Darcy lifted her chin and stared with fierce intent at the massive building in front of her.
Time to make this happen.
She marched across the busy London street, ignoring the well-heeled crowd swirling past her. Marshaling her arguments, she lined up her words. She'd first have to get through the walls of security and secretaries before she reached her goal, but she had charm. A quick tongue. Other talents.
ROCCA ENTERPRISES
The sign swept over the entrance, silver and elegant. Impressive. Intimidating.
She found it hard to picture her best friend coming from this environment. When she'd met him, she'd assumed he was like her: poor. The news that his brother was a billionaire, who ruled an entire empire of various businesses, had been a huge shock. The Great Man, Matt called him. With annoyance, yet sometimes she noted a hint of affection underlining his words. Still, there was nothing affectionate about this situation.
Her friend didn't have the courage to confront his brother.
But she did.
Pushing through the doors, she entered the foyer. Sculptures of silver glass speared toward the cathedral ceiling. A wide wall of glimmering elevators lined the end of the foyer, swishing open and closed, filling and emptying with a dizzying number of women dressed to the nines and men dressed to impress. All rather overwhelming. For a moment.
Keep your focus.
She peered past the girth of an elderly woman walking by her and spotted the first hurdle.
Security.
Planted behind a wide desk, four uniformed guards scanned the crowd with sharp attention. She was short, but not short enough to sneak past sight unseen. Plus, her dress didn't come close to competing with the high-fashion women surrounding her. If she didn't act fast, she'd be spotted. Stopped.
“Not on your life,” she muttered.
She'd managed to pry a few critical pieces of information from Matt, without letting him know what she had planned for his benefit. For example, everyone who worked for Rocca got a blue ID card, which they had to wear to get past security. All she needed to flit past this hurdle was one of those cards. Too bad her friend didn't have one. His brother wouldn't even allow him on the premises without prior approval.
Another strike against the Great Man. What an egotistical tyrant he must be.
Focus. Focus.
Scanning the crowd, she found a promising target. A behemoth of a man ambled toward the elevators, his jacket slung across his arm, his blue card flopping on the polished wool.
Well, actually, it was her blue card.
She slipped beside him, her keen gaze focused on what she needed to know. “Hi, John.”
The man stopped and looked down and down into her smiling face.
He blinked.
“How lovely to see you.” She beamed at him and angled herself so his large body stood between her and the security desk.
Blinking again, he smiled back. “I don't think I know you.”
“John, John.” She batted her eyes as her hand deftly did its work. “How could you forget what we had together?”
“We…we…” The man sputtered to a close and blinked once more.
“Well, I guess I'll have to let you go, then.” She turned and walked away, swinging her hips as her mum had shown her long ago.
“Wait!” His voice didn’t stop her.
Darcy smiled and snapped the lovely blue tag on her lapel. Nothing ever stopped her.
The Great Man had no idea what was about to hit him.
* * *
“Boss.” Blake Reston, head of his security, stepped into his office. “She’s no longer at your brother’s flat. We’ve located her.”
Marcus had taken two days to calculate what had to be done. After reviewing the information his mother had collected, within hours his security team had filled in the rest of the details on one Ms. Darcy Moran. In his methodical, careful way, he'd mulled over the situation when he’d been in Madrid and made a decision. Now it was only a matter of tracking down the prey and springing the trap. He glanced away from his computer screen. “Well?”
A gruff laugh escaped the blond man. “She's here.”
“What?”
“She's been able to glide through the security on the ground floor and is currently on her way to…” Blake focused on his phone, scanning his messages. “It appears she's here to see you, big guy.”
“Interesting.” Standing, he slipped on his suit coat. “I can’t remember the last time a person I was hunting came right to my door.”
“I wonder what she’s up to.”
“Whatever she’s up to, she’s playing right into my hands.”
The head of security stared at him with a knowing gaze. “You’ve figured out a plan.”
“Certamente.”
“Willing to share?”