by Jackie Braun
“Nepotism got you where you are,” Brody replied flatly. “You’re the boss’s daughter, Miss Douglass.”
“Which means I’ve had to prove myself not only to him, but to everyone else here. My last name hasn’t gotten me a free pass. If anything, it’s ensured that I receive additional scrutiny, even if I have better credentials, better ideas, and more balls than some of those higher in management.”
His eyebrows notched up at that last part. Kate squared her shoulders and went on. “Douglass Shipping has lost a lot of ground the past couple of years, but it’s far from hopeless. I know you didn’t come out and say that you plan to break up the business so you can sell off the more profitable hubs and do away with those that are barely turning a profit, but I think we both know that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Now you can read my thoughts?”
“I can read, and that’s what the business pages are reporting is likely to happen. It would be a mistake for you to do that, though.”
A pair of dark eyebrows lifted as he chided, “I thought you weren’t going to try to change my mind.”
“I’m not. You own the company. It’s yours to do with what you will and to hire who you will.” She paused and had to swallow before she could go on. “I accept that.”
“Do you?”
A small scoffing sound escaped from the back of her throat. “I’m a realist, Mr. Flynn. And I think you are, too.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning I have something you need.”
His eyes narrowed fractionally as his gaze slid south, skimming over her curves in much the same way as a lover’s caress. Kate shivered. Her reaction was involuntary but not completely unwelcome, which she found almost more worrisome than his ill-concealed awareness.
She cleared her throat and clarified, “I’m referring to plans to turn around Douglass Shipping Solutions and ensure we are once again the leader in the Great Lakes region as well as throughout the Midwest.”
“Ah.” He smiled, and the sexual interest she’d seen peeled away, leaving her to wonder if it had all been manufactured to put her on edge. He was saying, “Assuming that you do, how good are these plans of yours if your own father never bothered to consider, much less implement, them?”
His question, even said without condescension, was a dagger to her heart. She staggered back a step before she managed to lift her chin and rally her control.
“As I said, being the boss’s daughter has given me no advantage. My father has a group of senior executives he relies on for advice.”
“But you’re his presumed successor. Why is it that you’re not part of his inner circle?”
“I’m afraid he tends to still think of me as…” Kate swallowed and felt the heat creep into her cheeks.
“Well?” He didn’t look at his watch this time, but she caught his impatience.
“It’s hard for some parents to admit their children are grown up. My father is one of those parents.”
“Daddy’s little girl?”
The admission was embarrassingly accurate, even if it wasn’t the entire truth. Yes, her father still thought of her as his little girl. And as such, he felt she needed to be pampered, protected. He didn’t want her weighted down with workplace responsibilities, immersed in office politics, embroiled in the sometimes cutthroat dealings of corporate life. Most of all, though, he worried she would break. Just as her mother had. She twisted the ring she wore on the middle finger of her right hand and clenched her fist so that the gemstone bit into her palm.
“What is your position here again?” Brody asked.
Kate was sure a man as ruthless as this one knew far more about her than her current job title. Even so, she answered stiffly, “I’m the assistant to the CEO.”
“Assistant to the CEO,” he repeated on a nod. “The CEO being your father. So Daddy’s little girl pulls down a high five-figure salary just to fetch his coffee and run his errands. Am I right?”
“You forgot the ribbon cuttings, charity auctions, and luncheons with investors, politicians, and the like,” she drawled.
“In other words, you excel at schmoozing. All for the good of the company, of course.”
Angry at having two college degrees and countless hours behind a desk trivialized, she practically shouted, “I’m capable of a hell of a lot more than that.”
Brody’s eyes narrowed again, this time in speculation that had nothing to do with sex.
“What exactly is it that you want from me, Miss Douglass?”
The timing was far from ideal, as was the place, but it was now or never. Kate had one shot at her objective, and she planned to make it count. Looking him square in the eye, she said, “I want a job.”
“You want to fetch my coffee, run my errands? Schmooze for my company?” Brody started to laugh, as if he thought she was joking.
It wasn’t the reaction she’d expected, much less the one she’d hoped for when she’d checked her pride at the door and followed him out of the building.
What had she been thinking? She should have waited. She should have allowed her feelings to settle and then scheduled an appointment, at which time she would have been prepared and sounded professional when she made her pitch. Instead, she had literally trotted after him and thrown out a desperate plea for employment as they stood amid a sea of parked cars.
Kate contemplated simply turning around and walking away with whatever dignity she could scrape together. But she’d made this mess, and she would see it through.
“I meant a different position,” she said stiffly, drawing herself up to a full height of five-eight thanks to a pair of three-inch heels. He still had a good five inches on her.
“Forgive me.” Amusement glittered in his blue eyes, and she wondered if he’d taken a double meaning to the word “position.”
As tempting as she found it to tell him to go to hell, she didn’t have the luxury of being self-righteous. “I realize this isn’t the place for a proper discussion. All I am asking for is the opportunity to talk to you before you clean house.”
“I’m doing that first thing Monday.” He snorted. “I noticed Daddy never set up a golden parachute for you.”
