16. ALEX
16
ALEX
“ O h good, you’re all here,” I said when I walked into the boardroom. My three brothers and my dad were all present.
Seeing all the Blackwoods together was a sight to behold. We were all tall, strong guys. We might not have had the same blood in our veins but the Blackwood confidence and pride didn’t fall far from the tree.
My dad was shorter than the rest of them, but that didn’t mean that he lacked any of the qualities that made him a worthy Blackwood. After all, he was the one who’d raised us to be who we were.
I glanced at Daniel. He was the second oldest, coming in at thirty-one when Ben was thirty-three, and he was out of town, state, or the country more often than not.
He was the only Blackwood with shares in the company and a say in what happened, but he didn’t work directly with the company. He was a pilot and lived his own life in a lot of ways.
“Welcome back, bro.”
“Thanks.” Daniel grinned. “Looks like shit hit the fan while I was gone. Can’t turn my back for one second…”
Chris chuckled and shook his head, and Ben punched Daniel playfully on the shoulder.
“Don’t flatter yourself, bro,” Ben said. “We can fuck things up just fine even if you’re here.”
Chris guffawed, and Daniel laughed, but I shook my head, irritated.
“Thanks for that, Ben.”
“Hey, I’m just calling it as it is,” Ben said with a wink.
“Come on, settle down,” Dad said. “Let’s talk business.”
I was glad Dad called them to order. My brothers were a handful on a good day, and I wasn’t in the mood for bullshit. When they pointed out that things were going wrong, it put me in a bad mood.
But today, my mood was better than it had been in a long time, and not even their shitty jokes felt too personal.
“I want to talk about the activists,” I said.
“They’re causing more trouble than they’re worth,” Chris said, bristling.
“Yeah, I heard she called you out on television,” Daniel quipped.
I groaned inwardly. “She’s green. She doesn’t know what she’s doing.”
My brothers exchanged glances when I defended Charlotte.
“Which is what made me think—” I carried on quickly before they could start asking questions about why I was defending her when I’d been pissed off just a few days ago.
“They’re just causing shit with no good outcome,” Daniel said.
“That’s not entirely true.”
Ben frowned. “What’s gotten into you? You’re just as against them as the rest of them, aren’t you?”
“We’re looking at it all wrong. It’s not supposed to be like that. Us against them. Good against bad, or whatever. Because we’re not bad—or good—and they’re not our opposites.”
My brothers all looked confused, but at least they shut their mouths and listened.
“They have a point, actually,” I continued. “Do you know how much shit the yachts pump into the air when they’re out at sea? It’s more than all the traffic in the city combined. And the air quality itself on deck is worse than a densely populated city.”
I’d been doing a bit of research, trying to look at it from the other side, and I’d been shocked by what I’d learned. “It doesn’t help if we keep telling them they’re wrong but we don’t take a good look at what we’re doing. If we want to tell them we’re not screwing up, then we better be sure we’re not.”
Dad had been quiet, listening to it all while my brothers bantered.
“What do you propose?” he asked, finally speaking up. It was hard to know what he was thinking. He had a hell of a poker face.
“I think we need to look at our production in the long run, but it’s not just the production that’s the problem. We’re doing the whole sustainability thing but we have to make sure our yachts are green, too.”
Ben rolled his eyes. “The yachts are great. You know Chris has the best designs, and the world is going crazy about it. And when we release the new yacht in Monaco soon—”
“I think we should start working on a new line,” I suggested, cutting him off.
“And how do you propose we do that?” Ben asked, frustrated. He was upset that I wanted to change things, but quite frankly, I was pretty sure he was just set on being against me no matter what. Ben and I didn’t have the best relationship. Did he think it was a personal attack? He had to know that this was much bigger than any of us.
“I think we should focus on using electric propulsion rather than diesel engines.”
“Do you know how much power you’re sacrificing to do that?” Ben asked. “We’re not going to turn our yachts into something slower than a pedal boat.”
I rolled my eyes when Chris and Daniel agreed, chuckling at Ben’s words.
“I’m pretty sure we can find top-of-the-line engines that work with electricity. We can look at wind or solar power, too. There are a bunch of options. Just because we change direction doesn’t mean it has to be boring. Right, Chris?”
