Fucking cock-blocking brother. How had I let him get me into this?
I pinched the bridge of my nose. Oh no! I was picking up Jackson’s mannerisms now, too. No wonder that boy is always so stressed out; no one should work this many hours or start this early in the morning. I should still be at home in bed with my smokin’ hot wife.
Jackson and I worked together in the “family business.” Jackson filled the CEO position and managed the major acquisitions. For all intents and purposes, he ran the company. I was also on the board, which meant that I assisted in the major decisions, but my main day-to-day duty was serving as the primary Hayes representative to the press. My whole job was to be “likeable,” and I was damn good at it. Jackson intimidated people. I made sure that we still had a favorable image in the community.
I’d spent most of the day yesterday listening to reports from Jackson’s various employees regarding the productivity of companies we had recently purchased, current status of companies we were purchasing, and feasibility for companies that we might purchase in the future. I thought that my head was going to explode. I hadn’t made one real decision all day, and I was already exhausted.
It seemed that Jackson was making a better homeless person than I was making a CEO.
His brain must be going a million different directions all the time. No wonder he’d never managed to fit a woman into his life. His mental capacity had to be maxed out.
I jumped when my phone rang unexpectedly. Ben was supposed to call me every afternoon with an update, so just one glance at the caller ID was enough to scare the shit out of me. He was calling at 7:00 in the morning. That meant that something had happened to Jackson.
“Ben, what’s wrong? What happened?”
“Calm down, Jason. He’s okay.”
“Then why are you calling and giving me a heart attack?”
“Jackson got in a little fight last night in the shelter. He’s fine. He’s just got a split lip, and the guy managed to take off with his jacket. I punched the guy pretty hard in the head, but everyone lived to tell the tale. I don’t think Jackson’s onto me. Sean’s got him now.” Oh God. He was in a fight. I had to put a stop to this. It could have been so much worse.
It wasn’t worth the risk. What were we thinking?
“Ben, I want you to tell him to call it off.”
“Sean? I can’t tell Sean to leave him. We might lose him.”
“No. I mean I want to tell Jackson to stop it. This is too damn dangerous. Where is he?
I’m going to talk to him.”
“He’s fine. Don’t overreact. He’s tougher than I thought. He took that punch like a man.” I did not want to hear about my brother taking punches like a man. Whoever hit him had better pray that I never found out who they were or the smack to the head that he’d gotten from Ben would seem like child’s play.
“I want to know where he is, Ben,” I practically growled at him.
“I don’t know man. I left him with Sean. They were on the subway. They could be anywhere.
“Shit. Well, you can get a hold of Sean right? I am going into the office. I have to cover this stupid ass meeting, and then I am going to pick Jackson up. I’ll call you as soon as I am done, and I’ll expect you to know where he is.”
“Jason, really, he’s fine, but if that’s the way you want it, I’ll tell you where he is when you call back.”
“Thank you.” I closed the phone.
If it was any other meeting I would blow it off, but this was for the Nick Carver buyout that Jackson had been so freaked out over. Nick had called late yesterday and demanded an early meeting. I’d had very little prep time. If Jackson had known about it, he probably would have dropped the whole homeless charade and handled it himself. I didn’t know what Nick wanted, but I had a feeling that Jackson’s leaving and his sudden desire to talk to me were not mutually exclusive events. He wanted to capitalize on Jackson’s absence.
I didn’t have time to get Jackson and bring him to the meeting, and truthfully I didn’t trust the board to make the right decisions without us. Nick was a manipulative bastard, and I couldn’t leave him alone with my staff. There were just too many ways that he could cause trouble. His company might be a good investment, but Jackson was right to be leery of him.
When I arrived at the office, I was surprised to find the conference room empty. Had they moved the meeting and not told me? I couldn’t even complete the thought before Nick walked through the door.
“Mr. Hayes.” His voice was cold and businesslike as usual.
“Mr. Carver, you’ll have to forgive me. I am not sure where the rest of the board is at the present time...” He cut me off.
“I told them that this meeting was canceled,” he said. “I was hoping to speak to you alone.”
“You could have simply requested a private meeting, Mr. Carver, although I have nothing to say to you that I would not say in front of the board.”
“I received word that your brother was vacationing in Hawaii. Unfortunate timing, don’t you think? I am concerned that perhaps he isn’t as dedicated to your company as you may believe.”
I drew myself up to my full intimidating height. What exactly was he implying?
“Jackson’s dedication is not in question here. He is very loyal to this company, and I do not appreciate your suggestion to the contrary.”
“Really, Mr. Hayes? Are you aware that Jackson has tried, on multiple occasions, to convince your board not to buy my company?”
“Yes, I am.” He doesn’t like you, because you’re a sneaky rat bastard.
“Are you aware that he made me a second offer for my company?” I was not aware of that. Why would he do that? “Jackson came to me personally, at my office, and attempted to buy me out with his own personal assets. He wanted to beat you to the punch and keep the financial gain for himself.”
“Jackson would never do that.” This asshole was really starting to piss me off.
