Seduce Me
Page 16
On the way down in the elevator, I pulled up two names on my phone. I called them both and told them to get to the office and meet me in the boardroom in two hours.
Slipping into a taxi, I dragged in a shaking breath. My heart was firmly on Tucker, but my head needed to be in the game. I needed this to work. If it didn’t, I had no idea what I was going to do. No idea at all.
I NEARLY RAN to my office after getting off the elevator. Marge was sitting at her desk. It was the first time I’d ever seen her in regular clothes. She looked younger. Her hair was half up and half down. Usually she wore it up in a tight bun. She had on jeans and a sweater. Unlike me who threw on sneakers, she had on a pair of black flats.
Damn. Why didn’t I think of that?
She must have seen me looking at her shoes and then mine because she said, “You’ve got a pair of Jimmy Choo black flats in your office in the closet.”
I did have a pair in there!
“You’re a lifesaver, Marge, remind me to give you a big-ass raise.” Kissing her on the cheek, I rushed into my office with Marge on my heels.
Kicking my sneakers off, I pulled off my socks next and slipped into the flats. “Mr. Knots and Mitchell Landing will be here in an hour and a half. Let’s take a look at the tape and get a game plan together before they get here.”
Marge was already on the other side of the room, getting her laptop connected to the large TV on the wall at the end of the board table. When I mentioned Knots’s name, she looked up and frowned. I knew she didn’t like the man; he was one of those lawyers who were part of the good ol’ boy system. He started working at CMI when my grandfather was still CEO.
“This is a copy. The original is in a locked safety deposit box at my house.”
My head jerked over to look at her. “O-okay,” I replied, my brows pulled in tightly as I looked at my executive assistant. Did she think someone would try and break in for it? No one even knew we had tapes from my father’s office.
When she was finished, she looked at me; sadness swept over her face. “Charlie, this video was taken two weeks before your father’s death. Your father had found out that your grandfather tried to sneak the bylaw in without any votes on it because he knew it would never pass. It has absolutely no merit. He told Ricker to remove it.”
“What?” I gasped. “Ricker made it sound like Dad knew for a while.”
She nodded. “Come on, sit down,” she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me into a chair.
A video started up. It was my father and Paul Ricker, who was sitting in one of the large, leather chairs in front of Dad’s desk.
My chest ached at the sight of my father. Tears filled my eyes, and I had to work hard at keeping them back. I missed my parents so much.
“Paul, you and I both know this won’t hold up. It’s ridiculous and will never stand up in any courts nor get any votes. Get Knots on this before Charleston hears about it from someone.”
My heart dropped. Had all of this been a waste of time if my father didn’t think it would hold up? Knots said it would take months to work through the court system. They lied to me.
“I never did think that would hold up and so did a number of the board members,” Marge tossed out. “Scuttlebutt was going around about when the bylaw was put into place because no one had voted on it.”
“Why didn’t anyone say anything?” I asked, my brows pulled in tightly. I assumed this had been done months, if not years ago!”
Marge nodded. “So did the rest of the board, Charlie, or they assumed your grandfather pulled some of the old-timers aside and did it in secret.”
I focused back on the tape.
“Sir, your father had the companies best interest at heart.”
The way my father shot daggers at Ricker had me smiling. “Listen, you and I are friends. I know deep down you think you should run this company if anything should happen to me, but I know my daughter will do the job and do it better than any of us. So, I’ll say this again, get it out of there. Even if it stayed, it wouldn’t hold up. You and I both know it. Charleston could take it to court and contest it. Any judge in their rightful mind would throw it out, and I’m pretty sure my father knew that. He was bitter that Sally and I never tried for a boy. This was more of a jab at me than directed toward Charleston.”
Paul moved around in his chair. “Mike, we’ve been friends for a while now. You know I’ll do whatever you want, but do you honestly believe your daughter is the right person for the job of CEO in the event that, God forbid, anything should happen to you?”
