Chapter Nineteen. Rowan
NINETEEN
Rowan
“Oh my God, is it true?” Michele, one of my marketing employees, asks, and scurries up next to me as I stride down the hall.
I’m exhausted from the late night and very early morning spent becoming reacquainted with Holden. His early-morning kiss before he left and headed home still has that ache burning between my thighs when he satisfied that ache more than I could fathom in the past eighteen hours.
I’m exhilarated that it is in fact true—that I was offered the new co-CEO position here—and don’t even know where to start or what to say.
I’m energized. I mean, how can I not be when I just spent hours tangled in the sheets—or rather, the floor, the couch, and then the sheets—with Holden Knight?
“It is,” I say.
“That’s so awesome. It’s about time a woman gets some kind of clout around here,” she says and grins. “I wasn’t exactly sure how I felt about Mr. Knight, but I have to admit, he might have just won me over a bit with this decision.”
“Pretty sure I agree with that sentiment,” I say.
And isn’t that what’s filled my thoughts all morning long. With this new position, with the board vote that came with it, I will now equal Rhett’s stature in the company.
Is that enough for me? Do I want more? Getting married to Chad would not only net me the board seat and vote that comes with taking his last name, but in addition, it would also fulfill Gran’s terms. I’d gain the stake from Gran’s faceless LLC and the board seat that comes with it.
Both of these gains would make me the second largest shareholder in my family’s company.
That’s what my goal is. To overtake Rhett and have something he can’t for the first time in our lives.
It’s not completely honoring the promise I made to Gran about keeping the company in the family and running it as the CEO, but it’s as close as I can get given the circumstances and I’ll gladly cling to that.
So no, when Holden left and I lay in bed to process all that happened yesterday, none of this went unnoticed.
And at the same time it puts everything into a kaleidoscope of opportunities for me. Holden delivered and gave me what he said … but a small part of me deep down doesn’t trust that there isn’t something waiting in the wings. Another shoe to drop.
So I hold tight to what I have but fear it might go away at any time.
That’s where keeping up pretenses with Chad comes in. If that shoe were to drop and those things were to be taken away, then I have another avenue to stay in this figurative position of power.
I’m leery of everything at this point and trust no one.
“Rowan?” Michele asks and pulls me from my spiraling thoughts.
I look in the direction of her gaze to see my brother standing with his back against my doorjamb waiting for us.
This can either be good or it can be bad.
This is the first time I’ve seen Rhett since the co-CEO announcement. “We’ll talk later?” I ask Michele.
“Sure. Yes.” She glances Rhett’s way and then back to me, distrust in her eyes. I don’t blame her, considering he fired her last month in a power play.
And once again Holden stepped in to save the day there, but gave me the credit for rehiring them back with bonuses.
“Rhett,” I say, meeting his steely glare, as I move past him and into my office. What’s the number one way to ease into a difficult conversation with him? Talk about him, of course. “I saw your gigantic billboard on the way in today.”
Nothing like seeing your brother smiling cheesily at you from a billboard positioned at your highway off-ramp.
He glances over his shoulder before looking back at me. “The election’s already been secured. There’s no chance I’ll lose, but I have to at least look like I’m giving it a fair fight.”
“So you bribed your way on to the city council. How very … Rhett of you,” I say but then stop short when I notice the padded manila envelope sitting on my desk. There is a cheap red bow stuck to its top but no writing. It more than piques my curiosity.
“What’s that?” he asks and steps into my office, shutting the door at his back.
“Looks to me like it’s an envelope, but what do I know?” I say sarcastically.
“Open it,” he urges.
“What do you want?” I ask, irritation peppering my tone as Holden’s comments from last night about how much Rhett whined after I left the conference room come back. The last thing I want is to open a gift on my desk when the last time a gift was here it was the sapphire earrings.
“You’re playing at something here and I can’t figure out what it is.”
“And if I were, you think I’d tell you?”
“This isn’t the time for secrets,” he says as if he can’t make up his mind whether to be mad at me for the new co-CEO position, or to convince me that we need to be on the same side.
