And if she chose that life, he would have to deal with that as well.
“No. You’ve already had several lessons. If you can’t keep track of everything I’ve already taught you, then you need to head back to your old office now. I can’t repeat the lessons once they’ve been taught.”
His phone rang at that moment and he slipped it out of his pocket to answer it. The person calling was one of his longtime adversaries but they chatted amiably, the other man already having heard that Emerson was heading back to Wall Street. “Of course, Gerald. I’d be happy to be there for dinner. And give my thanks to Wendy for inviting us. We’ll be there after the gala tonight.”
Rachel stared at the stranger sitting beside her, still not comprehending everything that was going on. She understood that Jack had lied to her, laughed at her and that he was really the elusive Emerson Watson, but everything else just didn’t make sense. “What’s going on?” she asked warily, not sure she really wanted to hear but unable to restrain the question.
“We are flying up to New York in,” he glanced at his watched, “fifteen minutes. At which point, I’ll introduce you to my staff and we’ll get to work. At seven o’clock, there is a gala to benefit underprivileged children in Somalia, then a dinner party at Gerald Warrick’s house. His wife’s name is Wendy. He has two children. My assistant will give you backgrounds on all four of them plus several people at both parties. Memorize everything before tonight.”
She was once again startled by the hardness in his tone and in his eyes. This wasn’t the man she’d lo…cared for, she corrected miserably. “Why do I need to memorize biographies? Why can’t I just talk to them and get to know them tonight?”
Emerson looked out the window, gauging the distance to the airport. “Because this is what you wanted. And you don’t get to know people at social events in this world, Rachel. You use these events to further your knowledge of business issues. Every conversation is dissected for possible clues to your enemy’s intentions. Don’t ever enter a room, either social or business, without knowing as much as possible about the other guests and especially your host and hostess.”
The car drove right out onto the tarmac and Rachel noticed a large, private plane standing by with a staircase pushed up to the doorway. “We’re not going in that, are we?” she asked, her breath catching in her throat. A large plane was scary. The luxurious plane on the tarmac wasn’t small, but it wasn’t a seven-forty-seven.
“That’s the most expedient way to get to where we’re going,” he said and stepped out of the limousine, almost before it even stopped. Rachel guessed she should be relieved that at least he waited outside the vehicle for her, but when he grasped her hand to help her out, all those crazy feelings that always hit her when he touched her happened again. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to pull away because the man holding her was now a stranger and she felt betrayed by his lies, or if she wanted to throw herself into his arms and beg him to make love to her like he used to, and ask him to explain what all of this insanity was about.
Emerson looked down into those incredible, green eyes of hers and knew she was hurt and confused. He wanted to hold her, to tell her that everything would be okay. But he couldn’t do that. He didn’t know what she would decide about all of this. His instincts were telling him that she’d hate all of it, but it had to be her choice. He couldn’t make this decision for her. “We’re going to be late,” he said, clearing his throat and looking away from her. “Let’s go.” He didn’t drop her hand like he should, but instead, led her onto the plane. Nodding slightly to the crew, he brought Rachel to one of the large, leather chairs. “Take off as soon as possible,” he told the pilot who efficiently nodded and ducked back into the cockpit.
Rachel saw a moment’s hesitation, a calm amid the storm that she’d been pulled into only thirty minutes ago, and she leaned forward. “Jack…”
“You can call me Emerson now. I’m only Jack to everyone in Cape Elizabeth. Here in New York, I go by Emerson.” He didn’t acknowledge her in any other way, picking up a file folder that was stuffed with papers. “Here, read through this information on the flight up. You’ll need it.”
Rachel took the papers and looked through them. “These are statistics on various businesses.”
“Exactly. You’ll need to give me your analysis on which businesses to invest in by noon.”
Rachel’s mouth dropped open and she looked at his dark head as he bent over some other information. Was he serious? There were probably forty companies in this folder! How was she supposed to evaluate all of them in…she looked down at her watch…two hours?
Good grief.
He could easily guess where her thoughts were heading. “You’d better get busy. We have meetings scheduled for the rest of the afternoon.”
Rachel didn’t bother to argue with him. She squared her shoulders and stiffened her spine, refusing to give in to the heartache that was threatening to choke her. If this was the way he wanted to play, she could hang with the big boys. She looked down at the reports, her mind sifting through all of the information. But she couldn’t do this on her lap. Moving over to another chair, she decided to spread her information out on the table by the corner.
“We’re cleared for takeoff,” the flight attendant said to Emerson, then disappeared again.
Rachel looked up, her startled eyes looking out the windows. She clasped the file folder tightly to her chest and buckled her seatbelt, her heart pounding hard.
Emerson looked back just to make sure she had her seat belt buckled. She was looking out the window and he thought she looked a bit too pale, but he suppressed the urge to go to her. No comfort yet. Once she’d made the decision about which life she wanted, then hopefully he could comfort her. Until then, she had to understand it all.
The plane taxied down the runway, picking up speed. He didn’t want to watch, didn’t want to help her in any way. If she chose this life, she couldn’t show any weakness. He had to protect her by letting her be strong by herself. But when the plane lifted off of the ground and he saw the fear in her eyes, he couldn’t take it any longer. Emerson cursed under his breath, unsnapped his seatbelt and, in two strides, was right next to her, lifting her out of her seat and holding her in his arms. He held her tight, trying to give her strength through his arms and hands. He kissed the top of her head and told her that she was going to be okay.