My father looked angry. “Do you honestly think I’d put my entire life’s work, and that of my father’s, in the hands of someone who wouldn’t know what to do with it? I’ve been grooming that girl since she was in the single digits to take over.”
Pride filled my chest.
My father went on. “CMI is her entire life. She’s dedicated and smart as hell, and I’ve taught her everything I know.”
Paul nodded. “She is very much all those things. But she is also young and hasn’t even been out of school but a few years.”
My father laughed. “Do you think I’m going anywhere soon?”
Shaking his head, Ricker had the decency to look embarrassed at his choice of words.
“Hell, I’ve gone out of my way to make sure my daughter stays away from men, and you want my father to force her to marry one. No. She doesn’t need a man by her side to do this job. No woman needs a man by her side to do any job. Besides, by the time she’s ready to take over as CEO, she’ll be older and wiser. You and I will long be retired.”
Paul Ricker tensed some but let out a laugh along with my father. My chest ached knowing my father would be gone weeks after this was taped.
Paul finally stood. A fake-as-hell smile grew over his face. “I’ll get it taken care of as soon as possible.”
“Get it done today, Ricker. We have a shit ton of lawyers I pay a pretty penny to. Get them to handle my father’s little joke before someone tells my daughter about it.”
“Yes, Mr. Monroe.”
We watched as Ricker walked out of my father’s office. There was a break in the video and another one started up.
“Found this one a few days later.”
Marge’s voice says over the video.
Then I heard Marge’s voice again, this time coming from the TV. “Mr. Monroe, Mr. Ricker is here to see you. He said it is in regards to the situation you asked him to take care of last week.”
Hitting a button, my father answered. “Send him in.”
The door opened and Ricker walked in. “Paul, tell me you got that taken care of ?”
Ricker cleared his throat and sat down in the chair. “Yes. It’s all been taken care of. Nothing to worry about.”
Lifting his head, my father lifted a brow. “It’s done?”
“Yes, just like you asked me to do. I talked to Mr. Knots about it, and we handled it. He took it to one of the judges he knows who simply laughed. Said it would never hold up in court. You could, of course, move to have the board vote that Charlie would need to be of a certain age before becoming CEO.”
“No,” my father retorted.
“Then the subject is dropped.”
Marge and I looked at each other.
My father’s voice made me jump.
“Good. Good. Now let’s just forget this whole little nasty thing and move on.”
Marge’s voice once again comes over the TV. “Mr. Monroe, you asked me to remind you when it was one.”
Standing, my father smiled. “Stay here, Ricker. I need to go wish my daughter a happy birthday.”
My hand covered my mouth, and I forced the tears back. Marge reached over and squeezed my knee. She kept her hand there and turned back to the TV like she was waiting for a bomb to drop.
Ricker stood, walked around the desk and sat in my father’s chair.
“That bastard,” I hissed.
He hit a few numbers and smiled as he leaned back in the chair. “
I gasped. “Holy fuck.”
For the first time since I became acting CEO of CMI, Marge didn’t scold me for swearing.
“I doubt he’ll ask to see it, but if he does, we’re covered. There is no way in hell I’m letting some goddamn wet-behind-the-ears young girl take over this company. I’ve lost two wives for that bastard and this company … he owes this to me.”
Standing, I balled up my fists.
“That dirty, rotten, motherfucking, son-of-a-bitch bastard!” I screamed. “He and Knots both betrayed my father!”
“If I had known you were calling in Knots, I would have warned you not to.”
I paced back and forth, trying to think of what to do.
“There are eleven very educated men and women on the board, and not one of them thought this sounded wrong?” I asked, my hands flying up to my hips.
Marge looked at me and said, “You believed it.”
I stood there, staring at Marge.
“He thinks he’s going to steal this company right out from underneath me? Well, he has another thing coming.”
