Tachina froze, unsure why he’d be there. She grabbed her binder and flipped through the original contracts for her company and looked at the fine print she had missed before.
Developer—Maxwell & SonsDevelopment Group.
How the hell had she missed that?
She knew. She had been too excited about getting this job that she jumped right into everything else and had never paid attention to who was fronting all of the money for such a project. She had spent months working on the details and design in hopes to win the contract. She exhaled sharply, knowing that the developers were investing almost a hundred million dollars in transforming this historic building to make it what she had dreamed up. A project this extravagant and costly, she should have known Vic’s company would be involved.
“Morning, everyone.” Vic’s voice was low but carried easily across the site. His gaze paused on her for a brief second. It softened slightly when it met hers.
Her pulse quickened in just that moment. Vic’s laser focus landed on Tom. He strolled toward him casually with Bill behind him.
“Mr. Maxwell.” Tom straightened to his full height. “I was just?—”
“Stop.” Vic cut him off with one word. That tone of his dropped a few degrees. He flicked his gaze between the two of them. “It seems like the two of you were in a little discussion regardingmybuilding. What is going on?”
Tachina didn’t miss the emphasis on the word ‘my’.
“Tom here feels that my design is too ambitious. He seems to think that I, as an architectural designer, do notknow what I am doing.” She folded her arms and eyed Tom. She dared him to try to say otherwise.
“Now hold on a minute. That is not what I said,” Tom scoffed.
“Well, it was certainly what you implied when you told me that I need to have an architect to draw it out structurally.” She tilted her head to the side and glared at him. “If that’s not what you meant, then what did you mean?”
“Ms. Winston, I?—”
“Let me see if I understand what’s going on,” Vic cut him off again. He stepped closer to Tom and met his gaze with an icy one of his own. “Do you think that I would trust the renovation of a building that is costing me upward of around one hundred million dollars to just anyone?”
The coldness in his tone sent shivers down Tachina’s spine. It was rare that she saw the shrewd businessman side of Vic. When they were away from here, he was just himself. A fun-loving dad to a four-year-old. A great co-parent. Someone she had always been able to depend on even though they weren’t together.
But this side of Vic had her clenching her thighs together.
“Um, no, sir.” Tom shook his head.
“If it were you spending that type of money, you’d hire the best, right?” Vic asked.
Tom jerked his head in a nod.
Vic pointed at her. “That woman right there. I pickedher company out of a long line of prospects. So what does that tell you?”
Tom’s audible swallow was heard. Tachina almost felt bad for the man.
Key word:almost.
If he hadn’t insulted her the way he had, she would have, but seeing how he had basically told her she would cause a catastrophe, he was on his own.
“She’s…uh…she’s the best.” Tom’s voice shook slightly as he spoke. He flicked his gaze to Tachina before turning back to Vic. He could barely hold Vic’s steely gaze.
“Exactly.” Vic finally switched his attention to Tachina.
He gave her a small nod, acknowledging her without words. It was subtle, but enough to make her knees weaken and shake. She swallowed hard and tried to ignore the way the butterflies fluttered in her stomach at his look.
He stepped toward her and motioned to her binder that sat on the table. “Show me.”
Tachina blinked. All of her designs had been signed off by the developer. Had he not seen any of them?
“Sure, Mr. Maxwell.” She reached for the binder and opened it. She kept examples of her architectural drawings of the floor plans, 2D views of the building’s exterior facades, diagrams of the property, and snapshots of a virtual reality, photos that she had cultivated.
She briefly shared where she’d drawn her inspiration from and how artistically their building would be aphenomenal addition to the downtown scene. She pointed to the main atrium and its blueprints and the 2D renderings of it. “The idea is to maximize light and lakefront views. The curve here will direct sunlight deeper into the building while giving an organic, flowing aesthetic. The glass panels are reinforced and insulated, because we know how cold the winters can be right on the lake. This would be both safe and energy efficient. Notice here, the beams are angled slightly to allow for the curve while maintaining structural integrity. The flooring…well, I’ve selected reclaimed wood to contrast the sleek steel and glass.”