“I.... um... you....,” Amber closed her mouth as his words registered, and a subtle flush crept above her collar. Unable to think of a reply, she turned elsewhere and pretended to search her backpack instead. Amber had assumed he wanted to make sure she showed up, so she answered accordingly. It never dawned on her he was going to cancel—would cancel. “Of course,” Amber finally mumbled incoherently, sounding like a floundering fool, even to her own ears.

“You’ll save me a seat, won’t you?” Hunter’s whispered timber was for her only. Dark. Intense. Like whisky and chocolate. His voice reverberated against her skin, skated down her neck, and grazed her breasts. Amber’s fingers tightened unconsciously inside the bag, trying to steady the thundering of her heart against her ribcage.

Was he teasing her or trying to tempt her? Not that she was complaining, only it did nothing to fan the crackling flames.

“I haven’t thought about it.” Amber lied and pulled out her binder. Of course, she’d save him a spot, but he didn’t need to know that. And why were they still having this conversation? All she wanted now was to be left alone to reflect on her own mortification.

Hunter laughed suddenly, inviting attention from Nathan. He straightened in his seat at the random noise, and the pen in his mouth slipped, gawking at Bossman, wondering if he’d gone insane.

At that moment, Amber’s cellphone rang, the vibration jolting her out of her thoughts. It was a ringtone she recognized, and she spun away to pick up the call, grateful for the interruption. “Amber can’t come to the phone right now. Please leave a message after the beep. Beeeeeep.”

“You can only fool me once,” the dry tone on the other end responded, “I won’t fall for it again.”

It was true. Amber pulled the same trick during her freshman year and had been greatly entertained and somewhat baffled, listening, as her dad fell for it. He proceeded to leave her a message before disconnecting the phone, all with Amber still on the line. Sadly, it was the first and last time he fell for the gimmick after she came clean.

“Hi, Dad,” Amber chuckled, peeking out the window. Like Nathan stated, they were on the second floor of the building. She regarded the students outside, prancing back and forth to their next destination. “I missed you, too.”

“When will you return?” In a despairing voice, “Your mom is a slave driver!” There was a pause, followed by background noise before, “... and she has the hearing of a bat. Come home. Soon. Pleeassseee?”

“You and mom can be so dramatic. It’s only been two weeks.”

“Two weeks too long,” Done being dramatic as his daughter claimed, he turned businesslike, “Anyway, just got out of a Board meeting, and there’s a rumor floating around about our rival’s son going to your school. Have you heard?”

“Yes, I have.” Amber tapped her fingers lightly against the table. She lowered her voice, hoping to drown out her conversation with the noise of other students arriving. “I didn’t realize Vice President Storm’s son is also here?”

She missed the way Nathan’s ear perked or how quiet Hunter had become.

“That’s nothing new. If you had been paying attention, you would have known that before you started. We told you, while mediocre, your campus is home to some of the best instructors in the country in information security.”

“Well, I don’t remember that conversation,” Amber tried, really, but it was too long for her to recall. “As for the rumors, I only just found out a couple of days ago, by chance.”

“Are you able to confirm?”

Why was everyone so interested in this successor anyway? “What does it matter? Why should it matter if the heir is here or not?”

“He’s your rival!”

“Uh-hm,” Amber nodded, contemplating, “Unless you plan on sacrificing your daughter to entice him and increase our fortune, it has nothing to do with us. He may be right next to me for all I care. Besides, the coward’s too scared to show himself in public so just let him hide. I’m fairly certain he’s deformed or has some sort of disease if all we have of him are rumors.”

There were spells of coughing to her left, and Amber turned to see a fraction of Nathan’s shirt coated with water. In his hand was a half-emptied bottle as he smacked his other fist against his chest to ease the coughs. His facade, a mixture of white and red, as if unable to decide whether to laugh or cry.

Is he all right? Amber mouthed to an inattentive Hunter.

“He’s fine,” Hunter claimed, disregarding Nathan or his suffering. He peered at her with an unusual look.

“Who’s that?” She almost forgot about her dad.

“Students in the background,” Amber returned to the conversation, “But honestly, Why is everyone so obsessed with him And why should I be interested?”

Her dad lowered his voice even though no one was with him but her mom and Hope. “There’s a story floating around that they’re working to gain some smaller competition. It might make or break us if it happens, so the Board’s interested.”

“Let the Board do their own dirty little work,” Amber dropped her tone as well. “Why is it always you? Besides, aren’t you on paternity leave?”

A sigh. “Amber, this is how these things function.”

She stiffened. “When I become one of the Boards, I will—”

“Amber,” It was a warning, and she held. He resumed. “No more. Forget it.”

“If I discover him, will it get them off your back?” She meant the heir.

“Stay out of it. You’re not ready yet.”

“If you keep protecting me, I never will be.” Amber rubbed her temples, a sudden headache starting. “I’ll see what I can dig up. If I turn up anything useful, I’ll let you know. Not sure how valuable the information will be, but I’ll try.”

She continued without pausing, in case her dad interrupted again. “If you wanted me to stay out of this, you wouldn’t have mentioned the heir. Besides, now I’m curious. What a spoiled brat and a real coward if he’s hiding behind his parents. Better yet, he’s probably an embarrassment; otherwise, why are there no pictures of him? Nothing. Maybe he doesn’t even exist, and it’s all a conspiracy by the company to keep us all on our toes?”

More coughing this time, again, to her left. Much noisier, too. Like something caught at the base of his throat.

Amber turned, wondering why Nathan didn’t learn his lesson earlier. She opened her mouth to tell him so, but it wasn’t Nathan. Instead, choking with moisture all over his chest, was a blonde-haired fellow with glasses sitting next to Nathan. A couple of inches taller and quite the looker. He reminded Amber of a male Brittany—towering, tan, and charming.

Good old Nathan was helping by patting the young man’s back, none too gently, either. All the while, Hunter played with his laptop, answering emails and scrolling through his phone.

Is he okay? Amber mouthed as both Nathan and the blonde man stared at her like she’d grown horns. She couldn’t tell if they wanted to laugh or mourn. They also kept glancing at Hunter, as well, almost as if afraid. Or worried. About what, Amber didn’t know.

And she didn’t want to find out.

He’s fine, he’s fine, Nathan mouthed back.

“Anyway, what about the contract with One Security?” Choke matter resolved, Amber returned, once more, to her phone. Amber may not be part of the corporate world yet, but she was still interested in what went on with her parents and her soon-to-be company. “Did they sign?”

Both of them have worked closely with the Board and One Security for a partnership for a while now. However, after six months of negotiations, they weren’t even close to signing a contract, the last she heard.

She missed the way Hunter shifted closer to her so he could pick up the exchange.

“No,” came the frustrated grunt. “One Security is asking for more money. They refuse to sign unless we add the three percent royalty on top of the fees.”

“That’s stealing!”

“Nothing we can do. The Board wants them, and whatever they want, they get.”

“Bullshit,” Amber muttered under her breath. “Our responsibility is in the interests of our members, not the Board.”

“Either way, they’ve given us until Friday afternoon to agree, or they’re walking. I’ll stall them for as long as possible, but I don’t think there’s anything else we can do.”

Amber rubbed her eyes, her brain struggling to reach a solution. “Send the contract to Aunt Mariam—”

“No,” her dad firmly stated, “You know I can’t do that.”

Amber exhaled. Sending it to Aunt Mariam probably wouldn’t have done them any good anyway, other than make sure they weren’t any hidden clauses within the fine prints.

“Anyhow, whatever you do, be careful,” He cautioned and dropped the subject. “I’ll talk to you soon.”