Walking back over to my desk, I reached for my phone and then back to Marge. “I’m calling an emergency board meeting. I want all those bastards here in an hour, and I don’t give two shits what they have to do to get here.”
Marge smiled. I could see the pride on her face.
The good thing about this shitstorm was that Tucker was the last thing on my mind right now.
GLANCING OVER TO the church, I watched as Lily, Tucker and their mother, Patty, forced smiles on their faces as they stood outside the doors and spoke to people. I’d wait until they went inside before I slipped in.
My phone buzzed.
Terri: Stop sitting in your car and please come in. Lily will want to see you.
Tucker wasn’t the only reason I was stalling. Memories of my own parents’ funeral came slamming back to the forefront of my mind this morning. Dressing in black with that heavy feeling in my stomach, knowing people will glance my direction and think how sad it was I lost both of my parents not very long ago.
Me: I’m trying. It’s hard for more than one reason.
Terri’s reply was instant.
Terri: I know, Charlie. I know.
Her words, although simple and direct, seemed to be what I needed. I swallowed hard and stepped out of my silver BMW. The closer I walked to the church, the more my heart pounded in my chest. The closer I got to Tucker, the more my feelings mixed together. I hated him. I hated what he did to me, but I was doing the same thing to him. I had gotten together with him under the umbrella of a lie. A trick. A plan to get him into my bed and show him how much he needed to be with me so that he would surely pop the question before my deadline.
Lily had sworn to me that Tucker was not planning any sort of revenge. He swore it to her. A part of me wanted to believe him, but I kept thinking back to that first night we spent together and the note he left asking if I regretted it. Maybe that had been his only plan of vengeance.
Anger boiled up inside of me, waging a war over the grief I also felt.
Grief won out as I walked up to Patty, who stood closest to me.
“Patty,” I whispered. I could feel Tucker’s eyes on me, but I focused on the woman standing before me. Her eyes were so bloodshot from crying. All I wanted to do was pull her to me, so I did. Her arms wrapped around me, holding me tight.
“I’m so sorry, Patty. I’m so very sorry.”
The strong woman I’d seen smiling and saying hello to people cracked for a brief moment and sobbed; then she sucked in a breath of air.
“Thank you, sweet girl.”
I went to pull away from her, but she held me tighter and moved her mouth to my ear. “He loves you, Charleston. Let him love you because he feels like he has no one right now.”
My intake of sharp air was evident to both Lily and Tucker, I was positive. Patty let me go and turned to the person who was walking up behind me. I stared at her. My mind spinning.
Lily gently touched my arm and moved me closer to her. I tried to give her a smile, but I knew I was failing.
“Thank you, Charlie, for being here. I know this has to be so hard with your recent loss as well.”
I wanted to ask her if she meant my parents or her brother but decided I was reading too much into this because she had to mean my parents.
With a quick hug, I stepped to her side and looked up into Tucker’s gray eyes. The sadness in them left me breathless.
“I’m sorry about your father. I know how hard this is on you.”
His eyes held nothing in them. No emotion whatsoever. He waited for what seemed like forever when he finally said, “Thank you.”
He made no attempt at hugging me—hell, he actually took a step away from me. Our eyes lingered on each other for a few more moments before he looked away and stared blankly at the person talking to Lily.
I turned and walked into the church, the threat of tears pricking the back of my eyes. I quickly found Terri sitting in the second row with Nash, Blake, and Jim. She took my hand in hers and gave it a slight squeeze.
“You okay?” she asked, her eyes filled with sympathy.
My words caught in my throat. I was far from okay. I missed my parents. My heart hurt for Tucker with the way things were left between him and his father, yet I was angry as hell at him. Maybe I wasn’t angry, but rather hurt that he would play me for a fool.
Pot calling kettle black.
Maybe my feelings were hurt at the hateful things he said to me in his drunken haze; they were hateful but also true. Truer words were always spoken when liquid courage was your shield, I guessed.
“I’m fine,” I finally got out. My voice betrayed me, though. I was far from fine.
