21. Declan
Declan
" A re you sure this is a good idea?" Carter asks as I finish packing up my office, wanting a quick getaway once the fuckfest is over.
"Yes," I tell him. "It's what I've been working toward for a year, and it's the only way to get out from under his thumb."
He lifts his eyebrows. "In business, yes. But not your personal life."
I make a small noise of agreement. "Those ties are surprisingly harder to cut."
"What about Nolan and Darcy?"
"What about them?"
"Do they know about what you're planning?”
I look around, checking to make sure I haven't missed anything. "No, but they also aren't tangled up with him like I am." A heavy weight settles over my shoulders. "I was the eldest, which meant I was his heir, the target . They've flown under his radar for the most part."
Carter frowns, catching my wording. "For the most part?" he echoes.
"I've heard whispers he's making plans to marry Darcy off."
"You're fucking kidding me," he whisper-yells, his eyes wide. "She's only twenty-fucking-two. Who's he planning on selling her to?"
Selling is accurate. "Jonathan Tibault.”
Carter's head jerks back, his face going pale and then a shocking red. "That motherfucker’s gotta be at least 60. ”
"He’s 67," I say grimly. “His son is 34.” Tibault was also known for his penchant for high-end prostitutes and leaving them in less than pristine condition when he was done. "Come on, let's get this over with.”
We leave my office, finding Adam at his desk, eyes firmly on his computer and his collar adorned with a bowtie covered in... ducks ? I pause next to him, squinting to make sure I'm not seeing things. "Have you been wearing that all day?" I wonder, and he looks at me questioningly.
"What?"
"He's asking about your ducks," Carter interrupts, perching on the edge of Adam's desk, his eyes heavy-lidded as he watches my assistant. "I like them. I think that might be my favorite bowtie yet."
Adam doesn't shift his eyes from me, mouth twitching in annoyance. "The board members have been arriving for the past five minutes," he announces, his tone coolly professional. "You'd better get in there."
"Have you got?—?"
He taps a large pile of folders next to his keyboard. "Right here. I've also organized for the catering company to arrive in twenty minutes with a light refreshment?—"
"God, I hope there are bagels."
Adam’s eye twitches, continuing like Carter didn’t say a word. "As well as informing security about their duties.”
"Do they know who they're watching for?"
He jerks his chin down. "But Leslie assures me he's on the golf course today with Darius and won't be an issue."
That makes me pause. "You're in touch with Donald’s PA? And you trust her?" She seemed like a good sort, but I'd never had much to do with Leslie, and you just never knew with some people.
Adam lowers his voice, even though no one else is around.
"This might be shocking, but your father isn't well-liked.
Leslie was only too happy to help, but she won't say a word about her involvement.
As much as she can't stand Donald, she appreciates her paycheck too much to risk it.
" His mouth curls in the smallest smirk.
"I also took the liberty of offering her a small bonus from you. "
I smile, appreciating his initiative. "This is why I pay you the big bucks. "
“Not for long, but I suppose if I'm not dealing with him"—he jerks his head in Carter's direction—"anymore, that might be enough of a bonus."
"Hey!" Carter protests.
Adam rolls his eyes, but still doesn't look in Carter's direction. Instead, he looks down at his watch pointedly and I rap my knuckles against his desk. "Thanks, Adam."
I head off, whistling at Carter to fall in line, ignoring his grumbled, "I'm not a fucking dog.”
As soon as we enter the conference room, I see Adam was right. The table is almost completely full and most of the board members look disgruntled.
"Good morning, gentleman," I announce smoothly, striding for the head of the table, enjoying the way silence smothers the room. Carter follows me silently, taking his seat to the left of mine. I remain standing, gripping the back of my chair and looking around the table.
To my right, Carl Ledger, clears his throat noisily, his glare as intimidating as a mouse to a cat.
"What's the meaning of this meeting, Declan?
" He raises an eyebrow, as if he's talking to a child who's speaking out of turn.
"The quarterly meeting is next month," he says condescendingly.
"We don't have time to just jump when you call.
The ability to call meetings of the board like this is reserved for emergencies. "
I lift one brow, looking around the room to find the majority nodding their heads in agreement.
