Bailey, Debbie - Stephanie's Homecoming [Men of Kinsey 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (5 page)

“So this is the Shayne you were talking about, angel eyes?” Kane said, coming forward, his hand extended to Shayne.

Sighing in relief that this giant of a man didn’t look like he was about to remove his head from his body, Shayne returned the shake with gusto.

“Oh for God’s sake, Kane, couldn’t you have waited to flex your muscles for a more appropriate time and place?” Stephanie snapped at him.

“If I understand the story I heard, Steph, you used me as a
buffer
, shall we say, between you and these two, so I don’t blame them at all for wanting to see what sort of man will be spending time with their woman.” Shayne turned and smiled at her.

“Who the fuck do you work for, Shayne, me or them?” she asked.

“Why, I work for you, Steph, but remember, I’m your
balance
.
I’m to keep you from doing stupid things, remember?”

The little shit was quick all right.

Joe stood not far from them, just laughing his ass off.

“Now that we know you’re in very capable hands, we’ll be on our way,” Turk said as he gently kissed her on the cheek.

“I’ll see you tomorrow after work, baby. Joe will give you directions to the house. It’s real easy to find.” Kane kissed her gently on the lips, and then he and Turk left the room, leaving her mouth agape.

Turning to Shayne, Stephanie gave him her best evil villain smile and said, “You and I are having a long talk about boundaries, young man.”

* * * *

The meeting started as soon as Joe was sure that everyone was there and seated.

“I’m glad that everyone is here today, because I have an announcement. As of the end of this week, I will be retiring. I’ve sold the paper to someone who is more than capable of running it just as well if not better than I did.”

From the back of the room, some dumbass actually had the nerve to say, “Maybe we can talk the new owner into giving those of us who actually have some writing skills more space in the paper.”

Joe looked really angry when he said, “You all know that you have to earn your spot on the front page. Bringing me some piece of fluff isn’t going to cut it, no matter how well it is written. Maybe the new owner will feel differently.”

“I hope you didn’t sell out to some idiot who doesn’t know the first thing about running a newspaper,” piped up another smart-mouthed, young jackass.

Shayne started to stand but was beaten to the punch by a young woman in the front.

“You all are a bunch of assholes, pardon my language. Joe’s just told you he’s sold his business and is retiring, and all you can think about is what you can get from it. How pathetic are you? Andy, when no one else would hire you after college because your grades, well let’s just say,
sucked
,
who
gave you a chance to show that you could really write a good story? And you,
Francis
—oh I’m sorry, Frank—all you want to write about is whatever cause of the day you seem to find. You write this piece of fluff, get yourself invited to some fancy party or two, and then move on to the next fad. I’d say you’re damn lucky to even have a job.”

Stephanie leaned forward and whispered to Shayne, “Who is that young woman with the courage of a lion?” She smiled as she continued to listen to her.

“That’s one of your resident crime reporters. Her name is Tabitha—get this—Aphrodite. Yup, that’s her real name, Tabitha Aphrodite,” Shayne told her.

“I want to see her in my office right after the meeting, arrange it.”

Tabitha continued to call out several more of the men and women whom she felt were disrespectful toward Joe.

You go, girl…
Joe walked back to the front, saying, “It’s all right, Tabby, and it’s not me they have to deal with anymore.” He smiled at a couple of the assholes who had said some shitty things about him.

“Well, what moron did you con into buying this piece-of-shit paper anyway, Joe?” Francis stood and laughed along with a couple of others.

While normally she would have stood to say something right away, she looked over at Shayne and saw him furiously writing notes and looking more and more pissed off with each word. Joe had been right on the money with this kid. He would be one of this paper’s best assets.

“Oh, I think you all know her, at least through her reputation in the newspaper business. I’d like you all to meet your new editor in chief and owner of the
Kinsey Pictorial,
Miss Stephanie Morrison.

Shocked gasps went up around the room, along with a smattering of real applause.

“Well, now this paper has a real editor,” the fluff writer in the back said.

Standing up, Stephanie moved to the front of the room to stand beside her uncle. She looked to Joe for one last nod to go, and when she got it, she knew it was now her show.

“First off, let me say that I am so grateful to Joe to allow me to buy my hometown paper from him. I’ve been a part owner for five years but wasn’t able to get home until now, and when Joe said he wanted to retire and take his goddess of a wife on a world cruise, I jumped at the chance. Now down to business…”

“Finally, someone who really knows what they’re doing,” said the moron in the back.

Calmly, Stephanie went and sat on the edge of the table in the front of the room.

“Francis…is it?” she asked, indicating the man in the back to stand.

“Actually, my friends call me Frank,” he said with a big smile.

“Well okay then,
Francis
. Let’s get a few things straight between you and me right from the start. Disrespect from anyone in this room toward anyone one else is a punishable offense in my book. And you, Francis, not only disrespected
my
mentor but also the man who I have considered my uncle since I was a child, as well as the way he runs his business. You also disrespected Tabitha while she was speaking, and you have disrespected me by interrupting me while I was addressing the group. That, Francis, will cost you dearly. You’re to pack your office up and move all your stuff to the office in the basement until I decide whether or not you’ll be given a chance to redeem yourself, or whether I’ll just fire your fucking ass instead.”

