Wronged (The Cuvier Widows Book 1) by Sylvia McDaniel Page A

along to her
office, as if she did this every day.”
    The accountant shook his head. “I have never
seen a woman quite as cool as that one. You should have seen her.
George was ranting and raving, while she just stood there like they
were chatting about the weather.”
    “How long have they been in her office?”
Louis asked, beginning to realize how this would affect the way the
men saw Marian.
    “Getting close to an hour. It took Jon over
thirty minutes to find you.”
    Henry walked away and then one of the
shipping clerks came over. “Mr. Fournet, is Mrs. Cuvier all right?
The men say that she’s still talking with that bastard.”
    “She’s fine, Charles. I checked on her.”
    “You missed a mighty good show, Mr. Fournet.
She didn’t back down an inch, but took him back to her office like
she was inviting him to tea. You should be glad you weren’t
here.”
    “Why’s that?” Louis asked.
    “We would have lost the account. He planned
to show you how much money he’d lost and then never do business
with us again, besides giving you a good tongue lashing.”
    “Yeah, I heard about the tongue lashing.”
    For a moment Louis felt a touch of jealousy.
Marian had not only calmed the man, she suddenly was someone the
employees looked up to, all because she’d saved their biggest
account. He heard her laughter and glanced toward her office. The
two of them were coming down the hall talking like old friends.
    When they reached the foyer, Marian saw him
standing over at the side.
    “Louis, you’ve returned,” she said, and then
turned to their customer. “Mr. Morgan, did you still want to speak
with Louis?”
    The man glanced at him, his brows drawing
together in a frown. “Louis, it’s a damn good thing you weren’t
here earlier or we wouldn’t be doing business together anymore. But
Mrs. Cuvier has straightened everything out and guaranteed my
shipments from here on out.” He glanced at Marian. “She’s an
excellent addition to your staff and I want only her handling my
shipments from here on.”
    A sliver of apprehension attached itself to
his spine. What had Marian promised this man? “Certainly, Mr.
Morgan.”
    The customer turned his attention back to
Marian. “I enjoyed our meeting very much and next time I’m in town,
I hope that you will let me escort you to lunch.”
    “That would be my pleasure, Mr. Morgan.”
    Louis felt ill. Obviously her sense of grace
and charm had easily persuaded the man.
    George Morgan tipped his hat and strolled out
the door. Louis couldn’t help but wonder how this would affect
Marian’s stature in the company.
    It didn’t take long to find out
    The men in the room surrounded Marian,
clapped her on the back and congratulated her as if she were one of
them. This was the damage Louis realized that George Morgan had
done. The ruin of his carefully built world where Marian was left
in the cold.
    Once again he was losing this little chess
match they played for control of the business.
    “Marian, may I see you in your office?” he
asked.
    Everyone glanced at him, his sharp tone
indicative of the feelings that seemed almost to overwhelm him.
    The two of them walked into her office and
Louis shut the door with a decisive click.
    She started to pace the small office.
    “Oh, Louis, I’m so glad you weren’t here. I
was so afraid at first, but then I realized it was up to me to
handle this situation. I just went out there and decided I would do
whatever is necessary to make him a satisfied customer,” she
rambled on, apparently not noticing his mood.
    She turned and faced him, a funny expression
crossing her face. “Is something wrong?”
    “What did you promise George Morgan to make
him keep his business with us?” he asked. “You do realize he’s our
largest account?”
    Marian glanced at him quizzically. “Yes, I
know that I’ve come across entire ledgers with the name of his
company on them.”
    “So what made him decide to continue with
Cuvier