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“Did Kate, I mean, Miss Kavanagh, explain what the interview was for?”
“Yes. To appear in the graduation issue of the student newspaper as I shall be confer-
ring the degrees at this year’s graduation ceremony.”
Oh!This is news to me, and I’m temporarily pre-occupied by the thought that some-
one not much older than me – okay, maybe six years or so, and okay, mega successful, but
still – is going to present me with my degree. I frown, dragging my wayward attention
back to the task at hand.
“Good,” I swallow nervously. “I have some questions, Mr. Grey.” I smooth a stray
lock of hair behind my ear.
“I thought you might,” he says, deadpan. He’s laughing at me. My cheeks heat at the
realization, and I sit up and square my shoulders in an attempt to look taller and more in-
timidating. Pressing the start button on the recorder, I try to look professional.
“You’re very young to have amassed such an empire. To what do you owe your suc-
cess?” I glance up at him. His smile is rueful, but he looks vaguely disappointed.
“Business is all about people, Miss Steele, and I’m very good at judging people. I
know how they tick, what makes them flourish, what doesn’t, what inspires them, and how
to incentivize them. I employ an exceptional team, and I reward them well.” He pauses
and fixes me with his gray stare. “My belief is to achieve success in any scheme one has
to make oneself master of that scheme, know it inside and out, know every detail. I work
hard, very hard to do that. I make decisions based on logic and facts. I have a natural gut
instinct that can spot and nurture a good solid idea and good people. The bottom line is,
it’s always down to good people.”
“Maybe you’re just lucky.” This isn’t on Kate’s list – but he’s so arrogant. His eyes
flare momentarily in surprise.
“I don’t subscribe to luck or chance, Miss Steele. The harder I work the more luck I
seem to have. It really is all about having the right people on your team and directing their
energies accordingly. I think it was Harvey Firestone who said ‘the growth and develop-
ment of people is the highest calling of leadership.’”
“You sound like a control freak.” The words are out of my mouth before I can stop
them.“Oh, I exercise control in all things, Miss Steele,” he says without a trace of humor in
his smile. I look at him, and he holds my gaze steadily, impassive. My heartbeat quickens,
and my face flushes again.
Why does he have such an u
maybe? The way his eyes blaze at me? The way he strokes his index finger against his
lower lip? I wish he’d stop doing that.
“Besides, immense power is acquired by assuring yourself in your secret reveries that
you were born to control things,” he continues, his voice soft.
“Do you feel that you have immense power?” Control Freak.
“I employ over forty thousand people, Miss Steele. That gives me a certain sense of
responsibility – power, if you will. If I were to decide I was no longer interested in the
telecommunications business and sell up, twenty thousand people would struggle to make
their mortgage payments after a month or so.”
My mouth drops open. I am staggered by his lack of humility.
“Don’t you have a board to answer to?” I ask, disgusted.
“I own my company. I don’t have to answer to a board.” He raises an eyebrow at me.
I flush. Of course, I would know this if I had done some research. But holy crap, he’s so
arrogant. I change tack.
“And do you have any interests outside your work?”
“I have varied interests, Miss Steele.” A ghost of a smile touches his lips. “Very var-
ied.” And for some reason, I’m confounded and heated by his steady gaze. His eyes are
alight with some wicked thought.
“But if you work so hard, what do you do to chill out?”
“Chill out?” He smiles, revealing perfect white teeth. I stop breathing. He really is
beautiful. No one should be this good-looking.
“Well, to ‘chill out’ as you put it – I sail, I fly, I indulge in various physical pursuits.”
He shifts in his chair. “I’m a very wealthy man, Miss Steele, and I have expensive and
absorbing hobbies.”
I glance quickly at Kate’s questions, wanting to get off this subject.
“You invest in manufacturing. Why, specifically?” I ask. Why does he make me so
uncomfortable?
“I like to build things. I like to know how things work: what makes things tick, how to
construct and deconstruct. And I have a love of ships. What can I say?”
“That sounds like your heart talking rather than logic and facts.”
His mouth quirks up, and he stares appraisingly at me.
“Possibly. Though there are people who’d say I don’t have a heart.”
“Why would they say that?”
“Because they know me well.” His lip curls in a wry smile.
“Would your friends say you’re easy to get to know?” And I regret the question as soon
as I say it. It’s not on Kate’s list.
“I’m a very private person, Miss Steele. I go a long way to protect my privacy. I don’t
often give interviews,” he trails off.
“Why did you agree to do this one?”
“Because I’m a benefactor of the University, and for all intents and purposes, I couldn’t
get Miss Kavanagh off my back. She badgered and badgered my PR people, and I admire
that kind of tenacity.”
I know how tenacious Kate can be. That’s why I’m sitting here squirming uncomfort-
ably under his penetrating gaze, when I should be studying for my exams.
“You also invest in farming technologies. Why are you interested in this area?”
“We can’t eat money, Miss Steele, and there are too many people on this planet who
don’t have enough to eat.”
“That sounds very philanthropic. Is it something you feel passionately about? Feeding
the world’s poor?”
He shrugs, very non-committal.
“It’s shrewd business,” he murmurs, though I think he’s being disingenuous. It doesn’t
make sense – feeding the world’s poor? I can’t see the financial benefits of this, only the
virtue of the ideal. I glance at the next question, confused by his attitude.
“Do you have a philosophy? If so, what is it?”
“I don’t have a philosophy as such. Maybe a guiding principle – Carnegie’s: ‘A man
who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of
anything else to which he is justly entitled.’ I’m very singular, driven. I like control – of
myself and those around me.”
“So you want to possess things?” You are a control freak.
“I want to deserve to possess them, but yes, bottom line, I do.”
“You sound like the ultimate consumer.”
“I am.” He smiles, but the smile doesn’t touch his eyes. Again this is at odds with
someone who wants to feed the world, so I can’t help thinking that we’re talking about
something else, but I’m absolutely mystified as to what it is. I swallow hard. The tempera-
ture in the room is rising or maybe it’s just me. I just want this interview to be over. Surely
Kate has enough material now? I glance at the next question.
“You were adopted. How far do you think that’s shaped the way you are?” Oh, this is
personal. I stare at him, hoping he’s not offended. His brow furrows.
“I have no way of knowing.”
My interest is piqued.
“How old were you when you were adopted?”
“That’s a matter of public record, Miss Steele.” His tone is stern. I flush, again. Crap.
Yes of course – if I’d known I was doing this interview, I would have done some research.
I move on quickly.
“You’ve had to sacrifice a family life for your work.”