Determined & Derailed (Storm Corp Book 1) Read online

  Determined and Derailed

  Storm Corp Series

  By Gracie Wilson

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  © 2014 Gracie Wilson

  Published by Beau Coup Publishing

  http://beaucoupllc.com

  Cover by JRA Stevens

  For Beau Coup Publishing

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

  What happens when you stumble upon something you can’t turn a blind eye to? In one blinding instant my life is turned upside down.

  During all the chaos that has become my life, I find friendships are tested, loyalties are betrayed and those left whom I love are put in danger or killed.

  I can only count on me. Three men are in my life, but they each have their own motives. My only motive is to make it out of this alive. I don’t even know if that is possible

  My name is Alexis Storm and my answer to the storm which my life has become is to fight back at all costs – to survive.

  Prologue

  My parents were dead and my brother Lucas, well, he’d been declared dead for several months now, after his car had taken a dive. Isn’t that just a wonderful start to my story? I was all alone with no family. I had more money available to me than sense, but no desire to do anything with it other than to make my mark in the world. Shouldn’t money make me happy? That’s what everyone says, right? My parents died in a plane crash when I was sixteen. My brother was twenty-one and inherited the family company. We were one of the leading technology companies in the country. My brother took after my dad and was a genius when it came to technology. Not me. I was lucky to not kill my computer most days.

  That all had to change when my brother had his accident. It was three days after my nineteenth birthday. He had an extravagant party for me and made it so special. He had pictures from our family vacations and a speech that brought the whole room to tears. My brother loved me and there was no doubt about that. Our friends were there to support us, as we had no other family but each other. We’d made our own family. I was on cloud nine that night. Then I got a call from Nolan saying that my brother disappeared and no one knew where he was. At that moment my world stopped. My brother was all I had and he too was gone. I had a company to run and people depending on me. So I went into hyper drive and did what I had to. I had to work twice as hard to be as good as he was. Now, I was ready to take this city by Storm.

  Chapter One

  It had been almost a year since my brother disappeared, or died, as much as I hated to say it. My birthday was in a week and it was a constant reminder that he’d been gone that whole time. I lived in the same penthouse that my brother bought us in New York after our parents died. I wanted to sell it, but Nolan thought I’d regret it. He was probably right, but all I saw was my brother and continuously thought he was going to walk out of his bedroom. But that never happened. It wouldn’t, because my brother, Lucas Storm, was dead. It had been all over the news and it was back with a vengeance as the one year anniversary approached. I’d changed immensely since his death. I was so sheltered and completely dependent. Now I was all alone. I had my old friends, some new ones too. I also had Nolan Nathans. We met when he was twelve and I was seven. He and my brother made their own entertainment by pestering me nonstop.

  As we grew up together my parents and his dad always had us together. It just made sense our dads seemed to love talking everything business. Mr. Nathans was the owner of the largest investment firm in New York and my dad invested with them. Mrs. Nathans passed away when Nolan was thirteen from breast cancer. She was sick when we met the Nathans and died a year later. I remembered going to the funeral, my brother having his arm on Nolan’s shoulder while I held his other hand. He didn’t shed a single tear that day. All I thought at the time was how strong he was, because I couldn’t do it, I’d be a mess. Then my parents died and he was there for me. I, however, wailed the entire service. My brother and Nolan became my rocks. My brother always told me to trust Nolan like he was Lucas. If ever he wasn’t around, to go to Nolan. Then my brother disappeared after my party and I didn’t want a rock. I wanted to be left alone. Not to heal, but to numb my pain.

  I tried to go away to school, but Nolan said I couldn’t with the obligations at the company. Our headquarters were out of New York and I didn’t do much but sign some papers once in a while. Nolan did most of it. After my parents passed away in the plane crash, my brother and Nolan left school and started taking care of the company. When he disappeared, I couldn’t do it and Nolan stepped up again. As much as he was an annoyance, he was all I had. He made sure I had the best of everything, even when he knew that didn’t matter to me.

  I attended NYU, choosing to study Engineering and Business. I’d completed my second year and made the dean’s list both years. Nolan continued to tell me how proud he was, but I was doing this so I could follow in the family business. I was headed toward art and music. I was a singer. Until the day my brother disappeared. However, life gives you a kick in the ass and you have to pick up and move on to bigger and better. I’d come a long way and now was a force to be reckoned with when it came to my schooling. I would never replace Nolan, he was family and should be in our company, but I wanted to graduate and be a more active CEO instead of in name only, like I currently was.

