15. Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Fifteen
T uesday morning, Gerard sat at his desk mulling things over. He’d stayed late into the night, going over Rowan’s extensive and well-organized work. She had a knack for research. He agreed with her that she was close to a breakthrough, but, like her, he couldn’t see the mole in the material. Yet. They’d get there. He had a board meeting in less than an hour, called for by Richard Silverman and completely outside of their normal meeting schedule. Emersyn had been out of contact for a solid week, and he had no idea where she was, or he would have sent David to bring her ass back to the office. He’d left several messages and not one single returned call.
He glanced up to see the object of his thoughts sailing off the elevator, tanned and rested. She waltzed into his office with a wide smile on her face and a sparkle in her eyes.
“What?” he growled. “Did you get laid or something?”
“That’s crude, brother. And none of your damn business.” The blush that rushed into her cheeks belied the derision in her voice.
“You did get laid,” he accused her.
Emersyn shrugged. “Like I said, none of your business.”
“It is when everything’s going to hell, and you leave me to deal with it.”
“What’s going to hell?” Emersyn turned in a full circle. “I don’t see anything breaking down, and everyone seems busy.”
“We have an emergency board meeting in”—he glanced at his watch—“half an hour.”
Emersyn dropped all pretense at a relaxed I’ve just come from the beach mood and sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Who called it and why?”
“Silverman called it, because half of our funds are in the toilet.”
“I leave for one week—” Emersyn tried to joke but cut off the remark. “Catch me up and I’ll back you up at the meeting.”
“You damn sure will. You remember that provision our father put in his agreement with the board so they’d agree to let you and me take over?”
Emersyn brushed her bronzed red hair back. “I’m so sick of them holding that over our heads.”
“I think that’s what this meeting is about. Silverman is making a power play.”
“He can’t do that.”
“He’s within the bylaws. And, if I’m being honest, it’s a smart move on his part, especially since he’s wanted control of this company for a long time.”
“All right. What’s your weapon to combat this?”
“The proposal for Scott Cybersecurity.”
“You finished it?”
Gerard nodded, pleased with how it had turned out. “Rowan and I did.” He handed a copy to Emersyn, and she browsed the portfolio, then looked over the jacket. “This is really good, brother. Completely different from anything you’ve done before. More…humanized.”
“That was Rowan’s idea.”
“I knew she’d be a good fit here.” Emersyn grinned like a cat preening itself.
Gerard knew the moment she remembered his pledge because her grin widened.
“How are you and she getting along?”
“Fine,” he answered.
“You had to work pretty closely together to get this done so fast.”
“Not a problem. Can we get back to the board meeting?”
“In a minute.” She got up and came around to lean against the desk right next to him. He could feel sweat beading on his back.
“What do you think of Rowan?”
“She’s still on probation. And if things don’t turn around, she may have to become our scapegoat.” His gut clenched. He hated that idea and what it would do to Rowan as soon as he mentioned it.
Emersyn’s eyes closed to slits, and she leaned in closer. “I like her. I think she’s smart and funny, and she and I get along. I want to keep her around. If you do one thing to hurt Rowan, you’ll have me to answer to, brother.”
He agreed, but he couldn’t tell Emersyn that. He sure as hell couldn’t tell her they’d slept together. Gerard shook his head and stood, forcing his sister to back off. “Time to go.”
“This discussion isn’t over, Gerry. Don’t hurt that girl.”
Too late. He ground his teeth at the nickname he’d hated his entire life.
Walking into the overly quiet boardroom, even Emersyn tensed beside him. Gerard stood at the head of the table, grateful for his sister’s presence beside him. He kept his gaze passive and his emotions hidden, a hard-won talent he’d honed over the years.
“What’s this about, Richard?” He stared the man down.
“This company has issues—”
“This is a flicker, nothing more. Barrett Investment Group has had issues before. We’ll survive this one.”
“I’m not so sure.”
“I am.” Emersyn and Gerard said in unison. “Jinx,” she said under her breath.
A kid’s game? Now? He buried the headshake.
“There’s no use arguing about this. The board is invoking the dismissal clause.”
“The entire board? Was there a vote I wasn’t made aware of?”
“Yes.” Silverman stood and walked to the front of the room, standing only a few feet from him.
“You’re out of here, and I’m taking over.”