Several senior managers, as well as her father, had lucrative severance packages, a move intended not only to pad the company’s bottom line in the event of a takeover, but to make a takeover less financially attractive in the first place. Apparently the tactic had done nothing to discourage Brody.
She ignored the bait and ordered up a smile that she hoped was neither too despairing nor too challenging. “Any chance we could meet before then?”
Brody shook his head. “Sorry. I don’t work weekends. I prefer to spend them with my family.”
Two things registered upon hearing that statement. First, she’d assumed he was some kind of workaholic wonder to be where he was, given his age. He looked to be in his early to mid-thirties. It was the second thing that Kate found even more surprising, though. Brody Flynn had a family?
She glanced at his left hand. No ring. Nor had the way he’d studied her a moment earlier given her reason to believe he was in any sort of relationship, especially one as legally binding and fidelity inducing as marriage. Well, his marital status was of no consequence to her, even if she could admit she found him incredibly attractive.
Clearing her throat, she persisted. “Perhaps we could meet early on Monday then, before your interviews with the remaining department heads.”
“So we can discuss your plans?” His tone was laced with skepticism.
Kate’s heart fell. “I’m wasting my breath,” she whispered.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re not taking me seriously.”
“Should I be?”
Kate gave in to the growing urge to curse aloud. After which she added, “You’re no different than my father.”
He wasn’t coddling her, but the effect was the same. She started to turn, intending to leave. Moisture had begun to gather in her ey
es, tears born of anger and frustration that any minute would breach her lower lids and trail down her cheeks. She’d be damned if she’d let him see her cry. But before she could make her exit, he took a step toward her. The move brought him so close that Kate swore she could feel the heat radiating from his skin. Passionate. She wouldn’t have used the word to describe the man who’d reigned supreme in the boardroom, but it fit him to a tee just now. “Sexy” was another word that came to mind. She swallowed as an inconvenient truth settled into place. All that heat and passion made Brody Flynn a very dangerous man.
“Let’s get one thing straight, Miss Douglass. I am nothing like your father. You got that? Nothing.”
He abruptly stepped away. Her personal space had been restored, but the same couldn’t be said for her peace of mind.
Kate had assumed his takeover of Douglass Shipping was purely business. Now, however, she wasn’t so sure. It seemed personal. Very, very personal.
Chapter Two
Brody didn’t often allow himself to feel regret. It was futile at best, counterproductive at worst. But later that evening, as he and his best friend, Seth Forrester, hoisted beers in their favorite tavern to celebrate his victory, regret consumed Brody.
He wasn’t sorry about the takeover. Oh, he was savoring that, all right. In particular, he was reveling in the look that had been on Jonathon Douglass’s face when the older man had realized both his and his company’s fates. But…
“You’re awfully quiet for someone who should be crowing from the rooftops. I thought this was supposed to be a celebration?” Seth said.
Brody regarded his friend over the foamy head of the fresh draft beer the waitress had just delivered. The two men had been close since high school, their bond only made stronger by Brody’s family tragedy.
“It’s been a long day. I guess I’m tired.”
“Right. You expect me to buy that?” Seth lifted one sandy eyebrow. “Revenge not all it’s cracked up to be?”
To which Brody suggested his friend do the anatomically impossible.
Seth shrugged, unperturbed.
“I guess I’m having a hard time believing I’ve finally done it,” Brody admitted.
Yeah, that was it. The surprising hollowness that remained had to be from disbelief.
“Makes sense,” Seth allowed. “You’ve been consumed with seeing Douglass pay for years.”
“It will sink in once I dice up the company and sell off the last piece.”
“I don’t know.”
His friend’s uncertainty was unsettling. “What do you mean?”
“You thought you’d find some amount of peace when you endowed that college scholarship in your parents’ name.”
“Fine, then when the new trauma center is a reality.” His plan was to use the vast sum he’d make from Douglass Shipping’s ultimate demise to fund a new unit at the county’s busiest hospital—the very one that had tried in vain to save his mother and the only father he had ever known. The trauma center would ensure Stuart and Teresa Abbott were never forgotten. In the meantime, he just had to let everything sink in and fill up this damn void.
Seth nodded. “So, no regrets?”
He wanted to be able to answer no, but Katherine Douglass was not so easily marginalized.
Before today, he’d given his nemesis’s daughter little, if any, thought. Making her pay had never been one of his objectives. Despite her 15 percent stake in the company and her business degree, he’d pegged her for a minor player at best in her father’s multibillion-dollar business empire, a mere figurehead with a made-up title who didn’t put in a day’s work as much as she put in an appearance every now and again.
Over the years, Brody had come across plenty of pictures of her on the internet at this charity gala or that. In them she’d been dressed in designer gowns, draped in jewelry and surrounded by fawning, well-heeled men.
Katherine was a media darling, a regular on the society pages, and so it had come as a shock when she’d chased him down in the parking garage and had asked for, of all things, a job.
