McNaught, Judith by Tender Triumph

Author:Tender Triumph
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Katie rolled overonto her back and openedher eyes, emerging from her deep, exhausted sleepwith a queer sensation of unreality. The room inwhich she had slept was sunny and immaculatelyclean, spartanly furnished with an old maple dresserand nightstand that had been polished to a mirrorshine.

"Good morning," Gabriella's soft voice spokefrom the doorway. Katie's memory snapped intofocus as Gabriella crossed the room and placed asteaming cup of coffee on the nightstand beside thebed. At twenty-four, Gabriella was strikingly lovely. Her high cheekbones and luminous brown eyes werea magazine photographer's dream. Last night, she had confided to Katie that she had been asked topose by a famous photographer who had seen her one day in the village, but her husband, Eduardo, had refused to permit it. That, Katie thought ir-ritably, was exactly what she would have expectedfrom that taciturn, handsome man she had met lastnight. Katie thanked her for the coffee and Gabri-ella smiled.

"Ramon came to see you this morningbefore he left, but when he learned you were sleep-ing, he said not to" disturb you," Gabriella explained. "He asked me to tell you that he will seeyou this evening when he returns."

"From Mayaguez," Katie put in, merely to keepthe conversation going.

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"No, from San Juan," Gabriella corrected. Alook of almost comic horror crossed her face. "Orperhaps it was Mayaguez. I am sorry I do not re-call."

"It doesn't matter," Katie assured her, puzzledover her obvious distress.

Gabriella brightened with relief. "Ramon leftmuch money for you. He said we should begin ourshopping today if you feel ready for it."

Katie nodded and glanced at the plastic alarmclock beside her bed, surprised to see that it wasalready ten o'clock. Tomorrow she would be sure tobe up when Ramon came to see her before he left forwork at the failing farm in Mayaguez.

Silence hung like a pallover the seven men seatedat the conference table in the boardroom at Galverra International's San Juan headquarters—a silencethat was shattered as the baroque grandfather clock began ominously tolling the hour of ten—markingthe final, gasping breaths of a dying corporationthat had once been a thriving world conglomerate.

From his position at the head of the long table, Ramon's glance raked over the five men on his leftwho were Galverra International's board of direc-tors. Each man had been carefully selected by hisfather, and each possessed the three qualities that Simon Galverra required of his board members: intelligence, greed and spinelessness. For twenty years,Simon had drawn on their intelligence, exploitedtheir greed, and ruthlessly taken advantage of their inability to contradict his opinions or challenge hisdecisions.

"I asked," Ramon repeated in a cold clippedvoice, "if any of you can suggest a viable alternativeto filing corporate bankruptcy." Two directors ner-vously cleared their throats, another reached for theWaterford pitcher of ice water in the center of thetable.

Their averted gazes and continued meek silence ig-nited the rage he was keeping under such tenuous control. "No suggestions?" he asked with silkymenace. "Then perhaps one of you who is not incap-able of speech altogether will explain to me

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