Gerard laughed, glad to see the surprise on the man’s face. “Sit back down, Richard.”
“No. You need to leave.”
“I’m still in charge and have the authority to eject you from any meeting. Sit. Back. Down.” He didn’t take his eyes off Silverman until the man sank back into his chair. Then, with an ease he didn’t feel, Gerard sat in the CEO’s chair, Emersyn taking her usual seat to his right.
He turned to the stenographer taking dictation for the meeting. “Has the board meeting been officially started?”
“No, sir.”
“All right then.” He looked at each member of the board, most of whom looked decidedly nervous. As they should be, caught in the middle of this power play the old geezer had prompted. “Let’s start the meeting and do this by the book.” He looked at Silverman, who glared at him but stayed in his chair.
Once the meeting was called to order and the initial Robert’s Rules followed, New Business quickly became the next item on the agenda. “Does anyone have new business?” Emersyn asked in her role as second in command.
“You know damn well we have other business to discuss,” Silverman said, his face still ruddy with anger. “You two are out of here.”
Emersyn started to stand up, but Gerard stayed her with a hand on her wrist. Don’t show fear or anger, sister. You know the routine. She sat back down, primly interlocking her fingers and resting her hands on the table.
“Before the meeting began,” Gerard said, “you said the board took a vote. Was that done as part of an official meeting? If so…” he turned to Sam, the stenographer. “…are there minutes and a vote tally?”
Sam shook his head, and Gerard swiveled back to Silverman and raised an eyebrow.
“The board didn’t need transcription. We discussed it, and it’s unanimous.”
A few people squirmed, proving to him that it wasn’t, in fact, unanimous. All right, if this man wanted to play it that way, Gerard would take on that game. He turned to the intern sitting against the wall next to the door. “Go to my assistant; get a copy of the board bylaws and bring it to me.”
The young, bald-headed man was out the door in a flash.
Silverman rose from his seat. “This is ridiculous. We all know what that agreement says. We don’t need it to proceed.”
“If you insist on doing this, Richard, we’ll do it by the book or not at all. Besides,” he said with an even voice and a shrug, “you don’t want there to be any legal questions if you manage to successfully oust me, do you?”
Even redder in the face, the man sat back down, and the board sat in uncomfortable silence for almost ten minutes. All but his sister and him.
“How was your vacation, Emersyn?”
“Absolutely lovely. The beaches were divine, as you can tell by my tan.”
They continued their relaxed and inane discussion, without anyone else chiming in, until the intern popped back in with the binder and handed it to Gerard.
“Does anyone want a copy of the agreement as we go over it?” He looked around the table. “I can have Sam here make some copies before we start.”
“We don’t need copies. Just get on with it.”
“All right.” He paged through the binder with as much slow precision as he thought he could get away with. He saw Emersyn hiding a grin but couldn’t acknowledge it no matter how badly he wanted to. She knew he was baiting his adversary, trying to get him to blow his stack. By the constant state of redness across Silverman’s forehead and cheeks, he was close.
“All right. Now, in section 14, subsection 2, it says there must be a legal board vote in order to initiate expulsion of any member.” He paged back a few sections. “I know the definition of a legal vote is here somewhere.”
“We know what a legal vote is. Just get on with it.”
The board member on his left leaned in. “Come on, man. This is getting a bit ridiculous.”
“Just following the rules. It says here a legal vote must be done within the parameters of a meeting and must have a quorum of three-quarters of the board. Since no one can validate that a legal vote has happened, is there a motion to vote?”
“I so motion,” Silverman puffed out. “Now get on with it.”
Gerard held up his hand. “All in good time. There is a motion on the table to remove me from the CEO’s position.”
“And Emersyn,” his rival ground out.
“All right. There is a motion on the table to remove Emersyn Barrett and myself, Gerard Barrett, from our positions as CEOs of Barrett Investment. Is there a second?”
The mealy-mouthed Gruner Scholtz, who always did Silverman’s bidding, raised his hand. “I second.”
Of course.
“Then let’s vote.”
He’d figured Silverman would get his quorum, and he did. Damn it all to hell. Was there no one who would believe in his ability?
Silverman stood and walked around to the front of the table. “Now, it’s official. Get out.”
“Sit. Down,” he ordered the man once again, knowing he was pushing the limits of board room decorum, but they’d left him no choice.
