3. Ares
A res~
“Martha Holdings is on the ropes.”
I looked up from my desk as one of my account managers, Peter Flowers, walked into my office.
Now, normally, no one entered unannounced, but since it was almost seven in the evening, my secretary was gone for the day, and everyone knew that my door left open was an invitation for interruptions.
However, if the door was closed, no one ever dared enter.
“Are you certain?” I asked, though I knew for a fact that Peter wasn’t the type to announce shit without his facts being ironclad.
He dropped a manila envelope on my desk. “It’s all there.”
Martha Holdings was an investment firm that had run with the big boys when Yoseph Cohen had been running the company, but in the years since his retirement, the company had experienced some serious setbacks.
It was also rumored that Drummond Cohen had a gambling problem and that it had finally caught up with him.
Unbeknownst to his family, the company was on the verge of bankruptcy, and Drummond was lucky that Martha Holdings was still a privately owned company, or else his shareholders would have ousted him by now.
“What’s the math on it?” I asked, setting my other work aside for the moment.
“We can acquire it for five across the board,” he answered.
My brows shot upward. “How far in debt are they?”
“Drummond Cohen has been robbing Peter to pay Paul when Peter’s already been robbed,” he replied cheekily. “We can take the debt or sell it off in pieces. Either way, there’s a possible ten in profit at the end of it all.”
“And if we don’t dismantle it?”
“An easy fifty within five years,” he replied, and I’d recognize that smug smile anywhere.
“Have you already reached out to Cohen?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
Peter nodded. “I reached out to him yesterday, and I gave him until the end of the week to make a decision.”
I shook my head. “That’s sounds too easy,” I said. “What aren’t you telling me?”
The man grimaced a bit, but he was also smart enough not to mistake me for a fool. “My sources tell me that Kingston is also looking at Martha Holdings.”
Of course, he fucking was.
“What else do I need to know?”
Now, though Martha Holdings was a very reputable business, their EOY profits had never been big enough for me to consider them in TCC’s league, so I hadn’t really paid any attention to them or their details.
I knew what was general knowledge, but that was about it because I spent most of my time eyeing the other sharks in the ocean, not the fish.
“Well, you already know that it’s privately owned, and also that Drummond is the CEO,” he answered.
“However, with Yoseph fully out of the picture now, it’s my understanding that his granddaughter, Drummond’s only child, is the company’s only vice president, and that she basically runs the entire thing. ”
“Capri Cohen,” I muttered, only recalling her existence because her name reminded me of those damn juice pouches. When I’d first heard it in reference to Drummond Cohen, I couldn’t help but wonder who in the hell would name their child that.
Peter nodded. “She has a reputation for being very shrewd, innovative, and she supposedly has a mouth on her.”
That got a smirk out of me. “How so?”
“She’s supposedly a tough negotiator, and it’s rumored that the company would have crumbled long ago if she hadn’t been at the helm,” he explained. “They say that Drummond is just a figurehead and nothing more.”
“So, it she the one that we need to deal with?” I asked, refusing to let Brantley Kingston get his hands on Martha Holdings.
“No,” Peter answered, shaking his head. “When I spoke with Cohen, he let it slip that he had the controlling shares, not the daughter. For whatever reason, Yoseph left Drummond sixty percent, leaving the granddaughter only forty.”
“Why?” I questioned. “Especially, if she’s doing all the work?”
“I think she does all the work, but lets Drummond take all the credit, what with him being her dad and all,” he answered with a shrug. “Honestly, I’m not sure.”
Forgetting about the daughter, I asked, “What vibe did you get when you spoke with Drummond?”
“He’s desperate.” Peter replied so easily that I believed him. “He’d rather sell and make it look like a business decision than lose everything to bankruptcy.”
“Add another two million to the offer,” I instructed. “I don’t want Brantley Kingston getting his hands on Martha Holdings.”
Peter narrowed his eyes as he pursed his lips disapprovingly. “You know, you continuously overpay for a lot of shit just to spite Kingston.”
“While that’s true, TCC has never not made a profit from our acquisitions, whether they be small or significant,” I pointed out. “So, what’s a few million between enemies.”
Peter just shook his head. “There’s enough capitalism for both of you.”
“While that’s true, Kingston Industries wouldn’t be what it is today if Brantley didn’t hate me just as much as I hate him,” I stated truthfully. “Nonetheless, as much as we despise one another, I can’t think of any other man that I respect more.”
Forgetting about Brantly Kingston, Peter said, “I really think that we’ll get Drummond on the hook before the end of the week. Still, if you want me to offer two million more, then I’ll make the call first thing in the morning.”
I regarded him a bit before asking, “What are you doing here so late?”
“May’s parents are in town, and I just can’t,” he answered. “I’d rather be here than listen to her mother criticize her every second that she gets. It’s everything that I can do not to kick the horrible woman out of my house.”
“And her father?”
“He tries to defend her, but then she starts in on him,” he went on. “Honestly, she’s nothing but a bitter shrew, though I have no idea what she has to be bitter about.”
“What does May have to say about it?” I asked, curious as to why a grown adult would still endure that kind of mental and emotional abuse. Yeah, most children have no choice or are raised to know no different, but a grown adult is a different matter.
“She claims that it doesn’t bother her anymore, so that’s why there’s no reason for me to fly off the handle, but I don’t know,” he grumbled. “May’s fucking perfect, and it drives me nuts that her own mother can’t or refuses to see it.”
“How long are they staying in town?”
“Too long,” he chuckled humorlessly. “But May says only two days. They’re on their way to Washington or somewhere, and they just wanted to stop by during their travels.”
“Well, good luck with that,” I chuckled back.
“Just don’t give me any shit if you catch me sleeping at my desk,” he quipped before heading out of my office.
“No problem,” I assured him.
Once Peter was gone, I opened the envelope with all the information for Martha Holdings, not wanting any surprises.
Though Peter was good at his job and rarely ever made any mistakes, I still had control issues, and they insisted that I go through every single account myself.
Besides, Martha Holdings was small in comparison to most of the deals that I brokered daily, so there wasn’t a whole lot to research, especially since it was privately owned.
As I went through the paperwork, math didn’t lie, and so it was easy to see that Martha Holdings had about two months left before Drummond wouldn’t be able to hide the truth from his employees anymore.
His daughter also suffered from blind obedience if she had no idea that her father was ruining their legacy singlehandedly.
Granted, I had no idea how they were structured over there, but if you were the vice president and expected to step in for the CEO at any given moment, then you should be aware of all the financials.
After going through all the paperwork, I leaned back in my chair, thinking about Yoseph Cohen.
While I wasn’t big on sentimentality, I couldn’t imagine growing a successful business, then having my only son fuck it all off.
Not only was Drummond Cohen destroying everything that his father had built, but he was also throwing away his daughter’s future, and all because getting help for his gambling problem wasn’t an option yet.
If ever.