2. Petunia
2
PETUNIA
MEANING: ANGER; RESENTMENT; DISDAIN
MICAH
________
“ Y ou have to be fucking kidding me.” Everett’s voice was colder than ice.
The man at the end of the table spread his hands apologetically. What a lie that was. He didn’t care, nor was he sorry. I’d bet every dollar in our bank accounts that inside he was giddy. “Unfortunately, I’m not. We’re not.”
Even Cameron, sitting across from me, had a frown on his normally easygoing face. “It seems a bit antiquated. Surely we can find something a little more modern to help with our image.”
Joseph cleared his throat. “I’m offended you think we didn’t go through all the possibilities before we came to you.”
“All the possibilities without speaking to us ,” Everett snarled. I didn’t pull him back. These assholes deserved it. Seven men sat across from us, and they were currently handing us our asses on a platter. It wasn’t a common sensation, nor one I liked.
Still, I kept my mouth shut and watched them.
For the moment.
“For fuck’s sake,” Bill shook his head and leaned back in his chair. “You can’t expand into a family market without appealing to families. And forgive me, but the three of you aren’t fools. You’re probably the least family friendly pack in the country.”
I stifled my smirk and saw Cameron do the same. But my packmate cleared his throat. Again, it wasn’t remotely true, but outright denials would only make them more insistent. “That’s why we have an excellent marketing team. When was the last time the owners of a company mattered for marketing?”
“I’m not even going to dignify that,” Joseph said. “The minute we announce that Zenith Inc. is purchasing Firefly Clothing and all of its subsidiaries is the minute we have people protesting that the kings of lingerie and sex are taking over children’s clothing. You think it’s not a big deal, but it is.”
This time it was my turn to roll my eyes. Sure, our company was known for our lingerie and sex toy brands, but that wasn’t all we did. It was just the only thing people paid attention to, because the old saying was true. Sex sells . And it did. Very, very well.
“A few well-timed press releases and a quick showing of the plans for the lines will put those protests to bed,” Cameron said mildly. “Getting married is an extreme solution to a mid-level problem.”
I glanced at Everett, who was still as a statue, and strung so tightly I wondered if his spine might snap. It wasn’t the idea of getting married that pissed him off. No, it was our board of directors coming to us and trying to tell us what to do with our personal lives.
A few heads turned toward Joseph, and I narrowed my eyes. It seemed like we’d let the board have too much autonomy, if they were suddenly banding together and looking to him for guidance. But that was a problem for a different day. Any action on that front would only be seen as a defensive attack and not a move of strategy.
I should have been paying more attention. The way we divided things—me with design, Cameron with public relations and marketing, and Everett with the nuts and bolts of the business itself—it was easy for me to set those things aside. But I still owned this company, and this was just as much on me as it was the others, even if Everett might not agree.
Joseph’s mouth hardened into a line as he stared at us. “We won’t approve the acquisition.”
A dark chuckle came from Cameron. He might be the one who was always smiling, but he was just as ruthless as Everett. “We’re the majority shareholders, Joe. You really think that’s going to stop us?”
“If we all resign and publicly declare why we’re doing it, it will.”
My eyebrows rose into my hairline. “You feel that strongly about it?”
The acquisition on the table wasn’t nearly as dire as they were making it out to be. But the entire board resigning and openly admitting they didn’t have confidence in the three of us? That was a problem. Even I knew that.
Zenith Incorporated’s stock would take a nosedive, and not only Firefly Clothing would be in trouble. Every single one of our subsidiaries and their employees would be in danger. The Board understood the dynamics. Which was how I knew they weren’t fucking around.
“Uh,” a Beta named Lee cleared his throat. “Respectfully, we’re tired of cleaning up your messes.”
“Our messes ?” Everett leaned down on the table with both hands. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“He means we’re tired of getting called by reporters asking about your latest fuck. Or why you’re in the papers in cities halfway around the world instead of doing your fucking jobs,” Bill said.
Cameron tilted my head and looked at him. “And it never occurred to you to direct those calls to our PR team? To me ? Or maybe consider that those stories are either exaggerated or false?”
He snorted. “We know they’re not.”
“Do you.” It wasn’t a question. I stood and buttoned my suit jacket, staring the man down. His swallow was visible. Good. He should be scared at the moment. I didn’t speak much in Board meetings, and I was glad for it now. My words would carry the weight they needed.
“Allow me to enlighten you then, since none of you felt it was important to come to us directly with your concerns. We haven’t been overseas in over a year. The pictures circulating are from a trip three years ago. The pictures themselves,” I looked around at each of them, “I assume you’ve seen them since you’re putting such a weight on our public image, are hardly of consequence. The last time I checked, pictures of men dancing with women in a club weren’t a crime.”
