Alien in the House

Ballroom. You two want to join us?”
    Christopher shook his head. “We can’t. We have to do a . . . thing. Before the party.”
    “A thing? Dude, you’re normally more verbal than that.”
    “He’s trying to be discreet, but I don’t know why,” Amy said. “It’s taken forever, due to so many reasons, most of them highly classified, but my father’s estate is finally being settled. We need to meet with my lawyer.”
    “Why so, Ames? You’re his only child, and LaRue’s dead and she had no children. At least, I sincerely hope she had no children.” LaRue Demorte Gaultier had been Amy’s father’s mistress, and then his second wife. She’d ended up redefining the term “wicked stepmother” before getting shot by her own side during the big space showdown that I called Operation Destruction. “Who else could possibly be contesting the will or expecting to inherit?”
    “The Board of Directors for Gaultier Enterprises. They want to have full control of the company.” Amy had a look on her face I was familiar with—her “nothing’s gonna stop me” look. “But I’m not going to let that happen. I believe the legal papers will prove that I’m the majority stockholder. And that means I’ll be taking over Gaultier Enterprises.”



CHAPTER 2
    “A MES, GO YOU!”
    “I know she can do it,” Christopher said, as he put his arm around Amy and hugged her. “But it’s going to take a lot of focus. And her being married to an alien isn’t helping. At all.” In a move that made me just a tad nervous, Christopher wasn’t glaring—he looked worried.
    “Whatever.” Amy hugged him back. “Being married into the A-C clan isn’t as much of a detriment to the Board as you think it is. Us not being evil psychos who want to destroy and rule the world? That’s a bigger issue for the Board.”
    “Fabulous. While you guys are tangling with them, don’t forget to eyeball who might be the next Bad Guy du Jour. ’Cause you know that no matter how many times we knock one down, another one’s always ready to take his or her place.”
    “We will do,” Amy said. “My money’s on Ansom Parker, Janelle Gardiner, or Quinton Cross. With my father gone, they’ve all been jockeying to become Chairman of the Board. But the corporation and his will were set up so that if he died, LaRue was the instant successor. With both of them missing and presumed dead, the corporation, the Board, and I have had to get my father and LaRue both declared legally dead, and we only have an interim Chairman.”
    “Yeah, the problem with our jobs and lives is that we do a lot of things we can’t tell anyone about.”
    Amy shrugged. “Better this than what we’d all go through having to explain how all these horrible people ‘disappeared.’”
    “As long as it doesn’t get discovered,” Christopher said, looking even more worried.
    Amy kissed his cheek. “As far as anyone knows, accidents have happened and we’re all very sad we haven’t been able to recover bodies.” She winked at me as they left, Christopher still looking concerned.
    “Think Amy will actually take over Gaultier Enterprises?” Jeff asked.
    “I think it’s really likely, yeah.”
    “Think anyone’s going to question the official causes of death on our long list of now-dead enemies?”
    “No idea. I’m just hoping they don’t question you, Christopher, or just about any other A-C.”
    “I know, I know. We can’t lie. It’s a good trait.”
    “In a husband, absolutely. In a politician or when being questioned by people who can’t know the truth? Maybe not as helpful.” I sighed. “I, however, have a more urgent problem. I need to finish wrapping Jamie’s presents, but Pierre needs us, and James is on his way.”
    Jeff grinned and kissed me. He was the best kisser in, by my estimate, the entire galaxy, and his kiss did to me what it always did—made me forget about anything else other than getting our clothes off.
    He ended our kiss and laughed. “No, baby, we don’t have time for me to make you that kind of happy. But give me a second, and I can solve a different problem.”
    That Jeff knew I was ready to go was based some on experience but mostly on the fact that he was the strongest empath in the galaxy. Therefore, I knew he was aware of my disappointment.
    Which quickly turned to joy, as he used hyperspeed to wrap the remainder of Jamie’s gifts. I had hyperspeed now, but I didn’t trust it for delicate stuff, and