4. Capri
C apri~
I didn’t have time for my father’s impromptu meeting, but since he wasn’t one to make demands on my time, I’d had little choice but to move some things around to make it happen.
Luckily for me, my assistant was the best in the business.
Gina Dodson was smart, organized, and beyond capable of scheduling my professional life to perfection.
For five years, Gina’s been making me look good, and this morning hadn’t been any different.
Since my father had been expecting me, I only knocked once before letting myself into his office. Even though he was my father, I still did my best to respect him and his position at work, always trying to knock that nepotism chip off my shoulder.
“Dad,” I greeted as I walked across the carpet.
“Have a seat, Capri,” he instructed as he got up from his chair, then walked over to shut the door, signaling that this meeting was more important than I’d originally believed.
I didn’t say anything until he was seated back behind his desk. “What’s going on?”
Not one to pussyfoot, he said, “We’re being taken over by The Cormac Corporation.”
It took a second for his words to register, but even then, I couldn’t believe it. “I’m sorry, what?”
Not even batting one eyelash, he said, “The Cormac Corporation is buying us out.”
I immediately began shaking my head. “No...no, that’s impossible.”
“Yes, it is-”
“We’re a privately-owned company,” I pointed out, interrupting him. “There’s no way that The Cormac Corporation or any corporation can take us over.”
“It’s possible of that corporation is behind all the recent investments and procurements and is threatening to back out from all of them,” he replied, but I still refused to believe him.
“No,” I repeated. “There are contracts in place to prevent that kind of thing. There’s legal language in all the contracts to prohibit such a thing from happening.” I shook my head, refusing to even entertain the thought that this might really be my new reality.
“There is,” he agreed. “However, when you’ve been strategically planning this take-over for years, those contracts are all aligned to expire at the same time, making the withdrawal perfectly legal and doable, Capri.”
“No...no, no, no,” I bit out. “That doesn’t make any sense, Dad. TCC is worth billions . Why on earth would they be interested in Martha Holdings? Our best year ever, we only got as high as seventy-seven million. We shouldn’t even be on TCC’s radar.”
“Ares Cormac doesn’t care about that kind of stuff, Capri,” he replied evenly. “He only cares about winning, and for whatever reason, Martha Holdings fell in his crosshairs.”
I shook my head again. “No...I refuse to believe that. Ares Cormac would only care about Martha Holdings if Brantley Kingston was interested in it, and he’s not. It’s no secret that they’re very respected enemies.”
My father shrugged like this was no big deal. “Perhaps he heard a rumor that Brantley was interested in Martha Holdings. Honestly, who knows and what difference does it make?”
My eyes nearly popped out of my head. “What difference does it make? Are you kidding me? Are you serious right now?”
“Capri, calm down-”
“I will not calm down,” I nearly shouted. “In fact, how are you so damn calm? This company is our livelihood, grandpa’s legacy.”
“Those two facts do not change the numbers, Capri,” he replied coldly, not caring that he was ripping my future apart.
“We either sell to The Cormac Corporation, or else we fall into bankruptcy.” He leveled me with a stare that he used to use on me all the time when I’d been younger.
“Or would you prefer that all of our employees lose their jobs along with the two of us?”
“That’s not fair,” I bit out.
“Life isn’t fair, Capri,” he shot back. “And it’s what we do in this moment that shows what we’re made of. Do we let Martha Holdings succumb to bankruptcy because of pride, or do we do what’s best for our employees?”
“You say that as if Ares Cormac isn’t going to tear this company apart, then sell its pieces,” I snapped. “The last thing that Ares Cormac wants to do is bother with a company as small as ours. If he’s going to drive it into bankruptcy, I seriously doubt that he cares about its employees.”
“Be that as it may, at least it won’t be us delivering the news that they’re all out of jobs,” he pointed out. “That responsibility will fall on TCC’s shoulders.”
Still refusing to give up, I said, “There’s got to be something that we can do. Loans or-”
“Do you honestly believe that we have the financial power to obtain backing to go against The Cormac Corporation, Capri?” he practically snapped, and it was a quick reminder that this decision affected him also.
“I’ve done the math ever since I was first notified of their interest, and if there’s one thing that numbers don’t do, it’s lie.
So, we either sell or risk bankruptcy, and that’s the end of it. ”
I could feel the pressure begin to form behind my eyes, but I didn’t know if it was from anger, sadness, or both.
What in the hell would Ares Cormac want with us?
Why on earth would he spend years manipulating his way into Martha Holding’s downfall?
Why would he care about us? Yeah, Brantley Kingston could have shown some interest, causing Ares to overreact, but that just didn’t sound right.
Just like with TCC, Kingston Industries was also too big to mess with anyone at our level.
Brantley Kingston and Ares Cormac went after big fish, not little guppies.
“So, what now?” I asked, trying my best to keep the emotion out of my voice.
“They gave me until the end of the week to give them my answer,” he replied, his voice even again. “They’re willing to pay seven million.”
My eyes widened again. “That’s...that’s absurd,” I stammered, outraged at how they were daring to lowball us. “We’re worth more than seven million.”
“Not if they pull out,” he pointed out. “If they pull out, then we’ll be worth nothing.”
While money wasn’t my god, that would leave my father with a little over four million, and I’d get a little close to three million.
Of course, that was before taxes, and everyone knew that federal and state taxes were no joke when you were worth millions.
Yes, I had investments and a healthy savings account, but not enough to last me a lifetime.
I was only thirty-eight, and I planned on living another fifty years.
I also didn’t know how to work for another company.
Since I’d been in diapers, my life hadn’t ever been about anything other than Martha Holdings.
Hell, I didn’t even have a husband or kids because I’d chosen to dedicate my life to this company, and for what?
For Ares Cormac to come around and steal it from us?
Fuck that.
“Have you told Grandpa?” I asked, a part of me hoping that he’d gotten in trouble, though that was childish and quite absurd.
“Not yet,” he answered stoically. “I didn’t want to tell him until we came to a decision.”
“We?” I drawled out sarcastically. “What? You have a frog in your pocket?”
“Knock it off, Capri,” he scolded. “This is serious, and the last thing that any of us needs is you throwing a tantrum like a child.”
“I know this is serious,” I hissed, finally standing up. “I know it better than anyone.”
“Then act like your position in this company dictates,” he fired back, standing up himself. “Our employees are going to need our leadership to get them through the announcement. They do not need to see us arguing or you acting like a spoiled brat.”
That hurt.
I wasn’t spoiled.
Yes, I was used to nice things and plenty of money in my bank accounts, but I worked hard for everything that I had, and I resented him acting as if I’d hadn’t. I also didn’t appreciate how he was acting as if I didn’t have the right to be upset.
Reining in my anger, I asked, “And what are you going to do?”
“I’m not sure,” he admitted quietly, and that immediately reminded me again that I wasn’t the only one affected by all this.
“We could start another company,” I suggested. “We’ll have a few million between us, and there’s no reason why a bank wouldn’t loan us-”
“I think that we need to get through this first before making plans for the future, Capri,” he said, interrupting my dreaming. “We can’t make it look as if we’re dumping our employees to start fresh somewhere else.”
“I didn’t mean it that way,” I grumbled, properly chastised.
“I know.”
With nothing else to say, I turned to leave his office, but I wasn’t heading back to my desk. No, I was heading to TCC’s main offices without a fucking appointment.