Fortune’s Legacy

      Maureen Child

      Dear Reader,

      It’s always exciting being asked to participate in a continuity series for Harlequin/Silhouette. And being a part of THE FORTUNES OF TEXAS: REUNION series is about as good as it gets.

      My story, Fortune’s Legacy, centers on Kyra Fortune and her boss—the man who makes her life miserable—Garrett Wolff. Garrett and Kyra were quite the challenge. Two more hardheaded people I’ve never met. Neither of them knows the meaning of the word compromise and when their strong personalities collide, it becomes something amazing.

      The two of them completely won me over and I hope you’ll feel the same.

      I love to hear from readers, so drop by my Web site at www.maureenchild.com and send me an e-mail!

      Love,

      Maureen Child

      To the readers of category romance.

       You are the reason we write. The reason we dream. Thank you all.

      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Chapter Thirteen

      Chapter Fourteen

      Chapter Fifteen

      Bonus Features

       One

       “H enry Stevens got that promotion, damn it.” Kyra Fortune wanted to kick something. Hard. But she wasn’t willing to damage a brand-new pair of designer heels, so she squelched the urge.

      “I heard,” her assistant said glumly.

      Kyra turned around to face the other woman in her office. Tracy Hudson’s pixielike features were drawn into a blend of sympathy and disappointment.

      “What exactly did you hear?” Kyra asked, knowing full well that the grapevine in Voltage Energy Company was bound to have complete details by now. And all she really knew was that she’d been passed over for promotion.

      Again.

      True, in the years she’d been at Voltage, she’d steadily climbed the corporate ladder to associate VP in the expansion division. But it wasn’t fast enough for her. Her own annual review was still months away and she knew that if promotions were being made now, by the time it was her turn, there wouldn’t be a slot left to give to her. No matter what she did to earn it.

      Tracy set her memo pad down on her lap, leaned forward and got into some serious dirt dishing. “Mr. Stevens’s assistant, Jolie, told Pam in accounting, who told Jacob in the mail room who just told me ten minutes ago….”

      In spite of the fury still tickling her insides, Kyra was forced to admire the flow of information. If the top dogs in this company thought they could keep a secret, they really ought to step out of their ivory towers once in a while. “Told you what?”

      “You’re not going to like it.”

      “Goes without saying,” Kyra pointed out and, reaching down, snatched up a silver-plated letter opener. Bouncing the blade end of the thing against her palm, she waited.

      “Apparently Mr. Wolff told Mr. Stevens that his work was ‘exemplary’ and—”

      “Exemplary?” Kyra repeated, stunned to her toes. “The man can’t find the executive bathroom without a guide.”

      Tracy’s lips twitched, then flattened out again. “He also said that Mr. Stevens had a promising future here and—”

      “God,” Kyra muttered, tossing the letter opener onto her desk. “There’s more?”

      “Mr. Wolff gave him the corner office on twenty-six.”

      An unpleasant little squeaky noise escaped Kyra’s throat. “Twenty-six? The office with the blue walls and the built-in bookcases?”

      “The very one.”

      Yes. The very one Kyra had been mentally redecorating for the last month. Ever since Myrna Edgington had given up that office to stay at home with her kids. Kyra couldn’t quite understand the former executive’s motivation, but she herself had been hoping to take over Myrna’s old office. It was so Kyra. It was perfect. And damn it, she’d earned it.

      She’d been so positive that no one would be able to deny the good work she’d been doing for the company.

      Yet it appeared that while she waited months for her shot at another notch up the ladder of success, other people were stepping on her head on the way to the top. Didn’t seem to matter how hard she worked, how many clients she brought into the fold at Voltage. All that counted around here was if Garrett Wolff approved of you or not.

      And apparently, Kyra thought with a disgusted sigh, he didn’t approve of her.

      Not