Chapter 6

Alycia pushed open the heavy glass door of the VIP lounge and practically fell inside. She set Julian down on a plush leather sofa in the corner, her hands still shaking slightly.

Before she could even sit down, the door banged open again.

Her uncle Alastair rushed in. His tie was loosened, his hair was a mess, and sweat was pouring down his forehead. He looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

"Ellie, I'm so sorry," Alastair panted, collapsing into the chair across from her. "The Silicon Valley team just called. It's a disaster."

Julian sat quietly, sipping from a juice box, watching his great-uncle panic.

Alycia forced her own fear down. She leaned forward. "What happened, Uncle Alastair?"

Alastair pulled a thick, heavily redacted luxury textile and brand licensing contract from his briefcase and threw it on the coffee table. "The new fashion line infrastructure project. We are three weeks behind schedule. The investors are threatening to trigger the penalty clause. It will bankrupt my firm."

Alycia frowned. She reached out and pulled the contract toward her. She flipped to the last page to check the jurisdiction and the plaintiff's details.

Her eyes hit the signature line.

Hiram Houston. The signature was sharp, aggressive, and written in black ink.

Her pupils dilated. Her stomach twisted into a painful knot. The man she just bumped into. The man who threw her in a trunk. He was the one holding the knife to her family's throat.

She knew exactly how Hiram Houston operated. He would crush Alastair without blinking.

Alycia didn't hesitate. She unzipped her bag, pulled out her MacBook, and flipped it open. Her fingers flew across the keyboard. The terrified mother vanished, replaced instantly by the ruthless Manhattan top designer and brand strategist.

She didn't just scan the document; she knew Alastair's business inside and out. She spent several agonizing minutes cross-referencing the clauses with her deep knowledge of global supply chains, her eyes darting between the dense legal jargon and the attached design specifications.

"Got it," she breathed, pointing to a convoluted paragraph on page eighteen. "Mr. Houston's team made a mistake. The design specifications for the new luxury line have a critical flaw in the fabric sourcing timeline. The force majeure clause regarding these specific European mills is completely ambiguous."

She grabbed Alastair's phone from the table, found the contact for the Houston Group liaison, and hit dial.

The phone rang twice.

"Houston Group, C.J. speaking," the voice answered, sounding bored and ready to hang up.

"This is Alycia Gillespie, lead design consultant for Alastair Tech," Alycia fired back, her voice sharp as a razor. "If you trigger the penalty clause based on Section 4B, I will publicly pull my brand's endorsement and expose the manufacturing flaw in your flagship line, delaying your launch by months and tanking your holiday quarter."

There was dead silence on the line.

Three seconds later, there was a click. The call was transferred.

"You have exactly thirty seconds to explain why you are threatening my company," a low, vibrating voice came through the speaker.

Hiram.

Alycia's grip on the phone tightened until her knuckles turned white. He recognized her voice. She could hear it in the slight shift of his tone.

"I'm not threatening, Mr. Houston. I'm stating a market fact," Alycia said, her voice steady, refusing to back down. "Your contract is flawed. If you sue, the project halts completely. You lose millions."

Hiram let out a low, dark chuckle. It sent a shiver down her spine. "You're bluffing, consultant. I have an army of lawyers who will bury you."

"Then let them try," Alycia snapped back. "But while we are in court, your competitors will launch their luxury models first. You lose the market share."

She hit him exactly where it hurt. His wallet.

Hiram went silent. The tension over the phone line was thick enough to cut with a knife. He was annoyed, but she could tell he was also intrigued. No one talked to him like this.

"Fine," Hiram finally said, his voice cold. "Alastair gets a one-week extension. But on one condition."

"Name it," Alycia said, her jaw clenched.

"You act as the personal design guarantor for the project. If he fails, I come after you."

Alycia looked at Alastair's terrified face. She swallowed the bile in her throat. "Deal."

Hiram hung up. The dial tone echoed in the quiet lounge.

Alastair grabbed Alycia's hands, tears welling in his eyes. "Ellie, thank you. You saved me."

Alycia slowly closed her laptop. She hid her trembling fingers under the table. She had just tied herself directly to the one man she was trying to run away from.