Carson Evolved Ch. 08

"You're a naughty girl, Corinne."

Corinne sobered slightly. A look of love came over her, and she laid her hand on his cheek. "I'm your naughty girl, Carson. Only yours."

In response, Carson took her hand and kissed her fingers before drawing her into a hug. "I love you, Corinne. I don't know how it happened, but I can't deny it any more. I hope you're still okay with sharing me, because I don't want to hurt you. But I'm done hesitating with you. You have a part to play in my life, if you want it."

With a tear leaking from her eye, Corinne smiled and said, "I can't believe you even have to ask that question. Of course I want a part in your life; I love you." Throwing her arms around his neck, she said, "Oh Carson! You make me so happy!"

He was about to reply, but his stomach growled, causing both of them to laugh. Sternly, Corinne said, "Your work wife says you're not eating enough. Let's get some food in your belly. We've got to keep your strength up if you're going to keep up with your harem, dear."

Carson grinned as he threw his hands up in mock surrender. "Yes, Dear."

Carson and Corinne were soon having lunch in a bar and grill near the tower. He was feeling unusually hungry today and had already demolished a French dip sandwich and two orders of fries, but he still wanted more. He flagged the waitress and ordered a sourdough bread bowl filled with clam chowder.

Corinne watched him, perplexed. Carson was a big man, but she'd never seen him eat so much in all the times they'd had lunch together. "Are you feeling okay, Carson?"

"Yeah, I'm just really hungry for some reason. I feel like I haven't eaten anything in forever."

With a twinkle in her eye, Corinne leaned forward and quietly said, "Maybe your balls were so full earlier that you didn't have much room. Now that I emptied them, you have space to fill up."

Looking at the grilled chicken salad that she was nibbling on, Carson shot back just as quietly, "I guess I filled you up enough that you don't have much of an appetite, huh?"

Blushing slightly, she groaned at the memory. "It was sooo good. Like, I-want-to-do-that-every-morning-kind-of-good. Can we do that? I'll bring you coffee when you get in and suck you off before your first meeting of the day?"

Carson looked at her in surprise before remembering what Sam had said: Corinne was kinky. He hadn't seen it, but Sam apparently knew it was there. "Whenever you want, Dear," he said with a smirk.

"Oh, don't say that. You'll never get any work done and I'll end up with lockjaw," she teased.

He just shook his head in wonder. He'd experienced her flirty, teasing side before. After what happened with them earlier, he now understood that she wasn't just a tease, so he couldn't dismiss the possibility out of hand.

The rest of lunch progressed well. It seemed odd, but Carson realized that the dynamics of their relationship had changed once again. They'd been forced to change when he brought Corinne with him to the tower, and they'd changed when she'd confessed her feelings for him, too. Now they were entering a new phase together, and he was excited to see where it would go. Interestingly, with their long history working together, this felt less sudden than when he'd brought some of the other Lionesses into his Pride. Corinne was going to make a great addition, though her non-status with Orriri meant that if they had children together, they'd be rogues.

Carson wasn't sure if he was upset about that, honestly. He still felt that for the vast majority of people, a more traditional life would be better. Any rogues he fathered could benefit from his resources, just the same as his other children. It would be awkward when the time came to explain their different expectations, though. Something to file away for the future, he thought, musing that he'd apparently already decided to father children on Corinne.

"So," he said, wiping his mouth, "What did you think about Aria's proposal?"

Corinne looked at him questioningly for a second. "Do you really think you should be discussing this with me? I mean, I'm not part of the project. As far as I'm concerned, if you find her attractive, I think you should fuck her rotten and knock her up. You're the best man I've ever met, Carson, and even if I hadn't heard what she said this morning, I couldn't imagine her making a better choice on the father for her babies. I'm just envious that she might get to sleep with you before I do," she finished.

Reaching over, Carson took her hand. "You know I don't ask questions that I don't want answers to. And you're going to find out, if you're part of my Pride, I value your input."

She smiled. "I didn't figure I'd get to join your Pride, since I'm not part of the project. Besides, don't you have to put a bun in the oven before I get a ring?"

