23. THE BEST DEFENSE
CHLOE
Once I made Daphne an offer she couldn’t refuse, I gave her a caveat.
“There’s just one thing,” I told her. “You can’t go back to Gene for a counteroffer.
If you do that, I’ll make sure you don’t see a dime from either of us, and I’ll blow up your deal with Michael Jones, too.
Don’t screw me, Daphne. Believe me when I tell you that Bryce and I will be much better bosses than your evil husband. ”
She moaned. “He’s going to lose it when I tell him I didn’t do what he asked—”
“So don’t tell him,” I said firmly. “As far as Gene’s concerned, everything’s going forward as planned. I’m going to take care of everything, I promise. Just go to bed. We’ll be back tomorrow, I’ll wire you the money as soon as you set up a new bank account.”
“Do you mean it?” she asked. “I’m taking a big risk if I do this.”
“You can trust me—unlike your husband. You definitely can’t trust him.”
“True,” she sighed. “What am I going to do, huh?”
“Pray he gets convicted, and then count your blessings. We’re giving you so much money you’ll be set for life. It won’t matter if he stays in prison or not—you and the baby will be fine. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
After hanging up, I turned back to my husband. “I just promised her a crap ton of money.”
He nodded. “I heard.”
“And that’s not the only deal I’ve made in the past twenty-four hours.”
Bryce arched an eyebrow, and I sighed. “I’ve made a lot of commitments with your money—big ones. I’m so sorry, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Why don’t you start by telling me what’s happened?”
When I winced, he squeezed my hand. “I don’t understand what’s going on. And when I don’t understand something, I’m afraid of it.”
“Maybe you should be afraid.” I wouldn’t look at him, I couldn’t. If his father knew we were having this conversation right now, all hell would break loose. My brother, my husband… I was going to ruin everything. I didn’t want that—I didn’t want any of this. But what could I do?
“Is that because you want out?” Bryce stared straight ahead.
“What? No! ” I squeezed his hand. “Bryce, look at me. That’s the last thing that I want. All I want is to be with you, for us to be together.”
His jaw was set; he looked like he was steeling himself against me, waiting for the final blow.
“This isn’t about us—of course I don’t want to leave. I love you. I will always love you.” I clutched my stomach, feeling sick. “But I’m worried that I’m going to be the thing that ruins you.”
He shook his head. “Not this again, Chloe—”
“No, listen.” My voice was hoarse. “Your father hates me. That’s why I left the first time. He wanted me gone. He’ll never think I’m worthy of being a Windsor.”
“I don’t care what my father thinks. I never have, and I never will. Especially not when it comes to you.”
I swallowed hard. “T-Thank you. But he’s taken it one step further than thinking. He’s threatened me. Actually, he’s not even threatening me —he’s threatened to hurt you. And Noah. He said he’d hurt my brother.”
I broke down, the tears spilling over as I realized what I’d done. I’d finally gone and broken my promise to Gene, and now I was going to pay. “I c-can’t lose my brother, if something happened—”
But Bryce was already on the phone. “Dale? Get the guards together now . Call the Chief and have him come, too. I want everyone’s phones—no one’s allowed to make a call, no one’s allowed off the island, nothing . Do you understand? Call me as soon as you have them together.”
He hit the intercom button to talk to the driver. “I need you to turn around and get us back to the office right now.”
“Yes, Mr. Windsor.” He took a hard right, and I held onto my seat.
“Okay, this is what we’re going to do.” Bryce gripped my hand. “We’re going in to meet with the board right now. I’m going to make sure that anyone still holding out hope that my father’s coming back understands that’s not going to happen and that his era is over now . Then we’re going home.”
“Tonight?”
He nodded. “As soon as we leave the meeting. I’m not going to let anything happen to our family, Chloe. My father’s lucky he’s safe in jail because otherwise, I might kill him.”
“I’m worried he’s going to do something like that. I’m worried he’s going to try to hurt you or Noah. That’s what he said he would do if I told you, that’s why I left the first time, he doesn’t want us to be together, he doesn’t want you to take over and push him out—”
“He doesn’t get to say anymore. It’s not his life, and it’s not his company. I’m taking over and going to legal with all of this. We’ll blow him up once and for all, Chloe.” He turned to me. “Thank you for finally showing me how.”