  Walking by my brother’s room, I decided to go in. I hadn’t been in since just after his funeral. The maid went in and cleaned, but she wasn’t allowed to move anything. I knew it wasn’t healthy, but I just couldn’t change anything. I’d go and sit on his California king bed and just look around the room. I saw a picture on his dresser of Nolan, Lucas and I from our last summer together. My brother had sun kissed golden blond hair that people paid hundreds to have that colour. He had the smokiest gray eyes anyone would have ever seen. I knew I’d been looking for them everywhere and no one’s compared to Lucas’. He had a slim build, around six feet tall and had a smile that would light up the whole room. He had always called me kiddo and been overprotective. He was your typical overbearing brother. Was...just thinking about him in the past hurt more than anything I’d ever experienced before.

  “Miss Storm, we are going to be late.” Ah crap. That was Tory, my driver slash bodyguard. After my brother’s disappearance he had followed me nonstop. He had been working for our family for the last decade.

  “Tory, how many times do I have to say it? Call me Lexi.” That’s me, Lexi, aka Alexis-Christine Storm. The CEO of one of the largest privately owned companies in the county. My name should instill fear in everyone. Yea right, I might own Storm Corp, but I was still just Lexi. Brown hair with a hint of red in it, a button nose and a slim build to kill for. One that I didn’t have to work for at all and could eat whatever I wanted. I kept telling myself it would catch up to me someday.

  “How many times do I have to ask you to call me Vic or Victor?” That made me laugh. When Tory came to work for my family everyone called him Vic but me. I called him Tory and it stuck. I’d never called him anything else.

  “That’s not going to change, Tory.”

  He c
huckled at me. “Then Miss Storm it is.”

  I rushed to my room and threw on a black pencil shirt and a white blouse. Today I had a meeting at Storm Corp. I was about to tell Nolan and the team something I wasn’t sure they’d be proud of or they might even want to kill me for it. I’d been trying to be more assertive in the company and I wanted to take control over some things. I came up with my own project and just got a contract that would bring in more money than we could have expected that quarter and if all went well, more money than the company had ever made in a single year. When I walked back into the front hall, Tory turned to me and stared. “What’s wrong?”

  He just shook his head. “When did you grow up? Better yet, what are you up to? You’ve never called a meeting before and Nolan is going ape shit trying to figure out what you’re doing.”

  That was news. Nolan only asked if I was selling and I told him I’d never do that. This was my family’s legacy and it would stay in the Storm family. He never said anything else to me, but I knew then, he was fishing elsewhere for answers. Sneaky little bugger, and I thought he wasn’t worried about what I had been up to. It was a relief at the time because usually he was so worried that I’d do something reckless.

  After my brother’s disappearance, he stayed here in the penthouse with Tory and me. Tory lived here and had, since we bought the place. When they found my brother’s car in the Hudson things changed. Tory and Nolan were paranoid and watched me like a hawk. Scared I’d break down and never recover. When the police said there was no foul play and that my brother was most likely swept out due to the currents, I’ll admit I broke. Not that they ever saw, I learned to hide it well after my parents died. I did it then to protect my brother and now I did it to protect Nolan. It killed him to see me upset every day. After he was declared dead, we had a funeral. I wept and clung to Nolan and Tory. My lifelines and the only people I trusted left in my life. Other than my friend Trisha Ross, whom I’d known since I was six. Trisha was off to Harvard, studying law and I only saw her a few times a year. Then there was Melissa Carter, but everyone called her Lissa. She went to NYU with me and was a party girl, that’s for sure. She was a good friend. I trusted her and she never stopped me from finding trouble when I wanted to.

  After the funeral I told Tory and Nolan I wanted to live alone and offered to get Tory an apartment in the building so he was still close by but we all had our own space. That didn’t go over well with either of them. Nolan wanted to move in and stay with me. I told him I wouldn’t stop his life because mine was fucked up. I needed to do this on my own and he never understood that. The final agreement was that Nolan would go back to his place and Tory would stay. If Tory was unable to stay, then Nolan would be back. Luckily, Tory never left. I didn’t want to be a hindrance to Nolan. I wasn’t his responsibility. I was an adult with enough money to never have to work. Nolan continuously asked if I wanted him to stay or if I was lonely. I’d tell him I’d been so busy with school and life I had no time to do anything but study. Today he was going to find out that was a lie and I had something up my sleeve this whole time. Here’s praying that he is happy and forgot I’ve been keeping something from him.

  “If you did something, Miss Storm, just tell us.”

  I shook my head. “No, Tory, sorry, but you’re going to have to wait till I am in the office and tell everyone. I don’t want Nolan knowing until then.” I knew that was kind of a low blow, but he told Nolan everything. I’d be furious if I didn’t know they only did it because they cared. Most people wouldn’t be able to talk to Tory that way. He was the vision of old school army; built and someone you did not want to mess with. He was in his early forties and Lissa had no problem telling me he was sexy for being his age. I cringed when she did this, which only made her do it more often. “No time like the present, let’s go, Tory, time to make Nolan sweat.”