"You've been talking to Sam waay too much, and she shouldn't have told you that. That's true, as far as that goes, but I'm the Lion of my Pride. It has nothing to do with Orriri; I choose who joins. Well, I propose it to the Lionesses and they choose, but you get my point. Regardless, as of this moment, I consider you a de facto member of the Pride with application pending. How's that sound?"

With a smirk, Corinne said, "You don't have to sound so much like a used transport salesman. I'm in. For better or for worse, I want you, and everything that comes with that. I love Sam like a sister, Mara and Mila, too." Checking nearby tables for eavesdroppers, she lowered her voice and said, "I'm anxious to get to that bun-in-the-oven part, though."

Carson laughed. "We'll get there, Dear. We've got time. But let's get you out to the house to meet the other ladies and make sure everyone's on the same page. As much as I love you, I do have some prior commitments with the women who are already part of my family."

"Okay," she said, "But don't make me wait too long. I dropped Tyler the second that being with you became a possibility, and I'm feeling a little 'anxious,' if you know what I mean."

Once again, he laughed. He said, "I think I have some idea of what you mean, yes." With a glance at the time, he said, "We better head back. I've got that meeting starting in an hour and I want to brush up on the proposal I've put together once more before I meet with the agent."

*****

He finished reading over the proposal once more. Everything seemed to be in order, but this merger had a couple of sticky wickets to navigate. His client was adamant on excluding certain technologies and properties from the deal, preferring to spin them off into a new company. Carson wasn't optimistic that his counterpart was going to appreciate this development. He was fairly certain that at least some of the attraction for the deal in the first place was based on the material his client now wanted excluded.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Corinne's voice. "Mr. Jayne? Ms. Okafor is here to see you."

"Please escort her in, Corinne."

Carson stood to meet the woman he'd be negotiating the terms of the merger agreement with. He'd heard much about Orisa Okafor, but this was his first opportunity to meet her in the flesh. Thus, he was unprepared for the angelic vision that appeared before him. Momentarily stunned, he stared at her in wonder. His stupor was broken when Corinne gently cleared her throat. Her smirk showed her amusement at his expression. Ms. Okafor had an inscrutable expression on her face as she watched him.

Stepping over to greet the woman, Carson extended his hand. "Carson Jayne, Ms. Okafor. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

Grasping his hand, she replied, "Orisa, please. Or just 'Risa. We're going to be working together, so we might as well dispense with the formalities, wouldn't you say?" Between the delicate softness of her hand, the smoky quality of her voice, and the hint of British inflection to her cadence, Carson was entranced.

"Risa it is, then." Gesturing towards the sofa, he said, "Please, have a seat. Would you like some coffee, or another beverage?"

"Coffee will be fine, black." Moments later, a cup appeared at her elbow, before Corinne quietly exited the room.

Carson sat across the table from her, watching her with a little smile on his lips. He didn't even realize he was doing it until she interrupted him. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Embarrassed to have been caught out like a schoolboy with a crush, Carson sheepishly looked down at his lap. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "This is completely unprofessional; I don't know what's come over me." Conspiratorially, he said with a boyish grin, "You might not know this, but you're a stunningly beautiful woman."

Orisa Okafor was taller than her father, Chinaka, Carson realized. He remembered meeting the wizened man at the last council meeting. While her father was maybe 5' 7", Orisa had to be 6' tall. Carson knew that her family's roots were in Nigeria, but her bloodline clearly carried some Roman influence as well. Her face echoed statuary from that period, with wide-set, almond shaped eyes, high cheekbones, and a long, narrow nose. Her skin was a lovely, dark caramel color, and she wore her black hair straightened, but currently upswept into a loose bun at the back of her head.

Her face was a relatively flat heart shape, and with her grey-green eyes seeming almost too-large for her face, he was struck by a sense of innocence. That was a little surprising, since a check of his Omnix showed that she was older than him by a few years at 37. Her profile indicated that she was unattached, which piqued Carson's interest further.