In his quest for revenge, Brody hadn’t considered that she might actually care about Douglass Shipping Solutions beyond what its income meant to her trust fund. He hadn’t considered that she might actually have ideas—credible ones—that she was eager to see instituted. If he had known, would he have changed course? Probably not.
What really nagged at him now was her parting accusation: You’re just like my father.
No insult could have been greater in Brody’s estimation, which was why’d been so quick to refute it. But now, with a beer under his belt and the adrenaline rush from his victory starting to ebb, he couldn’t stop himself from wondering if she might be right.
The thought didn’t sit well.
Did he owe Jonathon Douglass’s daughter a chance to prove herself?
Brody sipped his beer, stalling until he was able to put his concerns into words that would make sense. “I think I may have been wrong about something.”
“You? Wrong?” Seth reached into the back pocket of his jeans and whipped out his cell phone. “Can you say that again while I record it? No one will believe me otherwise.”
“Smart-ass.” Brody snorted out a laugh as he set the mug back on the table.
Seth laughed as well, loud enough to draw the attention of a couple of women who were seated in the next booth. They were attractive enough. Provocatively cut clothes showed off equally gorgeous bodies. The pair had been glancing Seth and Brody’s way since their arrival, their interest growing increasingly obvious. Another night, both men might have capitalized on that.
But on this night, Brody was in no mood for meaningless small talk, much less meaningless sex. The image of Katherine Douglass in her conservative jacket and knee-skimming skirt, hair pulled back in a no-nonsense style, foisted itself front and center in his mind. Why did she dress that way when all of the snapshots of her on the internet revealed a beautiful, fashion-forward woman?
Because she wants to be taken seriously.
Brody scowled, and Seth punched his arm.
“Keep glaring like that and you’ll never get laid again.” Then Seth’s expression sobered and he lowered his voice. “What’s got you worked up? What is it you think you might have been wrong about?”
“Remember Douglass’s daughter?”
“The heiress, you mean?” Seth’s tone held the same derision Brody had always felt. “Was she there today?”
Brody nodded.
“What, no salon appointments to keep?”
Once again Brody recalled the woman’s understated appearance and minimal makeup. The proud way she’d held herself, chin up, shoulders back, gaze level. “She looks different at the office. More…professional. Businesslike.”
“Let me guess. She cried and asked you not to take over her daddy’s company.”
“No.” If she had, Brody probably wouldn’t have given her another thought. “She wanted a job.”
“Get out.” Seth’s eyes rounded, mirroring the surprise Brody had felt earlier. “What position did she apply for?” His laughter turned bawdy. “Or should I guess?”
“It wasn’t like that. She didn’t offer to sleep with me.” If she had, as tempting as he found her, Brody would have turned her down flat and walked away. That wasn’t how he operated, despite his reputation for being ruthless. “She claimed to have ideas to improve the company’s bottom line, make it profitable once again.”
Seth took a pull on his beer and eyed him thoughtfully. “Do you believe her?”
Brody didn’t want to. It would be easier to discount her claims. To discount her. After all, her own father apparently hadn’t put much credence in what she had to say. What had she told Brody? Something about her father forgetting she was an adult.
But he told his friend, “She seemed sincere.”
“Sincere,” Seth repeated, sounding skeptical. Brody didn’t blame him. Hell, he wanted to be skeptical, too. “Did you ever think t
hat maybe her father put her up to it?”
The question had Brody’s full attention. “What do you mean?”
“It would be nice to have a spy on the inside. She owns a sizable chunk of stock, I assume.”
“She does.” Outside of Brody, she was one of the largest stockholders by far.
“Maybe she doesn’t want to turn around the company’s bottom line as much as she wants to see it go further downhill. Stock prices drop. More investors bail. She and her father swoop in to buy the stock back at fire-sale prices. Sort of what you did.”
Brody sucked in a breath. “I don’t plan to hold on to the company long enough for that to happen. I already have a buyer lined up for one of the most lucrative hubs. And others interested in several of the company’s key assets.” By this time next year, there wouldn’t be a Douglass Shipping, but plans would be well under way for the Stuart & Teresa Abbott Trauma Center.
“Does she know that?”
“She assumed that’s what I’ll do. She can read, after all. And that’s what all the media reports have speculated, given what I did to the last two companies I bought.”
In both cases, Brody had taken bloated businesses that had lost their way, chopped them down to a more manageable size, found new buyers, and then walked away a wealthier man.
Of course, he had something much different in mind for Douglass. He wanted it gone. Obliterated. The same way his family had been.
“So, she’s probably hoping to change your mind. Make you drag your feet just long enough so her father can make his move.”
It made sense. Brody had even thought about it already, but that didn’t make it any easier to hear now. “Damn!”
Seth chuckled. “You aren’t the first guy to be sucked in by a pretty face. Maybe you can use it to your advantage, though. You know, turn the tables.”
He lifted his beer. Before taking a sip, he told Seth, “Keep talking.”
“If you hire her, you can keep an eye on her. If she really is a plant, you can feed her what you want her and her father to know, and play the real game plan close to the vest.” Seth grinned slyly. “And there’s a side benefit to getting to know the heiress better.”
