“Okay.”
He placed a kiss on the top of my head. “Then, when that’s done, we’ll fight. And one of us will win. But we have a while before we have to think about that, so let’s leave that for the future.”
And, for once, I didn’t challenge him. I didn’t push him or make a stink. I simply agreed and clung onto the truth that we’d both acknowledged now—that I wasn’t Marion, that he didn’t want me to be—and hoped that meant he understood I wouldn’t fight fair.
Twenty
Edward
I studied the prospective report in front of me, zeroing in on required labor. The last report on this subject hadn’t been as favorable. That had been a year ago, shortly before Genevieve graduated.
“We need someone else on the development team,” I said to Hagan, who sat on the other side of my desk. “Do you have someone who’s capable?”
“I have some possibilities.”
When he didn’t say more right away, I sensed he was reluctant to air his suggestion. I looked up from the report to him. “Whoever it is, tell me.”
“Just...are you sure you don’t want to move Genevieve over? She’s really got a unique viewpoint and could be an incredible asset.”
I had to force myself not to growl. When I’d broken down and hired her before the holidays, I’d made sure Hagan understood that she wouldn’t work anywhere near my department. I’d drilled it into him. “We’ve been over this.”
“We have, but we haven’t. I don’t get why you hired her if you don’t want to actually use her skills.”
I set the report down and folded my hands together on my desk so that I wouldn’t be tempted to punch it. “I hired her because she wouldn’t accept a handout any other way. And because that pathetic excuse for a network made a poor line on her resume.”
When she continued to reject all my attempts to give her assistance, I’d reluctantly offered her a position in outreach, a department I rarely worked with, and given her an annual salary that provided her a comfortable cushion. After a couple of years, she could move on to something worthwhile. Accelecom would look good under her belt. There was no one in the industry who could deny her with that experience.
She’d only accepted because she was eager for good work in the field. Once she did, I felt a mammoth relief, despite knowing I was bringing her to the fringes of my world. It was the right thing to do, in the end, though I was still irked that she refused to move from the miserable dump of a neighborhood that she’d selected.
Maybe I could negotiate that in exchange for bringing her to the development team…
No. That was too close to me. Too close to her discovering the person I didn’t want her to realize I was.
Without any warning, my office door flung open.
“My father is retiring,” Celia declared as she strode in. It had been nearly a year since the last time she burst past my assistant, the day she’d yelled at me for acting on her behalf behind her back before asking for a baby. I was grateful that she didn’t use the tactic often, but my wife did indeed know how to make an entrance.
On the heels of her announcement, Charlotte’s voice rang over the intercom. “Your wife is here.”
“Thank you, Charlotte. I’m well aware.” A second glance at Celia’s expression inspired me to add an addendum before I released the button on the intercom. “Please make sure we aren’t disturbed.”
“Will do.”
Hagan spun around in his chair to face Celia. “Warren is stepping down from Werner Media? Who is he naming as his replacement?”
He’d beat me to the burning question. I looked back to her, eager for her response.
“He hasn’t named anyone yet. He isn’t planning to make a formal announcement for several weeks. My mother told me this morning that he’s only just definitively decided.” Her voice tightened, and, only then, I realized she was on the verge of tears. “He’s going to find out. He’s going to name someone, and if Hudson doesn’t vote in his favor, he’s going to find out he doesn’t own the majority shares anymore.”
Technically, Warren already knew he didn’t own the majority shares because he gave all of his to his daughter. But even if Celia hadn’t signed over her voting power to him, she would never vote against his wishes.
None of that was the point.
I stood up from my desk and came around to embrace her. “Shh. No need to worry down that route. You have no idea how this will play out.”
She pulled out of my arms. “I know that Hudson wants to have the upper hand, and without my father at the helm, he doesn’t have that anymore. He loses his ace. Trust me when I say he’s not going to just hand that over.”
My head was at least five steps ahead of her, my pulse racing from the possibilities that this change in situation might bring.
I forced myself to slow down until I’d brought her up to speed. “If Pierce still believes he needs to put pressure on you after all this time—”
“He will,” she insisted. “Trust me on this. He will.”
I wasn’t so sure. Few people had the doggedness to intimidate a foe for long periods of time. If Hudson Pierce truly was one with such tenacity, well, then he was a man after my own heart. One to be admired.
Either way, it was best to plan for the worst. “Then he’ll want to keep that card as long as possible. He’ll let the position go to the person your father chooses so that he can remind you that he’s only allowing it as long as you behave.”
That was how I would play it, anyway. His threat over Celia only worked as long as his ownership of the shares remained secret. Once that was out, he had no more leverage.
She frowned as she considered my logic.
“I feel like this is an appropriate time to ask what you’re talking about. Are you saying Hudson Pierce owns more shares of Werner than your father?” Hagan had no issues inserting himself into conversations that might not concern him. It made him a good businessman. It also made him an annoying son.
I opened my mouth to tell him to get out of my office, but Celia spoke first. “It’s a long, complicated story, but the short answer is yes. Hudson secretly owns more shares and has promised to let my father continue running the company as though he’s in charge as long as I…” She sighed. “As long as I leave him alone, really.”
