"Yes, acceptable," Edward agreed.

"Good. I want to bring him on board as soon as possible. In the meantime, I'll need free access to correspondence, telephone and e-mail records, and financial accounts, both personal and professional. When can that be made available to me?"

"Right away," Blake answered for his grandfather. "I'll log you in with my pa.s.sword. That'll give you access to pretty much everything."

"Including the high-security stuff? Blocked personal and/or confidential material that's protected by extra security pa.s.swords? Because I'll need access to all that, too."

Blake remained silent, deferring to his grandfather.

"Fine," Edward replied. "Blake will give you everything."

"Then I'll be in his office at eight A.M."

Before Blake could reply, his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at the number, a pensive expression crossing his face. "Excuse me a minute." Rising, he walked over to the panorama of windows. "Hi," he said quietly into the phone. "Are you all right?"

Edward eyed his grandson for an instant, then turned back to Monty. "What did you think of Philip Rhodes?"

"I just scratched the surface." Monty responded to the question on autopilot. He was straining to hear Blake's conversation. "First impressions? Rhodes is dedicated to his job. He's loyal to you. And he's got something he doesn't want to talk about."

"Now's not a good time," Blake was saying. His words were low, but Monty could make them out. "I'm in a meeting. I'll check in with you later."

He punched off the phone, just as his grandfather reacted to what Monty had said about Rhodes.

"What do you mean, something he doesn't want to talk about? Something about Frederick?"

"Don't know. Could be something totally unrelated. But whatever it is, I intend to figure it out." Monty studied Blake as he rejoined the group. "Woman problems?"

Blake's brows rose. "Pardon me?"

"Judging from your tone, I a.s.sumed that was your girlfriend, and she was giving you a hard time."

"No hard time. And no girlfriend. Just a friend who happens to be female."

"Ah. Those can be high maintenance, too."

"Yup." Blake didn't bat an eye. "Sure can."

IN HER LUXURIOUS apartment on East Sixty-eighth Street, Louise Chambers hung up the phone and gritted her teeth in frustration.

A meeting. One he wouldn't excuse himself from. Not even to come by and offer her a shoulder to lean on. That didn't bode well.

Dammit. She wasn't going to let things fall apart. Not after all her planning, all her careful orchestration and infinite patience. She hadn't endured all she had just to lose out in the end.

d.a.m.n Frederick. It had been first one obstacle, then another. Now he was dead.

This was her last chance.

And no one was robbing her of it.

CHAPTER 12.

The Gedney Grill was a little more subdued than usual, most likely because it was a Monday night. Which was fine with Devon. The less boisterous the atmosphere, the easier it was to talk.

She and James had been here long enough to polish off a gla.s.s of wine, eat their salads, make a dent in their entrees, and cut through the niceties. During that time, Devon had spotted a grown-up street kid whom, after careful scrutiny, she'd determined was James's "bodyguard." He'd been watching them nonstop from across the room. So if Edward Pierson didn't already know about this date, he'd know by tomorrow.

"How's your steak?" Oblivious to his lookout, James was focused totally on Devon. He wrapped her up in his gaze, concentrating on every word she said, saturating her with attention. At the same time, he spoke freely about himself, emphasizing all the right things, downplaying all the flaws.

The center of the universe, Monty had said. Well, he was dead-on.

"Devon?" James repeated over the rim of his gla.s.s of Cabernet.

"Sorry." She put down her fork and knife. "My steak's delicious, as always. It's also superfilling. I can barely move. It's breather time."

James chuckled. "I know what you mean. I could use a time-out, too." He pushed his plate aside and indicated her half-filled goblet. "More Cab?"

"No, thanks. Two's my limit. Otherwise, I get a ma.s.sive headache. But you go ahead."

"Uh-uh. Two's my limit, too. I usually don't drink at all when I'm competing. So, after this gla.s.s, it's club soda for me."

"I didn't think of that." Devon was thrilled for the opening he'd given her. Time for equestrian chitchat. "Your abstinence, is that because of potential drug testing?"

"Nope." James shook his head. "When it comes to equestrian events, the Antidoping Agency doesn't concern itself with alcohol. Booze would only r.e.t.a.r.d a rider's performance. The agency is more worried about the presence of c.o.ke or steroids, neither of which I do. As for drinking, I just choose to err on the side of caution. I plan to win. I don't want anything, not even the slightest mental cobweb, to screw up my timing or my form."

"You demand a lot of yourself."

"That's the only way to become number one. Anything less is unacceptable."

"A perfectionist. And a very compet.i.tive one."

"Is that bad?"

Devon's shoulders lifted in a shrug. "I'm guessing it's necessary when you're riding for the kind of stakes you are." She leaned forward. "Tell me what it's like. The people. The antic.i.p.ation. Riding in a Grand Prix - I can't even imagine - it must be an amazing adrenaline rush."

"It is." James rolled his goblet between his palms. "It's intense. It's disciplined. And it's consuming. The talent you're up against is daunting. The mentality is 'win at all costs.' There's big money and big egos on the line. Mine included."

"When you say 'win at all costs' - I a.s.sume that some partic.i.p.ants would cheat, bribe, or even sabotage to win."

"Some would kill to win."

Devon started. Was James trying to impress her, or was he actually stating a fact?

