A Fortunate Arrangement. Nancy Robards Thompson

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СКАЧАТЬ show you how love is done. In the end, you’ll be the lonely, broken one on the outside looking in. It was a silent and dignified middle finger.

      Then a strange thing happened; Miles learned that he wasn’t Julius’s only dirty little secret. There were others. Much like Miles, they, too, had created their own large families and successful lives. Finally, Schuyler Fortunado Mendoza, daughter of Kenneth Fortunado, decided it was time to end all the secrecy and hurt. It was time for all the Fortune family branches to come together. She arranged a family reunion for the “bastard Fortunes,” inviting them all to come to the Mendoza Winery in Austin.

      Her intentions were pure. She thought she was doing a good thing by bringing everyone together. However, calling the illegitimate Fortunes together actually ended up putting them in danger, which was why Miles and Sarah were having so much trepidation about attending the wedding.

      “If we don’t go,” Belle said, “they might think we’re snubbing them. Family relations are a bit tenuous right now since everything is so new. In addition to being there to support Gerald and Deborah, I think this is an important opportunity to claim our rightful place in the Fortune family.”

      Miles glared at his daughter. “Enough!” he bellowed. “I am the head of this family. I have decided we are not going. End of discussion.” His voice was low and simmering as he bit off each word one by one in a way that had everyone holding their collective breath. Once Miles Fortune made up his mind, he didn’t tolerate people challenging him like Belle was doing. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll say good night.”

      Scowling, Miles scooted his chair back from the table and left the room. Austin knew now was not the time to broach the subject of creating a new position for Felicity. Miles was not in the mood and it might undermine the promotion. Austin would approach him after he got back from Atlanta.

      * * *

      Felicity had been waiting all day to ask Austin if he’d had a chance to talk to his father about a new position for her. After the talk with Maia, Felicity had a chance to mull it over a bit and the more she thought about it, the more it made sense to stay at Fortune Investments. If she could get promoted within the company she could keep her benefits and they were always so generous with compensation. It would be less like starting over and more like making a strategic career move up the ladder. Plus, she would still be around Austin, just not as close. Maybe if she wasn’t always “right there,” Austin might feel her absence enough to realize he missed her.

      As counterintuitive as that might sound, it made sense. It was like taking the same route to work every day. You got in such a habit that you went about the drive with blinders on, missing the most important sights along the way. One day, you’d notice a house or shop or a tree that you’d driven by hundreds of times and realize it was the first time you’d really seen it.

      Felicity propped her elbows on her desk and rested her chin on her fist. She wanted to be Austin’s tree. She chuckled to herself. She wanted him to look up and suddenly notice her.

       Notice me, Austin. See me.

      She heard his voice coming from the other side of the corridor. That snapped her out of her daydreaming, and she busied herself on the computer, pretending to type away, adding notes to her to-do list for the Fortune Investments gala. She was way ahead of schedule, but she never wanted to give Austin the impression she was slacking off on the job. If she let down her guard, that would be the time he’d notice her.

      Come to think of it, she would be doing herself a favor when she went in to talk to him if she told him she really was enthusiastic about the opportunity to stay on with Fortune Investments. The other day when Austin had mentioned the possibility of creating a position for her, she had been so flustered about giving him her notice that she hadn’t even acted very excited about the prospect. She smiled at him as he came closer, cell phone pressed to his ear.

      “Mackenzie, seriously?” His laugh was infused with a sexy flirtation that made Felicity’s heart drop.

      Who was Mackenzie? It certainly didn’t sound like a business call. In fact, it didn’t sound like any type of call she’d ever heard Austin take out in the open like this. Most of the time his calls were business. The small percentage that weren’t were family.

      He laughed again.

      Oh, Mackenzie, you funny girl, you. Felicity stared at her computer screen, so he wouldn’t know she was listening.

      “Okay. Okay. If you insist. Macks, it is.” Then he slipped into his office, closing the door behind him.

       Max? Or Macks?

       As in short for Mackenzie?

       Either way, it proved they were on personal terms.

      Through the glass wall that divided their workspaces, she watched Austin sit down at his desk and continue the conversation. She couldn’t hear what he was saying now, but he was animated. More than she’d ever witnessed before.

      His face transformed as he seemed to give a full-throated laugh, his eyes crinkled at the corners, lighting up and dancing. He leaned back casually in his chair, raking his hand through his hair.

      She wasn’t even bothering to sneak peeks at him now. She was full on staring, greedily watching him delight at whatever it was that this Macks had to say. Of course, Austin was oblivious that she was watching him.

      What kind of a woman called herself Macks?

      Felicity’s phone chirped Maia’s text tone. Reluctantly Felicity dragged her gaze off Austin to see what her friend needed.

      Are we still on for tonight? Just wanted to make sure you’re able to untangle yourself from the Beast.

      I’ll be there.

      ETA?????

      6 p.m. as planned

      By the time Felicity put her phone in her purse and looked back at Austin, he was off the phone and on his computer.

      She needed to borrow a page from this woman and start being more of a Macks—not a Mackenzie. Mackenzie sounded prim and proper, like a rule follower. Macks sounded like a woman in charge of her destiny.

      Felicity pulled up the interoffice messaging system on her computer and typed, Do you have a moment? She pressed Send before she could change her mind. It was twenty minutes until five o’clock.

      She was going to channel her inner Macks and march in there. First, she was going to tell him she was leaving at five because she had plans. Then she would ask him if he’d talked to his dad. She was not going to sit around and wait for him to come to her. She was going to be proactive.

      Austin had been out of the office all day, which meant he would be pulling a late night tonight. Usually, she stayed as late as he did. She didn’t mind, as it gave her time to get a jump on future projects such as the FI charity ball. She was single-handedly organizing the ball. It was a big job and took a lot of extra time. But tonight, she had promised Maia she would come to the salon so her friend could practice for the hair show. She said she’d be there at six o’clock. That meant she needed to get a move on if she was going to go home and grab a bite to eat and change out of her work clothes and into something more comfortable before she went to the salon.

      She jumped at the sound of the СКАЧАТЬ