“Need to talk to you about that assignment in Abu Dhabi.”
“It’ll have to wait until later,” Mona interjected before Remy could open his mouth. “He has important meetings all day, and y’all aren’t leaving for Abu Dhabi till Wednesday.”
As the two marines walked past, Remy made eye contact with them and subtly gestured to indicate that he’d be available in ten minutes.
“Nice try,” drawled Mona, who missed nothing, “but I don’t think so.”
The men could only chuckle and shake their heads. “Catch up with you later, Chief.”
When Remy and Mona reached his office, he sauntered to the black granite desk, sat down in the leather executive chair and propped up his booted feet as he drank his coffee.
Mona arched a brow at him. “Someone’s feeling mighty relaxed this morning.”
Remy grinned. “Five days of fun and sun in the Caribbean will do that for you. You should try it sometime.”
Mona snorted. “This place would fall apart if I went on vacation.”
“Probably, but that shouldn’t stop you from going anyway.”
She made a face. “I will, but not now. Things are too busy around here.” Which, of course, she’d been saying for the past two years. “Anyway, I know you’re already familiar with Hospira Pharmaceuticals, but I prepared some additional notes for you to review before your meeting at nine. The file is on your desktop.”
“Thanks, Mona. Oh, and I brought you something.”
She eyed Remy curiously as he reached inside his breast pocket, removed a narrow envelope and leaned forward to pass it to her.
When she opened the envelope and saw what was inside, her eyes widened in shock. “Oh, my Lord. Are these plane tickets to St. Lucia?”
“Yup. One for you and your mother, or whoever else you want to take. The hotel accommodations have already been arranged.”
Mona stared at him, shaking her head in disbelief. “This is too much. I can’t—”
“Yes, you can. Besides, you don’t have much of a choice. I’m disabling your access to the building that week—”
“What?”
“—so you might as well take your country ass down to St. Lucia and enjoy your birthday.”
Mona glowered at him for a moment, then contemplated the plane tickets in her hand. Remy could see the corners of her mouth quirking as she fought a smile.
“You couldn’t just bring me back a souvenir like normal people?” she grumbled.
“You couldn’t just squeal for joy and jump up and down like a normal girl?”
The smile broke through, but only for a moment. Briskly clearing her throat, she straightened her shoulders and gave Remy a stern look. “You have a meeting to prepare for, and I have work to do.”
“Aye aye, sir,” Remy teased, watching as she pivoted on her heel and marched across the room.
Reaching the doorway, she paused and glanced over her shoulder at him. Her expression was soft. “Thank you.”
Remy smiled. “Don’t mention it, kiddo.”
After Mona left, he set aside his empty coffee cup, then swung his legs down from the desk, rose from the chair and moved to the windows. Standing with his feet apart and his hands folded behind his back, he stared out over the industrial landscape.
As a SEAL he’d operated in the shadows, attacking where he wasn’t expected and vanishing before the enemy could strike back. He’d adopted that same mentality when scoping out territory for his new company, searching for areas that wouldn’t announce his presence to the world. He’d chosen the warehouse district for the obscurity of its location, which was also important since his firm housed millions of dollars’ worth of high-tech equipment and computer systems programmed with military applications.