  * * *

  As we pulled up to the building that had my last name plastered on it, I immediately got nervous. We’d both got out and headed to the private elevator that brought us right up to where my office and Nolan’s office was. I told Tory to go to the boardroom and I’d meet him in there. He hesitated, but had no valid reason to stay behind. This place had more security than it needed. I walked into my office, which used to belong to my brother. I’d left all his things there and added a few of my own. I walked up to my safe that I had put in and grabbed my files for the meeting. Nolan didn’t even know this safe existed. I knew he’d snoop on me to find out what I was up to.

  I walked into the boardroom and everyone was already there waiting. Nolan looked nervous, which was an odd sight to see him in. That didn’t stop me from losing my train of thought at how attractive he was. He had chestnut brown hair, the most piercing bright green eyes, and a muscular but slim build. He was the same age as my brother and those five years of difference between us always made him look at me as if I were a child. I wished I wasn’t attracted to him. It would have made telling him off a whole lot easier.

  “Well, I guess it’s time to tell you why I brought you all here?” I looked around and no one said a word. Great.

  “Maybe we should talk first, Lexi?”

  I shook my head at Nolan. “No need, I’ve already made the decision and signed off on the contract. I just need to bring you all up to speed.” Nolan and Tory’s jaws hit the floor. This was not what they were expecting, to say the least. “Now I can’t give you all the specifics as this contract is highly confidential and will only let you know what needs to be done of each of you.” I walked up to the front were Nolan was standing. “Nolan, if you’d take a seat, I’d like to get started.” He looked speechless and I knew he was shocked at the way I was talking to him. By everyone’s silence, I bet they were too. I never brought the “I’m the boss card” with Nolan. As he took his seat, I stood in front of everyone and took a deep breath.

  “I have been meeting with the holders of our contract privately, outside of the office. We are now not only in the technology business but in the weapons business as well. I will be talking in more detail to those who will be assisting with this contract as to keep the details as limited as possible. From now on Storm Corp is going in more than one direction. We will also be using this to branch out more into the programming side of weaponry as well. So there will be new faces and an expansion coming. Everyone here will have their jobs and it will not affect your day to day. So over the next two weeks you will notice construction starting on the tenth floor. This floor is being revamped to primarily deal with this contract and any other ones similar to this I acquire in the future. Now, those who are on the tenth floor were leasing the area. Their contract is up tomorrow and I have chosen not to renew it. If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask. That’s all for now.” With that I walked out of the boardroom and headed right to my office.

  I wanted to lock the door, but there wasn’t any point. I knew Nolan was hot on my trail. When I looked at him I could see he was fuming. I thought I’d done something to be proud of, but of course, to him I was just a child. I slammed the door, hoping that would detour him and tell him to back off. It didn’t. As soon as I heard the door swing open, he was already yelling. “What the hell are you doing, Alexis?” Now that just pissed me off. Where in the world did he get off telling me what to do?

  “Well, I figure that I am the CEO and should be running my company, Nolan Nathans. If I wanted your opinion on this contract I would have enlisted your help before I signed it. I didn’t, which means I don’t need your opinion now.” Okay, that didn’t help. His face went beet red and I knew I was in shit now.

  “Alexis-Christine, this is not the direction your family wanted Storm Corp to go in.”

  I interrupted him. “Really, and you know this how? I know that my brother was in the process of doing a contract not nearly as big as this, but still. Where do you think I got the ideas from? I read one of his journals, Nolan, and this was the direction he was going, so thanks for having my back. I will do what I feel is b
est for this company and this is something I want to do on my own. I enjoy the day to day on this contract and secured it alone. I will do this alone with an entire new team if I have to. This is not up for debate.”

  He went white. I didn’t know what I had said, but whatever it was made him not so angry. “You read one of his journals? I know he was trying to do this, but he knew it could be dangerous. He wouldn’t want this for you, Lexi.” So he knew my brother had these ideas and still gave me this hassle.

  “Nolan, I meant it when I said I’d bring in a new team, this is my project and I don’t need anyone’s approval. I understand the risks, but this is the direction I’m going in.”

  Nolan just stood there like he was trying to find a way to talk me out of it. “It’s a done deal. I’ve already signed the contract. I will do this, but I’d like to have you onboard.” I gave him the look that always got him to crumble.

  “Lexi, that’s not fair. You know I can’t say no to you when you look at me that way. I bet you’re counting on that too. I’m on board, but Tory is not to leave your side and is not to be left out of meetings from now on. If this gets to be too much or dangerous, then it’s done. We will buy out the contract or whatever it takes, do you understand?”

  I nodded, not that he could actually do any of the things he was saying, but it was more to make him feel better, I presumed. He only ever called Tory by that name when he was with me. “Thanks, Nolan. Now, I am bringing in some new players as we aren’t equipped to handle a contact plus our other endeavors.”

  He stood there thinking and I knew that he knew I was right. “Fine, but I want to meet these people if they are going to be a part of this. Then we both should sign off on them, don’t you think?”