Chapter 45 Promoted?
The team waited in a tense hush.
Derek kept shifting in his chair. Tyler looked eager for news. Others whispered over their monitors.
Ryan played a game on his phone.
He needed nothing from Brian, which made Brian’s authority remarkably easy to ignore. Courtesy could make him acknowledge the man’s title. Fear never had.
When Brian finally returned, he looked hollowed out.
Derek hurried over.
“Boss? What happened?”
Brian focused on him slowly. Then his expression filled with rage.
He kicked Derek to the floor and followed him down, straddling him and throwing punches.
“Your idea! Your brilliant little plan!”
Derek curled beneath the blows, arms over his head.
“I gave you accounts. Made sure your numbers looked good. And this is what I get?”
“Boss, I’m sorry. I won’t suggest anything again. From now on—”
“There is no ‘from now on.’ They fired me.”
Ryan looked up. He wasn’t surprised.
Grace had clear evidence of misconduct and a chance to remove one of Whitaker’s supporters. She would have been foolish to waste it.
Derek went pale. Without Brian, his easy commissions and protection were gone.
For several moments, nobody intervened. Too many people had grievances against both men to feel much sympathy.
Tyler glanced at Ryan with open admiration. He’d been there only days and had already brought Brian down.
Derek finally shoved Brian off him. Brian crashed into a chair and stared in disbelief.
“You hit me?”
“I gave you an idea. You chose to use it.” Derek scrambled up. “You wanted the commission. You wanted Ryan gone. Don’t blame me because you got caught.”
Brian lunged again. This time, Derek fought back.
They grappled between the desks until a voice cut through the office.
“Enough.”
Douglas Reed stood in the doorway, appalled.
“Look at yourselves.”
Once the men were separated, he informed the team that Brian had been dismissed.
Then he announced his replacement.
Ryan Carter.
Ryan looked up.
“Me?”
“Ms. Morgan’s decision,” Reed said. “Acting team leader for three months. If your performance is satisfactory, the appointment can become permanent.”
His expression was difficult to read.
“You’ll also complete the hospital contract and handle future business from that account.”
Three months. Grace had arranged that neatly.
The appointment would end with their marriage agreement. He could leave without complications, and in the meantime Henry would have the management position he’d wanted for Ryan.
Team Eight was new and relatively unimportant. Rewarding a $2.7 million sale with temporary leadership was defensible even to those who disliked him.
And denying him recognition might risk the hospital account.
Brian glared at him.
“You’ll regret this.”
Derek said nothing. He already knew he was done. Ryan didn’t even have to retaliate. Without the easy accounts Brian had supplied, he wouldn’t last.
Better to resign than wait to be dismissed.
Tyler, by contrast, could barely contain his excitement. He didn’t need favors. A supervisor who wouldn’t steal his deals or punish him arbitrarily would be enough.
The others seemed cautiously pleased. They’d all tried and failed to win the hospital’s business. Ryan had succeeded, and whatever else he was, he didn’t seem like Brian.
“All right,” Ryan told Reed. “I’ll finish the contract.”
The internal paperwork moved quickly. Before long, he was in the team leader’s office.
He called Parker.
“Thanks to your help, I’ve just taken Brian’s job. How about a drink tonight?”