Page 67 of His Master

I felt so sad for her, but in a distant sort of way, like she was a character on a television show, not like she was someone close to me.

From Victor, I felt relief and satisfaction. I also felt the tell-tale signs of closure as one part of his life ended and, hopefully, the next began.

“Come on,” he said, standing and pushing his chair back. He then took my hand and started walking for the door. I buzzed with pride in him, and with love.

“Wait!” Artemis leapt after us. “Where are you going? What’s going on?”

We’d made it to the door and stepped out into the hallway, which was a relief, since the shouting in the boardroom had only grown louder, but Victor stopped to talk to his friend.

“Victory Holdings will go on,” Victor said, smiling like he couldn’t help himself. “Clearly, Vivien alerted the board members that there would be a vote to change the bylaws this morning, and she won enough people over to her side, by hook or by crook, that you all snapped your fingers and the old constraints vanished.”

“I thought we were voting to change the bylaws so Vincent could be forced to retire,” Artemis said, his frown even more pronounced.

I was so disconcerted by him all of a sudden that I stepped back, half hiding behind Victor. Some omega instinct in me was suddenly making me deeply wary of other alphas, not to mention making me feel all hot and itchy.

“You were voting for that,” Victor explained with a nod. He shifted his stance, half to protect me, then asked, “Did you get a copy of the new bylaws before the meeting started?”

“About fifteen minutes before,” Artemis said. “The relevant sections were highlighted.”

I suddenly wondered if my parents highlighted the non-compete changes or if they slipped them in where people might not notice them.

Victor smiled. “Then what’s done is done. It was a legal vote of the board to accept amended bylaws. Even you voted for it.”

“Because I thought it would help you,” Artemis said, still deeply confused. “I didn’t expect Vivien to swoop in and get rid of you, too.”

“Neither did I,” Victor admitted with a shrug. “But it doesn’t matter. You didn’t just vote to eliminate everything that would allow one of us to be removed without breaking the company, you voted out the non-compete clause as well.”

“So you’re free to leave and start your own company,” Artemis said, realization dawning on him. He laughed. “You clever little sneak.”

Victor shrugged modestly at the compliment.

Artemis’s smile dropped a moment later. “You realize this means your uncle could start a new company, too.”

“It does,” Victor nodded. “And I’d like to see him try.”

“He might,” Artemis said.

“Oh, I’m sure he will,” Victor said. “But what he does is his business. I have enough money of my own, money I’ve made certain is separate from the family money, to start something new. I might even have a potential business offer on the table.”

“They’ll try to attack you, you know,” Artemis said. “Vivien and Vincent.”

“I predict they’ll be too busy attacking each other to worry about me,” Victor said. “And besides, going after me simply for revenge will waste company and personal resources. Vivien only cares about money and my uncle only cares about power, which he’ll be busy trying to wrestle back from Vivien. I’d say I’ve got plenty of time to start something new and shore up my position before they have time to attack me. By then, they might not care.”

I beamed at my wonderful master. He was right, I was sure. Other companies and families might have reacted differently, but he knew the Woodburys and Victory Holdings well enough to hold all the cards.

Artemis seemed to see it, too. He smiled and clapped Victor on the shoulder. “Once you get whatever comes next set up, if you’re hiring, I’d be interested in applying for a job.”

“I’ll definitely need loyal friends, whatever I do,” Victor said with a nod.

They might have said more, but the arguments in the boardroom started to bleed out into the hall, making me jumpy to the point of panic.

“Let’s get you out of here,” Victor said, not just taking my hand, but slipping an arm around my waist as he ushered me down the hall toward the reception area and the elevators.

We reached the elevators and the door slid open, but Vivien’s call of, “Wait! Victor!” stopped us in our path.

Victor thrust an arm out to hold the elevator as we turned to her. “Yes?” he asked.

Vivien stomped her way over to us on her impossibly high heels. “That’s it?” she asked. “You’re just going to walk away like that? You haven’t even heard the deal I have yet.”

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