Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Atlanta—Present Day
The first interview of the day was with Richard Armstrong. It had been the man’s company, and it seemed appropriate to start at the top and work down. Arriving at the building that morning, Declan kept his face turned forward, refusing to give in to his desire to search for even a glimpse of Olivia.
The need to see her burned inside him, but after the scene yesterday, he knew it would draw unwelcome attention if she were the first person he called for an interview. Declan forced himself to be patient.
The older man sank into a chair in the conference room where Declan had set up temporary operations. He received no pleasure taking this man’s company from him, and because he knew how Olivia felt about him, Declan was prepared to be generous.
“As I’m sure you imagine, I don’t need another CEO at this company.”
“I figured.”
“However, in a gesture of—let’s call it good will for what you’ve built—I’m prepared to offer you two-thirds of my original offer for your shares, in exchange for today being your last day.”
Declan watched surprise skate across the man’s eyes. It wasn’t a secret the man was ill, his time on earth limited. Declan might be a bastard, but he wasn’t that big of a bastard. Not to people who didn’t deserve it, Declan amended in his head.
“Are you going to fire everyone right away?”
Declan shook his head. “No. The bones of this business are good, and some of the products in your development pipeline are interesting. It will take some time to fully assess the potential. However, you have bloated overhead, and you’re over-leveraged. In order to make Armstrong Electronics attractive to future buyers, cuts will need to be made.”
“The XEROS development required it.”
“XEROS has been developed. You don’t need all the research staff or technicians any longer.”
Declan flipped through the pages in front of him until he found the one he wanted and slid it across the table. “The executive compensation and perks packages are ridiculous. Particularly based on what I can see regarding some of those executives’ performances.”
Richard scanned the page with a frown. “Those retreats were necessary for team building.”
“But only the board went? Aren’t you all family?”
“Ky—I thought it was a good idea. It’s what all businesses do.”
“The country club membership for your son? His shooting club membership? A brand-new Porsche as a company car?”
“It’s important to network.” The man didn’t sound as if he believed what he was saying.
“What exactly does Kyle do here?”
“He’s the vice-president.”
Declan stared hard at the man. Nepotism was common, but Declan couldn’t find anything that weasel did to warrant his job title.
From what Brady had discovered over the last eighteen hours, Kyle spent most of his time either on the golf course or fucking his girlfriend in his office.
“He oversees… You aren’t thinking of getting rid of him?” Richard looked shocked.
“Some of your C-suite will have to go. What are your thoughts on Stuart Pruitt?”
The older gentleman gave his feedback as Declan jotted his notes.
“And your CFO? Olivia Adler?” Declan looked up from the financial reports in front of him. “Some of the reporting is… creative.”
“Olivia is not dishonest.” Richard’s voice was firm.
Declan had zero doubts about Olivia’s honesty. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed a finger across his lip. He was curious. Olivia was smart. Too smart to have put the company at risk the way she had.
“It was her decision to fund the company by selling small blocks of stock to your extended family. Those sales ultimately put your company at risk for takeover. Olivia sold over fifty percent, which meant you and your immediate family lost your power.”
Richard coughed and shifted in his chair. “That wasn’t entirely her fault.”
“Olivia is the CFO. Things like funding and ensuring a solid financial foundation are her responsibility.”
Declan waited for the man to defend his former daughter-in-law. To advocate for her to keep her job the way he had for his son. He had yet to see why the man had inspired such loyalty from Olivia for all these years.
“Yes, but it was a group decision. We faced some obstacles in securing funding through traditional methods for our expansion. Olivia suggested approaching a venture capital group, but we’ve always been a family company. I wanted only family to own stock.” His mouth twisted bitterly. “I guess I overestimated family loyalty.”
“Olivia doesn’t own stock.”
The older man squared his shoulders. “No.”
“Wasn’t she married to your son until recently?”
“Yes, but she was never given stock in her own name. She never even took our last name, and then she chose to leave our family.” The man glared at him. “I allowed her to stay in her position here because she is loyal to this company, even if not to my son.” Self-righteousness rang in the man’s tone, and Declan stilled.
Cecile seated next to him must have noticed, but other than a quick glance, she ignored it. For a moment Declan considered rescinding the offer to buy the sanctimonious bastard’s shares. “As she is not a family member, would you object to her position being eliminated?”
Declan kept his face blank as emotions warred on Richard’s face. “No, if it is between her and Kyle, I don’t object.”
Hurt for Olivia surged in him. Declan knew how excited Olivia had been about this job and how she felt about this man. Declan vowed she would never find out how easily Richard Armstrong had abandoned her.
Declan kept his disgust to himself, but when the door closed behind Richard, Cecile snorted. “What an asshole. That woman has essentially run this entire company for years.” Cecile had read the same scouting reports he had. “And he allowed her to keep her job. Do you think he’s an idiot or just a misogynist piece of shit?”
Declan arched a brow at her.
“Sorry,” she grimaced. “It’s unfair, and it pisses me off.”
Declan closed the file folder in front of him and held out his hand for her to put a new one in it.
“Who’s next?”
The meeting with Stuart Pruitt held no surprises. Declan assured him that, as the head of Research and Development, he would be kept on for the time being. However, unlike Richard, Pruitt defended Olivia... strongly.
“They forced her to do it,” he said bluntly. “She was still married to Kyle, and Richard had just gotten his first diagnosis. Olivia is phenomenal at her job.” He met their eyes. “But with the family dynamic component, she was put in a bad spot.”