Another few minutes passed by, and then the family came in. I watched Lily and Tucker as they walked on either side of their mother. Tucker looked to be helping her stand up. When they sat down in the front, I heard soft cries and sniffles and nearly jumped up and bolted out of the church. Memories of my parents’ funeral came rushing back. I focused on Tucker, watching his every move.
“Tucker is not doing well at all,” I heard Nash whisper to Blake.
“Yeah, I know. I stopped by last night, and he was trashed out of his mind.”
I frowned. That might have explained the blank expression on his face.
Tucker placed his arm around his mother and lightly brushed his fingers over Lily’s shoulder. It was a silent show of strength. I couldn’t be angry with him, not right now. Not knowing how he was feeling and the guilt that had to be eating away at him.
Tucker’s mother laid her head on her son’s shoulder. I could see her body shaking as she silently cried. I continued to watch him, willing him to stay strong for his family. For himself.
He did just that.
WE ALL SAT around a giant table in Tucker and Lily’s parents’ backyard. After the graveside service, family and friends were asked to come back for a celebration of Roger’s life.
I had mostly been zoned out of the conversation until something Nash said snapped me back to reality.
“He’s talking about leaving town.”
My head jerked over to Nash and Jim.
“For how long?” Jim asked, taking a drink of his beer.
Nash shrugged. “Not sure, said he needed to get away for a while. Talked about taking a backpacking trip in Europe.”
This news left me feeling sick to my stomach.
“What about the bar?” Blake asked.
“I don’t know. He’s not thinking clearly at all. He’s really fucked up, in more ways than one.”
When Nash’s gaze looked to mine, I drew in a deep breath.
We stared at one another for a few moments before Nash pulled his eyes away.
What in the hell was that supposed to mean? Like it was my fault Tucker’s father died? It was my fault Tucker knew about me needing to get married and was planning on playing some cruel joke on me?
Well, fuck that. The sad part about all of this was I no longer needed to get married. Once I got the board all together and showed them the tapes, it didn’t take long to get both Knots and Ricker fired. I was CEO of CMI … no marriage was needed. I should have felt relieved, but all I felt was sadness mixed with anger that my father did this to me. He left me with his dream and the longer I filled his shoes, the more I hated it.
“What’s wrong?” Terri asked, placing her hand on my leg. “You all of sudden seem really angry.”
I turned to her and spoke so only she could hear. “Do you think it’s wrong for me to be upset at Tucker for admitting he knew about the whole marriage thing?”
Terri chewed on her lip. “I mean, it’s sort of hard, Charlie. You started off planning on tricking him into marrying you.”
“I wasn’t tricking him,” I stated in a soft yet firm voice.
“Okay well, you for sure weren’t honest with him. It’s sort of like the pot calling the kettle black.”
Frowning, I couldn’t help but notice how I had mentally used that analogy earlier.
“Whatever. He could have said something, but he didn’t.”
“Lily and I both told you to be upfront with him. You had to know this wasn’t going to turn out well.”
I stood, my hands balled in fists. “So, it’s my fault?”
Her eyes filled with worry, and she looked around as she stood and grabbed me by the arm. We walked further out into the giant backyard, away from everyone.
“It’s both of your faults. You went into the relationship knowing you only needed one thing from Tucker, a wedding ring. He went into it angry because you were using him. Neither one of you is right, but you’re both right for each other, and I know you both see that. We’ve all known that and have seen it for years. And while I’m being honest, let me just say, we were all glad you both got your heads out of your asses and followed your hearts. You belong together.”
I scoffed.
Terri shook her head. “You can act like you’re not in love with him, Charlie, but you are. The sooner you accept it, the sooner you can both be there for each other. Jim said something happened between Tucker and his father a few days before his death. It’s what’s tearing Tucker up inside. Then the whole thing that happened between y’all has just added to it. He’s in a really bad place right now, and I know he needs you.”
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