CHAPTER 8
EDGE
The weekend passed in a blur. The club had been packed, which kept me busy.
It didn’t help that two of our recent training class graduates had managed to cause an uproar—complete with name-calling followed by a hand-to-hand brawl—on Saturday evening over a Dominant they’d each spent time with, resulting in both of them being walked out and told to never come back.
There was no room for that sort of jealousy at the club, and I’d told them as much.
While I generally worked at Dichotomy on Monday to prepare for the week, I’d come in to the Chatter office today because Justin had requested my presence. I’d come in early, hoping to slip out midday, but ended up staying, sitting in on one meeting after another.
Just when I thought they were over, Justin appeared in my doorway.
Looks like you’re about to be summoned. Again.
“You have a few minutes?” he asked.
I leaned back in my chair. “Sure. What’s up?”
“Meeting. My office.”
Another one? Maybe they want to discuss the last one.
Since Justin was my boss, I wasn’t about to tell him I’d prefer to sit this one out, although it was the truth. So, when Justin headed down the hall, I got to my feet and followed.
When I stepped into Justin’s office, I found Zeke, Landon, Langston, and Ben reclining, chatting amongst themselves on the two couches that formed a comfortable seating area.
While my office was larger than it needed to be, it wasn’t the size of Justin’s.
Or any of the other partners’, for that matter.
The amount of space they had would’ve allowed me to live in my office. Full-time.
“Looks like a party,” I said as I took the only available spot across from Ben.
“Not for a few more days,” Landon stated with a smirk. “I hear Halloween’s on at the club.”
That it was, but to be honest, Halloween was one of my least favorite holidays at Dichotomy. It didn’t seem to matter how much effort I put into it; there was always drama. I detested drama, hated it with a passion.
“So, I brought you here for a reason,” Justin said as he took a seat in the oversized lounge chair on the end.
“As you’re all aware, Zeke recently brought Cav on for his department in an official management position.
After some discussion, we figured it would make sense for Cav to handle the hiring and firing of employees in their division. ”
“Not simply because Cav’ll do a better job,” Ben added, a teasing note to his tone.
“But he will,” Zeke stated with a devious grin. “He likes people. I don’t.”
“So you say.” Ben sobered, glanced around at the players in the room.
“We’ve decided to bring Zeke on as a partner, heading up the global information security division of Chatter PR.
The fact of the matter is, we wouldn’t have this division if it weren’t for Zeke.
It only felt right to give him a stake in the game. ”
Wow. That was … interesting news. “Congratulations,” I told Zeke, genuinely happy for the guy.
Zeke nodded his thanks.
“As you may know, we’ve also brought Ramsey on as a partner, and he’ll be running the talent division on his own.” Justin’s eyes shifted to my face. “And we’re finishing off the expansion by offering you a partner position as well.”
Hold the presses. Is he serious?
“Me?” I was confused. “What are you talking about?”
“We’re a global company,” Langston explained.
“Over the years, we’ve continued to grow, but we’ve limited ourselves when it came to size and portfolio.
In the past year, we’ve focused on the management team in an effort to expand our clientele.
Since then, we’ve promoted Jordan, brought Jane on in a management role, as well as Bishop when we expanded with a security division.
And we’ve hired Clarissa, bringing our contract legal team in-house. ”
Please tell me there’s a point to this.
Justin kept right on talking. “We’ve got a lot of balls in the air and still not enough people to handle everything. In order to focus and not overwhelm, we’re branching out.”
“We need more people to carry our balls,” Zeke said with a smirk.
While I appreciated his attempt at humor, I couldn’t get past the partner portion.
“As you know, the four of us have always maintained our own portfolios,” Justin noted.
“Landon and Langston are building and expanding the publishing division, while I’m sticking with new products, mainly in the toy industry.
Ben will continue to expand the technology companies.
Which means we’ll need someone to mainly focus on your area of expertise.
Large corporations, not related to technology.
Who better to handle that than the man who’s spent his entire career handling them? ”
“But you don’t have a corporate division,” I told Justin.
Ben grinned, white teeth flashing. “We do now.”
“Really?”
“If you’re interested, that is,” Landon said.