“Ah.” His expression said he understood clearly. “Dad’s usually on the other side of those arrangements. Listen to him on this one.”
I grimaced, not sure I liked how well my son knew me. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, really, considering how long we’d been working together. He was a bright fellow after all.
But Hagan’s knowledge of my less ethical dealings wasn’t where my focus needed to be at the moment. “Think it through,” I said to Celia. “Like you said, there is no advantage to Pierce letting the upper hand go.”
She nudged a tear away from the corner of her eye with her knuckle. “Hudson will want to have a say in who my father chooses, though. He has a lot of money wrapped up in Werner. He won’t just care about keeping a thumb on me. It’s also in his best interest if the company succeeds.”
Now she was thinking logically. “He’s trusted Warren so far. There’s no reason Pierce won’t trust him to pick his replacement.” I thrust my hand in my pocket so she wouldn’t see it twitching from my anxiousness to get to the next part of this scenario.
She brought her hands together and rested them against her lips. “You’re right,” she said with a nod. “You’re right. I don’t need to worry about this. It’s not a problem.”
“Precisely.” I gave it a single beat before I launched her in a new direction. “There is an opportunity here, though. Do you see it?”
Her nose wrinkled in confusion.
“You could take his spot,” Hagan said, excitedly. “Accelecom and Werner could merge, and you could run them both.”
He really was my son. With, perhaps, a little less tact.
Celia chortled. “That wasn’t what yo
u were going to suggest, was it? Because if it was, you’ve clearly gone mad.”
“I don’t think it’s all that insane of an idea,” I protested. “We’ve done that joint deal in India recently. Your father keeps pushing me to do more joint ventures. He already likes the idea of our companies working together.” The only reason I’d refrained from doing more was out of spite. Warren Werner might not have been the person who brought down my father’s company, but he’d been the man who hadn’t believed his daughter when she’d told him about her uncle’s assaults. It was a subtle form of punishment. One I could dole out without Celia’s wrath.
But merging after Warren stepped down? Me at the helm? That was even better than vengeance. That was providence.
Hagan jumped up from his chair. “I think it’s absolutely brilliant.”
This time I turned to glare at my son. Helpful as he thought he was being, he was not.
“I’m already leaving. Don’t worry.” He picked his briefcase off the floor and hustled out of the room.
As soon as the door shut behind him, I turned back to my wife who was staring at me in disbelief, all signs of amusement wiped from her face. “How can you possibly think that would be a good idea? Even if you can win my father over to it, there is no way Hudson will stand for it.”
I shrugged. “Why not? You said yourself that you believe he wants the company to succeed.”
“He wants power over me, Edward. If he let control of Werner go to my husband, he’d be giving me power, not holding it over me.”
“Not true. It wouldn’t be any different than when your father had control. Pierce would still have the upper hand. He could still overrule any one of my decisions.”
She continued to gape. “You wouldn’t ever really be in charge. Why would you even want that?”
Because I wanted Werner Media. I had for a long time. While my initial reasons for wanting it were no longer valid, the desire was still there, a bad habit I couldn’t kick.
And now, it was possible I didn’t have to.
“I would be in charge,” I said. “As much in charge as your father has been for the past handful of years, and, as everyone in the world besides you, me, and Hudson Pierce—including your father—believe that Warren is running the company, I think it’s fair to say he is running the company.”
“I don’t believe this.” She turned away from me to pace. “I’ve spent the last couple of years trying to rid myself of the hold Hudson had on me, and you want to take me right back to where I was. This is my chance to extricate myself from that completely.”
I was about to give her another reason that this idea was, as Hagan said, indeed brilliant, but her latest statement tripped me up. “What do you mean by that? You’d played a game on Hudson, and he bought into Werner to prevent you from doing that again. Was there more to the situation? Why did he have more hold on you than any of the other people you played?”
She stopped mid-stride, her back to me. Then she shook her head and turned to face me. “He didn’t. I meant that I’ve been trying to distance myself from everything from that time.”
There was something off about her excuse, something not quite the truth. But I was pretty sure I could figure it out without her admission. Likely, the reason Pierce bothered her more than the others was because he was, as far as I knew, the one person who had played her back. I had a feeling she rarely had anyone pull one over on her. Before me, anyway.
I took a conciliatory step toward her. “That’s understandable. I know you aren’t the person you once were, and I’m sure it’s hard to accept that there are others who will never realize that. But I assure you, the situation won’t be any different from what it is now. In fact, if he’s as smart as I think he is, Pierce should prefer that the person who takes over for your father be one that is close to you. His ace has higher value then.”
Her mouth twisted as she thought it over, obviously torn. “What if Hudson doesn’t see it your way? He might want to be done with me as much as I want to be done with him. He might not agree with your reasoning.”
“Then we convince him.” It was the wrong thing to say, and I knew it even before her shoulders went rigid and her brow tensed.