“We can have you forcibly removed, you know.”
Staying seated, he looked up at the pompous ass and offered a genuine smile. “Not for thirty days, you can’t.”
“What?”
“He’s right,” Emersyn piped in. “Once a vote is taken, we have thirty days to show significant improvement before we’re officially out.”
“It doesn’t say that.”
He held up the binder. Silverman leaned over and read, his eyes moving furiously down the page. When he straightened, his lips were thin white lines. “Fine. You have thirty days.”
Turning to Sam, Gerard asked for the vote and Silverman’s acquiescence to the thirty day rule to be clearly noted. Sam nodded.
“Before we adjourn, I also want it noted that change is defined as a two percent improvement from where things stand on the day of the vote. That’s the benchmark we must meet in order for your vote to be vetoed. Do we all clearly understand this?” He looked at each person in turn, waiting for their verbal agreement. When the entire room had answered him, he knew it was time to close out the meeting.
“Emersyn will give Sam copies of where the company statistics are as of this moment.” He glanced at his sister, and she nodded.
“It can’t be her. She won’t give us accurate data.”
Gerard speared him with a look. “Are you accusing my sister of something, Richard?”
“Well—”
“I’ll do the report,” Betty said. “Now, if we can please be done with this fiasco, I have other things to do.”
He trusted Betty. As the wife of a mayor he admired, he considered her above reproach. Plus, his family was friends with hers. He liked the elderly woman. Gerard nodded. “Is there any other new business?”
No one said anything.
“Fine. Then this meeting is adjourned.” He stood and shook each board member’s hand as they exited the meeting, looking them in the eye with the friendly smile he’d perfected years ago. Silverman was last and refused Gerard’s outstretched hand. “Thirty days and you’re out.” He flew through the door as if a fire followed him.
Gerard and his sister, both aware of the importance of appearances, walked slowly back to his office, chatting as if they had no cares. Emersyn’s tinkling laughter floated over the sea of cubicles and offices. Once in his office, he reached for the button to cloud his walls.
“Don’t. We don’t want them thinking we have anything to hide.”
“We need to talk, to plan, to figure out how we’re going to get out of this mess.”
Emersyn threw her head back and laughed. “They can’t hear us, brother. They can only see us.”
Nodding, he rolled his eyes, something he did on a regular basis. When she left an hour later, he went to the window and stared at the skyline without really seeing it, careful to keep his shoulders sharp and not droop. Rarely overwhelmed, the burden of protecting Barrett Investment Group weighed heavily on him. Grateful he had Emersyn, it was his sole responsibility to maintain the company’s position as one of the leaders in this industry. The challenge had invigorated him. He lived, ate, and breathed money. Except his father had effectively tied his hands, damn him. Couldn’t he have trusted his son?
A Barrett had chaired this board since the company’s inception, and he’d be damned if he’d let Richard Silverman tear him from his rightful place at its head. They needed to solve this crisis and get back on track. Right now, Gerard was out of ideas.
He needed out of there, some place where he could think.
He needed Rowan.
The thought surprised him, but it was true. She listened. She had great ideas, and she supported him one hundred percent when they were in agreement. He could unload to her and know it would go no further.
Talking to Rowan wasn’t possible. Not anymore. Grabbing his keys and phone, he told Sandra he would be gone for the day and left. Driving the McLaren across the bridge calmed him down. When he pulled into the parking area of Solano Ranch, he got out, leaned against the car, and breathed in air so different from San Francisco. Dryer, clearer, more relaxing.
“Hey,” a very tanned Brody said, coming out of the house with a wary look in his eye and a half-eaten sandwich in his hand. “What the hell are you doing here? Not only is it not poker night, it’s Tuesday. You’re at the office on Tuesdays. Always. And you’re four days late for poker night.”
“Needed a change of scenery.”
“Well, then, come on in. Let me make you a sandwich.”
Inside the ranch house kitchen, Brody opened the fridge and pulled out two beers and the makings of a turkey sandwich. He handed a beer over, popped the top on his own, and threw together a gourmet sandwich in less than five minutes. What kind of guy could do that? The kind that fed clients all day long at a dude ranch, that’s what kind. Gerard smiled.
“You’re good for my spirit,” he told Brody.
“Well, good. I’m glad I’ve helped already.” His wide smile was easy and relaxed. “How’s that sister of yours?”
