Chapter 38 Nash
Chapter thirty-eight
Nash
“Are you sure this will work?” Emmett asked, crossing his arms over his broad chest as he stared down at the papers littering the end of the conference room table.
It was late. City lights winked across the darkness outside the wall of windows as Emmett and Kelsi joined Stephanie and me for a debriefing.
For Stephanie’s plan to work, we needed to crunch numbers and build a team.
Not at all how I’d planned to spend the night before New Year’s Eve.
But we were running out of time and options.
“I’m not sure of anything right now.” I heaved a sigh, messing with my hair.
Pretty sure I was going to resemble Einstein at this rate.
“But it’s this or settling for Nova potentially beating us to market without a fight.
We’ve worked our tails off the last year for this. I’m not going to let that happen.”
“Could Hiram in any way be bluffing?” Kelsi asked from opposite me, beside Emmett. She tugged a loose piece of her ginger hair in concentration while she scanned another document.
“Doubtful,” Stephanie cut in from my side. “This was a calculated move and not the first time he’s pulled this stunt. There’s a pattern of corporate espionage. SkyLark, MLC. All circumstantial at best but—”
“With no paper trail,” I finished. “Until now.”
“Did you at least fire the traitor?” Emmett growled.
I thought about Samantha. She’d been so clever, and there was no direct proof linking her to Hiram on the Genesis servers yet.
But Zara’s sticky note and USB drive had given us the clues we needed.
Emails between Hiram and Samantha, a phone recording, and several pictures of them together.
All because Zara had been worried he was having an affair.
After the announcement, she’d connected the dots and decided she liked us enough to risk ticking off her husband.
It was enough of a connection for us. The hard part was not tipping Hiram off, but our early departure had likely already done that.
“Her severance was effective immediately.” It’d taken a bunch of help from HR, but I’d paid her out handsomely—more than she deserved.
I wanted her out of the office while we pulled this launch off.
Anything to keep Hiram from knowing we were going to outmaneuver him to the finish line.
“So, you have a plan.” Kelsi waved a hand over the paper-littered table. “Where do we fit in? I know he’s Mr. Pennybags”—she jabbed a thumb at Emmett—“but what about me?”
I grinned as Emmett huffed at the moniker. “You, Kels, are the missing link. You’re the one with connections. You are the market.”
Her grin was feral, her eyes bright. “Oh, I like the sound of that.”
“Thought you might. And I’m not expecting you to do this for nothing, so name your price—”
“As if,” Kelsi scoffed. “I want this program to succeed as much as you do because selfishly, I refuse to give money to that egotistical tyrant.” She shot Stephanie a grimace. “Sorry, not sorry.”
Stephanie waved her off. “No offense taken.”
“I know twenty author and creator names in the field I could get on board, right now,” Kelsi continued with a snap. “Tell me when and you’ve got yourself an army of campaigners.”
I glanced at Emmett, the strongest voice of reason in the room. We had a plan. We had a team. But he was head of finance, and that was an avenue we had to consider.
He stood with his arms still crossed, silently assessing the paperwork in front of him, forehead etched with deep frown lines as he no doubt weighed every angle. “It’s insane,” he said at last, glancing between the three of us. “But a little insanity never hurt anyone.”
Something eased in my shoulders. We had a green light. An accelerated timeline wouldn’t be the end of us.
Stephanie slipped her hand into mine, lacing our fingers, giving them a squeeze. “We can do this. Not alone, but with all of us.”
I nodded, my mind sparking with a dozen next steps. “Now that it’s doable, it’ll go to the board in the morning. We’ll hit the ground running with marketing the day after New Year’s. I’m confident we can launch by the end of January. Thank you. Both of you.”
Kelsi offered a grin and a jaunty salute. She rolled her shoulders in a stretch and glanced out the massive windows lining the north wall. “Wow, it’s later than I thought.”
Emmett grunted. “Ryan watching the boys?”
“Yup, it’s pizza night and an action movie. I dodged a bullet.” Kelsi shuddered.
“You prefer corporate espionage to movie night?” I asked, biting back a smile.
Kelsi rolled her eyes, hefting her Delaware-sized purse over her shoulder.
Seriously, what did she have in there? It wasn’t even the diaper bag she usually carried.
No wonder she had muscle tension. “I prefer my espionage fictional and not threatening my friends.” She flashed a wicked grin.
“But it’s given me a whole new villain profile for my next book.
We’re gonna nail him—or at least beat him in his own game, Nash. ”
I dipped my head in thanks for her supportive gesture, not in the least offended over her thrill at getting new story fodder.
Because the thing about Kelsi was that she was a multigenre author—rom-coms and suspense.
Everything was potential book material. Which meant Hiram was for sure going to land himself on an FBI watch list in one of her books.
And I could guarantee it wouldn’t be a rom-com special.