“Oh, I assure you he did—smart man really. Why should he settle for less than thirty percent when he can afford to buy me out himself and keep all of it?” The jerk had the nerve to smirk at me. “Makes me wonder what else he has stolen from this company right under your nose, Mr. Hayes.”
“My brother is an honest man,” I said, “and if that’s all that you came here for, you can leave now. We’re finished.”
“Surely, Mr. Hayes, you don’t believe that I would make these kinds of accusations without proof.” He produced a manila envelope. “I believe you’ll want to make some adjustments after you’ve reviewed this. I’ll be expecting your call.” With that, he turned and walked out of my conference room, leaving me alone with his mysterious envelope. I simply stared at it for a while, unsure of what to do. Part of me was curious, of course, but most of me knew it was bullshit. Jackson would never go behind my back on something like this. I was not dumb enough to take Nick Carver’s word for it. I was sure that the envelope contained forged documents. He probably got a hold of Jackson’s signature and thought that a couple of signed, photocopied documents would be enough to set me against my own brother.
I opened the envelope and dumped the contents onto the table. It did in fact contain documents, like I had expected. I was about the throw the whole thing in the trash when I noticed a silver disc in the pile. An audio CD? Really?
My own morbid curiosity got the better of me. I carried it to my office and pushed the disc into my computer. Jackson’s voice filled my ears. Oh God. He taped the conversation. I was listening to Jackson’s sales pitch as he tried to buy the company behind my back. “Personal assets… without involving Hayes Industries…”
I couldn’t listen any more. How could this be true? My own brother.
I flipped open my phone.
“Ben, where the hell is he?”
Chapter 8: Thicker than Water
Jackson
I felt like my head was in a fog that I just couldn’t shake. I really wanted to focus on getting my social se
curity card, but my every thought involved Alissa. I just couldn’t get that woman out of my mind: the way she smelled, the way she smiled, the way she wouldn’t take any shit from her employees. God, I was pathetic. I felt like I could just float around this city all day and be happy. She was incredible.
Out of nowhere, strong arms grabbed me by the front of my shirt. My back was slammed up against a brick wall. The air rushed from my lungs. My head snapped up to face my attacker.
“Jason! What the fuck?!” I screamed, my heart rate lowering when I saw it was just my brother. “You scared the shit out of me.”
Where was the playful smile that I was expecting? He wasn’t letting go of my shirt.
“What’s wrong?”
“How could you?” he growled at me.
“How could I what?” I asked. My mind was reeling. Did this have something to do with Alissa? All I’d done was hang out with her all morning. What could possibly make him this angry?
“Don’t play dumb with me, Jackson. How could you go behind my back and try to buy the Carver Company yourself? All that bullshit about not trusting Nick, while it was you who was being a deceptive little shit?”
“Did he tell you that? You believe that I would lie to you for financial gain? Have you lost your fucking mind? Put me down, you gorilla, and we’ll talk about this.” His hands didn’t loosen on my shirt. God, he was really pissed.
Fucking Nick. I hated that bastard. This had probably been his idea all along, to drive a wedge between brothers so that our company would fail.
“No, he didn’t tell me that. He gave me a goddamn recording of the conversation. I have your fucking voice on tape, telling him that you want to buy his company without involving our business. That’s fucking evidence, Jackson.”
Shit. Nick had recorded our conversation and was trying to make it look like I wanted to keep the profits for myself. “Fuck man, I swear to God I can explain, but you’re seriously hurting me. Get a hold of yourself.”
“Tell me,” he said, pushing me further into the wall. “Tell me how the fuck he got that recording.”
“Jason, you know I don’t want to buy that company. I have always thought this was a bad deal. I don’t care how many times the reports come back clean, Nick is a lying, deceitful sack of shit, and there is something crooked in that business. I just haven’t found it yet. I went to his office and offered to buy him out personally because I don’t want his company to be a liability to our company.”
He still had me in a death grip, but I could see that my words were starting to sink in.
“You and the rest of the board wouldn’t listen to me when I said that this whole thing was a bad idea. You know that my vote alone can’t override a majority decision. So I offered him more money, my personal assets, because I wanted to protect the company that you and I have worked so damn hard to build together. If I owned it personally, and it went bad, I would have simply buried it and taken the financial loss myself. If I was wrong, and the company was a success, I could have merged it into our joint business any time. I would never fucking steal from you, Jason. Never.
I’m telling you, that man is a crook. He wouldn’t accept my offer, which makes me even more suspicious of him. He should have sold the business to the highest bidder, but he didn’t, which means that he wants Hayes Enterprises specifically to buy him out. He has to have a reason for that, and now, from what you’ve told me, I’m guessing that driving a wedge between us is a big part of that plan.”
Jason’s eyes widened, and he took a step back. It was like something had finally clicked in his brain, and he was processing the fact that he had his brother pinned against a brick wall in an alley. His hands relaxed.
