Love Unspoken

there too. If Mr. Kennedy bails, they're gonna be pissed."

He explained, "Mr. Wright's a big deal. He has always wanted to meet Mr. Kennedy, but Mr. Kennedy kept postponing. Two months ago, he invited Kennedy to this gathering, and Mr. Kennedy said yes. A bunch of other clients are gonna be But there was more to it. The Mellon Group wasn't under Alexander's name. He was the puppet master, pulling strings from the shadows, never showing his face.

So, everyone wanted to see if Alexander was really the person behind it all.

Quinn opened the file bag and pulled out an invite. The address was Amber Bay. Setting it there showed they were serious.

If she blew them off again, it'd be a bad look.

They weren't some small-time operation. If she kept snubbing their invites, why would they still wanna work with her? "So, what now?" Quinn asked.

Nobody had a clue where Alexander was. How were they supposed to find an Alexander to show up?

Thinking about Alexander made Quinn's heart ache.

She couldn't help but wonder, 'Is Alexander even alive? It's been so long. If he was, why hasn't he come back?'

Kyle saw she was upset and tried to change the subject. "Mrs. Kennedy, let's figure out how to handle this first." Quinn snapped back, her fingers fidgeting with the folder, eyes locked on the office door.

"Walter, you done eavesdropping?" Quinn suddenly asked.

Kyle was caught off guard and turned to look.

Next thing, Walter strolled in, grinning, not even embarrassed. "Ms. Mellon, what can I do for you?" he asked. "You're going as Alexander," Quinn ordered.

Walter chuckled. "That might not fly, right?"

"You were the VP of the Kennedy Group. You've met these folks, they know you. Just showing up will explain everything," Quinn said. Walter said seriously, "Good idea, but they wanna see Alexander."

"You work for me, so you do what I say. I don't care how, just handle it," Quinn said firmly.

Worried Walter might screw things up, she added, "Don't piss them off, and don't mess up my deals."

"Ms. Mellon, you sure know how to give a guy a tough job," Walter said, still smiling, clearly confident.

"If you can't do it, don't bother coming to work," Quinn snapped.

Walter looked at her, his smile widening. After a beat, he said, "Alright, but you gotta come with me." Quinn frowned. "I have to go too?"

"If you don't, how will they believe me?" Walter shot back.

He had a point. Quinn thought it over and agreed. She'd have to meet these clients eventually.

The meeting was on the weekend, three days away.

Quinn needed to get to know these people. She asked Kyle to get the guest list and study their personalities.

Kyle moved fast and got the list the next day, showing seven or eight partners.

She'd been swamped these past two days, barely catching a break. She couldn't even figure out what was eating up her time. How could there be so much work before she even officially took over the company? She even wondered if when Alexander said he was busy, he really was and not just making excuses to avoid coming home.