Page 109 of Crimson Love

I’ll never forget the look on his face.

It’s vague, but distinct enough that I catch it. I might have missed it had I not been lasered in on him the moment the video conference goes live.

He sees me and his expression goes from smug to fuck me in a heartbeat.

Yeah, you’re spot on, little Lex. I’m alive, healthy, and vindictive as fuck.

Patrick starts things off.

“What can I say? The idea of this contract with Helix Dominion started when I was sick and wasn’t myself. When Allen Foster was removed for his transgressions, to put it mildly, I thought the idea of Stonebridge contracting with a company like Helix Dominion would die off. It’s no secret where I stand on the issue and how I will cast my vote today. To partner with a company so new, and quite frankly, little to no transparency, is not good. It’s not good for the company I started, its shareholders, or the future.” Patrick pulls in a deep breath before finishing. “This contract has been discussed and cussed for far too long. Unless anyone has anything to add before we get to the vote, I say let’s move forward.”

Lex Warner stands and leans forward to place his hands flat on the table. “I have something to say. The board didn’t move to block your little girl when you put her on the board.”

Harlow sits up straight. “Did you just call me a little girl?”

A few of the board members stir in their seats, and Warner doesn’t apologize or look contrite. In fact, he doesn’t even acknowledge her and keeps talking as if he didn’t just offend her.

“As I was saying, you’re stacking the board with your children. Hell, who knows how many more you have out there. This is nepotism at its finest.”

Patrick’s tone cools even further. “You’re really pushing the boundaries, Lex. If you address my daughter by anything other than Ms. Madison from now until her wedding day, we will have an issue—or I should say another one. Don’t test me more than you already have.”

Warner pushes off the table to stand straight and smirks. “It’s a board member’s job to question and do what’s right for the company. This deal will catapult Stonebridge’s bottom line into new territory.”

“There are other clients,” Patrick argues. “There are other clients out there who need the advances we’ve made in intelligence, and those clients do not skate the edge of right and wrong. If that’s not important to you, you need to check yourself.”

Lex spears a glare around the room before settling it on me. His ire and hatred emanates from coast to coast through the screen. He pushes off the table to stand straight and crosses his arms. “I see we’re not on the same page with the facts. I can go back to the table and buy us a few more days to get the information you need to make you feel more comfortable with Helix. I propose we delay the vote.”

I don’t budge from where I’m reclined in my conference chair. I’m in another suit—the only other one I own. If I’m really diving into corporate life, I need to up my wardrobe game.

It’s time I insert myself. “That’s quite a turn of events from the other day.”

Lex’s stare on me intensifies. “That was before. It seems some on the board need additional education on the topic—yourself included.”

“Are you sure that’s it?” I sit up and lean my forearms on the table. Fuck, how I wish we were in the same room so I could feed off his anxious energy. “Or is it that you failed your most recent attempt at claiming a majority of the votes?”

A woman sitting to his right frowns at Lex. “Attempt? No one approached me, and I do not plan to vote with you.”

“There was no attempted anything,” Lex bites. “If I have a chance to save this contract, I will. If that means delaying the vote to make sure all parties are satisfied, then so be it.”

I shake my head. “You don’t have the support to delay the decision. I can say with certainty that you weren’t expecting every party to show up today and the vote would go your way. That’s not going to happen. Besides shutting this contract down for good, there’s only one thing that will make me satisfied with the situation.”

“That’s awfully ballsy of you.” A man flanking Warner at the conference table points at me as he speaks. “You’re new, you have no experience in the industry, let alone in business. You have no place making demands, Cross.”

Patrick puts a hand up. “I’d be careful who you’re aligning yourself with.”

“I move we vote,” Harlow says, speeding this along. I’ve learned my sister hates the board more than anything. “This has been on the calendar long enough to gather all the information we need to decide. Nothing has changed other than the fact Lex Warner’s day isn’t going to end the way he planned.”

“You have a lot of nerve, girl—” Lex starts.

I interrupt. “And you said I was ballsy. Patrick warned you once. If I were in the same state as you, you wouldn’t be standing right now. Don’t even glance in Harlow’s direction again. I don’t know how you’ve lasted this long on the board being so misogynistic. That ends today.”

Lex’s complexion reddens with anger. “How many agree to postpone?”

Three hands.

I smile. “You lost a vote. Looks like your supporters are dwindling. I’d bet after today, you’ll lose the rest. And if you don’t, then we need to reassess the representation of Stonebridge.”

A vein bulges at his temple to a point it’s visible over the live feed. He turns to the man who changed his vote and verbally attacks him.