Self Control

She located the door she needed pretty quickly and knocked to announce her arrival. She didn't wait for a reply as she stepped inside. The long, white conference table and uncomfortable chairs surrounding it that Mykie was expecting were nowhere to be found. Instead, there were couches and lounge chairs that looked scarily familiar to her in a small room surrounding a low, round table.

One of the couches was already occupied by a woman and a man in his twenties. The woman moved the fastest when she noticed someone had entered the room. She was on her feet within seconds and started to cross the room.

"Hello, I'm…" she began to say in a pleasant voice, her hand outstretched before she made eye contact with Mykie. Her hand immediately lowered. "Oh, I think you might have the wrong room, Miss."

"Do I?" Mykie asked, looking the woman over. She was a redhead and her hair fell in sleek curls on either side of her face. She wore a heavy amount of makeup, which Mykie noted matched her clothes instead of accentuating her facial features. She must have been in her forties from the tight wrinkles in her forehead and around her eyes. "I was told to go to this room specifically. I'm representing Mr. Lauder today."

Her face twisted into a nasty expression for a millisecond before smoothing out into something more pleasant. The change was so quick that Mykie questioned if it happened at all.

"Oh, is that so? He didn't call Earl to tell him that he wouldn't be able to make it," the woman said, her eyes squinting with how large she was smiling.

"I'm sure it must have slipped his mind." Mykie grinned politely. "I'm Mykie Vesper and I represent Mr. Lauder often in meetings, and you are?"

The woman blanched. "I'm Madeleine Harper, Earl's wife." She gestured towards the man lounging back on the couch, an arm resting on the back of it as he peered at Mykie. "One of my older sons, Ryker, decided to join us for the meeting. He’ll just be a silent observer."

Mykie nodded, keeping her eyes on Madeleine. "Wonderfulto meet you both. Would you like to get started?"

She looked scandalized. "I think we should sit and wait until my husband arrives. He and my other son are showing my daughter around the office today before they arrive."

Mykie followed Madeleine over to the couches and sat on the opposite one from Madeleine and her son. "Oh. I wasn't under the impression that this was a family business. Do all your children work for you?"

She was lying. Mykie knew that her oldest son was working with his father, but she didn't know about the other kids. She thought it was strange that the father was showing his daughter around the office. Was he closer to her than his other children, or was it for a different reason?

"No, no. Some of my oldest help out, but they don't work for our company. Earl and I like to make it so our children don't have to work if they don't want to."

Mykie scowled. Must be nice for her children to live that sort of life.

She looked over at the man on the couch opposite of her. Why did he look so familiar? He was an icy-blond-haired boy that seemed to blend in, as there was nothing that stood out about him except his eyes. Since she entered the room, Mykie was almost positive that the blue orbs had traveled with her, never letting her out of his sights.

"So, Mykie, was it?" The smooth voice spoke for the first time beside his mother. His mouth lifted into a gentle smile on one side as he focused his and his mother's attention on her. Her name out of those lips felt like smooth chocolate being poured over her skin. She resisted visibly reacting to the shiver that ran down her spine. She recognized him. He was the bouncer at La Noir, the one who stopped her just minutes after she killed a man.

"How did you come to work with Chance Lauder? Have you been working with him long?" Ryker asked.

His mother’s mouth twisted angrily, and Mykie could see the daggers she was sending his way.

Mykie took her bag off her shoulder and begun shifting through until she found the folders she needed, ignoring the looks the family members sent to each other. Without looking at the blonde, she answered him. "I interned with him when I was still in college then got a job with him after."

"So not too long, then?" Ryker surmised.

"Ryker!" His mother hissed. "Apologize."

"No, no M'am," Mykie said, holding up her hand towards Madeleine. "I rather hear someone's honestly than something scripted. Besides, he's right. I haven't been working with Mr. Lauder long, but that doesn’t mean I'm any less qualified to negotiate a deal between our two parties."

The double doors opened, and a group of voices came through, turning the three of their heads in that direction. The first one through the door was a man dressed in a black suit. He had a full head of gray hair atop his head and his face was shaven and clean. Her breath caught. No way…this couldn’t be happening.

The girl that came in beside him tugged on his arm. An arm connected to a hand she remembered vividly stabbing not even a week prior to the meeting. "Come on, Father! I want to go to the party, and I need something new to wear."

The dress she was wearing already was a stunning wine-red color. It fit her top half snuggly while the skirt flared out and reached her mid-thigh. It was an off the shoulder dress but had a sequin halter. If Mykie had to guess, the dress was worth probably just as much as a weekly paycheck at Pearl's, including tips.

Her hair was red just like her mother’s, but it didn't clash with the dress.

She felt embarrassed. This was the sister that she was accusing of being Renly’s fiancé. To be confronted with the idea of his sister after making a fool of herself and her feelings all week, she couldn’t look at her. It was almost like she was afraid that the story would be written all over her face if she spoke to her.

Mykie looked at Father to son the couch. Did they know? Did the bouncer know she was the one to stab his father?

"Have your brother take you," her father said, a kind smile on his face. "I'll give you my card and you can get whatever dress you'd like."

She giggled and started tugging on the man's arm on the other side of her. "Now youhaveto come with me. Father said so."

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