Page 42 of The Bargain

“I don’t think it’s the best option,” I stated, looking him dead in the eye. A muscle in Byron’s jaw ticked, and the silence stretched between us for several seconds until Byron nodded once.

“Could you please elaborate on where my proposal falls short?” he asked, and there was no missing the tightness in his voice.

“It’s not the direction that we want to go. While I think your proposal has some merits, I don’t believe that it’s going to provide the results we need in order to salvage the company without us needing to institute a hiring freeze and layoffs.” I held out my open hands to Byron, keeping my tone firm but gentle. “We need to hit a home run. Base hits won’t cut it.”

“But base hits are easier to get than a home run. If you put together enough base hits, you can still score. That’s how the game is won. With your proposal, it’s an all-or-nothing endeavor that possesses much higher risks for everyone. My way offers lower risks.”

“Your proposal also comes with lower reward potential,” I replied.

“It doesn’t have to. If we mobilize quickly to capitalize on an obvious winner, the rewards stand to be as great as with your home run.”

“No. I appreciate your proposal, but I don’t believe it will work.”

Something flashed in Byron’s eyes, like the world was crashing down and it was all my fault. I didn’t know what to do. As his boyfriend, I wanted to fix everything, but as his boss, I couldn’t waver on this.Right?

“Excuse me, sir,” he said in a rough voice. “Thank you for your time.”

“Byron…”

“If you don’t mind, I need to cancel our plans this evening. I’m not feeling too well. I’ll be leaving for the night.”

With my heart in my throat, I jumped out of my seat and came around my desk, darting in front of him to block his path to the door. Pinching the marble egg between two fingers, I held it in front of his face. “Please, talk to me. You’ve been off all day. I just want to understand so I can help.”

Byron stared at the egg and released a long, low sigh. His shoulders slumped ever farther. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do. The egg can remind me to treat you as a friend, but it can’t force me to talk about things I don’t wish to discuss. Some things I just need to work out on my own.”

He stepped past me and continued to the door, but he didn’t get more than a step before he stopped again. I looked past him to see Declan standing in the opening watching us.

“Forgive me, Mr. Foster. Is there anything I can get you?” Byron asked, snapping into perfect assistant mode.

“No, thank you. I just needed to talk to Sebastian.”

Byron nodded. “Have a good evening.” He slipped past Declan and closed the door behind my friend.

The moment we were alone, Declan turned his glare full force onto me. “What did you do?”

“What the hell! Why do you assume I did something? I haven’t done anything.” At least, I didn’t think I’d done anything to him. Fuck, I hope I hadn’t. “This has nothing to do with us dating,” I added, because I was sure it was exactly what he was thinking.

Declan stood in front of me, his arms folded over his chest as he continued to glare. “What’s wrong?”

“We had a small misunderstanding this morning when I chose to have Kaylan in the meetings instead of him, but I explained it was to train Kaylan ahead of moving Byron to another position because we’re dating. He said he understood, but he’s been distracted. I’m guessing something happened this past weekend that he’s not telling me about.”

“That’s it?”

I shrugged one shoulder as I walked to my desk and dropped into his chair. “I turned down his proposal.”

“The proposal about focusing on mini blockbuster, limited edition products for each of our divisions?” Declan inquired.

That question jolted me upright in my chair. “He showed it to you?” Byron had made it sound like he’d not showed any of the other members of the executive team.

“We discussed it. He came to me to get some specific financial numbers to make sure his idea was workable to match our needs.”

“And it’s not,” I stated, relaxing again.

“It is, but it wouldn’t be easy. There are risks.”

“Exactly!” I said, waving a hand at Declan. I’d known my CFO would back me on this. Declan was all logic and common sense.

“However, there are fewer risks involved than with your plan.”

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