Ken Hanson.
TheKen Hanson of Hanson Investments Inc., one of the largest hedge funds on Wall Street.
The Ken Hanson of Northwestern Airlines, of Hanson Industries, which created tech for the military, and the Ken Hanson who was partnered with one of the biggest aerospace companies that worked with NASA.
We stood at the hostess station and waited for the hostess to escort us. She was on the phone and held a finger up to stop us.
“It’s Ken Hanson,” Alexa whispered, while we waited for the hostess to finish her call. “No wonder they wanted to keep it secret.”
I squeezed her around the waist, my heart rate increasing at the prospect that Hanson wanted to invest in Astra’s joint venture.
That was incredible news.
It was beyond my expectations. I could have written down five big investors whom I would want to partner with, and his name was definitely on the list. Hell, it was at the very top.
“I can’t believe it’s him. He’s the mystery investor.”
“I know.”
“Sorry for the wait,” the hostess said. “You’re Luke Marshall?”
“Yes,” I replied. “We’re meeting that party.” I gestured to the table. John glanced over and saw me. He stood and waved.
He must have been just as excited as I was.
“Right this way,” the hostess said and led us through the restaurant to the table in the back of the room.
We arrived at the table and Adam Pierce and Jack Tate both stood up, Adam pulling out a chair for Alexa and Jack extending a hand to shake.
“Hello,” Jack said. “Glad you could make it. Luke Marshall, may I introduce Frank Campbell and his wife Donna, and Ken Hanson, who you might know as the CEO of Hanson Investments and other interests. Ken, this is the man of the hour. Luke Marshall of Astra Investments.”
Frank and Ken stood and extended their hands, and I shook Frank’s first, since he was closer. Then, I turned to Ken and was struck by how piercing his ice blue eyes were, his dark hair shot through with streaks of silver, his jaw square. He was former military and looked it with a near-brush cut. His suit was impeccable, and his grip firm.
“Ken, really pleased to meet you.”
“The same,” Ken said, and he turned to Alexa. “You must be Mrs. Alexandria Marshall. We’ve heard so much about you from John. International relations PhD, right?”
Alexa shook Ken’s hand and smiled. “Nice to meet you as well.”
We all sat finally, and the cocktail waitress arrived to take our drink orders. I ordered a craft beer and Alexa ordered her usual virgin Pina Colada.
“Oh, you drink those?” Elena said, sounding surprised. “I love them, but they have so many calories. It must be quite hard to lose the baby weight. I can’t imagine. Denying yourself all the food you ate before you gave birth.”
Elena smiled and took a sip of her glass of white wine.
The dig wasn’t lost on me. I reached over and squeezed Alexa’s hand, which was on the bench seat beside me.
“Actually, it’s not hard at all. I’m busy with Leif and happy with how things are going. I’m lucky.”
Alexa smiled brightly. If the dig hurt her, she wasn’t going to let Elena know it.
“You look beautiful as always, Alexa,” Felicia said, her voice soft as usual. She actually blushed when speaking. “How lucky you are to have it all.”
“I am lucky,” Alexa said and squeezed my hand.
“We’re all lucky,” Elena said. “Lucky to see such talented players in the aerospace industry brought together to invest in the future.”
I turned to Ken, and he turned to me, expectantly. “I’m really pleased to know that you’re the mystery investor who wants to partner with us.”
“I couldn’t wait for us to meet,” he said with a guilty smile. “Sorry to keep this under wraps, but we didn’t want people to think we were doing a pump and dump as a way to increase the value of our company, or yours. Better to wait until the deal is signed, sealed and delivered.”
“I agree,” I said and held up my bottle of beer. “Don’t want the FEC breathing down our necks.”
“At least not any more than they already do, right?”