And I, for one, was already looking forward to reading Kelsi’s fictional plans for his demise—theoretically, of course.
“We just need to get through New Year’s.” Stephanie squeezed my hand again.
“Speaking of.” Kelsi adjusted her monster bag as she paused at the door. “We’re still on for tomorrow. Four couples and half a dozen kids. Should be great.”
Stephanie made a small noise. “Actually, my nana’s here and—”
Kelsi shrieked. “Charmain Russo Addams is in town?!”
Somehow when referring to Nana, you needed all three of those names to fully capture her essence. And then some.
Stephanie laughed. “In the flesh.”
“Bring her!” Kelsi glanced at Emmett. “You and Danielle don’t mind, right?”
This year our festivities would be at the Mitchell residence because we traded holidays between the three of us.
Emmett shrugged, running a hand over his beard. “Don’t see why not but check with Dani.”
Kelsi cackled. “Oh boy, Steph, after hearing all your stories about her, I can’t wait to see her take on Ryan.”
It was my turn to snicker because as much as I loved my best friend, he was no match for Nana. And it would be a glorious thing to witness his set down.
Stephanie’s elbow jabbed into my ribs, cutting off my strangled laughter. “I’m sure she’d love to come. She’s a big fan of yours.”
A genuine smile touched Kelsi’s face. “That might be the nicest Christmas gift I got this year.”
“Compared to the new walking pad I happen to know Ryan surprised you with?” I cut in, teasing.
Kelsi huffed. “And I’m out. Later, boys. I’ll confirm with you when I get home, Steph. Goodnight!”
Emmett shuffled the papers together, semi-neatly. “Hold up, I’ll walk you out.”
“See you tomorrow, Nerf guns blazing,” I called after him.
Emmett stumbled, whirling to face me. “You’re kidding.”
I crossed my arms. “I promised the girls I’d have a surprise for them after Christmas. You wouldn’t want me to break a promise to your young, impressionable daughters, would you?”
“And you thought Nerf guns were the way to go? With six kids in the house? Why would you do this to me?”
My grin sharpened, and I struggled to rein in my laughter. It wasn’t often I got my unflappable friend ruffled. “Oh, a little something you might remember as the Freshman Shower Escapade.”
Emmett’s face slackened, nostrils flaring. “You’re serious right now?”
“As a tombstone, Pennybags. I get my revenge fifteen years later, and it is sweet.”
Kelsi cackled from the hallway, clearly in on the joke. No doubt thanks to Ryan spilling the details.
Stephanie’s curls bounced as she watched our conversation shoot back and forth like a ping-pong ball. “I have so many questions right now,” she said, hazel eyes dancing.
Emmett growled like the bear he was. “Don’t you dare, Nashville.”
“Ooh,” Stephanie teased. “Nashville, huh?”
“Don’t start a war you can’t finish,” I said, adding to Stephanie, “I’ll tell you in the car.”
Emmett’s steely grey eyes narrowed. “Foul play.”
“Hey, you can’t rain on my parade when I finally get a girl I can tell secrets to, when you two have been happily married and spilling my secrets for nearly the last decade.”
“Nine years and counting!” Kelsi called from the hallway.
“Semantics.” Emmett sighed but turned back to the doorway.
“That’s not a no, Mitchell,” I taunted.
Emmett shook his head as he left mumbling, “The price I pay for a misspent youth. I apologized… eventually.”
Once he was gone, I caved to the laughter pressing on my chest. It was refreshing, like shedding the weight of the world for a few minutes.
“The Freshman Shower Escapade?” Stephanie questioned as I wiped my eyes.
Catching my breath, I shuffled the remaining papers into a folder. “Emmett had a bit of a wild side in his younger years, and I was the collateral damage on one of his pranks.”
“I can’t see that. He’s so”—she waved vaguely—“straitlaced.”
“Don’t let that suit fool you.”
“And just how bad was this prank for you to be subjecting him to a bunch of screaming kids hyped up on sugar on New Year’s Eve, duking it out with Nerf guns?”
“Let’s just say it involved a shower caddy, a can of shaving cream, a cockroach, and a near case of public indecency. Seeing him squirm will be worth it.”
Stephanie bit her lip, scrunching her nose. “I don’t need any more details.”
No, she really didn’t. Especially since it was my own dignity on the line.
“Want to head back to my place?” Stephanie asked as we entered the elevator, and I punched the ground floor button. “We can hang out and finish finalizing our battle plans. Liz made sticky toffee pudding.”
“You had me at we.” I tugged her into a hug as the elevator whirred into motion. “And I’m glad you’re on my team.”
“Always.” Stephanie smiled sweetly up at me, and could you blame me for stealing a kiss?
“Anyone ever tell you you’re a romantic?” she whispered, when the doors whooshed open, ushering us into the quiet lobby.
I laced our fingers together and winked. “Only for you, sweetheart.”