Chapter Four
Kiera's day started out perfect. She doesn't have meetings ever Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, or Sundays as though are either her days off or her lab days. It's been like that since the beginning.
As such, she dressed casually today. She wore tan leather leggings with white ankle boots, a white tie front top and a short sleeve black sweater over that with her glasses and her hair pulled up.
All of the secretaries on the 86th floor knew this, all of the secretaries throughout the building knew this… so why…
"Repeat that again for me, FRIDAY, please," Kiera asked even as she was manipulating the image in front of her. The images were holograms and she was able to manipulate them better this way than if she were to do it on a computer or another way. Her back was to the door, other tables around the lab covered in equipment.
"Leah is bringing down a group of men to you for a meeting."
"FRIDAY, how many times now has she done this?"
"This will be the fifteenth time over the past six months, Boss," FRIDAY said.
"Did Beth call up to her this time?"
"She did."
"Anything else I should know about the two?"
"Yes, I believe so, Boss."
"Tell me."
FRIDAY did. Kiera was beyond angry now.
"Please let security and HR know that both Leah and Beth are to be terminated immediately and escorted from the building, with a reminder of the ironclad NDAs they signed when they were hired.. They have been warned by not only myself verbally, by email, by security, and yet they ignore it."
"Message has been sent to the concerned parties. Speaking of, Boss, Leah and the gentlemen are waiting outside."
"Let them in, FRIDAY," Kiera ordered, pressing a button at her side to mute the music playing over the speakers. The glass doors slid open but Kiera still did not turn around.
"Leah," Kiera said, something in her voice causing Leah to tense up, the men immediately noticing the tension even though their eyes were glued onto the youngest female Dutton.
"Y-Yes, M-Miss St-Stark?" Leah stuttered out.
"How many times have you been warned?" Leah was confused. Warned about what?
"Ma'am?"
"How many times have you and your bestie Beth been warned to not take appointments or last minute meetings on my lab days?"
Realization began to dawn on Leah and panic began to set in.
She figured silence was her best answer and stayed that way.
"Cat got your tongue? That's okay, I can speak for the both of us. This is the fifteenth time that you and Beth have ignored my orders and wishes. Do you remember the last time this happened? It wasn't that long ago."
"Y-Yes, m-ma'am," and Leah did know. Fired.
"Then get the f*ck out. Security and HR have already been informed. Hopefully the next ones will be able to follow orders better, especially when being warned countless of times… also, my lawyers will be in touch with both of you."
"What?! Why?!" Leah shouted.
"I don't like traitors, Leah, especially ones that have plans to go to others and sell them information on my future inventions. Now get the f*ck out before I drag you out by your fake *ss hair."
Leah trembled in shock, in fear, in anger.
"Do I need to get security down here?" When Leah didn't move after a moment.
With a screech, Leah turned on her heel and marched out back onto the elevator that immediately began to take her back up to the office.
"I apologize for that, gentlemen, but sometimes you have can't choose where a battle takes place… and give me one moment, let me finish with this and I'll be right with you," Kiera said absentmindedly hearing the men moving around the lab space. Most would be nervous about having their backs to a group of unknown individuals but Kiera knew that FRIDAY was watching them all carefully.
"FRIDAY, run diagnostics on this for me, please," Kiera instructed straightening up on her stool and stretching her arms above her head.
"Sure thing, Boss. Diagnostics should be completed within two hours."
Kiera began to turn in her seat with a sigh, reaching a hand up to rub her eyes. "Okay, gentlemen, what can I do-" Kiera cut off with a sharp gasp as her eyes landed on her father and brothers standing there.
In her lab.
In her company's building.
In California.
"D-Daddy?" She asked, her voice trembling as she rose to her feet. Her eyes locked on her father's.
"Kiera," he sighed as he moved to stand in front of her, the pair just drinking each other in. "Come 'ere." He reached forward and yanked her into his warm arms causing tears to spring to Kiera's eyes as she buried her face into her father's chest. "I've missed you, kid."
