Powerful Men 2: Four More Alphas Who Seize Control by Carla Kane Page A

a geeky-looking young woman holding a clipboard and reading from it as she stumbled after him. Obviously an assistant of some sort.
    Lindsey smiled coolly as they approached and exhaled her breath of smoke. Too late to hide it now, the only choice was to own it proudly.
    ‘Hi,’ she said, putting her hand out as Leo and his assistant arrived before her, ‘Mr. Dewhurst, Lindsey Kennedy. It’s a pleasure to meet you at last.’
    The wealthy industrialist paused and looked her up and down. He was an exceptionally handsome and well-manicured man, but there was little in his demeanor that one might call approachable.
    ‘That her?’ he grunted to his assistant as he stared at Lindsey from behind the opaque barrier of his shades.
    ‘Uh yes sir,’ the girl answered, ‘Lindsey Kennedy.’
    ‘You didn’t tell me she was a smoker.’
    ‘I – ’ the assistant began, before lowering her eyes. ‘No sir.’ It was the behavior of someone who knew better than to argue, regardless of whether they were right or wrong.
    Lindsey for her part was astonished by the rudeness of the man. She’d heard he could be curt but this was pretty damn offensive here – even if he was a billionaire.
    ‘Ok,’ Leo said bluntly, apparently to no one in particular, and then stepped onto the gangway without another word. He continued onto the deck and into the cabin of the yacht.
    Lindsey turned to the assistant. ‘Do I follow him?’ she asked.
    The girl shook her head vigorously. ‘Oh no,’ she said, ‘that wouldn’t be a good idea. He’ll call for you when he’s ready.’
    ‘I see,’ Lindsey nodded, half pitying the girl and half-ways feeling slightly disgusted by her too. She seemed like she was terrified and in awe of Dewhurst, like he was a Greek god or something.
    ‘You shouldn’t smoke, you know,’ the assistant advised as Lindsey drew another line on the cigarette. ‘ it’s a sign of weakness.’
    Lindsey smiled with tight lips. This girl should learn to watch her mouth. She shrugged. ‘Well we all have our vices,’ she said and then dropped the butt on the ground, crushing it beneath her expensive heels.
    ‘I’m only trying to help,’ the girl said, twirling her frizzy hair and peering at Lindsey sideways from behind her huge spectacles. ‘Mr. Dewhurst can be very sensitive and temperamental about these things. It’s best not to give him any excuse to get angry with you.’
    Angry, Lindsey wondered? It was a strange choice of word. ‘Sure,’ she said, ‘thanks.’ Maybe the kid wasn’t so bad after all, just misguided.
    ‘So you’re his assistant then?’
    ‘Yes,’ the girl said, ‘one of them anyway.’
    ‘Do you like it?’
    The girl lowered her eyes shyly as though she had something to hide. ‘Well it is a wonderful opportunity,’ she said, ‘I mean I get to travel all over the world, meet the most powerful people alive. Who else can say that?’
    Who indeed, Lindsey observed. Well maybe she could – if she managed to pull this off today anyway. And if she did, it certainly wouldn’t be in the vocation of anybody’s personal coffee and doughnuts girl either. She smiled. ‘You’re absolutely right,’ she said to the assistant.
    Just then, the Cuban dock workers began to file down the gangplank and off the yacht.
    ‘Miss Kennedy,’ Leo Dewhurst called from on deck, ‘ come aboard. We’re ready to raise anchor.’
    Lindsey nodded at the billionaire and then turned towards the gangway, waiting for the workers to all get off. ‘Aren’t you coming?’ she asked the assistant, noticing that the girl hadn’t moved.
    ‘No,’ she answered, ‘Mr. Dewhurst will be travelling alone today.’
    ‘Ok,’ Lindsey nodded, ‘well it was nice meeting you then.’ As more of the maintenance staff left the vessel, Lindsey wondered if the girl meant completely alone. There certainly didn’t seem to be anybody else staying behind anyway. Wasn’t that a little… unconventional, to say the least?
    At last