Joseph scrubbed a hand over his face. “Mic?—”
“I wasn’t finished. Though it’s none of your business, we haven’t been in a relationship since before that time, because we’ve been busy doing, what was it you called it, Bill? Our fucking jobs . So by all means, throw a temper tantrum and try to force our hand, but do it knowing that this all could have been avoided had you been willing to have a conversation.”
The room was so silent you could hear the chairs creak when they shifted their weight. Not one single board member was looking at us. Except Joseph. His lips barely turned up at the corners, and it told me everything I needed to know. “Motherfucker,” Everett muttered under his breath.
Cam and I looked at Everett, but he didn’t meet our gaze. “You won’t stop with this, will you? You’ve decided this is what you want, and that’s the end of it?”
The smile on Joseph’s face was at once poisonous and victorious. “Correct.”
“Fine. Get the fuck out.”
Lee blinked. “But?—”
“I said get the fuck. Out .”
All seven of them did. The spineless ones who hadn’t said shit went first. And of course, they all couldn’t leave without a parting shot. Joseph nodded like he had any sympathy. “This is for the best. You’ll see.”
None of us spoke until the door shut behind them.
“Want to let us in on what just happened?” Cameron asked.
Everett hung his head. “They know all the stories aren’t true. They just don’t care. Joseph practically screamed it at the end. I want to wipe that smirk off his face.”
“The real question is why ?” I asked. “This deal is good for everyone. And this is a made up stipulation, so why have they chosen this hill to die on?”
“Good question,” Cam murmured. “But it will have to wait.”
“Why?” Everett pulled himself to his full height.
Looking at his watch, Cameron smirked. “Because we have to go home and change before going to the Caldwell Gala.”
I groaned, and he shot a glare at me. “We don’t have to stay long, but we do have to go. We promised we would. And the last thing we need is for the board to think they’ve rattled us enough to skip our social calendar.”
He was right, and I hated that he was. I usually liked the Caldwell Gala. The house was beautiful, and in general, it was a fine event. No part of me wanted to go out while this anger seethed under my skin, but we had to.
“All right. Then let’s move quickly,” Everett said.
I couldn’t agree more.
Ninety minutes later we pulled up to the gates of the Caldwell Estate and handed the keys of the car to the valet. We’d all calmed down some in the ritual of getting ready for a public appearance, but it still hovered in the back of my mind. Like the pulse of bass from a nearby speaker, or a fly you couldn’t find and squash. When you were unable to find the correct color for that last final detail. Nagging and brutal.
Married. Married. Married.
It circled in my brain on repeat.
Why?
Frustration clung to my skin. They’d boxed us in damn well, and they knew it. It was true, we were more powerful than the rest of the board, but the power of public opinion was more than all of us. If they decided to scorch the earth, we wouldn’t survive it. Because they weren’t wrong.
Our media presence wasn’t the most squeaky clean, but it wasn’t horrendous either. Mostly it was people speculating about nothing, as they usually did with those who were rich and single. And it didn’t matter that it wasn’t the truth. Or wasn’t the whole truth. All that mattered was appearances. Because by the time the truth could be circulated and gotten into enough hands to be understood and known, it would already be far too late.
We’d seen it happen countless times. We’d just never imagined we’d be on this end of it.
“Let’s get this over with,” I said with a sigh.
“Don’t be too sad,” Cam said. “You know Frank always sets aside some of the old bottles for us. And you like this one. I know you do.”
I nodded. That was true. Frank McCabe, the owner of the estate, did business with us. He started out as a specialty textile importer and had slowly grown into one of the largest textile conglomerates in the country. We sourced from McCabe Fabrics for probably half of our companies. And if the deal with Firefly went through, we’d certainly be doing more business with the company.
The tinkle of music and laughter surrounded us as we entered. The crowd was already gathered, glasses of champagne shimmering and circulating on waiters’ trays. The windows that looked out over the coast let in the orangey light of sunset, painting everything with a lovely glow.
I caught a light floral scent, my eyes drawn to the bouquets on the cocktail tables along the side of the room and with the refreshments. Everywhere I looked there seemed to be flowers. The strange and pretty blend of purple, orange, and yellow that made the room come to life.
A sharp clapping sound drew my eyes, and the man himself walked over to us with a smile. “I was hoping the three of you would show your faces here.”
He reached out a hand to shake, and Everett took it first. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
“I found a bottle I’ve been saving for the three of you. I’ll have the staff grab it.”
“We’ll be on the balcony,” I told him.
None of us wanted to mingle tonight, and the large balcony circling the second level of the ballroom was a good place to observe. We’d used it before to keep a low profile. Not to mention there were less cameras up there. That was one thing I didn’t love about this house. There were cameras absolutely everywhere.