Kiera sniffed but didn't speak, knowing that her voice would crack if she tried. They separated after a moment and Lee was there to take their father's place. It continued on like that, her brothers hugging her until Rip was the last, and after she pulled back, he kept an arm around her shoulders.
She turned so she was facing them all, all of them leaning against something in her lab.
"H-How are you guys here? How'd you find me?"
Kayce and Jamie snorted. "Really? Ki, you might be going by a different last name, but once we saw that news report on Saturday, there was no one we weren't going to come down here and at least talk to you." Kayce said.
"Talk to me? About what?"
"A number of things, really," John rumbled out, his eyes now piercing Kiera's very soul. "But mainly, we are here to become a family once more."
Kiera raised an elegant eyebrow. "A family? I don't know if you noticed this or not, Dad, but I never had the typical family experience."
"What do you mean?" Lee asked.
Kiera shrugged. "Are you saying that my advanced intelligence really improved our family? If anything it made me an outcast of the family."
"Outcast?" Jamie exclaimed while the others protested her words.
Kiera sighed and lifted herself up onto a table, sitting on the side and letting her legs swing back and forth as she waited for the men to settle down.
"Yes, Jay, an outcast. I've never fully fit into the family at all. And so I took the reins of my life and made my own path. Built my own company from the ground up and help those that are like me get a chance."
"And I'm proud of you, honey, of what you've accomplished," John said, Kiera's eyes locking onto his.
"But you leaving in the middle of the night, no note, no email, not even a letter, has had us all thinking that you were either kidnapped or killed." Lee inputted before letting their father continue.
"It might not have seemed like it, but you were not the outcast of the family, you are far from it. Your mother died when you were two, Kiera, and afterwards you became all of our lifelines, our purpose to live, to continue going. You became our ball of hope, our ball of light on the ranch. And every time you left, our world became a little bit darker."
Kiera was silent.
"And I don't know who it was that made you feel like you're the outcast of the family, but trust me, once I find out, they're going to wish I hadn't." Kayce threatened his invisible foes.
Kiera cracked a small smile at this.
"I am impressed at what you've accomplished here, genuinely am." Jamie said. Kiera turned her eyes onto him.
"Thank you," she softly said with the smile still on her lips. They descended into small chatter, Kayce excitedly telling her all about Monica and Tate. There was a lull in conversation when their dad spoke up.
"Are you ever going to come back?" John asked.
"Come back?" Kiera asked, genuinely puzzled. "Come back where?"
"Home."
"I might… in fact, FRIDAY," they all would forever deny jumping at the AI's immediate response.
"Yes, Boss?"
"Anything important this week?"
"Yes, you have a meeting with the construction heads for the Houston and Chicago buildings tomorrow at 1:00. Other than that, you have meetings with a reporter, department heads, and HR."
"Rest of the month?"
"Nothing that can't be changed."
"Good, notify all of them that I'm taking my monthly vacation starting Saturday and will return in a month or so. If they have any problems, Fox can deal with it."
"Will do, Boss," FRIDAY replied.
Kiera turned her head towards her family. All of them were staring at her wide eyed.
"I can come to the ranch starting Sunday and stay for a month. Dad, I hope my room is still available."
John moved towards her with a grin, hooked his arms around her to bring her into another hug. He placed a kiss on her forehead.
"All of you will always have a room available in the house."
Kiera was silent for a moment. "I will have to have a lab built out there though. I might need to tinker on stuff."
"Done. I'll have the wranglers-"
Kiera laughed pulling away from her dad, pulling out her cellphone in the process. "No offense, dad, but I can send a crew out there once you get back and begin building it to my standards."
"Okay, how much is it going to cost?" John asked. The sound of a hand hitting one of her brother's foreheads sounded through the lab.
"Dad, I'm footing the bill," Kiera said amused as she began to lead them out of the lab.
"We'll see about that."
Kiera looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes at Lee.
"Dad," Kiera warned.
John ignored her. They piled in to the elevator and began to instead of going up, went down. A thought popped into Kiera's mind.
"Hey, does Beth know?"
The five men froze.
Oh, they forgot about Beth!