Page 290 of Tormented Billionaire Romance Series

As soon as the latch clicks behind me, my heart starts pounding. I held back when I was on the phone because Grace was in the room, but the truth is I’ve been incommunicado long enough things are starting to get missed.

Don’t get me wrong, as far as I’m concerned, it’s worth it. All the same, though, if I don’t get us back on the right course, we’ll start losing real money. We start losing real money, and people are going to lose their jobs.

I get down to the ground floor of the hotel to find the conference room in upheaval. People aren’t speaking into phones; they’re yelling at them.

The tents around the edges of the room are gone, and in their place are makeshift plywood offices. At the moment, they don’t look much better than the tents, but at least we won’t have to worry about someone tripping over a pole and de-officing someone anymore.

It had happened six times before I insisted on a change.

“Sir!” Malcolm, head of the Mulholland Project, says. “We’ve lost another twelve points. We need some decisions or things are going to start unraveling.”

“They already are,” I tell him. “Twelve points?” I ask.

“Since the market opened,” Malcolm says. “People are losing confidence because you’re …” He starts scratching at the back of his neck with such force I almost expect to see blood on his hand when he brings it back around.

“Because I’m here and not in New York,” I say. “Okay, do we have any projections on how bad this is going to get?”

“It’s hard to say with any certainty,” he says, “but the longer you’re here, unable or unwilling to take meetings back home, the line’s just going to keep going down.”

“Yeah,” I say. “Do me a favor and schedule me a flight back there sometime next week.”

“Next week, sir?” Malcolm asks.

“Yeah,” I answer. “After that, I want you to give a call to your friend in the times and let him know Daddy’s coming home soon. That should stop the hemorrhaging, at least.”

“Got it,” Malcolm says and walks away. “You don’t want to take the private jet?”

I smile. “I think I’ll start using that when it’s a necessity and not for every trip,” I tell him.

I get about two more steps into the room before Marly from my legal team stops me, saying, “We’re having a hard time getting around the board on the final plans for the new headquarters.”

“I have a majority vote,” I respond. “What’s the problem?”

“They’re calling your capacity to remain as CEO into question,” she says.

“Anything I should worry about?” I ask.

“Not yet,” she answers. “Still, we can’t keep them in the dark much longer or this whole thing’s going in the loss column, and I don’t know how many of us are going to survive something like that.”

“As long as I’m here, you’re here,” I say. “You know that, Marly.”

“That’s the problem, though,” she says. “If things don’t change, it won’t be long until—”

“Find Malcolm,” I tell her. “He should be about done booking my flight back to New York.”

“You’re going back?” she asks.

“Find him,” I tell her.

I manage to get to my desk without further interruption, but I don’t get a chance to sit.

Malcolm’s back already and Marly’s close behind him.

“Sir,” he says, “I booked you a flight out of here on Tuesday morning.” I love that he works that quickly. “It should put you back in New York by early afternoon. There are some things we need to go over before anything else happens, though.”

“Marly?” I ask.

She looks up from the notepad she’s scribbling in and says, “I’ve got it, sir. I’ll put in a quick call to my friend at the Post.”

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