Mistress of the Game

Lexi dried her tears. “I’ll write you a check right now for those babies. But I don’t trust McGregor. I’m sorry, but I don’t.”

Over the next two years, Lexi Templeton and Gabe McGregor crossed paths more frequently, at charity events and business conferences, as well as occasionally in the boardroom when they found themselves on opposite sides of a deal. Templeton Estates was investing in emerging real-estate markets all across the globe, from Georgia to Iran to Tibet. But something kept drawing Lexi back to South Africa. The returns were high. But it went beyond that. South Africa was the birthplace of Kruger-Brent. Lexi felt a powerful urge to succeed there.

Phoenix, whose investments were limited to South Africa, remained the market leader. Dia Ghali had cashed out of the business last year, leaving Gabe McGregor as the man to beat in real estate. Lexi Templeton fully intended to be the woman to beat him. But Templeton was not the only target in her sights.

Her thoughts were never far from Kruger-Brent. Templeton did no business in New York, but Lexi insisted on keeping an outrageously expensive office there purely because she had a good view of the Kruger-Brent building from her window. She had admitted it to no one. But deep down, Lexi had always seen Templeton as a stepping-stone. A stopgap measure until she could figure out a way to win back Kruger-Brent, destroying Max Webster in the process.

On the face of it, she knew her goal must sound insane. Kruger-Brent was a giant, a hundred times Templeton’s size. It was a behemoth. Untouchable.

Lexi saw things differently.

Size is their weakness. They have too many vulnerable points, too many exposed businesses ripe for the picking. And I have the inside scoop on all of them. Kruger-Brent’s a twelve-headed monster, and none of the heads talks to another. By the time Max realizes he’s under attack, it’ll be too late.

Business was a game. Toppling Kruger-Brent would be like playing a multibillion-dollar game of Jenga. Yes, Max’s tower was infinitely taller than Lexi’s. But remove a few strategic blocks from the bottom, and the whole edifice would come crashing down. The hard part was going to be controlling the explosion when it came. Lexi needed the company to weaken before she could strike, but not to collapse so totally that there was nothing left of her birthright.

So far, Max was doing most of the hard work for her. He was a brilliant diplomat and a natural schemer, but his performance as chairman had been distinctly lackluster. Lexi remembered her Harvard Business School professor’s damning remark about one of his students, a young man who fancied himself as the next Warren Buffett.

“Jon Dean? Please. That guy couldn’t sell a dollar for ninety cents.”

Max Webster, it appeared, couldn’t sell a dollar period. He had inherited Kate Blackwell’s penchant for indiscriminate growth, a brilliantly successful strategy in the 1960s and ’70s, but a disastrous one in today’s wildly fluctuating markets.

Max could wait. So could Kruger-Brent.

For now Lexi had to focus on the job at hand: annihilating Gabe McGregor.

The safari was Gabe’s idea. He cornered Lexi at a real-estate convention in Sun City, after Sol Kerzner’s closing address.

“I’ve got reservations for a week at the Shishangeni Lodge next week. Tara and the kids were supposed to be coming, but Jamie’s got some awful stomach bug. I wondered if you might be interested?”

Dressed formally in a dark gray suit that highlighted his tan and brought out the pale gray in his eyes-Lexi’s eyes-Gabe looked even more handsome than he had the last time Lexi saw him. Is that part of the reason I don’t like him? Because he’s so attractive? It was possible. Max had burned her badly. The very thought of desiring someone again filled her with dread.

“That’s kind of you, but I’m afraid I can’t. I’m traveling for the rest of the month.”

“What a shame.” Gabe shook his head. “It’s supposed to be the best safari experience in the country.”

“I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time.” Lexi looked pointedly at her watch.

“It would have been the perfect opportunity for us to talk about the Elizabeth Center, too. But if your schedule’s too full…”

Damn him. He’s got me on a string and he knows it.

The Elizabeth Center was going to be the biggest shopping mall in the country, built on two hundred prime commercial acres in a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg. Every real-estate firm worth its salt was bidding for a piece of the action, including Templeton. Somehow, Gabe had managed to wrangle a private deal for Phoenix and now owned a 10 percent stake in the venture, making him the second-largest single shareholder. A word from Gabe could open the door for Templeton. Or close it.

“Next week, you say?”

Gabe grinned. Gotcha.

“I’ll have my assistant send the details to your office.”

Lexi nodded tightly. “Thanks.”

“You know, you might even enjoy it. Stranger things have happened.”

Lexi was by no means sure that they had.

The Shishangeni Private Lodge is the jewel of Kruger National Park’s crown. Made up of twenty-two thatched chalets, it boasts a swimming pool, library, conference facilities and a better wine cellar than most Michelin-starred restaurants. Every chalet has a private game-viewing deck as well as a bar, fireplace and outdoor shower-for those wishing to feel at one with nature without forgoing such necessities as deviled quail’s eggs for breakfast and parfait of foie gras for dinner.

“How’s your room?”

Gabe joined Lexi for dinner by the pool. It was their first night at Shishangeni. Above them, a livid African sun bled the last of its rays into the land, oozing burnt orange over the tapestry of rich greens. On the drive from Kruger Mpumalanga Airport, all Lexi’s resolutions not to be impressed had flown out the window. She’d been visiting South Africa since childhood, but the extraordinary beauty of this corner of the national park took her breath away.