“Why?” He stared hard at his friend.
“Hey, she’s cute. Can you blame me for asking?”
“Yes. You don’t need her kind of trouble. But, since you asked, she’s fine. Just got back from some beach vacation.”
“That’s something you should do yourself one of these days. How’s that new-hire of yours? Rowan, right?”
“How the hell do you know her name?”
Brody chewed a bite of his sandwich before answering. “You mentioned her when you called to say you wouldn’t be at poker. You must be mired in some deep shit to be forgetting like this. I actually wondered if you were interested in her. Going to be the first to fall to that pledge, Barrett?” He grinned.
Gerard pulled every bit of strength he could into keeping his face from showing any hint that Brody had just stung him where it hurt. Fuck.
“I doubt it. And whether I might be interested or not,” he said, keeping his tone neutral. “She’s an employee. You know how I feel about that.”
“I do. Doesn’t mean rules are stronger than pheromones and hormones.”
“Well, they need to be.”
“So no beach time with the lovely Rowan, huh?”
He wanted to slap the gleam out of Brody’s eyes. He needed a change of subject and quick. Lying to his friend wasn’t something he did easily. They all considered each other their safe place. He hadn’t outright lied, but the omission already bothered him. He’d deal with that later. Right now, he had bigger issues.
“Can’t. Not at the moment.”
“What’s going on?”
He glanced around the familiar, laid-back kitchen. “You know, I’m a little jealous you left the corporate world behind and designed your own life.”
“It must be bad for you to say that. You love every bit of that life, including the stress that comes with it. I always thought you fed off stress.”
Taking a long pull on his beer, he shook his head. “Even I have limits.”
“What’s going on?”
“One of the board members is attempting a coup.”
“Someone’s trying to kick you out of your own company? Bastard.”
“And he might just succeed. The company’s heading in the wrong direction.”
“Okay, it’s been a while since I’ve had to do this, but let’s map this out and find the strategy. There’s always one, remember?”
Gerard nodded. Leave it to Brody to focus on the fix. That’s why he loved this guy so much.
They spent the afternoon running through things, and by the time he left, Gerard felt better. In fact, he felt like a fire had been lit beneath him. Silverman had to be behind the fund dumps. He just needed a way to prove it. He had an idea, and he needed to talk to Rowan before he could put it into action.
By the time he got back to the city and called her office, she’d already left for the night. He called her cell but got no answer and didn’t want to leave a message. Stuck until tomorrow, he drove to his condo, stopping by a local watering hole for a drink to settle him.
Nursing a whiskey they stocked special for him, and deep in thought, he didn’t notice the man who sat beside him until he spoke.
“Barrett, fancy meeting you here.”
He looked up and had to stifle a groan. “Finn Murdoch. What brings you out from your cave?”
“Ha ha.”
Great.
“Haven’t seen you in here for a while, Barrett.”
“You frequent this place that much?” The married son of Desmond Murdoch had a wandering eye, but Gerard had never known him to drink much.
“I’m here some,” he said, shrugging. “So how’s business?”
“Fine. You?”
“Couldn’t be better.”
Not what he’d heard, but he was guilty of padding the positive, so to speak. With nothing else to talk about, and not wanting to chat with the man anyhow, Gerard turned back to his drink.
“I heard you’re going to bid on the Scott deal.”
His hand tightened around his glass as he kept his face implacable and looked at Finn in the mirror behind the bar. “Are they going out for bid? If so, you can bet I’ll jump on that bandwagon.”
Finn laughed. “Yeah, like you didn’t already know.”
His rival never showed fear or hadn’t until now. It was a quick hint of emotion that had crossed Murdoch’s face, but the fear and panic were unmistakable.
With his “everything is fine” mask back in place, Finn threw back his drink, placed a twenty on the bar, and stood. “Time to go. I have an appointment.” He walked away, then turned and leaned on the bar. “Give Rowan my love, will you?”
Rowan? How the hell would Murdoch even know her or that she worked at Barrett? He watched the man stride with confidence to the door, turn back with a grin, then slip outside. What the hell had that been all about? And what kind of relationship did the guy have with Rowan?
Feeling like somehow he’d been duped, he threw a twenty on the bar top, left his drink, and strode to his car.
He was damned sure going to find out.