16. ALLEGIANCES
CHLOE
Daphne accosted me before we left for the Bar Harbor airport. “What do you mean you’re leaving again?”
“It’s just for the weekend,” I explained. “Bryce needs to be down at headquarters, and he wanted me to go with him. It’ll look good for me to support him as he takes on a more public role. At least, that’s what Olivia Jensen said.”
The truth was, I couldn’t care less about the PR angle—I just wanted to be with my husband! Not to mention to get a break from the pit of vipers that surrounded me on MDI.
She put her hands on her hips. “Are you sure that’s what you should be doing right now? Aren’t you supposed to be, I don’t know, minding your business around here? Keeping an eye on things—like Tate?”
“Tate’s a person, not a thing.”
“Are you sure about that?” Daphne arched her eyebrow. “And did you find out anything else about her?”
“What do you mean?”
Daphne shrugged. “Nothing. Just curious.”
But it didn’t seem like nothing. Something about how she acted reminded me of the other night at the Nguyen’s party…
“Oh boy—here comes Bryce. I better move over. You’re supposed to be next to him all night, right?” Daphne winked at me and hustled away.
“Right.” Gene Windsor had been crystal-clear that I was to stand by my husband and stay out of trouble all night.
But…how the hell did Daphne know about that?
I considered Daphne a friend. Still, that didn’t mean I could blindly trust her. She was as motivated by money and power as anyone else who surrounded me at the moment.
I decided to switch gears. “Daphne… How is everything with you and Gene? Are you able to talk to him regularly?”
She shrugged. “Not exactly, because of the prison’s restrictions. But we’ve been in contact.”
“So, are you planning on staying together?”
Daphne turned and stared at her enormous mansion. “I guess it all depends.”
“On what?”
She sighed. “On a lot of things.”
“Is it about the money?” I guessed.
“Isn’t it always?” She sighed again. “I don’t know about you, but I’m never going back to ‘normal’ life. I can’t. So I’m just hanging on here and seeing what needs to be done. You never know with my husband—you just never know what he’s going to ask for.”
True, Daphne. Very true.
I squeezed her arm. “I hope Michael Jones comes through for you with a big settlement offer. Ten million dollars is a lot of money, Daphne. You could do whatever you wanted if you got that—you and the baby would both be taken care of.”
“I know, but… Ten million doesn’t really seem like enough when you can have ten billion , you know?” She kept staring at the house. “Gene makes you work for it, though. It’s not easy being in this family.”
I stood by her side, staring at the enormous oceanfront mansion. “You’re right about that.”
* * *
As expected, Bryce had a ton of emails to catch up on during the short plane ride to Boston. I didn’t mind at all. I sat happily by his side, nestled against his big body.
Heaven. If heaven could be a place on earth, this was it: right by my husband’s side.
“You’re being quiet,” he said as we landed.
“But I guess that’s because I’ve been on my laptop non-stop.
Sorry about that. And unfortunately, I have to go into the office for a few hours tonight.
The government informed our legal team that they’re about to announce a pre-trial date.
Jury selection will begin sooner than we thought, and we have to be prepared for how this will impact our stock valuation. ”
I squeezed his hand. “That sounds like a lot. How is the board? How does everyone feel about all this?”
He blew out a deep breath. “Everything’s up in the air right now.
I’m personally prepared for the fact that my father’s probably going to be convicted and that we’ll be forced to move forward from that.
But Regina Hernandez and some of the others aren’t so sure.
They want a plan in place in case that doesn’t happen. ”
“You mean if he isn’t convicted?”
Bryce nodded. “They aren’t sure that they want him to come back. They might want me to stay on as CEO.”
“Wow.” I blinked at him. “That’s a huge deal. How do you feel about it?”
He was quiet for a moment as our bags were loaded into a sleek black SUV.
Once we climbed inside and the driver sped toward Beacon Hill, he said, “It’s what I’ve always wanted.
And now that my father went and did this, I feel like I have the exact reason for taking over that I’ve been looking for.
My father is greedy and only wants what’s best for himself—always. Now everyone knows it.”
Bryce held my hand as he stared out the window.
The Boston skyline was streaked with pink, the city lights just beginning to wink out from the windows.
“I believe we can serve a higher purpose with our company, and I’d like to grow it into something that our family can be proud of.
We’ll still make tons of money, but there are lots of opportunities to innovate and do good things in the world.
My father has never capitalized on that.
He’s too afraid of risking what he has. His wealth has always been the most important thing to him.
I can’t blame him for that. But I grew up different than he did—I’ve always had it all, and I realize I don’t need more to feel secure. ”
“Your dad didn’t grow up with much?” I asked.
He shrugged. “His family had money, just not the kind of money he has now. I think he always had a chip on his shoulder, but I don’t know why.
He’s never been one to talk about his childhood or his feelings.
Although I think he could do that with my mom.
I told you, he’s never been the same since she died. ”
“That’s too bad.” But it was hard to muster up much sympathy for the man who was blackmailing me.
“There’s nothing I can do about it. I need to focus on the present and our company.
The truth is, I have— we have—everything we need for our family and our family’s future.
The time to move forward with Windsor Enterprises is now.
And I want to do it. I don’t know what my father will do when he hears about this. He’ll view it as a coup.”
My heart sank. “You’re right. Is someone telling him what’s going on?” Knowing Gene Windsor, he had spies on the board who were actively reporting to him.
“Board members are in touch with him, yes. And I’m sure that he has eyes and ears watching me.”
Ugh. I was Gene’s eyes and ears, too. At least he hadn’t asked me anything about my husband. Yet.
“But people are scared right now,” Bryce continued. “They don’t know if he’s ever going to come back and be in charge. It’s a tricky time for allegiances, you know what I mean?”
I watched the darkening sky and held onto my husband for dear life. “I sure do, Bryce. I sure do.”
“We just need to keep our heads down,” he said. “You stay close. I’ll keep trying to be the voice of reason with the board. It’ll all work out.”
“I hope so.” But I felt sick as I imagined Gene Windsor hearing about the change in circumstances.
What would he do if he knew the board was considering taking such an extreme action?
I shivered and shoved the question away—I didn’t want to know the answer.
But deep down, I knew that he would be furious, and a furious Gene Windsor was a scary thought.
Bryce had the driver drop me off at the townhouse in Beacon Hill.
He kissed me goodbye as one of his employees brought our bags in.
“The local staff already opened the house up and stocked everything,” he told me.
“I’ve dismissed everyone except for security.
You should have plenty of privacy, but I’ll know you’re safe. ”
He kissed the top of my head. “Feel free to go to bed, but I might wake you up when I get home.”
I grinned up at him. “Sounds good, Mr. Windsor.”
“I love you, Mrs. Windsor. I’ll see you later.” With another kiss, my handsome husband ducked back inside the SUV. I watched as it pulled down the street, feeling bereft.
What would happen if the board voted him in as full-term CEO?
Bryce would be happy about it. More importantly, he would be good at it.
I didn’t know much about the company, but I knew that .
He was a strong man who would make decent choices.
He would steer Windsor Enterprises into new territory and would use his position and power in a way that his father never had.
He was born for the role.
But would his own father stand in the way of his destiny?
I had every reason to fear that he would.