“That’s rich coming from someone who sold our company out from beneath me, closed the actual deal, and didn’t say two damn words to me about it.”
“I was legally bound not to say anything.”
“Huh. And here I thought our last name might have mattered more.”
“Your fiancé knew too, but I don’t see you throwing him under the bus.”
“Wow. Is this like the third grade where you pull everyone else into an argument so that you don’t have to answer the question yourself?” I ask.
“No, more like fourth, where if you kiss ass enough you become teacher’s pet.” He looks at me with disgust. “Because what the fuck, Row? You cozy up to Holden and then all of a sudden you are now my equal?”
“I’m going to rephrase that sentence for you.
It should sound more like this: you worked side by side with the man I deemed worthy enough to sell our family company to because that’s what was asked of you.
Lo and behold, in that working side by side, that man saw your value, Rowan, and decided that maybe you had a good skill set and fresh ideas.
That maybe someone should put a check on my rampant behavior which, to this point, has proven to be a detriment to the company. ”
“Sarcasm doesn’t become you,” he says as I move behind my desk and take a seat.
“For the record, I’ve always been your equal.” My gaze veers to the manila envelope and while curiosity may own me, privacy does more so.
He shrugs indifferently. “So you’re telling me this has nothing to do with your sudden change of heart and engagement to Chad?”
“What does this refer to?”
“The new job.”
“No. Absolutely not. How does that even make sense? I found out about the new position the same time you did.”
He holds my stare for the longest time. If I avert my gaze before he’s satisfied with what he sees, he’ll know I’m lying. “Okay, then why the about-face when it comes to Chad?” His eyebrows narrow and his lips purse as I try to keep up with the various directions of this conversation.
It’s almost as if he’s changing topics quickly to catch me off guard.
But I’ve rehearsed the lie in my head ever since I said yes.
Let’s just hope the first time I have to say it out loud that it’s believable.
“For a lot of reasons, but mostly because Chad and I have a sense of duty to help our families. We’ve been told our whole lives that the best foundation to a good marriage is friendship and we have that, so why not give it a try. ”
“Just like that?”
“I’m not getting any younger.” I shrug. “Mom has spent forever telling me Chad’s the one. Maybe I wanted to make that decision for myself. Then again, maybe I’ve been sitting back and watching him over the past year and I realize there is so much more there than I ever thought.”
Please buy the lie.
“Hmm.”
Not exactly the reaction I was expecting. Don’t oversell it. “Hmm? What is that supposed to mean?”
“It has nothing to do with anything you’d net from marrying him?”
“Well, if that’s the case, it wouldn’t really matter anymore seeing as I have a new position and netted that all on my own. If I were engaged to him solely for that, we’d be calling it off.”
And it’s true. I would be. But there’s still that pesky matter about the two-year codicil to get my inheritance.
I want that now, and after seeing firsthand how shitty he’s acting about being equal to me, you bet your ass I want Gran’s shares and vote so someday I can gloat that I have more than him.
Catty and bullshit? Hell yes. Deserved and what he has coming to him after all these years of throwing his privilege in my face? Definitely.
Rhett just stands there and stares at me, scrutinizing whatever he’s seeing while he decides whether to believe me or not. “He’s been in love with you for as long as I can remember.”
“I’m aware.” Now you’re going to play good cop?
“But you don’t feel the same about him.” It’s not a question, but rather a statement that puts me on edge.
“I don’t have to explain my feelings about Chad to you. That’s between him and me.”
“Then I suggest you remind yourself of that because you looked like you were getting your wisdom teeth pulled at your engagement party.”
“You ever been on the other end of Mom’s planning?
It’s like a tornado wrapped in a hurricane and you’re not allowed to make any decisions on how you’re going to escape or hunker down because guess what?
She’s already made them and you have no fucking choice in the matter, down to what it is you’re going to wear.
So yeah, you’re damn right I looked miserable, because I was.
” At least I can explain that one away. “And you know what? Screw you, Rhett. I have a lot going on with you upending our lives with this sale—more than you can ever fathom—and the last thing I need is your judgment on anything that doesn’t pertain to you. ”