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That night, like the entire week of nights that preceded it, was spent working late and then slinking home to crawl into my lonely bed trying to force my mind not to spin over what I might have done differently.
CHAPTER 23
Oliver
We called an emergency board meeting to discuss the potential sell-off, even though we’d met the previous week. Rob had suggested giving them a preview of the MLB opportunity, even though the deal wasn’t solid, hoping it would convince those planning to leave to wait. However, few members were forthcoming about what SonicCom was offering to tempt them to sell their shares.
“Is Cody stable at this point?” asked Annabeth Luce, one of the members I was most worried about. “I’m not interested in losing this investment. Without Adam at the helm?—”
“Adam has not been at the helm for years,” I interrupted, trying to keep my voice calm and stable. “I am CEO of this company, and have been since its inception. In the last three years, Adam’s role became something of a figurehead as he moved toward retirement. Though it wascertainly regrettable—for me most of all, Adam Cody’s death has little impact on the future of this company.”
“Regrettable?” Annabeth parroted, her eyes narrowing at me. Clearly she believed Adam’s son would use a different word to describe his death.
I stared her down and eventually she dropped her eyes.
“There is a major deal on the horizon. At this point, that deal is being worked out between the attorneys for both organizations, and we can’t offer details?—”
“Then what do we really have to encourage us to hold our shares?” another member asked. “This company has been losing value over the last six months. I’m sorry, Oliver. I had a great respect for your father, and for you, too, but this is business.”
“You have my word,” I said, standing.
Rob caught my eye and I nodded as he began to speak. “The negotiations should be complete by the end of April,” he said. “But when the media gets hold of this deal, the attention alone will boost the value of your shares, and I expect we’ll have interest from other investors.”
“Give me one month,” I said, angry that some of our original backers were suddenly ready to give up on something they’d once believed in, angry that this was my fault for letting things fall apart after Adam’s death. “If you still want to sell, I’ll have a list of investors who will be happy to buy your shares.”
“SonicCom will buy them now.”
“As you said, they aren’t worth what they were,” I pointed out. “If you’re that desperate to get out, you can doit in a month, and you’ll make more money in the transaction. If it’s all about the money for you, you’ve got an out.” I couldn’t help the anger that seeped around the edges of my words. None of these people were in this for the money when we started. The people around this table were Adam’s friends, his former coworkers. Now they seemed more like vultures, ready to pick at the remains he’d left behind. A hot shard of pride and loyalty for the man I’d called my father blazed in me. “Give Adam that much respect. One month. I think you’ll see that the company he and I built together is still here, and stronger than ever.”
There was grumbling around the table but no one made any more noise about selling. I needed the board to hold firm. If the company looked like it was about to be acquired, it could undo everything with MLB.
As the meeting came to a close, a few members came to shake my hand on their way out.
“Good to see you back,” said Burton Pax, one of Adam’s closest friends. “I know your father would be proud.”
I met his eyes, looking for any irony there. Did this man know I’d been adopted? The question was on my lips and I almost pulled him aside to ask him, but another man slapped a hand across my shoulder just then, forcing me to turn and thank him for coming, letting Burton disappear.
When the room was empty, save for Rob, Pamela, and me, I slumped into a chair and stared out the plate glass to the city that looked sharp and hard today in the afternoonglare.
“I think that went as well as could be expected,” Pamela said.
“I think we’re fucked,” said Rob.
I shook my head. “Adam did one thing right,” I told them, leaning forward, resting my forearms on the conference table. “He handpicked his investors. Those people were his friends and confidants. It’s not going to be an easy choice for them to leave.”
“Especially after you played the dead-dad card,” Rob murmured.
I shot him a look, but his quip didn’t hurt or piss me off the way I expected it to. Instead, a laugh actually escaped my lips. “Gotta use all the tools I’ve got, right?”
I worked late that night and hadn’t expected anyone else to be around, but Pamela was standing in the executive reception area in front of an open file drawer when I returned from an evening spent running errands, trying to get my mind off work and everything else. “Pamela, hi.”
“Oliver! I didn’t expect you back tonight.” She smiled and looked embarrassed, glancing at her feet. Her shoes were next to her desk, high-heeled sandals that I would have taken off at the first opportunity, too.
I shrugged. “I’m like a ninja, you never know where I’ll pop up.”
A wry smile lit her face and she said, “Yeah, you’re exactly like a ninja.” She shook her head. “That’s what my son says all the time, too. Neither of you seems to get that ninjas are quiet.”
I stepped closer, intrigued. “Is this him?” I lifted a picturefrom her desk of her with a grinning little boy. I’d passed it a hundred times and never really looked at it. I didn’t know why I’d thought Pamela was single.
