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Trying to stay focused, they’d ordered in and lunch had come and gone. It wasn’t easy when they both had jobs that required constant split second decisions that needed their attention.
Rowan pulled the clip from her hair and let it fall free. Since that very first day in his office, she’d never worn it down, and he couldn’t pull his eyes away.
“What?”
“Umm, nothing,” he answered, looking down at his laptop and trying desperately to figure out what he’d been working on. “What do you think about using the Drekler Fund as the flagship of the proposal?”
Rowan’s phone pinged, and his irritation returned. If it wasn’t someone at the conference room door, it was her phone. Or his. She glanced at it, frowning.
“Deal with that later,” he said. “Stay focused.”
“I’m sorry. What did you ask?”
“I asked what you thought about—” A tap at the door stopped him from going any further. “What?” he barked.
Sandra stuck her head in. “You have a phone call.”
“I told you to hold my calls.”
“I have been. This one is insisting that he’s not getting off the phone until he speaks to you.”
“Silverman?”
Sandra nodded.
“All right,” he said, giving in. “I’ll be there in a moment.”
After Sandra left, he apologized to Rowan, who still looked preoccupied, and went to his office and yanked the phone off the receiver. “What?”
“Don’t use that tone of voice with me, young man. You’d do well to remember that I can have you removed from your position as CEO.”
“No, you can’t. Not without cause, as noted in the agreement my father set when he retired.”
“In an at will state like California, there are ways around that. Besides, there’s always a cause to be found.”
Was that a threat? “This is a family business. You can’t oust me.”
“You are not invincible.”
Was everyone trying to piss him off today? While he’d be happy to continue this discussion and correct Silverman’s assumption that he would leave willingly, he didn’t have time. He reined in his impatience—barely. This morning, Scott Cybersecurity had set a press conference for Tuesday. That had to be about the retirement fund bids for their entire large corporation, from execs down to mailroom clerks. So Barrett Financial only had three more days to put this proposal together if they wanted to get in before that. Normally, they would need a month or longer, even with their basic outline. He did not have time to placate board members. “What do you want, Richard?”
“I want to know what’s happening with that proposal.”
“We’re working on it. Or would be if I didn’t have to stop every five minutes to answer phone calls.”
“You heard about the press conference?”
“I’m aware. What’s your point?”
“The Barrett Investment Group has had some setbacks lately. If this proposal doesn’t get picked up by Scott Cybersecurity, the board will have to consider its options.”
“Which are?” Gerard was fully aware of what the board could and couldn’t do. They had less power than they wanted, but more than he preferred, thanks to the agreement his father put in place before handing the company over to him and Emersyn. His way of keeping a tight rein on his children. It galled Gerard to no end.
“You know our bylaws as well as I do.”
Oh, he knew all right. He also knew that Silverman had his sights set on taking control of Barrett Investment Group. Since Gerard’s father had retired, Richard Silverman had taken off the gloves and thrown down the gauntlet at every turn. After Gerard’s and Emersyn’s combined shares, he was the next largest shareholder. If he got the board behind him, he’d have voting rights for more shares than Gerard had.
“Do you have a point to make? I would like to get back to work.”