"Okay, now that's got to be an exaggeration," she probed lightly.

"Does it? Sometimes I'm not sure." James's tone and expression were hard.

"Whew." Devon blew out her breath. "Clearly, your show-circuit crowd's just a little too intense for my tastes."

"Some of them. Not all."

"Is it mostly the riders or the sponsors?"

"Both."

"Anyone in particular you've come up against?"

James's jaw tightened a fraction. "Over the years? More than I care to recall."

"This go-around, too?"

"Uh-huh."

Devon gave a troubled frown. "That must really mess up your concentration. How do you handle it?"

"I block it out. And I steer clear of those types."

"But you're competing in the same events. How can you - ?"

"The events are inside the ring," he interrupted flatly. "There, I deal with whoever I have to. Outside's another story. I pick and choose."

Devon couldn't miss the note of finality. She'd pried pretty deep. If she pushed James any further, he'd get suspicious.

"I'm glad to hear there are some normal types, too," she tried instead. "With such a supercharged atmosphere, you'd go nuts if you didn't have a few friends to hang out with."

"I get enough downtime. As for friends, I don't know if I'd call them that. They're more like comrades in arms."

"It sounds like war."

"At times, it is." James's jaw was still working. "Being the victor is everything. How you get there is secondary. It's easy to lose all sense of perspective; to see nothing, care about nothing, but the prize." Abruptly, he relaxed - or forced himself to. "That's why I like my double life; part-time at Pierson, part-time on the circuit. It keeps me grounded."

"Your family must help with that, too."

"Some members of it, yes."

Very pointed inference. Time for Devon to take a risk. "You don't like Blake much, do you?"

James's brows rose. "Why? Do you?"

She blinked. "I hardly know him."

"But you're going out with him."

Now that caught her off guard. "He told you?"

"He made a point of it, right before I left for the day."

Devon caught her lower lip between her teeth. "That's my fault. I insisted that it be out in the open. I didn't want to cause problems between you two."

James snorted. "No worries on that score. Any problems between my cousin and me started years before you came on the scene. Blake and I have been one-upping each other since we were kids. It's partly because we're the only two male grandchildren, partly because we're both overachievers, and partly because we have different personalities, different goals, and different ways of going after those goals."

"Sounds pretty normal to me. It also sounds as if you have one goal in common: pleasing your grandfather. Which I find commendable."

A grin that could melt ice. "When you put it that way, I come off as n.o.ble." His grin faded. "You didn't answer my question."

"About liking Blake? As I said, I hardly know him. He seems like a pleasant enough guy. And, yes, we're having dinner tomorrow night. He brought Chomper into my clinic for obedience training. We chatted. He was very nice."

"'Nice.' That's not a word I'd use to describe Blake. Ambitious. Deliberate. Single-minded when he wants something. Relentless when he goes after it. Those are better choices."

"Those same adjectives could be used to describe you."

James gave a thoughtful nod, his good humor restored. "Touche. Maybe that's the problem. Maybe, when it comes right down to it, Blake and I are just too d.a.m.ned much alike. Looks like we're even attracted to the same women."

"Why, has this happened before?"

"That we both date the same person? No. Then again, it's not often that a woman as beautiful, intelligent, and charming as you just strolls through our front door. We'd have to be stupid not to react. And that's one thing neither Blake nor I is - stupid."

"A gross understatement, I suspect." Devon took another sip of wine. "What about you and your sister - Tiffany, isn't it? Are you two close?"

"When we both stand still long enough to connect, yeah. Tiff's a whirlwind. She's got this motherhoodcareer-woman combination down pat. But it doesn't leave time for much else. Not that I'm complaining. Kerri's fantastic. Then again, I'm biased. She's crazy about horses. And she's a natural in the saddle. I'm glad I don't have to compete against her. By the time she takes the equestrian world by storm, I'll be retired."

"Somehow I can't imagine you retired."

"You'd be surprised." James resumed slicing his steak. "A couple of gold medals. A big windfall at Pierson. I might be persuaded."

"In other words, leave your mark on both worlds, then fade off into the sunset?"

He laughed aloud. "Fade off? Nah. I'm not the fading-off type. More like the constant-burst-of-fireworks type."

"Ah." Devon followed his lead, cutting her sirloin as she spoke. "A hedonist. So retirement will be one unending party."

"Sounds good to me." His brows rose. "What about you?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead yet. I just bought into my veterinary practice. I like to flatter myself into thinking they couldn't get along without me." Devon chewed and swallowed. "In my case, that's wishful thinking. But in your case, it's probably fact." A weighted pause. "Especially now. I'm sure you're on overload after what happened to your uncle."

If the reference upset James, he didn't show it.

He shrugged, continuing to eat. "The burden falls mostly on Philip Rhodes. Senior VP of sales," he added by way of explanation. "I don't know if you met him yesterday when you dropped by the farm. He's my boss. After that, the buck stopped with Frederick. I've got to crank things up a notch - do a little extra hand-holding with our key suppliers and contacts. But Philip's the one who'll have to do the major juggling act until things settle down. Then again, he's always had that role. Remember, I'm away a lot. He's used to this."

"It sounds as if your family's lucky to have him on board."

"I suppose we are."