An Heiress for His Empire. Lucy Monroe

would certainly set a roadblock in your own career path if I were.”

      His espresso eyes flared with quickly suppressed surprise.

      She smiled, pleased that he hadn’t realized she knew. “You don’t seriously think your desire for that office is a secret?”

      “It’s a family-owned company.”

      “That you plan to run one day and if Jeremy doesn’t realize it, he’s being willfully blind.”

      “That is one of his failings.”

      “You think?”

      “He does not see you for who you are or what you need from him.”

      “You tried to tell him, once.” The year before her clumsy attempt at seduction.

      She’d thought Vik standing up for her meant he cared. But looking back, she had to conclude the friendship he’d offered her had been in pursuit of his own goals. Gaining Jeremy Archer’s unmitigated trust.

      She could have told Vik befriending her wouldn’t do anything for him. Her father would have had to care about her for that to be the case. And he didn’t.

      The only thing that mattered to Jeremy Archer was the company. He’d married her mother to gain the necessary infusion of capital to make AIH a dominant player in the world market. His only interest in Maddie had been as a potential successor.

      “He’s given up on me personally because he realizes I’m never going to be his business heir.” As much as it hurt, it also made sense of how unconcerned he’d seemed to be by “Perrygate.”

      “The only thing Jeremy has given up is his plan to try to lure you into the business.”

      Maddie shook her head, not buying it for a second. “You heard him. He had no intention of having Conrad help me until you stepped in.”

      “Your father can get tunnel vision.”

      “And all he could see was the endgame.” He hadn’t even noticed that her scandal had adversely impacted AIH’s reputation.

      “Yes.”

      Maddie waited for the waitress to place her pancakes on the table and walk away. “Which is?”

      “You married to a man who can and will be groomed to take over as Jeremy’s successor.”

      “If my father can’t get what he wants out of me, he’ll use me to get it, is that right?”

      “That’s a very simplified view and not entirely accurate.”

      She wasn’t going to argue something she knew to be true, as did Vik, even if he was too loyal to admit it.

      “Jeremy wants his successor to be family.” Hence the marriage. “How old-fashioned.”

      “It ensures his grandchildren will inherit his legacy intact.”

      “And that’s important.”

      “To him.”

      The smell of pancakes, fresh bananas and syrup had her mouth watering. “What about you?”

      “You need to ask?”

      “AIH is your life.” As much as it had always been her father’s.

      “Say rather AIH is the vehicle for my own dreams.”

      “I didn’t know men like you dreamed.”

      “Without visionaries at the helm, companies like AIH would atrophy and eventually die.”

      “So, you think my father is just a very dedicated dreamer.” Sarcasm hanging thick from her words, she took a bite of her pancakes and hummed with pleasure.

      Vik laughed. “That is one way to put it.”

      “And your personal dreams include being president of AIH one day.”

      “Yes.”

      His easy honesty surprised her and charmed her in a way. She’d always thought of men like him as having goals. Solid, steady, unemotional stepping stones that marked their success.

      “Wow. I guess the heart of a Russian really does beat under that American-businessman veneer.”

      “My grandparents like to think so.”

      She offered him a bite of pancake with a slice of banana. “And your parents?”

      Vik took the bite just like he used to and memories of a time when they’d been friends, and all her dreams had centered on this man, assailed Maddie.

      “My mother has been out of the picture for all of my memory. My dad is like a computer virus. He keeps coming back.”

      She smiled. “I should say I’m sorry, but having a father who drives you nuts makes you more human.”

      Vik shrugged, but she couldn’t help wondering if he’d told her about his dad on purpose. To build rapport. She thought Vik had outclassed her dad a long time ago in the manipulation department.

      After all, Jeremy Archer still thought he ran AIH. However anyone with a brain—not blinkered by willful blindness—and access to the company would realize it was actually Vik’s show and had been for a few years.

      “Whose idea was it to offer Steven Whitley and Brian Jones up on the chopping block?”

      “It’s hardly a sacrifice to be offered this kind of opportunity.” Vik drank his coffee, his expression sincere if she could believe it.

      But then what was to say she couldn’t?

      “Marriage to the prodigal daughter for an eventual company presidency?” That might well be worth it to a man like Vik.

      “You don’t exactly fit the distinction of prodigal.”

      “Don’t I?”

      “You haven’t blown through your inheritance. In fact, you are surprisingly fiscally responsible.”

      “Thank you, I think.”

      “You haven’t abandoned your family to see the world.”

      “I moved out of the family home.”

      He winked at her. “But stayed in the city.”

      “What can I say? I love San Francisco.”

      “And your father.”

      “I’d rather not talk about that.”

      “Understood.” He smiled and her nerve endings went twang. “Your media notoriety isn’t even of the truly scandalous variety.”

      “Until Perrygate.”

      Vik waved his hand, dismissing the importance of Perry’s lies. “That will be handled.”

      “Thank you for that.” The thought of being forced to give up her volunteerism because of an unsavory reputation hurt deeply, compounding her pain at Perry’s betrayal.

      He knew how important working with the children was to her.

      “But seriously?” she asked, refocusing. “Whitley and Jones?”

      Vik shrugged, but his lips firmed in a telling line. “They’re the most likely men within the company to do the job.”

      “Marrying me?”

      “Becoming the next president.”

      “Besides you.”

      “Besides me,” he agreed.

      “You’re the only real candidate.”

      “I would like to think so.”

      “And then there is Maxwell Black.”

      Vik’s eyes narrowed, the brown depths darkening