Chapter 8 #3
Kane Daughtry is a walking billboard for what it looks like to have a Napoleon complex.
He has an enormous ego without the goods to back it up.
Wells and I hired him at Lux in a senior vice president role within our technology and innovation division.
He was very convincing that he knew his shit, but I’m still pissed we ever believed it.
Somehow, Kane got it in his head that he was as essential to Lux as Wells and myself and thought we were equals in all areas of life, or at least he should’ve been entitled to whatever we had.
Kane was employed at Lux for three years before we fired him based on suspicion of corporate espionage.
He was heavily involved in a classified project that would eventually evolve into what our customers know as the cloud-based AI system Lux uses called Stella, but prior to launch, the AI program was referred to internally as Project Andromeda.
Less than three weeks before the patent filing, one of our competitors announced a nearly identical product.
Spectate’s program Meteor even had the same user-interface, down to the font selection.
An internal investigation all pointed to Kane’s involvement, and interviews with the research and development staff only confirmed that Kane was asking questions outside of his scope of work.
His computer accessed files he shouldn’t have, and the final nail for me, personally, was when Liam confirmed through questionably attained video footage that Kane had dinner with the CEO of Spectate six months before they announced Zeus, and he would text with him on an almost daily basis.
I didn’t need to share where that information came from because we didn’t need to prove it; our suspicions were enough to fire for cause.
But the man didn’t go quietly into the night.
We wouldn’t have ever commented publicly about it had he not forced our hand.
The guy is a press whore and will do anything for attention, regardless if it’s good or bad press.
I don’t even know how many frivolous lawsuits we’ve dealt with because of him, and that’s intentional—I told my legal team I only want to be aware if something is actually important or impacts something or someone directly in my life.
One of our company’s attorneys, Daphne Cromwell, initially assisted Lux with European legal issues out of our New York offices, but over the years, Wells and I both kept turning to her for advice in other areas.
Technically, she’s still in charge of any European legal issues, but she advises us in a general counsel role more often than not.
After dealing with Kane for the third time, even the unflappable Daphne was exasperated by the man.
Daphne
Kane Daughtry had the audacity to ask me out as we left court. How did you ever put up with that insufferable twat? That wanker thinks the sun shines out of his arse!
Wells
Oh? Please do share your response with the class.
Daphne
I told him I don’t date little men like him.
Me
lol of course you did.
Wells
That’s amazing, Daph. He is quite sensitive about his height.
Daphne
So was Napoleon.
Last year, Kane brought a defamation lawsuit against Lux and somehow pulled my sister Savannah as a witness to me allegedly making false accusations that damaged his reputation.
I had taken her as my plus one to an industry event because one of her favorite actresses was presenting, and I knew I could introduce them.
When a reporter asked about Kane, Savannah had said that she didn’t keep up with terminated employees nor had any interest in associating with someone of his caliber.
She wasn’t wrong in what she said, but it was still a pain in the ass to deal with, and I really didn’t like him pulling my family members into it.
So, Liam suggested we keep a close eye on him, and we did, but like most things with Kane Daughtry, it turned out to be a waste of time and money.
Wells and I both prefer to keep our private life out of the press and avoid drawing any attention to our personal lives, whereas Kane scrambles after any opportunity for attention.
Last I heard, he was trying to get on a reality competition show where he would move into a house for the summer and be cast as the misunderstood villain.
The thought of the complete lack of privacy makes me damn near break out in hives.
I have a friend at the head of that network, and he’s already assured me that if Kane does make it on the show, it will be in the contract he isn’t allowed to talk about me, Wells, or Lux.
Good luck with enforcing that one. Without those three topics, Kane doesn’t have anything to talk about that anyone else would find interesting. There’s a reason the guy has to overcompensate so much.
Liam extends his hand for me to shake. “Let me make a few calls and I’ll let you know if I find anything you need to be aware of or have handled.”
I pull him in for a dude hug with the standard two claps on the back. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it. Now, go make sure our brothers don’t kill anyone—or blow themselves up.” Liam lifts his chin in acknowledgment as he laughs and walks over to take back control of the pyro-patriotic display.
It would take Liam less than two days to discover it wasn’t one of our sisters that Walker was worried about when it came to whatever Kane was up to—it was Wells’s sister, Tinsley.