Caress Read Free Page A

at those times she thanked the Lord for the temperance of her mother. So, while there was bitterness in her voice when she told her father she would take the first plane out and handle the situation, she soon calmed down and focused on her need to set things right. Her father wouldn’t even have to leave the island if he didn’t want to. But Nya would not leave this story out there without addressing it. Neither would she bury her head in the sand nor stick her nose so far up in the air that she ignored the reality of their dire straits.
    Beneath her genuine worry over this issue and how it would affect the company, she was more concerned about Nyron. He might not show it, but this debacle had wounded her father to the core; it would certainly damage the global legacy he had built. To the world, Hatsheput was synonymous with creativity and social responsibility. This hint of impropriety would forever call that into question. Nyron wasn’t as young and hearty as he had once been. She didn’t know what having his company and family besmirched would do to his health. Maybe she didn’t always like him, but Nya didn’t want to lose her father.
    She was going to contact the Harrison Tribune and have them apologize for the article and print their side of the story. The business had been cut deep, but hopefully she could staunch the blood flow or at least orchestrate a transfusion in the form of good press. Even though she didn’t agree with it, her father had ignored the reporter’s request for an audience for good reason. The investigators had already sent the message that too much press would be detrimental to their process, that it might tip off anyone who was implicated before they had enough evidence to convict. In an inexplicable, irresponsible act, the Harrison Tribune had taken that option away.
    Hatsheput could no longer afford to stay quiet. The newspaper had let the cat out of the bag and now her family’s company had to appeal to the public with an explanation to save the company. Vendors and buyers alike would also be skittish if they believed association with Hatsheput would put them in a negative light. She would have to handle that as well. Nya didn’t kid herself about the situation. If she pulled it off, perhaps her father would show some gratitude and reward her with what she really wanted.
    From the moment her mother had revealed that Nya’s father would be retiring as president of Hatsheput in the fall, Nya had felt a constant and nagging pressure to work even harder, hoping her single-minded dedication would prove to her father that she was the one person to succeed him. It was no secret her father didn’t want her to run the company. He had always tried to discourage her involvement in the family business. All his efforts had made her even more determined to run the company one day. God, if her father only knew the dreams she had for the company! She prayed she handled this situation so well that he finally would see her as worthy of taking the reins of their art empire.
    She had to succeed and succeed quickly. Nyron was embarrassed and, as he had done for years, he was going to take it out on her. Within a day or two, he would be back, demanding to meet with the Harrison Tribune ’s editor-in-chief. Here he was coming back to take control of a situation he’d chosen to ignore until she had taken up the gauntlet. There was no way on God’s green earth she was going to give her father the chance to be a hero. That time had passed.
    Soon Nya found what she was looking for, the phone number of the Harrison Tribune ’s editor-in-chief. Briefly, Nya considered contacting their legal eagles before making the call, knowing they were obsessively loyal to her father and probably wouldn’t advise her without him. She punched in Claudia Harrison’s number anyway.
    “Excuse me, Ms. Seymour?” Ms. Harrison said on the other end after Nya identified herself. Her tone seemed non-confrontational but