Full Bloom

supplied the tape to her father. It wasn't the first time Stone had stepped into her world and rearranged things with a heavy hand. She tried to tell herself that her past fantasies about him were just that: fantasies. The truth was, Jacob Stone was a very unlikable man. A hard, ruthless, unrelenting man.
    "Well, Emily," Gifford said quietly, "you've managed to get yourself into trouble again. Do you understand now why I asked you to come here today?"
    Emily forced herself to take three deep breaths before she answered. The first rule of assertiveness was to stay calm and in control. Then she arched her eyebrows above the frames of her round glasses and scanned the concerned faces of her mother, Catherine, and her older brother, Drake, before she met her father's stern gaze. She ignored Stone, who had still not moved in the shadows.
    "Let me guess," she said with artificial lightness. "You didn't invite me here to discuss the loan I've requested, right?"
    "Emily!" Catherine stared at her daughter, appalled. "What's the matter with you? This is a very serious situation. According to this tape you are about to announce your engagement to a man who plans to use you to take control of Ravenscroft International. Your father has outlined the evidence Jacob has gathered for us. This is not a joking matter. You must put an end to your relationship with Damon Morrell immediately."
    Emily gritted her teeth and kept her faint smile in place. She looked at her mother. Catherine Ravenscroft was nearing sixty, but she was still a striking woman who managed to look at least fifteen years younger than her age. Although she was a Ravenscroft by marriage, not by blood, she had the family coloring. Her smoothly coiffed hair had once been jet black. Now it was artfully streaked with silver.
    Catherine had brown eyes, too, which, if not exactly the true amber of a Ravenscroft's gaze, were close enough to fool most observers. Altogether she fitted in very well with the others. Her family had lost its considerable fortune somewhere along the way years ago, but along with her striking features, Catherine had also brought a good old-stock pedigree into the family. She was very conscious of her background and rigidly determined that Emily, her unexpected late-in-life daughter, make a marriage that suited what she saw as Emily's position in the world.
    Tonight Emily's mother was dressed with her usual elegantly casual flair in a pair of khaki silk pants and a cream-colored blouse. There was a delicate rope of gold and diamonds around her throat.
    Emily struggled to recall the techniques she had learned in her assertiveness training class.
Do not argue. Do not provide a target that can be attacked
.
    "You and Dad and Drake have all gone to a great deal of effort, and I assure you I'm quite impressed." Emily transferred her smile to her black-haired older brother and then to her father. "It's obvious you all put in a lot of time on this project, and I'm quite flattered that you once again felt it necessary to call in Mr. Stone to do the dirty work. I realize his time is quite expensive. But then, I suspect he enjoys this sort of job."
    There was a soft gasp of annoyance from Catherine Ravenscroft, and Drake's amber eyes flickered assessingly. Stone himself did not bother to react to the insult. But Gifford Ravenscroft glared at his daughter. It was obvious he was angry, but it was equally clear he was somewhat perplexed. He had not been prepared for this cool flippancy from the daughter he had always thought of as naive and emotional.
    "Your mother is right, Emily. This is no time for jokes or insults. Your relationship with Morrell must be terminated immediately. The man is not interested in you. That tape and the accompanying evidence demonstrate that beyond a shadow of a doubt. His only interest is in taking control of Ravenscroft International or crippling the firm. He plans to do that by marrying you. Why Mother took it into her head on her deathbed to leave you enough shares to ensure you a seat on RI's board of directors will always be a mystery to me."
    "She must have been out of her mind," Catherine said with a sigh. "But she always was a bit strange, what with her unbusinesslike ideas about how to run things."
    "Calm down, Dad," Emily said, deliberately trying for a tone of careless amusement. Her grandmother had died almost two years ago, shortly after Jacob Stone had left for a foreign office of RI. It had been a turning point in