AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She searched her memory for faces to match the names, but Perry was right. She didn’t normally handle Xander’s builds, but since her brother’s car accident, she was responsible for everything. Frankly, she’d already forgotten the names the receptionist had supplied. It only mattered neither of them was Kane.
Perry looked at her expectantly. Oh yeah, she’d asked a question. “No. I don’t know them, but every member of our team is important to me. Do we know if they’re going to recover?”
“I’m not sure, ma’am.”
She gripped the arms of her chair and forced herself up. “Are the members of the board here yet?”
“Yes. They arrived a few minutes early.”
Of course, they did. They thought they could intimidate her, put her on the defensive by forcing her to walk in the room last.
Amateurs.
If people could dick her around so easily, she wouldn’t deserve to run this company. Her irritation helped her find her center. Thrusting her shoulders back and lifting her chin in defiance, she walked into the conference room like she owned it.
Which she did.
“Gentlemen,” she crooned, and the six men seated around the mahogany table sprang to their feet like their chairs were electrified. “Please, keep your seats. All our time is valuable. Let’s get straight to it.” She picked up the iPad Perry had ready for her on the table and swiped it to life. The screen mirrored on the monitor mounted to the wall. The image showed a line graph in decline.
She jumped in briskly. “Obviously, we’ve seen some decline in the past quarter, but—”
“Somedecline?”
She didn’t have to turn her head to identify the voice of Tom Poole. The pompous prick never missed an opportunity to be a thorn in her side.
“Let’s call a spade a spade. We’re bleeding money out of our asses, sugar.”
The men at the table gave a collective chuckle, and she bit the inside of her cheek at his insincere endearment.
“Hardly. We’ve had a few setbacks, but nothing we can’t rebound from.” She swiped to the next slide. “In my opinion, we need to branch out. Go bigger. If you look at these projections—”
“Bigger?” This time it was Samuel Levine. “Darling, what we need to do is scale back. Cut the fat, as it were.”
“I disagree, and I would appreciate it if you hear me out.”
Samuel shot her a placating smile. “I appreciate your step-daddy started this company, Amanda, but I think it’s time you let the board do its job. We’ve been doing this a long time.”
That doesn’t make you any good at it.Gritting her teeth, she bit back the retort. “The board’s job is to advise me. Ultimately, I need to decide our best course of action.”
Tom stood. “What you mean is, the president of the company decides the best course of action. Maybe it’s time we elect ourselves a new president.”
She should’ve known.
“I suppose you’re willing to offer yourself up for the position.” Hard as she tried, she couldn’t keep the bite out of her tone.
“As a matter of fact, I am.” Shooting her an oily smile, he stroked the silk tie resting against his rotund stomach. “All those in favor?” Every man at the table raised his hand.
It was a coup. Or at least an attempt at one.
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Sorry, Tom. You don’t have the votes.”
“I beg your pardon?” he sputtered. “I have every vote in this room.”
“Too bad for you, they’re not enough. My brother and I have fifty-one percent controlling interest in this firm.”
His self-satisfied smile returned. “But Mike isn’t here.”
Leave it to this flock of fucking vultures to try and use her brother’s car accident to take control of their company. She should have never agreed to let outsiders invest in Cooper Construction in the first place. Thank God, she wasn’t the kind of woman who ever left things to chance.