Paranoid bastard.
Frank left, and Cam chuckled. “Told you.”
“Yeah.”
When we’d first met, he’d offered us a taste of one of his vintage wines, and he’d latched onto it, serving us with expensive and exclusive liquor every time we encountered him. Unfortunately, the three of us weren’t aficionados. We enjoyed the taste, but mostly because it made Frank’s presence more bearable.
Up on the balcony, I looked out over the crowd, my packmates lining up beside me. There were a couple of other people up here, but not many. The usual suspects from Clarity Coast’s society, and those who had come from Sunset City or flown in.
I spotted several women looking up at us and marking who we were. It never bothered me before, but now that we were on the brink of having to find someone to marry or go down in a blaze of fire, the stares felt different.
A hand fell on my shoulder, and Everett laughed. It felt forced. “Cam’s right. We need to look like everything’s normal.”
“It’s not fucking normal,” I growled.
“You think I don’t know that? Act like it is. We all know this battle isn’t going to be won by you glowering at the room.”
“The rare valid point,” I muttered. Then I sighed, trying to bring my mind back to balance. “Isn’t the gala usually raising money for something?”
“Cancer,” Cam said. “In honor of Gloria Caldwell. But more and more I think it’s just a way for Frank to network and make more connections.”
The Caldwell Foundation was one of the charities on the long list we donated to every year. Which was why we’d been invited. It was also one of the better ones as far as accomplishing their mission, furthering cancer research and treatment.
The same flowers as downstairs trailed along the railing of the balcony, woven around it. They were gorgeous, though they seemed edgier than the vibes in the room. Slightly darker, with the rich purples pulling you into the pops of orange and yellow. I could appreciate a good design concept, especially when I didn’t get to simply do art as much as I wanted to anymore.
“Who the fuck is that?”
Looking up, I followed Everett’s gaze to the corner of the room near the large, arching windows. A woman stood there, lit up by the setting sun. Tan skin bronzed by the glow, contrasting gorgeously with the royal blue of her dress. Every curve she had went on for miles, from the gentle round angle of her face to the large, lush swell of her hips. She was fucking stunning.
“I’ve never seen her before.”
That was the goddamn truth, because if I’d ever seen her before, I would have remembered. One look and she was seared on my brain.
Cameron whistled softly through his teeth. “Given the meeting earlier today, I know we’re not exactly looking, but…”
He didn’t need to finish the sentence. One look at Everett’s face told me he agreed. She held a glass of champagne in her hand and looked out the windows, barely moving. Not engaging.
For a brief moment, it looked like there was pain on her face, but she sighed and sipped her drink, still looking out at the coast.
“Hell of a time to find someone that attractive,” Everett said, subtly adjusting himself. Thankfully on the balcony there was no one close enough to see.
“There you are.” Frank held up a fat-bottomed bottle by the neck and grinned in victory. “Cognac. Thought you might appreciate it.”
I smiled politely. “We certainly do.”
The butler that had followed him had a tray with four small glasses and held it still as Frank cracked the bottle open and began to pour. “I’ve been meaning to put a meeting with the three of you on the books,” he said.
“Oh?” Everett accepted the glass and raised a single eyebrow. “Why?”
Despite doing business with Frank, we rarely met with him.
“The Firefly deal. I wanted to get a head start on arrangements for afterward. It seems like it could be beneficial for all of us.”
I narrowed my eyes. The deal wasn’t public yet. And everyone involved had signed agreements not to say shit until the ink was dry. If he knew, we needed to tighten our ship. It also made me wonder in what context he heard the news.
Everett’s face looked sharp and dangerous. “How do you know about that?”
Frank smirked. “I have my ways. But you know, never kiss and tell.”
“Hmm,” was all I said.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Everett pull out his phone and send a quick text. Good. He was putting our team on exactly how this had leaked and why. Because if this had anything to do with the board forcing our hand, it could be to our advantage.
“What do you think?”
He meant the liquor. It was good, but I’d had better. I smiled. “Excellent, thank you. I hope the fundraising is going well?”
Frank blinked for a moment. “For the foundation. Yes, of course. Well, as you know, this event is the highlight of our year in that regard.”
Someone raised a hand on the main floor and caught his eye. “I’m so sorry. It looks like I’m needed downstairs. Please enjoy.”
“We will.” Cam lifted the small glass and drained it before Frank walked away. He put it on the tray the waiter held. “We won’t be needing any more of that.”
“Aiden is looking into it,” Everett said. “I don’t want to leave until we know something.”
“I agree.” And in the meantime, there was a beautiful woman in the room I very much wanted to dance with. But when I looked back at where she’d been standing, she was gone.