"And clearly, you know this isn't an emergency," I say, the edge in my tone getting their attention.
"Such an interesting choice of words you used, Carl, especially when you've been in my office every other day with your.
.. concerns ." My other brow joins the first one.
"In fact, most of you have been demanding an unusual number of meetings with me.
It's almost like there wasn't a unanimous vote by this board to appoint me as CEO three years ago. "
"Now, see here—" Carl blusters, but I silence him with one look.
"It's not your turn to talk," I say, holding his stare until he clamps his mouth shut.
"Even though this board appointed me CEO, I've learned that many of you no longer believe I earned or deserve the position.
" The silence is deafening, more than one panicked glance being thrown around.
"I've been curious about why that might be, especially considering the substantial increase in profits since I took over for my father.
But once I started looking, it wasn't difficult to figure out the source.
" A brief pause, before I add, "It also wasn't hard to figure out who’s been sabotaging Nexus Capital deals and affecting our bottom line since I took over, either. "
On my left, Barry, leans forward, eyes bugging out of his head. "What the hell are you talking about, Declan? Who would dare to sabotage Nexus?"
I casually take my seat, leaning forward to press a button on the intercom in front of me. "Adam, if you could bring the packets in now, thank you."
"Yes, sir."
He's pushing through the glass doors in less than a minute, efficiently striding around the room and handing each board member a file from his hands.
Papers rustle as they all start looking through everything I've handed over a year's worth of evidence that covered the entirety of Nexus Capital’s existence.
"Th…this... this can't be true," Ledger stammers out, desperate eyes searching out mine.
"Why not?" My mouth pulls down in a concerned frown.
"Insider trading, embezzlement, false statements.
..What possible reason could your father have for doing all this to his own damn company?
" Ledger demands, a telling glint in his eye.
He knew . If not all of it, at least some.
I sit back, watching him impassively as he gears up to sling an accusation at me. "This is clearly manufactured."
Someone at the other end of the table reaches the bottom of the papers, gasping dramatically. "You're resigning ?!"
"Effective immediately," I agree cheerfully.
There's an immediate uproar as they all protest, including Ledger, but it dies down as I hold up a hand.
"Yes, that is my resignation. As you can see from the papers in front of you, Nexus Capital has always had a dark underbelly, one cultivated by my father, Donald Masters.
I was shocked to see that it didn't stop in the three years I took over as CEO, especially when many of you indulged in meetings with him.
I'm assuming more than one of you casually handed over confidential information that gave him the ability to undermine deals and investments our company had carefully curated.
" I shoot a glare at Ledger as I drop the last bomb, "The latest victim of his machinations being the Hi-Tech deal. "
He stiffens, red across his face and sweat popping out on his forehead. "I don't know what you think you're implying..."
My glare doesn't dim in the slightest. "Oh, so you're denying that you ever told Donald about Hi-Tech's suppliers?"
The man sitting next to Ledger, Gerald, slams a fist down on the table. "Hi-Tech is our deal of the year," he snarls at Ledger. "We're going to make millions?—"
" Were ," Carter corrects. "We were going to make millions."
Heads swing back in my direction and I'm only too happy to declare, "The deal has fallen through. Nexus Capital will own no part of Hi-Tech, and neither will anyone with the name Masters."
The room explodes into chaos, shouting and accusations being slung around the room like mud.
Eventually, I stand up and give the room a grim smile, waiting for their attention to once again return to me.
"My resignation is effective as of today.
I've asked my assistant to provide catering in"—I check my watch—“about five minutes, as I'm sure you'll all be here awhile to discuss who might be my interim replacement. "
More than one eye goes to Carter, and he immediately shakes his head.
"No, thank you. I'll be resigning with him.
" He jerks his thumb in my direction. "Anyone who's been sitting here listening to Donald Masters isn't someone I want to be working with, or for.
Plus, it's only a matter of time before the authorities get involved.
" He chuckles darkly. "I'm jumping off the sinking ship. "
I'm just about to step away and head out of the room when Ledger collapses back in his seat, asking again, "Why would Donald ruin his own company? I don't—" he shakes his head. "It makes no sense."