Chris swallowed. “We could look into that, yeah. I mean, I don’t design the engines, but I’m sure if we talk to Paul, he’ll have some ideas.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” I said.
“I think it’s a stupid idea,” Ben clapped back.
“Come on, man, you’re just shooting it down for the sake of it. I’m trying to make it work here.”
“I’m shooting it down because we already have something that works. Never change a winning plan, isn’t that how the saying goes?”
Dad cleared his throat. “Is it a winning plan, though?”
Ben opened his mouth, surprised that my dad was taking my side, and closed it again when he couldn’t find a direct argument.
“All I’m saying is that we should start looking at different ideas, we should look for new ways to do what we’ve been doing all this time. We need to adapt and change if we want to stay ahead of the game and if we can do something that changes the way the world sees us…”
“It should make a difference to our marketing strategy, too.” Chris spoke up.
Ben snorted. “You’re taking his side because Dad is.”
“Hey, I can think for myself,” Chris snapped back. “And I’m just being realistic.”
“And I’m not?” Ben asked.
“You’re being a pain,” I offered.
Ben scowled at me.
“I’m just saying”—Chris tried again—“if we focus on going green we could use it in a campaign that will draw attention, and a lot of people who might only have thought about doing business with us might be convinced to follow through. It will give them a good name, too.” He looked at me. “I like it.”
“Thanks,” I said, and I really meant it. “If we start with one line and it’s a success, then we can do more and eventually turn it all around. If it doesn’t go our way, we can go back to the old ways, no harm, no foul.”
Ben snorted. “Just millions down the drain that we spend on something that might not take off.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What’s your problem, man? You’re being so full of shit, and for what? I’m trying to change the public’s perception of us, and it can’t hurt to try to do the right thing, you know.”
Ben rolled his eyes without giving me an answer.
“Do you think we can have an idea on paper soon for a new design?” I asked Chris.
“Sure,” Chris said. “Paul is usually pretty busy, but I’m sure if I give him a project like this he’ll jump at the chance. He likes the idea of a challenge.”
Paul was the guy who handled all things motorized in our yachts, focusing on the big engines. He’d been with us for a long time, and he was trustworthy. He knew what he was doing, too.
“Good,” I said. “Let me know what he says, and let’s give this thing a deadline. Let’s say a new concept in a week?”
Chris nodded.
“If I’m not needed here, then I’ll go,” Ben said.
I bristled. “It affects all of us, you know.”
Ben shrugged and left the boardroom, taking his black mood with him.
“I’ll get right on it,” Chris said.
“I’ll come with you,” Daniel offered. “I haven’t even seen the latest yacht designs you’ve been bragging about.”
“It’s almost ready. You’ll see a lot more than just a design.”
They left the boardroom, too, and it was just me and my dad.
“What’s up with Ben?” I asked. “He’s always giving me shit but that was a new level.”
“Don’t let him get to you,” Dad said. “He’s working through some stuff.”
I nodded, trying to let go of the irritation, but I couldn’t help but feel like it was personal. There was healthy sibling rivalry and then there was whatever went on between me and Ben most of the time.
“I think this is a good idea,” Dad said, clapping me on the back. “It’s hard not to buckle under public pressure, and you’re doing the right thing. You’re not letting them get to you, and you’re making a point of implementing criticism and making a chance. It makes you a good leader.”
“Thanks.” It was nice to know that my dad agreed with my plans and that he was proud of what I was doing with the company. “I’ve been talking to an activist.”
“What?” Dad frowned.
“I figured it might help to go directly to the source.”
That wasn’t completely true. If Charlotte hadn’t come to me before the weekend, I wouldn’t have talked to her at all. Or maybe I would have, but sure as shit not about the environment. When I was around her, the environment was the last thing on my mind. Just thinking about her naked in my office made my cock twitch.
“She’s got some good ideas,” I added. “And it’s where I thought about getting out a new line.”
We left the boardroom together, and Dad walked with me to the elevator. I pushed the button, and when the doors slid open, we rode up to the top floor.
“She,” Dad said. “A woman. When did you discuss this with her?”
“Last Friday. She was my last appointment for the day.”