I reached out for her hand and tugged her into my arms. “I’ll convince him,” I corrected. I kissed her temple. “You won’t have to have any part of it. I’m fairly confident I can point out the wisdom of having me in the position on both a business and personal level. And I’m absolutely confident that I can persuade your father to name me as his successor. He’ll never know the decision wasn’t his.”
Celia remained stiff, yet she didn’t pull away. She clearly wasn’t convinced, but I had a feeling she wouldn’t stand in my way if I pursued this plan. And I would pursue this plan.
But I wanted more than reluctant acquiescence. I’d spent the last year trying to live up to my word, encouraging her to be my partner. I wanted her on my side on this.
And, for the life of me, I couldn’t understand why she was against it.
I massaged the small of her back with the flat of my hand. “Don’t you want to see Werner stay in your family? Don’t you want to pass it on down the line?”
I wasn’t playing nice, baiting her like this. We hadn’t spoken again about a possible child in the last eleven months, but it was always there between us, the thing we both knew she wanted.
Soon, we’d discuss it again. Camilla had made significant progress with Ron. He’d initially accepted her invitation to Exceso last September, but then pushed off actually going until January.
The delay had made me more anxious. I needed to feel more in control of the setup. So, despite the worries that my marriage to Celia might make it hard for Ron to trust me, I went to the island in January as well, just to be sure the introduction to Leroy Jones, my FBI contact, happened as it should.
Once we were all there, the pieces fell into place. Though I didn’t much interact with Ron personally while I was there, he saw the unorthodox sexual acts that took place on the island, realized I was more than open to the majority of them, and any doubt he might have had about me was seemingly erased.
Camilla was the linchpin of it all. She introduced Ron to Leroy who did his part by sharing child pornography with Ron that he’d borrowed from the bureau and talking up the young girls he’d supposedly taken advantage of, all in the hopes of gaining Ron’s trust. They hadn’t shared contact info when they parted—Leroy insisted it was too suspicious, that these men kept private details to themselves as much as possible—but Ron did promise to contact Camilla when he next had an “event” so that she could forward the invitation.
That had been five months ago with no word since. Still, I was sure that he’d reach out soon. That he’d be arrested and put away. That I’d finally be free of the burden of revenge, and Celia and I could move on to figuring out the rest of our lives.
If that future could include a baby for her, why not also Werner Media for me?
“Yes, I do want that, but…” She tilted her head up toward me. “But I don’t care who runs the company. That’s not lasting. I’d rather have the shares back. That’s what I really want, and all of this just reminds me that the reason they’re gone is because of me. And I can’t change that.”
The weight of her guilt was so heavy, it felt like I carried it too. God, I wanted that gone for her. I wanted her pain erased. I wanted the man who’d encouraged her to play these games in the first place to have to pay for these mistakes the way she did.
He would, eventually. I was determined.
I was also determined to get her company back for her, in whatever way I could.
I cupped the sides of her face. “It won’t be like this forever, bird. I’ll take over the company, I’ll show Pierce he can trust me. Then, when it’s time, he’ll sell those shares to us. I promise you.”
“No, Edward. Don’t worry about that, please. Don’t go head to head with Hudson. I don’t want that.”
“It
won’t be like that. Trust me. It will be friendly.” Unless Pierce refused to keep it that way.
Before she could respond, Charlotte’s voice sounded over the intercom. “Sorry to interrupt but Camilla is on the line. She insisted it was urgent.”
I exchanged a glance with Celia before I pulled away and crossed to my desk. “Put her through,” I said, my finger pressed on the intercom button. A split second later, the phone rang. I hit speaker. “What’s up?”
“We have a problem,” she said. “I’m in the elevator. Be there soon.”
She hung up. Immediately, I buzzed Charlotte, telling her to send Camilla in when she arrived.
“Is it Ron?” Celia asked, her voice thin.
“I don’t know what else would be urgent.” If it were something at Accelecom, she would have brought her issues to me through different methods. If it were something to do with Freddie, she’d be with him, not coming into my office.
The tension built as we waited in silence, the seconds passing like years before Camilla knocked once and burst in.
“Is it Ron?” Celia asked at the same time I said, “What happened with Ron?”
My sister paused, taken aback by the barrage of questions. “Good. You’re both here. This makes things easier.” She tossed her purse on the sofa and crossed to my minibar where she took out a bottle of tequila and poured herself a shot, arguably a better means of coping than her usual means. She threw it back before turning to address us. “I heard from Ron.”
Instinctively, Celia and I stepped toward her in unison, as if being nearer would encourage her to deliver her information more quickly.
“And…?” I prodded her.
“And it’s all a big fuck-up,” she said with despair. “He’s having a ‘party,’ and he invited me and Leroy, which is all good. But the party isn’t in the States. It’s here. On Saturday night.”
“Fuck. That’s in two days,” Celia said, aghast.
“Right. There wasn’t a contingency for this. And it’s not enough time to make one.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I stuck to the plan, though. I told him that Leroy was interested and that I was sure he’d be there. I’m supposed to call back by five to tell him for sure.”
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