“But it is the kind of business that fits quite nicely with Harcourt & Sons,” she explained. “It’s the only major antiquarian bookseller in London that’s on a par with H&S Books. The owner is old. He wants to retire, but he doesn’t want to sell to just anyone. He’s been annoyed at Harcourt & Sons for some time now for the aggressive way they’ve gone after rare books. He finds it a bit unseemly. He’s from an era that considered the pursuit of rare editions to be a gentleman’s sport.”
“So we help him to get his revenge,” Richard said slowly. “And in the process, we annoy the daylights out of William Harcourt.”
Destiny beamed at him. “Precisely. It’s the last thing he’ll be expecting. Right now all of his attention is on the Fortnum Travel deal.”
“But will he really care? This is nothing to a man like Harcourt.”
“In dollars and cents, yes,” she agreed. “But not in importance. H&S Books is the cornerstone of the company, their prestige division. It was William’s great-grandmother’s creation. It has huge sentimental value, if not financial significance. William won’t be happy if he thinks we’re about to invest major money in his competition and target it for expansion. And it will send a clear message that if he continues to go after us, we’ll go after him, business by business, first books, then tea, then clothing, until we have competition not just in England, but all over Europe.”
Richard regarded her with evident surprise. “You really do have a knack for this, don’t you? And a rather bloodthirsty eagerness to go for the jugular.”
“Well, of course I do,” Destiny said impatiently. “Nobody messes with my family and gets away with it. Making William sit up and take notice will be my pleasure.”
“It’s not all about getting even with Harcourt,” Richard warned. “We do have a company to run over there. Some of our existing businesses are not performing to our expectations. Those need to be addressed, too.”
“I know that and I have plans for each and every one of them. This,” she said, gesturing toward the folder, “is just for the fun of it.”
Richard laughed. “Let me go over these figures again tonight.”
“Don’t take too long. I want to arrive in London with guns blazing.”
“This is only a BB shot,” Richard reminded her.
“Even a BB shot hurts when you’re not expecting it and it hits you where you live,” Destiny retorted.
“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Richard said, regarding her with evident approval for the first time since they’d set off down this road.
“Darling, you could never get on my bad side,” she assured him. “You’re family, and no matter how annoying you might become, family always forgives and forgets.”
“Good to know.”
Even as she left her nephew to ponder her suggested strategy, she couldn’t help wondering if William was going to be shocked that she could come after him the way she intended to, given the feelings they’d once shared. Probably. He seemed to have missed the fact that nothing was more important to her than family. He hadn’t gotten it twenty years ago, and it was plain he didn’t get it now.
That was just one reason she wanted to arrive in London with an unmistakable message. Apparently William wasn’t too smart about subtleties and nuances. She was going to have to deliver a direct hit, then see to it that she kept them coming until he abandoned the fight and went crawling back to whatever country estate he was living on these days.
* * *
Richard had an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach as he reread Destiny’s proposal for taking over the small but prestigious London bookseller she’d targeted. On the one hand, it didn’t make a lick of sense to acquire Jameson’s Booksellers. It would be a nuisance purchase, requiring them to track down or train someone with the necessary expertise to make a success of it, to make it a worthy rival for H&S Books. On the other hand, he could see precisely why Destiny thought it would be a nice opening salvo against Harcourt.
He tried to put his finger on what was really bothering him. It wasn’t the cash outlay. That was peanuts to a corporation the size of Carlton Industries. It wasn’t the energy likely to be expended on making and then following through with such an acquisition. So what was it?
Melanie came into his den after putting their daughter down for the night, took one look at him and murmured, “Uh-oh.”
He met her gaze. “What?”
“I know that expression.” She came and sat on his lap and traced the crease in his brow. “You’re worrying about something. And since I recognize Destiny’s handwriting on that file, I assume it has something to do with her.”
“You’re too smart for your own good,” he murmured, breathing in the flowery scent she’d dabbed on while she was upstairs. It would be very easy right now to forget all about business and spend the rest of the evening in bed with his wife, working on the expansion plan they had in mind for their family. Maybe the prospect of another baby would cut short Destiny’s European adventure and get her back home again.
“I have to be smart to keep up with you two,” Melanie said. “What’s Destiny done now?”
“Nothing yet,” he admitted. “But she has an idea she wants to pursue the minute she gets to London.”
“A bad idea?”
“Not really.”
“An expensive idea?”
“Not at all.”
“Is it dangerous? I mean to her, personally.”
“No,” he admitted.
“Then what’s the problem?”
Richard sighed. “I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe you can.” He described Destiny’s scheme, then asked, “What do you think?”
“I think it’s ingenious,” she said at once. “She’s going to be an invaluable asset, you know. Is that what you’re having trouble admitting?”
“Of course not. I’ve always respected her intelligence. And I’ve always known she was clever. She got the two of us together, didn’t she?”
“Over your