That wasn’t true, either. She hadn’t made an appointment at all. And we hadn’t exactly discussed business. But that didn’t change the fact that I’d started thinking about the bigger picture because of her. She’d told me she’d started researching the yacht industry a little more, and she wanted to find out what she didn’t know yet, and that made me realize I hadn’t exactly done a lot of research when it came to viable alternatives.
So, she was the one who’d changed my mind. Even if it wasn’t with her words exactly. I just wanted to give her the same respect as she gave me.
“When are you scheduling your next meeting?” Dad asked.
“Sometime this week, actually. She wants to see our process.”
“And you’re going to show her?”
“Shouldn’t I?”
We walked toward my office.
“What will the investors say?”
“Obviously, I’ll run this by all of them, too, but at the end of the day, they’re investors, not partners. We get the final say about how we do things, and if we want to show our process to the activists who can either make or break our public image, isn’t that our choice?”
Dad was silent, thinking about it.
“You’re taking a very different approach to this than I would have,” he finally said when we stopped in front of my office door. “But I can’t say that I’m upset. It’s the way of the future. Like you said, change and adapt.”
“Right. So, you’re on board?”
Dad grinned. “Yeah, I’m on board.” He clapped me on the arm. “You never fail to surprise me, and that’s not a bad thing. Let me know when we’re meeting with… what’s her name?”
“Charlotte Reynolds.”
“Right. Miss Reynolds. Let me know.”
He walked away, and I turned into my office.
Gabe sat on the edge of my desk, and a shock traveled through me.
“What was that about?” he asked.
I scrambled mentally. “A yacht meeting.” That wasn’t a lie.
“With Charlie?”
Shit, he’d heard.
“Yeah,” I said. There was no point trying to hide it now. “She’s coming to have a look at the factory sometime this week.”
“I didn’t know you knew her.”
My stomach twisted, and a pang of guilt shot into my chest. I shouldn’t exactly have known her.
“She’s a part of the campaign, and she came to see me about the production line.”
“You never mentioned any of that.”
“It slipped my mind with everything going on.” That was an outright lie, and I felt like shit about it.
“Well, I guess now I don’t have to organize a party this Friday for you to meet her, huh?”
“I guess so. But I didn’t know it was her at first, you know. With you calling her Charlie and everything.” At least that part was true.
“Right,” Gabe said. “I forget I’m the only one who does that. But actually, that’s not a bad thing. I have to fucking cancel again. I’ve been called to some shitty conference in Texas. Texas. Everything is online, why the fuck can’t I just stay here?” He scowled. “I fucking hate Texas.”
Gabe had told me before that he was from Texas. I’d always known he wasn’t a fan, but he was so bitter.
“Tough break, man.”
He groaned. “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do, right? Business and all that.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I know all about that.”
“Yeah, you more than anyone,” Gabe agreed. “I think she’ll be great for this.”
“What?” I frowned.
“Charlie and your whole… thing.” He waved his hand. “She’s really good at what she does, and if anyone can point you in the right direction, it’s her. She’s a saint.”
“Yeah, she is.”
“You’ll like her when you get to know her. She’s so different from the rest of the girls out there. Sometimes I worry about her.”
“Why?”
“You know… guys can be real assholes, taking advantage of her kind nature, and she’s been through so much as a kid already. I just don’t want her to get hurt, but if I’m the overprotective brother, she’ll lose her shit at me. She’s sweet and kind, but she’s also independent as hell.”
I nodded, not knowing what to say. All this I knew firsthand, of course.
“I just hope she finds someone worth her time. Not an asshole like you and me, eh?”
I chuckled. “You think I’m an asshole?”
“Class-A dick.” Gabe laughed. “You go through women like they’re going out of fashion. Charlie deserves better than someone like you or me.”
I chuckled again, but God, this whole thing was getting twisted. The worst thing was that I didn’t think Gabe was wrong. Charlotte did deserve a hell of a lot better than me. I just couldn’t bring myself to forget about her, to let her go so that she could find that guy.
Eventually, though, she would figure that out for herself. She’d find out what a piece of shit I really was, and then the problem would be solved.
As soon as she chose to stay away from me, I could move on from her. But as long as she kept coming back to me… there was no way in hell I could ever turn her away and tell her she wasn’t supposed to be with me.
Even if we weren’t on the same side of the line.
Even if Gabe was my best friend.
Charlotte was my weakness, and eventually she would learn each and every one of my flaws.