Risa beamed. "Thank you, Carson. A woman always appreciates being admired, even in a professional setting. I must say, you're a handsome man. I believe I'll enjoy our time together much more than my last project. Mr. Cavanaugh was a sharp litigator, but he also weighed about 350 lbs and smelled something awful. Let's just say that I was motivated to wrap up our business as quickly as possible. I'm certainly less inclined to do so with you."

They both laughed at the thought and continued to make small talk for a little while before settling down to business. Carson was surprised to learn that Orisa was also a graduate of Emory Law School. He didn't recall seeing her at any alumni events, but he wasn't especially active either. Nevertheless, they enjoyed sharing their reminiscences of their time at school, and they found several similarities in preferred professors.

Passing a copy of his proposal to Risa, Carson said, "Most of the terms are what we've discussed, but you'll notice that there are a couple of changes on page 4."

Risa read over them briefly and her eyes shot up to meet his. "You can't be serious? My client will never go for this. Half the reason to merge was to gain access to the technology that your client is now excluding."

"My client understands that, and as you'll see on page 6, they've offered some concessions on a couple of points your client offered previously."

After a quick scan, Risa said, "I'm not sure it's enough. This is going to be a bitter pill to swallow, I think."

Carson replied apologetically, "I know it's not ideal for your client, and I'll deny saying this if you repeat it outside this room, but I counseled unsuccessfully against this move. But," he said, spreading his hands, "What can you do? It's my client after all."

Sitting back, Risa lapsed into thought. "What would it take to keep the original terms in place? How much would it cost?"

He was skeptical that it could be done, and he said so. "Honestly, I'm not sure the price would make financial sense for your client, if my client reacts how I think they'll react. I'll inquire, of course, if that's what you want me to do. But I suspect it's a non-starter."

Gathering the document and her notes, Risa said, "Go ahead and check with them. I know my client is anxious to acquire that technology. I'll see if we can sweeten our end of the deal a bit as well, to see if we can make this happen. It's all a negotiation, in the end."

"I'll do that," he said, escorting her towards the door. Suddenly, he was anxious to spend more time with her. He blurted out, "Would you like to have dinner with me? If you're not busy this evening, I mean," he added.

She looked at him in appraisal. "Should we be doing that? We are opposing counsel, bound by professional ethics to do our best to represent our clients at all times. Even the hint of impropriety could be disastrous."

As she spoke, Carson's face must have shown his disappointment as he realized that she was correct on all points. Before he could respond, however, she asked with a twinkle in her eye, "But if we call it a business meeting, who can say that we've done anything wrong?"

"Of course," he hastily agreed. "We've both got to eat in the midst of these tough negotiations, right?"

"My thinking exactly," she replied with a grin.

Carson wasn't prone to rash decision-making, but he felt a connection to Orisa that caused him to throw a little caution to the wind. "How about this? You contact your client, I'll contact mine, and we'll meet in an hour for dinner to discuss what we've learned. Would that work?" he asked.

Warmly, she replied, "I'd like that." As he escorted her to the door, she said, "You've got my contact info. Let me know where you'd like to meet, okay?"

Stopping at Corinne's desk, he assured her that he would. As she exited the reception area, Carson couldn't help but admire the view. He didn't catch himself staring after her until Corinne snickered at him.

"Quite the view, huh?"

Embarrassed again for staring after Orisa, Carson just shook his head in wonder. "I don't understand it. I am surrounded by beautiful women almost all the time. She's on par with all of them, no better or worse. But I feel like a kid with a crush."

Watching him, Corinne said, "So go after her. She's Orriri, right?" Carson nodded. "And your Pride keeps telling you to be more aggressive, right?" Again, Carson nodded. "Then put the moves on her and see if you can reel her in."

Carson thought about it for a second. "It's funny," he said. "As I think about it, I haven't really pursued a woman since Mara and I started dating. I wonder if I have enough game for a woman like Orisa."

"Only one way to find out," answered Corinne.

Carson turned and looked at her. "You're surprisingly placid about this. Wouldn't it bother you?"

Corinne shrugged and gave him an evil grin. "It's kind of hard to be jealous when I still have your cum in my belly." Then she reached out for his hand. "I know what your life is like, Carson, and I don't have a problem with any of it. I'll say it again: You're the best man that I know, and as long as I get some time with you, I don't care how many women you sleep with."

