AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You ready?” Hawthorn asks quietly from beside me.
“No,” I say with a shaky laugh.
“Take a deep breath,” he orders, and my body moves instinctually, pulling in air then exhaling it. Some of my pent-up tension leaves my body as I follow his command, just like he knew it would.
“I love you,” I whisper, turning to look at him, and as always, finding him watching me, his eyes full of promise and love.
“Good, because you’re mine,” he smiles, lifting my hand to his lips and pressing a kiss to my engagement ring.
Today’s the day of the shareholders meeting where the Rhodes Corp. board of directors expects to meet with the new majority shareholders. We asked for the news of my inheritance to be kept from public record for as long as possible, but if anyone wanted to find out who inherited my great-grandfather’s estate, they could easily find the information now that it’s all official.
We’re banking on anyone who has seen the records that show me as sole beneficiary to assume that it’s an old will. Hopefully no one will be expecting us when they walk into the hotel conference room where we’ve requested the meeting be held.
The advantage of being extremely rich is that normal people will not question your directives if you’re prepared to pay well for them to follow them. So I know that the doors won’t open until exactly noon. Which means I have precisely three minutes to get my game face on and to get ready to deal with a room full of businessmen who won’t be particularly happy to know that the company they work for is now owned by a group of teenagers.
“Does everyone remember the plan?” Gulliver asks, his voice calm and steady.
“Yes,” we all utter back.
We’ve planned the next hour down to the minute, and we all have our roles to play. We’ve got the room set out just as we want it, with tables positioned in a T shape, with us sitting on a slightly raised row of tables at the head of the room, and the rest of the seats set out around the tables below and in front of us.
The guys weren’t joking when they said their families have been grooming them to take over their business empires, because I swear, even though we’re all still in high school, they’re more capable of running a multi-million-dollar company than most seasoned fifty-year-olds.
According to Gulliver, everything about this meeting will be a powerplay tipped in our favor, culminating in the main event at the end. From the way the room is laid out to the way we plan to lead the meeting, we’re the ones in control.
Just like the other times we’ve been together, Izzy and I are sitting next to each other in the middle of the row, with Hawthorn beside me, Gulliver beside my sister, with Kip to Gulliver’s right and Davis to Hawthorn’s left. All of the guys are dressed to impress in beautiful business suits, while I’m in a fitted black pencil skirt and a black tailored jacket with a silvery blue cami beneath it, and Izzy’s in a deep red 1940s-style pencil dress that hugs her curves. If nothing else, we look the part.
“It’s time,” Kip says, barely restrained glee pouring from him.
Looking at my sister, I take in her warm, happy eyes and feel her calm spread to me. Gripping Hawthorn’s hand tightly below the desk where no one can see, I turn my gaze to the door and force my face into an expression of neutral disinterest.
As the ten men, including my grandfather and father, all file into the room, I swallow down the nerves that try to flood to the surface. One of the useful skills my mother taught me was how to use my game face, and I won’t allow anyone to see how intimidated I am.
“Good afternoon, gentlemen,” I say politely. “Thank you so much for joining us today. Please take a seat.”
The men all glance at one another in question, but when the first sits, the others follow suit, all except for my dad.
“What’s going on? What is the meaning of this?” he demands, his face red and angry.
“Barnaby, why don’t you take a seat?” Gulliver says, his voice calm, the threat in his tone impossible to ignore.
Reluctantly, my father lowers himself into the only empty seat, glaring contemptuously at us.
“Perhaps at this point, introductions may be a good idea,” I say. “I am Penelope Rhodes. This is my twin sister, Izabella Rhodes, then we have Gulliver Winslow, Kip Tudor, and to my left are Hawthorn Benedict and Davis Aldrich.”
“You still haven’t told us what you’re doing here,” Dad jeers. “This is a shareholders’ meeting, not a school project.”
A dry laugh comes from Gulliver as he smiles. “As I’m sure you’re all aware, a lot of Rhodes Corp. shares were sold recently following the change in beneficiary in the Rhodes Estate. That forty-nine percent was purchased by four different companies.”
“Kosto Incorporated,” Kip says, lifting his hand into the air and waving.
“Osveta Holdings,” Davis says.
“Karistus,” Hawthorn says, with a fuck you smirk.
“And Ceartais,” Gulliver says, lifting his hand in a condescending salute.
Unable to resist, I smirk as I hear the names of the shell companies we created. All of them mean revenge and justice in various different languages.
