Page 114 of Power
“Oh, please, Randolph.” I balked. “Your son got his assistant pregnant. With twins. Yourmarriedson.” I let that sink in for a beat, watching his face turn an impressive shade of corporate crimson. “So, I can appreciate why fraternization in the workplace is such a hot button to you, but don’t pretend this is about dating. With your funeral face and stoic tension, you look like you’re accusing me of skinning puppies and selling them on the black market.” I shook my head in disgust. “Let’s cut the bull. You’re just looking for an out.” I lowered my voice.
His jaw tightened. “We’re executing the morality clause,” Randolph announced, his eyes cold.
“Over a hypothetical relationship?” Marcus shot out of his chair. “This is bullshit. That clause is a technicality, a loophole.You don’t expect us to believe that you actually give a shit who the hell Jace might be dating.”
“You’ve been trying to sink this acquisition for months. This has nothing to do with who I might be spending time with.”
“This deal is a fraction of the profits we could have made,” Randolph snarled. “We had four other deals that had at least five times the profit potential of this company. The fact that you went forthisone has us questioning your competence as a CEO.”
“This company was about to go under,” I said, struggling to keep my temper in check. “We didn’t have the luxury of waiting. It was now or never. I personally didn’t want to see six thousand people lose their jobs.”
“Oh, it’s always about the goddamnedjobswith you,” Randolph snapped, his composure cracking.
“I was very clear from day one when you joined my board of directors, was I not?” I moved my chair out of the way so I could stand right up against the head of the table. “Yes, I turn a profit with these deals, but my intention is to save these companies so that we can save the employees. And now you’re acting like you’re surprised by it?” I shook my head in disbelief. “I’ve always been up front about my intentions. You, on the other hand”—I pointed my finger at Randolph—“pretended to be on board, and then once you signed the documents, you have been a thorn in my side ever since. It’s nothing but the profits to you.”
“Welcome to private equity, Jace.” Randolph’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I have a news flash: private equity firms are not charitable organizations. We are in the business of making money. It seems you’re the one who is misaligned with those objectives.”
“You have tried to sabotage this deal from the beginning.” I stopped talking, a realization dawning. That legal document that started all of this, the one that drove me into that bar where I first met Scarlett, the one with the missing signature. “It was you, wasn’t it? Somehow, you managed to convince him to ‘forget’ to sign one of those pages.”
Randolph’s lips thinned into a line that confirmed my suspicion.
“Unbelievable,” I breathed. “That goddamn piece of paper almost took down the entire deal.”
“He wasn’t supposed to sign on Monday,” Randolph barked. “So, I don’t know what dirty tactics you employed to get him to sign that piece of paper, but this deal was never supposed to happen!”
“You want to know how I got him to sign it?” I leaned forward, palms flat on the table. “I laid out my intentions, Randolph. That man had a lot of pride, as many owners do. He should be proud of the company he built. He suffered hard times and made some mistakes, but he cared about his company, and he cared about his employees. All I did was remind him that my intention was to save all of their jobs. That’s how I got him to sign.” I straightened. “Some people employ dirty tactics, but that person isn’t me. It’s you. Frankly, I’m disgusted by it.”
“Disgusted?!” Randolph shot out of his chair, pulled up something on his phone, and slid it across the table to me.
When I realized what it was—a picture of me and Scarlett making love in the meadow last night—my body reacted in a domino of sensations. First, my gut dropped to the ground. This poor woman had been photographed having sex. Had been violated by some creep who’d been close enough to see it all. Who captured an image of it. Even though all of Scarlett’s private parts were covered, it didn’t lessen the humiliation of having our intimate encounter photographed and then delivered into the hands of the board of directors, no less.
The second thing that reacted was my heart. It began pumping like a jackhammer, sending adrenaline surging through my veins, along with blinding rage that made my fists clench so tightly that I swore they were about to draw blood from my palms.
“Someone is tracking me?” I kept my voice deceptively calm, a stark contrast to the fury boiling inside.
“I have no idea,” Randolph claimed.
“You’d better have an idea. You have the evidence on your phone.” My eyes narrowed to slits. “Marcus, take his phone, turn it over to the IT department. I want to know what IP address sent that photo, and I want it traced down within the hour.”
Marcus stood up and reached for the phone, but Randolph was faster, snatching it back. “You will do no such thing.”
“Give me the phone,” Marcus demanded.
“I don’t know who was following you. Frankly, I don’t give a crap.” Randolph held up his phone like a trophy. “But whoever did, they’ve done us a favor, sending us her name, along with this photo. Because we are executing the morality clause.”
“You can’t do that,” Marcus said, his jaw tight.
“Draft up the paperwork,” Randolph ordered one of the other board members. “I want it signed within the hour.”
“You’re a businessman. Think about this long-term,” Marcus urged, switching tactics. “Your disdain for this deal is shortsighted. You can’t sabotage a deal under the accusation of bad behavior by the CEO andnothave the CEO and his ability to run a company permanently affected by those accusations. Sure, you can go public and say it was just because he had a relationship, but when a half-billion-dollar deal goes belly up and over six thousand people lose their jobs, no one is going to believe it’s over something as benign as a forbidden relationship. They’re going to think that Jace is dirty or corrupt and that the relationship with the employee is the cover story. No one will do a deal with Jace again, and Lockwood Holdings will go under. You guys will be out a shit ton of money, and you’ll never find anyone who knows this company well enough to save it.”
“That’s why we want you to take over,” Randolph said to Marcus.
Marcus’s head snapped back. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“We don’t trust Jace’s judgment anymore.”
Visions of slamming my fist into Randolph’s face flashed through my mind.
