Kathie DeNosky - The Illegitimate Heirs - Luke, Zach and Jake

Emerald watched the girl eye one brother and then the other before Arielle sat forward in her chair.

“I could never express how much I appreciate everything the two of you have done for me throughout the years,” Arielle spoke up, finally breaking her silence. “But I’m a grown woman now, Luke, and I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself and making my own decisions.” She turned her full attention on Emerald. “Luke and Jake might not be interested in what you’re offering, Mrs. Larson, but I certainly am.”

“No, you’re not.” The twin brothers glared daggers at their younger sister.

“Oh, yes, I am.”

Arielle’s determination was almost palpable and it did Emerald’s heart good to see that her granddaughter didn’t seem the least bit affected by her older brothers’ intimidating scowls. The child reminded Emerald of herself some fifty years ago.

“You two can do what you please, but I’m going to accept the trust fund and whatever company Mrs. Larson deems suitable for me to take over.”

Their lack of agreement on the issue was the very opening Emerald had been looking for to seal the deal. “If you’ll excuse me for a few moments, I have something that requires my immediate attention,” she interjected, rising from her desk chair. “While I’m gone, I think it would be wise for the three of you to discuss my proposal.” Walking to the door, she turned back. “But keep in mind, this is all or nothing. You all agree to accept everything or forfeit the opportunity completely.”

Stepping into the outer office, she pulled the door shut behind her and walked over to her assistant’s desk. “Get the acceptance papers ready for my grandchildren to sign, Luther.”

“Have they accepted your gift, madam?” Luther Freemont asked in his usually stiff manner as he reached for a file on his desk.

Emerald glanced at her closed office door, smiling contentedly. “Not yet. But rest assured, they will.”

She hadn’t intended to put stipulations on her gift to the Garnier siblings, but her twin grandsons’ determination to decline her generosity left her little choice. Being one of a few women over the past fifty years to carve out her place in the “good old boy” network of the corporate world, she’d learned when and how to manipulate a situation to her benefit. And she certainly wasn’t above pulling out all the stops to get what she wanted—even if that meant playing hardball with her own grandchildren.

Confident that everything was going her way, Emerald glanced at the clock on Luther’s desk. The Garnier siblings should have had ample time to reach an agreement.

“I’ll page you when we’re ready to sign the documents, Luther,” she instructed, walking back to the door.

When she re-entered her private office, she smiled at her grandchildren still seated in front of her desk. It was time to incorporate the Garnier siblings into the Emerald, Inc. empire.

“Haley, I want my calendar cleared for the day and you to be in my office in five minutes. There’s something I need you to do.”

Haley Rollins stared open mouthed as Lucien, or as he preferred to be called, Luke Garnier passed her desk on the way into his private office. For the past five years, every weekday morning at promptly eight-thirty, he’d arrived at the corporate offices of Garnier Construction, ordered her to get him coffee and expected her to be in his office to review his day’s itinerary. But today he was more than half an hour early and failed even to mention the requisite cup of coffee.

What on earth could have happened that would cause a man so set in his ways to deviate from his routine?

Something was definitely in the works and if the look on his handsome face was any indication, he considered it to be of the utmost importance. Her usual Monday morning slump vanished.

Reaching for her phone, Haley made quick work of rescheduling his appointments, then after a quick trip to the break room for the coffee she knew he wanted, entered Luke’s office a few minutes later. But as she walked across the room, her eyes widened and she had to remind herself to breathe. She never got tired of looking at the sexiest man she’d ever seen.

He had removed his suit coat and stood at the plate glass window behind his desk, staring pensively at the downtown Nashville traffic on the busy street below. With his hands stuffed into the front pockets of his trousers, the gray fabric had pulled taut over his tightly muscled derriere, drawing her attention to the narrowness of his hips, while at the same time his crisply pressed, tailored white shirt emphasized the width of his broad shoulders. The contrast was amazing and a testament to his excellent physical condition. And it was becoming increasingly difficult to hide her reaction to him.

“You’re three minutes late,” he said without turning around.

Bringing her wayward thoughts in check, she calmly set his coffee mug on the desk. “I had several calls to make in order to free up your day.”

She wasn’t surprised that he knew the moment she walked into the room, even though the plush carpet made the sound of her late entrance inaudible. Luke Garnier missed very little. And he never hesitated to comment on his observations. Ever.

“Sit down, Haley. There’s something I want to talk over with you.” His tone of voice denoted the serious nature of their discussion and for the briefest of moments, a tiny shiver of trepidation coursed through her.

She’d been extremely careful, but had he finally realized that his efficient, reliable, emotionless executive assistant had done the unthinkable? Had he discovered that she’d developed a huge crush on him practically from the moment he interviewed her for the job five years ago? That she might even be in love with him?

Seating herself in the leather armchair in front of his desk, she gave herself a mental shake. Her feelings for him had been the only thing that he’d failed to detect and she had no reason to believe that had changed. She’d never given him the slightest indication that she viewed him as anything more than her workaholic boss. A boss who made no secret of the fact that he had no interest in anything that took his attention away from Garnier Construction. His business was a very demanding mistress and that was just the way he preferred it.

“How was your trip to Wichita this weekend?” she asked when he continued to stare out the window. He hadn’t shared the reason for his last-minute trip or whom he’d been meeting with, but Haley had no doubt it was the cause of his early arrival at the office this morning. “Did everything go well?”

His shoulders slowly rose and fell, indicating he took a deep breath before he finally turned to face her. “It actually depends on how you look at the outcome.”

His noncommittal answer confused her. She’d never known Luke Garnier to be indecisive about anything. He was the type of man who viewed things as either black or white, up or down, right or wrong. Gray areas in his business or his personal life were quite simply nonexistent.

Frowning, Haley shook her head. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to.” His intense blue gaze pinned her to the chair for several long moments as he decided exactly how much he wanted her to know about the meeting, then raking his hand through his thick black hair, he took another deep breath. “I’ve just become the new owner of Laurel Enterprises.”

She couldn’t have stopped her surprised gasp if she’d tried. “This is huge, Luke. Laurel Enterprises is the largest, most successful builder of vacation rentals and log homes in eastern Tennessee. Maybe in the entire state.”

He nodded. “Laurel and all of its holdings are mine now.”