I realized all eyes were on me, but my attention remained on Justin.
Back before Chatter PR had existed, Justin and I had worked for the same advertising agency.
We’d joked from time to time about venturing out on our own.
One day, Justin decided to go for it. At the time, I wasn’t comfortable committing, so I’d politely declined.
The man had been on me for years to come join his company.
I’d gotten used to him calling me at least once a month to discuss when I was moving to his firm. I hadn’t regretted giving in.
Until now.
Justin tilted his head, studying me. “What? Did you not expect me to put you on the spot?”
“Would’ve been nice,” I replied.
He maintained a sober expression. “I figured if I wanted to avoid a decade’s worth of begging and pleading, this was the way to go.”
I didn’t look away. He knew I would have more questions, most of them pertaining to responsibilities as well as incentives. I was one of those men who spent my time wisely. If the reward wasn’t worth the effort, I didn’t put forth the energy.
“We can discuss the partnership agreement at length,” Justin continued, “but I felt it necessary to get this out now.”
“Why the rush?” I asked.
For the first time since I walked in the room, Justin smiled. “Because we’re getting married.”
My gaze shot to Ben, who nodded.
“So, she said yes?” Landon asked, referring to their submissive, Addison.
“She did.”
“Congratulations.” Some of the tension eased out as genuine happiness took over. “It’s about damn time.”
“Thanks,” Ben and Justin said in unison.
The tension was back. “But what does that have to do with the company?”
“Well, for one, when we start a family, we’re hoping to be in a position to rely on others to maintain most of the day-to-day.”
And by that, I figured Justin meant they’d shift down to a regular workweek and delegate—something none of them did well—to those they put in place to handle the important aspects of running a global corporation.
“Getting married and starting a family,” I mused. “You’ve come a long way, Parker.”
“That he has,” Langston agreed with a chuckle. “Congrats again, by the way.”
Justin smiled, glanced at Ben. “Thanks.”
“What about you two?” I asked, shifting the focus to Landon and Langston. “When’s the baby due?”
“Trust me,” Landon said with a shit-eating grin, “we’re workin’ on it.”
I was fairly certain they’d been doing exactly that in Landon’s office earlier in the day.
“So?” Justin prompted. “What do you say?”
I turned back to him. “I say we should have a conversation.”
“If the money’s right?” Landon asked.
“It’s not about money,” I told him, glancing from one face to the next. “It’s never been about money for me.”
The simple fact was, money wasn’t an issue.
I had more than I could spend in this lifetime.
That was one of the benefits of coming from old money.
However, I didn’t broadcast that fact, so most people weren’t aware that my investments made me more than most corporate executives pocketed in a year.
Except, every man in this room knew me. They probably even knew my net worth, which begged the question…
“Why me?” I glanced between them. “Why now? Why partner? I can easily head up a division in my current role.”
No one answered, but I could see their brains working overtime. They hadn’t expected me to counter.
“Well, I think he needs to think about it some,” Zeke stated as he pushed to his feet. “In the meantime, I’ve got shit to do.”
I couldn’t tell if Zeke was merely being Zeke or if he was pissed at me. We hadn’t talked since the day he gave me permission to date his sister.
“And if we’re lucky,” Zeke noted as he was walking out of the room, “he’ll sign on. Otherwise, you guys are doomed to hell.”
With a bellowing laugh, he left without looking back.
Landon and Langston got to their feet. “I second that,” Landon said. “But honestly, Edge, we’d be honored if you’d come on board. I know the company would benefit greatly from having you at the helm.”
I was still trying to understand why making me a partner would benefit anyone. They’d get the same amount of work out of me either way.
“Can I have some time to think about it?” I asked, looking between the four men.
“Of course,” Ben said.
I stood, then shook hands with all four of them. I wanted them to know I was appreciative, even if I wasn’t sure what to do with the information.
“You heading out?” Justin asked when everyone slipped out.
“I am.” I didn’t have anything planned, but if all went well, that would change with one quick text to Jamie.
“When you’re ready to discuss details, let me know. I’ve got it all outlined, Edge.”
I nodded to Justin. “Give me a few days. I’ve got a lot going on at the club right now. Maybe late next week?”
“Sounds like a plan.”