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“He built this company. He bled for it.”

To the detriment of his own family. That’s how Sam saw it, anyway.

“And that’s why he’s in a hospital right now,” Sam said. “Because people here are too afraid to say when something’s broken. Or because some people don’t notice until it’s too late.”

Sam stared at Henry and Rick, waiting for their reaction. They weren’t going to simply back down. Not today, and not tomorrow either. This small skirmish was only a battle, not the war.

Rick started pacing, scraping his fingers through his thinning dark hair.

“Unbelievable. The old man’s not even in the ground, and you’re already burying him. You always were jealous, weren’t you? He never trusted you with real responsibility, and now you think you can just change everything?”

Ah, the old “turn it around” defense. They’d attack Sam personally to try to shake him.

“Joel trusted results. If you had any, you’d know that,” Sam said, voice steady.

“You little prick,” Rick ground out, stopping two feet from the desk. “You know what? Maybe you got the title. But no one’s going to follow you. People around here respect tradition.”

Sam let the silence stretch, letting them wait for his response.

“They’ll respect competence. They’ll respect accomplishments.”

Henry, whose expression had gone from pinched to sallow green, shook his head over and over.

“I can’t work like this. These new policies are a disaster. And you’re making everyone nervous.”

No, I’m making you nervous. Joel isn’t here to cover for you anymore.

“Maybe you should go home then. Take a long weekend. Or longer. A few weeks or maybe a month. Leigh can have your out-of-office up in five minutes.”

Henry turned white at the prospect of time off. He probably didn’t want his department to run even better and more smoothly while he wasn’t there to mess it up.

“You’re making a mistake,” Rick sneered. “You don’t have the employees’ loyalty.”

“Loyalty?” Sam laughed at the word. “Since when has there been any loyalty at Winslow Financial, other than you two to my dad? Employees are only loyal to companies that treat and pay them well. That’s what they care about. They care about their bottom line, and making sure they have health insurance, vacation and sick time, and maybe a few other benefits, too. Treat them like actual human beings, not cogs in a wheel. That’s how loyalty works. It’s not predicated on fear, Rick. You might have been scared of my dad, but I’m not.”

“I was never scared of Joel,” Rick protested. “That’s not how he managed things.”

“That’s exactly how he managed things,” Sam said. “But it changes today. If you want to challenge that, go right ahead. But you’ll lose that fight. Until then, you’re free to do your job or find another one.”

Henry looked to Rick, then back to Sam, his chest rising and falling with every angry breath.

“You’re loving this, aren’t you? Bet you’re glad your dad’s out of the picture. Finally get to play king.”

Sam’s grip on the pen tightened, but he held onto his emotions. Control. Breathe. More control.

“I’m doing exactly what Joel would do,” he said quietly. “Take control. Get results.”

That seemed to take the wind out of their sails, although they didn’t look any less pissed off. Rick grabbed Henry’s jacket sleeve and pulled him toward the door.

“C’mon, Henry. We don’t have to listen to this shit.”

The door slammed shut behind them, leaving Sam where it had all begun…sitting behind the desk.

His hands were steady, but his heart pounded in the aftermath. No matter what Rick and Henry might think, Sam didn’t relish these skirmishes. He simply wanted to put his head down and get to work. He wasn’t going to be able to do that, though.

Rick and Henry weren’t done. They were off plotting Plan B, which Sam imagined would include recruiting other people high up in the company as allies.

They didn’t seem to get it. Sam wasn’t going to cave to pressure. Joel wouldn’t have, and Sam wouldn’t either.