“What? I don’t understand.”
He put his arm around me. “Just stay with me, okay? We’re going to do this—and everything else—together.”
We parked back in front of the building and hustled inside. The elevator silently whisked us upstairs, and Bryce grabbed my hand as we entered the boardroom together. Well-dressed, fatigued-looking men and women gaped at us from the conference table.
“You’re not The Four Seasons delivery guy,” one of the men joked.
“No, I’m not.” Bryce shut the door behind us and pulled up a chair for me. Before I sat, he put his arm around me again. “I’d like to formally introduce my wife, Chloe Windsor. She’ll be joining us for the next part of the meeting.”
Regina Hernandez cleared her throat. “That’s rather unorthodox, Bryce. We have a standard non-disclosure agreement she needs to sign if you want her to stay.”
“She’ll sign it after,” he snapped. “And I want to say something to you.”
He sat back and eyed the other board members. “To all of you.”
They waited, suddenly looking a lot more alert.
“No matter what happens with me as CEO of Windsor Enterprises—whether I remain on as interim, become permanent, or someone else comes on board—my father will not be returning to a leadership role here.”
Murmurs broke out, and he held up his hand.
“Before I say more, I want you to know that we’re aware that some of you have been providing him with information that’s considered confidential.
I understand many of you have worked with Gene for a long time and that your allegiance is to him.
I also know that he can be difficult and vindictive, and sometimes he’s willing to pay for loyalty. That stops tonight.”
Bryce straightened his shoulders. “I know who has been supplying him with details, and for the record, I am willing to let it go. But it ends now, at this meeting. If anyone leaks this conversation to him, I will make sure you’re prosecuted to the full extent of the law, fired from the board, and, just for fun, publicly humiliated. ”
He let that sink in before he continued. “That being said, if you feel you can’t serve the board under this new set of circumstances, leave now.”
No one moved.
“Great. Anyone who stays and remains loyal to the board, its mission, and our confidentiality agreement will receive a bonus. My father might be willing to pay for loyalty, but it turns out, so am I. And I happen to be much more generous. So if you stay, everyone will be getting a salary increase to seven figures per year. That’s a one-hundred percent jump.
” Bryce grinned at them. “For a side gig, I’d say that’s a pretty good payout. ”
The board members gaped at him. After a moment, Regina Hernandez raised her hand. “Bryce, I’d like to say something.”
“I’m listening.” He didn’t sound happy about it.
“First of all, I’m sorry I made that comment about the picture of Chloe fighting at your cousin’s wedding.”
Bryce nodded, and I inwardly sighed. I was never going to live that down!
“Second, I am thrilled that we’re doing this,” Regina continued.
“I’m so glad you’re showing your true leadership skills.
Your father has been a toxic influence on the company for a long time.
He’s stifled our innovation and limited our philanthropic partnerships.
And like you said, he’s difficult and vindictive. He’s made it hard to vote against him.”
Regina smiled at the other board members. “I’d like to bring Bryce Windsor’s appointment to full-term CEO to a vote. All of those in favor say aye.”
The vote was unanimous. Bryce was no longer an interim: he was the real deal.
He stood, accepting warm congratulations all around. “We are not making this announcement public until Monday afternoon. I have some personal business I need to attend to before we do that. Is everyone clear?”
Again, the response was unanimous.
“I think they liked that pay raise,” I whispered to Bryce as we rode the elevator down.
He winked at me. “You inspired me, Chloe.”
“I did?”
“The way you convinced Daphne so quickly got me thinking: people need to be motivated to make a change. It helped me see my situation with the board differently.” Bryce smiled. “Guess I’m not the only CEO in the family.”
Warmth bloomed inside my chest. “Huh. I guess not.”
“You still have some things you need to tell me, though.”
I sighed. “Yeah, I do. Can I ask you a question first?”
He gave me the lopsided grin that I loved. “Sure.”
“How much money do you really have?”
Bryce laughed. “A lot. I have a lot.”
“Good” Relief flooded me. “Because I think there are even more people we need to pay off.”