“If you were deciding who to keep from the board, would you choose Kyle or her?—”
Stuart didn’t wait for him to finish the question. “Without a doubt, Olivia. She works her ass off for this company. We wouldn’t even have XEROS if it weren’t for her.”
Declan didn’t like what he suspected was the man’s infatuation with Olivia, but the fervent defense of his girl saved Stuart’s job.
His girl. Fuck me. Pull yourself together.
When the door clicked shut behind the engineer, Declan drew in a deep breath. Kyle’s interview was next, and Declan would need to keep his composure. The man’s astonishing arrogance wouldn’t make it easy.
It was clear from the moment Kyle Armstrong sat down, he viewed the questions as perfunctory, believing his position at the company was safe.
Declan had decided it was best if Cecile conducted the majority of the interview, not trusting himself or his temper. Every time he thought about the look on Olivia’s face when this fucker grabbed for her, he wanted to destroy something. He sucked in another breath ignoring Cecile’s curious look.
Kyle’s answers were bland until Cecile began asking about the other executives.
Kyle shrugged. “Olivia is nothing special. I mean she’s nice enough, but forgettable if you know what I mean.” He sent a sly look at Declan that made the hair on the back of his neck lift and his pulse pick up. He had really hoped he’d get through this meeting without violence...
“You’re recently divorced, so perhaps that wasn’t a fair question,” Cecile said, making a note.
Kyle made a face. “Not that recently, and we were separated for a year before that. I’ve already moved on. She does an okay job, but her position is mainly because of her connection to me.”
Declan wanted to bury his fist in the man’s smug face. Repeatedly.
Cecile adopted a surprised expression. “Stuart Pruitt had excellent things to say about her.”
“That’s because he’s in love with her,” Kyle scoffed. “He’s been sniffing after her for years.”
Cecile’s face wrinkled with distaste, but Kyle didn’t seem to notice. Declan could feel his anger approach the boiling point. This asshole had been lucky enough to be her husband, to have the chance at a life with her…
Declan forced himself to relax the clenched fist on his thigh.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Kyle leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. “She’s not bad to look at, but she’s just,” he trailed off and gave Declan a leer. “You know what I mean. Nothing special.”
Cecile closed her notebook with an audible snap. “Okay, I think we’ve got everything we need.”
A haze of red had taken over Declan’s vision, and he was having to exert every ounce of self-control not to beat the man senseless.
Kyle slapped his palms down on the table and pushed his chair back. “Great. My dad mentioned you were going to buy out our shares. When do you think I’ll get that check?”
“You aren’t getting anything.”
Kyle’s face fell. “What? But my dad said…”
“I will be buying your father’s shares, but I don’t need yours.” Declan kept his tone even. “Your services are terminated. You have one hour to clear out any personal belongings from your office. I’ll be moving in this afternoon.”
Declan could feel Cecile’s surprise next to him, but she was too professional to show it.
“You can’t be serious.”
When Declan continued to stare at him in silence, Kyle’s face turned an unhealthy shade of red. “Is this about Livvy? Is it because I know the truth about you and her?”
Olivia had told him? Declan had two options. He could pay the fucker off, or he could kill him. He knew which option he preferred.
“I have no idea what you are referring to.” Declan’s voice was deathly cold.
But Kyle showed more spine than he expected. “Oh, come on. I get that it’s probably a little awkward to run into a vacation fling after so many years. But there are no hard feelings that you slept with my ex.” Kyle chuckled, but his eyes were hard. “But I imagine it will be difficult for you to keep her on, right? Optics and all that.”
So, that was his game. Kyle was out, and he wanted to make sure Olivia was too.
Declan could sense Cecile’s growing anger, but she wisely kept her mouth shut.
“I’m not sure where you heard that story, but you are misinformed.”
Kyle raised his eyebrows mockingly, demonstrating his complete lack of self-preservation instincts. “I don’t think so. Of course, I’ll keep my mouth shut provided you buy my shares.”
Declan was seconds away from snapping him in half.
“I’m not paying you for your shares, and you should count yourself lucky that I don’t decide to tear your entire life apart, piece by piece, for your pathetic attempt to threaten me.” Declan stood, and Kyle’s eyes bulged, only belatedly realizing his mistake.
“This isn’t the end of this,” he blustered, but he practically ran from the room.
“What a sleazeball,” Cecile muttered. “Proves even smart women can get fooled by a pretty face.”
Declan barely heard her. Seething with rage, his heart thundered in his chest. He needed to calm down, get his head on straight. He stretched his fingers from where he’d had them clenched on his leg.
Kyle was a liability. Who would he tell? Would the story get back to Chris?
He knew Cecile was waiting for him to comment on Kyle’s accusations, but she also knew better than to question him directly.
“At least she came to her senses eventually,” Cecile mused.
Declan grunted and snapped the folders in front of him shut. He made a show of looking at his watch. “Let’s break for lunch and reconvene at two. We have two more senior executives this afternoon.”
Only when the door shut behind her did Declan allow his eyes to slam shut, and he exhaled hard. He picked up his phone and placed a call. “I want a man on Kyle Armstrong. Where he goes, who he sees, what fucking brand deodorant he prefers.”
Declan waited only long enough for Brady to answer in the affirmative before ending the call. He hesitated for a moment, and then quickly typed out another text. Feeling slightly calmer, he grabbed his keys.
It would be fine. He could keep her safe.