Hannah's Chance (Chapter 6) (fm:sex at work, 5782 words) [6/7] show all parts

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A knock at the door caused her to finish dressing hurriedly. She opened the door to find Maria.

"Is everything okay? You weren't answering your phone."

"I've only just woken up," Hannah replied. "I must have been really tired."

"Are we going to the show? Since we can't contact our offices yet, because of the time difference, I thought we'd go the exhibition center as usual."

Hannah agreed that waiting in the hotel room until 3 PM when she could contact Alex wouldn't serve any purpose, and so she asked Maria to give her time to get ready and have a bite to eat, and then they set out together for the investor show.

As they walked through the bustling streets of Milan, Hannah's mind raced. The Keller biotech collapse data needed to be seamlessly integrated into her Tanaka model, and she didn't yet know if Alex could execute such precise reconfigurations in the very limited time available.

Maria glanced at her. "You're quiet today. Still thinking about Rossi?"

Hannah kept her gaze straight ahead. She didn't want to say anything about her time in Rossi's hotel suite, as she knew that Maria wouldn't approve.

"Just strategizing," Hannah deflected, her voice tight. "I'm going to ask my analyst back home to connect remotely and do the demo with me. I'm demanding a lot of him already, but the more I think about it the more I realize I can't cope with the scarab beetle on my own."

Maria frowned. "Let's hope he doesn't have any other commitment for that time."

"That's my big concern," Hannah said. The whole question of Alex's availability was troubling her, not just for the time of the demo, but for the hours of preparation needed beforehand. If he had an existing commitment to another client the demo was destined to be a complete failure.

They arrived at the exhibition center, the usual buzz of investors and entrepreneurs filling the vast space. Hannah scanned the crowd, her gaze sharp. Every face could be the scarab beetle's proxy. Every conversation might hold clues. Maria drifted toward a display of sustainable packaging innovations, but Hannah remained rooted near the entrance, her mind churning.

"Alex needs to be online." The thought was a drumbeat beneath the surface noise. "Three hours to prepare." At least the plan to have Alex do the demo with her meant less for her to try and master beforehand, and gave Alex more time to work on getting everything integrated.

Maria reappeared, holding brochures. "Anything?" she asked, nodding toward the milling investors.

"Not yet." Hannah's gaze snagged on a man in a charcoal suit observing them from near the stairway to the coffee lounge. His stillness felt deliberate. "But someone's watching."

Maria followed her line of sight. "Tanaka's CFO. Saw him yesterday." She lowered her voice. "Shifty looking character."

Hannah's pulse quickened. Tanaka's instability was her opening, but its CFO's presence here might make things complicated. She forced herself to move deeper into the hall, Maria trailing slightly behind.

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Hook writes Mon 27 Oct 2025 21:35:

Maintaining the intrigue, deception, and suspense....Is Hannah so focused on a web of her own making that she doesn't see the pedator on the limb?

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