Their connections to the powerful and wealthy were vast. But since Ste''s return, she had managed to alienate an oil tycoon, a major financier, and the Pearce family. Although the Pearces had agreed to the acquisition, their rtionship with the Williams family was now at rock bottom. Many of their coborations with Leonard had also ceased-not that it mattered much now, given the current state of The Lerman Group. Anyone partnering with them now would just be painting a target on their own back.


    Jonathan suddenly realized that Leonard hadn''t gained any ground against Ste. In fact, her own power base seemed to be growing, almost inexplicably. While she had made many enemies, she hadn''t suffered any personal losses. The only thing that had taken a hit was the Williams family''swork of alliances.


    Jonathan''s face hardened. "Aurora is never going to surpass Ste in terms of performance. It''s time to bring them both into The Williams Group ahead of schedule. Once inside thepany, Ste will be subject to its checks and bnces. We can''t let her continue to act without restraint. And thistest incident must be handled. That bodyguard of hers, Joshua, has to go."<fn6592> For original chapters go to Find★Novel</fn6592>


    Joshua hade with Ste from Novaris; his loyalty was to her alone, which was a threat to them. They couldn''t allow her to have such a capable person at her side.


    Coleman looked at Jonathan. "Brother, people have a rebellious streak. The more you try to force them apart, the closer they''ll be. If you want to get rid of Joshua, a direct approach won''t work."


    "Oh?" Jonathan''s interest was piqued. "You have a better idea?"


    Coleman smiled. "We can approach this from two angles. First, their professional rtionship. Ste trusts himpletely right now. We need to undermine that trust. We can offer Joshua more money and power than Ste ever could. If he refuses, then it''s clear their rtionship is more than just employer and employee."


    Coleman''s mind worked quickly. "A handsome young man and a beautiful young woman, spending all their time together... I refuse to believe nothing is going on. We can use the same tactic that led to her divorce from Haynes O''Brien. It seems Haynes still wants her back, but his work keeps him in Novaris. We can have our partners offer him contracts that will bring him to Solmaris. As for Joshua, we can arrange for a beautiful woman to drive a wedge between them. If we can get him on our side, feeding us information, it would make everything much easier."


    Jonathan considered this for a moment. "Ste may have been married, but it won''t be easy to find a woman more beautiful than her."


    "Joshua is a tool we need to control," Coleman said. "I think we should have Aurora try to get close to him. With her charm, I doubt it will be a problem  s


    Upstairs, Ste was heading to her room when she saw a familiar figure lurking in the shadows.


    "Joshua?" she said, surprised. "Why haven''t you gone to bed?"


    "I was worried about you," he


    ет


    admitted. He had been watching the Williams brothers from the


    darkness, ready to intervene if they


    made a move against her.


    belongs to s


    Ste smiled faintly. "It''s fine. They''re afraid I''ll record them, so they won''t try anything overt for now."


    Joshua remained silent. Being by Ste''s side meant he couldn''t always act as he wished. Dealing with a single Stuart Gibson had


    n


    her so much trouble


    already caused her


    If it were Leonard... the


    s


    Still, Leonard had captured Rachel and learned his secrets. The man had to die.


    No, Star didn''t want him to kill anyone.


    Fine. Then he would make Leonard wish he were dead.