Page 12 of The Exposed Heiress

She picked up a cup of black coffee.

Taking a much needed sip, she closed her eyes for a moment. They had ten days to complete the collection. Her designs were all nearly done, except for two pieces.

“I have a new sketch for the floral blouse. If you could hand it to Marcy, that would be good. It has to be the priority or it won’t get done. I’ll approve additional hours.”

Claire took a sip of coffee. “Leo told us three days ago that any overtime wouldn’t be covered.”

Her body tensed. They needed to finish the new designs. “I’ll cover it out of my private funds if needed.” She hadn’t been paid in months and her funds were almost depleted.

Her assistant looked out towards the studio.

Taking another sip, Emma said, “I better take this upstairs and deal with the looming budget issues.”

Claire nodded and moved towards the door. “Good luck. I’ll keep things moving down here. Call if you need anything.”

Pushing away thoughts of her father recovering, Emma greeted a few employees on their way in and pushed the button for the elevator. They had all been working countless hours on this new collection, and she hoped that it would be enough to save Francis Bolles.

Chapter 4

Leo watched her walk back into the office and the graceful sway of her hips caused his heartbeat to accelerate. She had transformed back from the sexy, provocative gown into a short black skirt with a polka-dotted blouse, but his awareness of her only increased.

She crossed her arms. “Does seeing the new collection make you think differently about all of this?”

He pushed a hand through his hair. “Yes and no. But let’s leave it for a later discussion.” He needed her to understand the financials. If they were going to seek financing, she needed to know the terms and understand the debt that the company needed to take on. “How involved have you been in the financials?”

She took her laptop from her work bag. “I’ve seen a few reports.”

Leo sat in one of the armchairs. “Yet you have strong opinions about spending and cash flow?”

Emma stood near the table. “Yes. Money has a direct impact on how the business operates. I don’t want to limit the materials we use or have our employees worry.”

Her innocence grated on his nerves. She had grown up without worrying about money or survival. “So you want everyone to live in a protected place, without consequences or reality intruding on the work?”

Emma touched her necklace. It was a gesture he had seen before. “That’s unfair, Leo. Our employees can’t solve financial issues.”

“There isn’t any magic.” His gut tightened. He knew that better than most people. When the money ran out, people went hungry and without proper shelter.

She stepped closer to him. “Yes, there is magic. It happens every day here. We create something new out of nothing. The seamstresses take a drawing and sew something brilliant.”

His lips parted and he let out the breath he had been holding. “We are not debating how beautiful the designs are or the type of luxurious fabric being used, we are talking about cash flow. How can you stay in business if you can’t pay your bills?”

She shrugged. “There has to be assets to sell or some way of re-financing the debt.”

He wouldn’t step in and save her, even if her beauty softened him. She needed to feel the consequences of all the bad decisions. “Your father has already done all of that and more. Everything is mortgaged and there is no equity anywhere. He has taken large, high-interest loans that are overdue. No one is willing to extend credit to Francis Bolles. It’s too risky.”

Her face paled. “If you knew all of this, then why were you willing to step into the role of CEO?”

Leo contemplated telling her the truth about his past, but pushed the idea aside. He didn’t owe her an explanation. It didn’t matter why he felt compelled to help them. “Let’s look at the spreadsheets together.”

After nearly an hour of explaining the various financial reports, Leo said, “As you can see, this is all about to come crumbling down.”

Emma stood up and dropped the papers on the conference table. “I don’t understand how he could have allowed himself to be led down this path.”

Leo organized the papers back into neatly labeled files. “Your father was brought up to think about design, not numbers. His brother, Oliver, was seen as the finance person, but his untimely death left a gaping hole in the organization.”

Emma shook her head. “My uncle died fifteen years ago. I was a small child at the time.”

Leo shrugged. He didn’t understand how the family had allowed it to come to this. “There were significant assets when he died. Some of the assets had to be used for several lawsuits, but most went slowly to cover the deficits each year. Your father insisted on increasing overhead but the sales never materialized.”

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