*****

Scrolling through the files, she stared in horror at what she was reading. When she'd been hired to infiltrate the computer network for NeoGenesys Laboratories,' the hacker, known in the community as Starfyre, had jumped at the opportunity. Not only was the offered payoff one of the biggest she'd earned, but the biomedical company was rumored to have ties to a number of rogue organizations and governments around the world. Despite constant scrutiny, federal investigators had thus far been unable to obtain any evidence against NeoGenesys, or its multinational corporate parent, Lund Forsvar. A defense contractor based out of Norway, Lund Forsvar was suspected of doing at least as brisk a business in arms sales on the black markets as the white.

She was anxious to expose the company for its presumed sins, but what Starfyre was reading chilled her to the bone. It had taken the simultaneous efforts of multiple hacking enclaves, but she'd finally breached the firewall and gained access to the central servers. What she found was horrifying, and she could hardly believe that someone would keep that information on site. If the law enforcement community got this, it would be the end of the company. Idly, she wondered how much it would be worth to the company's board of directors to keep the secret. Such a score would likely be in the billions of credits, far more than Starfyre could spend in a lifetime.

Having gained the information she'd been contracted to obtain, she made two copies. She'd deliver the goods to her employer. But she'd also dangle a hook in front of the decision makers at NeoGenesys to see what bit. Backing out of the research server, she entered the message server. Unlike the records of research that were guarded by state-of-the-art encryption, the message server was relatively unguarded. Scrolling through the directory, she spied the likely target and composed a quick message:

You've been a naughty company. You thought no one would find out, but you were wrong. I know. And soon, everyone else will know. The price of my silence: 50 bn credits. You have one week to make the transfer. After that, I expose your secrets to the world.

She attached a screen grab of a damning research report, describing the efficacy of the retrovirus that would sterilize many men unless they obtained treatment. Finally, she provided routing information for a dummy account she'd set up some time ago for just such clandestine transactions. As soon as the credits hit the account, they were immediately routed out to half a dozen other accounts worldwide, using a randomizing transfer protocol she'd designed to eliminate tracking.

She transferred the information to her contractor, verified that payment was received, and then sat back to wait for the big money to come in.

Having an early dinner with her eldest son and presumed heir, Helga Lund almost choked on her dinner when the message appeared in her corporate account. A deep chill swept down her spine; everything they'd worked towards was now in jeopardy. She needed to speak with her co-conspirators, and she needed to do it now.

"Are you okay, Mother?" asked Eivar, concerned.

Smiling faintly, she replied, "I'm okay. I just realized that I've forgotten a meeting that came up this afternoon. I need to get to the office, ASAP."

Her son frowned, clearly not comfortable with her hastily-adopted reasoning. Still, he shrugged and signaled for the check.

Silence weighed heavily during the trip to the office, interrupted only by the quiet tones of his mother tapping out a quick message on her communicator. Reaching the office complex that housed the company that his great-grandfather had founded, Eivar asked if he should accompany her.

"That won't be necessary," she said without additional explanation. She told him that she'd fill him in at the office the next day, so he shrugged and bid her a good evening.

She nervously paced her office until Jozef and Sal arrived. Before either of them could speak, she said, "We've got a big problem."

Jozef looked at her with a deep frown. "What kind of problem?"

Helga relayed the message she'd received and turned her monitor to display the screen captures of the damning evidence.

Sal stared at the screen in disbelief. "You kept that information here? What the hell is wrong with you? Do you have any idea what will happen if the authorities get ahold of this?"

Helga sighed in exasperation. "What was I supposed to do? From the beginning, our researchers had to believe that this was a theoretical weapon that would never be put to use. They approached it like any other project we have, and that means they file laboratory reports and white papers. Everything has been compartmentalized so that nobody has the complete picture of what we've developed, nor that we've manufactured and released it."

"Obviously, someone knows," growled Jozef. "The entire plan is in jeopardy now. What we need to know now is whether it's enough for someone to stop us. Is there enough information there for someone to manufacture an antiviral treatment?"