Billionaire Ghost Tour - Stephanie Fowers Page 0,6
Mystery party also brought memories of a feisty redhead who’d given him away to Cruella de Vil. Even if Cruella had ended up being a fun-spirited date that night, he hadn’t been able to swallow his disappointment at not being able to explore what other outrageous insults might come from Mollie’s red lips—very full red lips. He pushed those thoughts away. “It’s a Molinero original.”
“Autumn Molinero?” she asked, her big eyes rounding with intrigue. He nodded, and she sucked in her breath, admiring it. “It is too precious!”
His phone buzzed, and he saw the call was from his father. Taking another deep breath, Janson answered, his father already asking where he was in his thick Texas drawl. “Eureka Springs,” Janson answered woodenly.
His father grunted, though he likely already knew. Janson’s assistant would’ve informed him already. “Is this because of the threats?” he asked his son.
The media and their global competitors were crucifying their company for their latest medical breakthroughs. The anonymous threats were just another thing to worry about. They shouldn’t have bothered with Janson; his father called the shots. Janson sighed. Why build a beautiful cottage at the Mountain Cove Retreat if he didn’t ever bother to visit? “No, I’m here for a break.”
“Dwayne and Vin with you?”
Janson studied his burly bodyguards—he pitied anyone who tried anything when those two were around. “Yes.”
“Good.” His father’s interrogation switched gears. “Have you heard from your stepmother?”
“Katherine?” Janson had a few stepmothers, but he wasn’t sure he could call Katherine that, since she was closer to Janson’s age. However, she was the most recent and the angriest. She used Janson’s youngest stepbrother, Harry, as a pawn to get what she wanted from their father. Lately her tactics had turned to targeting Janson. “My assistant screened twenty messages from her,” Janson admitted.
“Don’t talk to her. My lawyer is taking care of her demands.”
Whatever that meant, Janson didn’t want to be involved. His father trusted women too much. He’d struck gold when he’d met Janson’s mother. She was a sweet and spicy spitfire from Brazil—the two had been ridiculously in love and spent many happy years between Dallas and her home country. That was why Janson spoke Portuguese and still carried traces of an accent. After his mother had passed away from cancer a decade ago, his father naively assumed that all beautiful women would be as sincere as his first wife. He’d been dead wrong. Four times. Katherine was probably the worst of his father’s exes, which was saying something. “So you took care of Katherine and she’s happy now?” he asked his father.
“She’d better be.” Janson doubted that, but it wasn’t any of his business. Through the windows, he watched his plane move over the runway to the tarmac. His father cleared his throat, though his drawling voice still sounded gruff. “I don’t like those threats you’ve been getting. I’ll follow you out there in a few days.”
Janson straightened, the buttery soft leather purring out in protest. “Not necessary.”
Silence met his refusal. That meant that his father was coming. Anyone could say what they wanted about Frederick Styles, but no one could question the man’s loyalty to his children, most especially to Janson, whom he’d almost lost to Crohn’s. “I’ll get a hotel. I have a few colleagues down there I want to talk shop with. I think I’m ready to seal the deal with SimplPharma.”
That was a very big deal. Their father had been courting their powerful competitors for a very long time. If they partnered with SimplPharma, their breakthrough cure against the influenza could go out by the end of the year. Janson let out a breath. “Will you need me to sign anything?”
“I’m not sure yet, but keep it on the down-low. Some men on the board aren’t happy about the merge.” With those brisk words, his father hung up.
Janson slipped his phone into his pocket and slanted a glance Rosa’s direction. “My father’s coming here in a few days—he might want to meet—”
Her nose wrinkled. “Please, do not speak of work. This will be our vacation, no?”
He nodded miserably. Yeah, if he could only get a hold of himself, but his heart had stopped taking orders from his brain long ago. The distractions, whether pleasant or unwelcome, weren’t working. He felt like they were choking him. He pushed to his feet to get away from Rosa before he cracked. Complete loss of control always lurked below the surface of his calm front. If he broke, then his secret