“That’s not how this works. You should know that by now. I’ll be in touch.” The line went dead.
A tall, broad figure stepped into her peripheral vision. Oh, God. Matt Richmond. She took a deep breath, smiled and rose from her seat, only to be confronted by an image plucked from her past, a man she’d only dreamed of running into. Liam Christopher.
For a moment, she and Liam stared at each other. He was even easier on the eyes now than the last time she’d seen him. Six years ago? Seven? His square jaw and the dark scruff along it suited him so well. His green eyes were as piercing as ever. Right now, they were almost too intense.
“What are you doing here?” His voice boomed in the small space.
He must not recognize her. That was the only reason his voice would be dripping with contempt. She stepped closer and offered her hand. “Liam. Hi. Teresa St. Claire. We’ve met a few times. Your father was my mentor when I was in business school.”
He looked at her hand as if he couldn’t be any more repulsed by the idea of touching her. “You think I don’t know who you are? As if I could forget. Tell me what you’re doing here.”
She didn’t understand the anger in his voice, but her first instinct was to tell him everything he wanted to know. Perhaps that would calm him down so she could figure out why he was so agitated. “I’m waiting for Matt Richmond. He and I have a meeting scheduled to take place in this room. I’m surprised to see you, but you two are close friends, aren’t you?”
“What do you want with Matt?”
Now her patience was wearing thin. There were too many unpleasant things coming out of Liam’s stunning mouth. “I’m sorry, but did I miss something? I haven’t seen you in six years? Seven? And you march into my meeting all angry?”
“Your meeting? I have a meeting with Matt. And I can guarantee you that whatever it is that you think you’re going to be talking to him about, I’ll be putting a quick end to it.”
Nobody messed with her and her business. She was not going to lose this event, especially not when she might have to come up with an exorbitant sum of money to save her brother again. “I don’t know why Mr. Richmond double-booked himself, but he’s not here, so we’re both going to have to wait. Perhaps you can take this time to tell me why you’re so upset with me.” She pulled back a chair from the conference table and offered it. “Here. Have a seat. Let’s talk.”
Liam shook his head, his jaw visibly tighter. “Stop playing games.”
Teresa felt her own anger about to eclipse Liam’s. “Games? I’m playing games? How about you tell me why you’re so mad at me.”
Liam shook his head again, this time slowly and steadily. It felt as if his eyes might bore a hole right through her. “You know what you did. You ruined my father’s life.”
* * *
Liam Christopher had imagined many times what he might say to Teresa St. Claire if he ever ran into her, but he’d failed to take into account just how badly his temper would flare. He normally played things exceptionally close to the vest, but evidently all bets were off with Teresa.
“Ruined his life? Your father was my mentor.” Her pleading tone only made her that much more unlikable. “I’ve always cared deeply about him. He helped me get my start in business. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play coy with me. It’s insulting.” Tension spread across his shoulders and back like a sickness. Although it had been seven years since he last saw Teresa, he would never forget her. Not because she was beautiful, although she was regrettably gorgeous—tall and willowy with long blond hair and striking blue eyes. She was apparently the sort of woman his father had a weakness for. Teresa St. Claire had convinced his father to stray outside his marriage. She was the reason his parents split. She was the reason his mother’s heart had been irrevocably shattered.
“I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Teresa was either in denial or the type of person who would willingly lie to make herself look good. He had no patience for either. He cleared his throat and stuffed his hands into his pockets. Where was Matt? Liam wanted nothing more than to let his best friend know whom he was about to meet with so he could have Teresa escorted from the building and, hopefully, his life.
“What are you and Mr. Richmond meeting about today?” she asked.
“Not that I owe you an explanation, but we’re announcing a partnership during his retreat.”
“Maybe that’s why Matt double-booked his time. I’m organizing the entire event. Perhaps he wanted us to discuss the details.”
This was not happening. “You can wager as many guesses as you want, but it’s not going to matter. Matt and I have been best friends since college. We are each other’s closest confidants. You won’t be organizing anything I’m involved with. And I also won’t let you take advantage of my best friend.”
Teresa visibly winced. A part of him was glad he could get to her like this, but he took no real pleasure in making threats. He only knew that he could not work with Teresa. His partnership with Matt’s company on the Sasha artificial-intelligence project had been years and millions of dollars in the making. Plus, he had to let Matt know whom he was dealing with.
“Is there some sort of jealousy here? Are you upset that your father helped me all those years ago? I realize he went above and beyond what most mentors might do, but we were very close. He believed in me.”
Jealousy? Teresa had a real talent for twisting things back on other people. “Jealous is the last thing I am. More like disgusted.” Liam turned his back to Teresa and spotted Matt making his way down the hall. Liam met him at the doorway. “We have to talk about her.”
“Mr. Richmond, whatever he’s about to say, I can explain.” Teresa was right behind Liam, craning her neck over his shoulder to get a glimpse of Matt. The desperation in her voice reeked of false drama. There was no explaining away what she’d done, and she knew it.
“Matt, you trust me, right?” Liam asked.
“Of course.” Matt looked beyond bewildered, which wasn’t an expression Liam had seen many times on his friend’s face. Matt was the calm and collected guy with his finger on the pulse of everything. It was impossible to catch him by surprise, which was part of the reason Matt and Liam had hit it off the very first day they met. They both prided themselves on being unflappable. They simply pulled it off in very different ways.
Liam glanced over at Teresa. Her vivid blue eyes were wide, darting back and forth between Matt and him. It would have been so easy to cut her off at the knees, but Liam wasn’t going to let her off the hook so easy. She could try to explain herself to Matt. “Whatever you’ve hired her to do, whatever business arrangement you two have, you’ll do yourself a favor if you end it right here. She can’t be trusted.”
“Mr. Richmond, I have no earthly idea what Liam is talking about. And whatever he may think of me, I assure you that has no bearing on my abilities as an event planner.”
Matt shook his head, still seeming confused. He turned to Liam. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
“She and I have a history. Or more specifically, she and my father. But I think you should have her explain it.” Every dirty detail.
Matt sighed and pulled Liam aside. “Look, she and I are weeks into planning the retreat. I’d rather not throw all of that work away. This event is already taking on a life of its own. Give me a chance to meet with her and I’ll catch up with you later, okay?”
Liam knew Matt had a point. Letting business and personal matters intermingle was never a good idea. Matt