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Once again, he showed no concern at all for right and wrong. Shifting costs around to artificially create losses on the Rossi’s side and gains on the Benson side bordered on immoral.
I turned to Dad. “This is a bad idea.” I watched for a sign of support. I didn’t get one.
Dad’s face remained impassive. “You two discuss it and bring me a resolution.”
My mouth dropped more than I should have allowed it to.
Dad wasn’t backing me here, and I had no idea why. Any idiot could see how unfair this was to the Rossi’s people.
“You said you had a second item,” Dad said.
Harold perked up. “If wearegoing to keep the company, we should start the planning right away for the integration with Smith’s.” He shot me a mechanical smile.
Somehow this had degenerated into something I wasn’t prepared for. I had no idea why Harold had planned to ambush me today.
“Good idea,” Dad replied.
“I haven’t decided that’s the way to go yet,” I stated. This was my baby to shepherd, not Harold’s.
“The synergies are too obvious to ignore,” Harold said, as if it were fact. “The economies of scale will help the bottom line without a doubt.”
Dad stood and picked up his coffee cup. “I’ll let you two sort that out.”
A few seconds later, Harold and I were alone in the conference room.
“Why didn’t you bring this up with me first?” I demanded.
“Don’t take that tone with me,” he shot back. “I sent you a memo on it last Friday.” The typical defense of the bureaucrat—he’d sent a memo.
“You should have called.”
He stood and gathered his papers. “In the memo, I asked you to call if you had any questions or concerns.”
“Rossi’s is my company to run, not yours,” I said as he approached the door. “I make the decisions.”
“Funny. I thought it was owned by Benson Corp. And I’m the CFO here.” He continued out the door without another word.
I headed for the garage to get back to the peace of the single-story Rossi’s building.
Chapter 32
Nicole
Sunday morning,Josh got me up early. Although I preferred to dawdle at home, there was no slowing him down. And “lunch by the beach” was all I’d gotten out of him.
After a few morning hours at the office for both of us, Saturday had turned into a lazy day at the house. I’d worked a little in the trees while he hung out on the back porch with his laptop.
Today was not going to be a repeat. “Let’s get a move on, Nickels,” had echoed in these rooms a half dozen times already.
“Will Echo be okay out back all day?” he asked.
“Yes, but you said we were going tolunch.”
He wrapped me up in a hug from behind. “I did, and we are, but it’s not very close, and I want to enjoy as much of the day with you as possible.”
I turned to putty in his arms. “Why don’t we just go to Santa Monica? It’s close.”
“Everybody goes there. I have somewhere more special in mind for a special lady.”