“Oh God, Jackson. I’m sorry; are you okay?” He was in some odd emotional state between rage and horror, and if I wasn’t terrified, it might have been funny. I would not ever want to be on Jason’s bad side.
I nodded that I was. I bent over with my hands on my knees trying to return my breathing to a normal speed. “Fuck man. I thought you were going to kill me.” A nervous laugh escaped my lips. “All that over a business transaction? Remind me never to screw you over. Seriously.” I could see that he was returning to his usual senses.
“You’re that sure that this is a bad idea?” he asked. “You really would have bought him out just so that you could take the risk on yourself?”
“Yes, Jason,” I said. “I’m sorry I didn’t discuss it further with you before I went to him, but you were backing the board’s decision, and I thought you had your mind made up. I was pretty sure that he wouldn’t sell to me anyway, and I didn’t want to drag you any further into this mess.”
“Well shit,” he said, finally laughing like the brother I was used to. “Next time just come tell me that we’re not fucking buying the business, and I’ll vote with you. If you really feel that strongly about it, I won’t go against you. You’re not usually wrong, and even if you are, I’d rather be wrong with you than right with a man like Nick Carver. I knew you didn’t like him, but I had no idea you were that serious about it.”
“He’s up to no good, Jason. I can’t prove it, but I know it in my very bones. We should not be buying that company.”
“Fine man, we’ll go call a meeting with the board right now. I’ll change my vote, and we’ll cancel the deal.” He looked at me then and laughed. “Well, maybe we should get you back in a suit first, and you need to shave. You’re scruffy as shit, brother. How’s the jaw feel? Ben said you got hit pretty hard.”
My head snapped up. “Who’s Ben?”
Jason
Fuck. I was doing a lot of screwing up today. Jackson had just told me that he was trying to protect my stupid ass from financial ruin and then I went and blurted out that I’d been trying to protect his stupid ass from physical ruin. We were a matched pair weren’t we?
“Ben’s the bodyguard that I hired to protect you while you were doing this homeless thing,” I admitted. “He’s the one that jumped on the guy in the shelter. He’s been following you around since Tuesday night.”
I was afraid he’d be pissed, but he was doubled over in laughter.
“I wondered why the fuck some homeless guy would jump in on my fight. You hired a bodyguard to watch me be homeless for a week? That shit is too funny.” He was gasping for breath and there were tears running down his cheeks. “And here I thought I was doing it all on my own. I was actually kind of proud of myself. I should have known I couldn’t do it.” He was getting his laughter under control, but there was a hint of disappointment in his eyes. He must have been taking this man versus world struggle more seriously than I thought.
“Speaking of which, we’re going to start eating three meals a day at this restaurant that I found. Well, two meals a day, because I don’t think she’s open for breakfast, but she should be because she makes the best French toast in the world.” Being homeless had clearly gone to his head. “What on earth are you rambling on about?” I asked, totally confused.
“Alissa,” he said, as if that explained everything. “She makes amazing French toast.”
Chapter 9: The New Plan
Jackson
Jason and I decided that we needed to sit and talk for a while. Obviously, we were going to have to come up with a new plan. We needed to call a board meeting, but I wanted to have the whole thing worked out ahead of time. If Jason and I both voted “no” to buying the Carver Company, then we would no longer have a majority and the negotiations would end immediately. Together, we controlled sixty percent of the vote. When we were in agreement, we could pretty much run the company however we wanted.
There were four other board members, Robert, Kayla, Nithin, and Kristin, who were also investors in the company. We could run the company without them, but we’d learned that it was better to have people on the board who had a vested interest in the business. It was also good to have a second opinion, or in this case four opinions. They brought diversity to the table, and we were stronger for i
t.
The Carver deal had come to us originally through Robert. He saw Nick as an up-and-coming powerhouse, so he’d monitored his businesses for the last three years or so. When he felt that Nick had acquired enough experience to be noteworthy, we’d assigned Kayla the task of beginning the official due diligence to decide whether to make the acquisition.
Jason and I settled into a coffee shop where we could speak uninterrupted and begin our planning. The way I saw it, we had two options. One, call a meeting immediately and stop the deal or two, pretend for a while that we were still going to move forward. If we did the latter, Jason could perhaps flush out Nick’s true motives. Either way, I felt a million times better now that I had Jason on my side. It meant a lot to me that he was willing to take my word for it.
“So, here’s what I was thinking,” Jason said. “We should hold off on making any official decisions for now. Let the board continue to think that you’re in Hawaii. I’ll call Nick, and you can listen in on speaker. I can pretend that I’m still mad at you, and hopefully, I can get him to tell me what he really wants. We can make a decision based on what he says.”
“I think that’s smart. I am worried about both Bob and Kayla. We know she’s always been pushy, but they were both really adamant about buying this company. It doesn’t sit well with me. I think it would be best if we kept all of this information between us for now.”
“Agreed. So what are we going to do about you?” He laughed.
“What about me?” I asked.
“Well, we’re going to have to hide you, since you’re supposed to be on vacation. What do you want to do for the rest of the week?”
The Billionaire Bum Page 5