A number of the men in the back all stood and started to come to his defense until Stephanie got up and started walking toward them slowly.

“Here’s the thing, gentlemen and ladies, oh, I’m well aware of the bitchy-ass biting that’s been going on around here.” Stopping about halfway between Joe and Francis, she turned around and headed back again.

“I will meet with each and every one of you, first, individually, and then as a department, to assess things for myself, and trust me, the only three people whose jobs are guaranteed right now are myself, Shayne, and Tabitha. Myself because of the obvious, Shayne because he is now my executive assistant, so if you want to see me, you better be nice to him. Anything you want or need in anything other than a story or a problem within a department, you speak with Shayne first. He’ll know where I am and what kind of mood I’m in at all times. Within a very short time, it will be like you’re hearing my voice when he tells you I’ve said something…okay, that was just a little too creepy.” She laughed, and so did a lot of the others in the room.

“Tabitha’s job is safe because out of everyone in this room, she’s the only one that showed outright loyalty to Joe and his wife Helen, who has worked alongside for all these years, and in my book, that’s a huge check mark in her favor, so until I have spoken to all of you, read over your contracts, because I will be renegotiating them with some of you, and that’s all for now. Shayne, send my first appointment up in about ten minutes.”

She and Joe left together, and once they were on the stairs and out of earshot, they both burst out laughing.

“Poor Francis, he always let his mouth get him into trouble.” Joe actually had tears in his eyes, he was laughing so hard.

“The bloody moron deserves to sweat for at least a month before I let him out of his dungeon.” Stephanie knew she probably wouldn’t leave him in the basement office that long, but she just wanted Joe to think she was a hard-ass.

When they finally pulled themselves together, they continued up the stairs and to their respective offices, as if both were still upset about the meeting.

She hadn’t realized that they’d spent so much time in the stairwell giggling like children, but she had only just gotten to her desk when Shayne came in with Tabitha behind him.

“I brought Tabby here for you to speak with, Steph. Is there any particular order you want people brought in after this?” he asked.

“I want to see Francis next, and then the two other idiots who were egging him on, and then after that I want all the female employees. We take the rest tomorrow. And thanks, Shayne, type up the notes you took, and e-mail them to me and Joe, please.”

* * * *

Tabitha Aphrodite sat down and waited for the ax to fall. She never should have stood up and embarrassed Joe in front of everyone. Miss Morrison had said that she still had a job, but maybe she just didn’t want to embarrass her in front of everyone.

“So, Tabby, is it all right if I call you that, or would you prefer Tabitha?” Steph wanted to make the young woman seated across the desk from her as comfortable with her as possible. For some reason, she had the look of a deer caught in the headlights of a semi, and Stephanie didn’t like that at all.

“Tabby’s fine, Miss Morrison,” she said quietly.

“Call me Stephanie, please. Every time I hear someone call me Miss Morrison, I expect to get a rap on the knuckles from my third-grade teacher.”

“Okay, Stephanie it is, then.” Tabby gave her a small smile.

“Now, from everything I’ve read from Joe, you, my dear, are an exceptional crime reporter, and I’m really curious as to know why you chose to cover that particular area. Usually it’s covered by a grizzled old man who can handle seeing blood and talking to the slime of the planet, not a tiny, young woman who looks afraid of her own shadow.”

Tabby’s eyes widened at her boss’s observation of her. No one other than Joe and Helen knew why she did what she did, and she wasn’t sure if she was ready to tell Steph yet.

“Didn’t Joe tell you why I do what I do, Steph?” she asked.

“Nope, he told me that you would tell me when you’re ready. If it’s not now, don’t worry about it. Once you get to know me, you’ll realize I’m pretty easy to talk to, and anything you tell me stays with me until the day I die.”

“Can you give me a few days to sort through everything before I come to you?” Tabby had such an adorable presence about her that it only served to make Steph want to delve into the psyche of this young woman. Obviously there was a very personal reason behind it, and Steph couldn’t wait to find out what it was.

“You take all the time you need, sweetie. Now let’s go over this piss-poor contract of yours. First, I’ll tell you that I love and respect Joe, but he paid his best reporters shit wages. I understand why, but now that I’m here, our advertising boys are going to have to earn their keep, that’s for sure. So what I think we need to do is, first off, I’m going to promote you to associate head of your department with a large salary increase. The only person you are to answer to is me, not your department head, just me. Until I can figure out your moronic department head, that’s the way it’s going to be, okay. Next, you’ve been working out of a cubicle in the pits, right, well, pack up your things and take Frank’s office. He won’t need it for quite some time, and you are going to need to be able to have some privacy, so it’s now yours.”

After a few more minutes and a lot of thank-yous from Tabby, Stephanie walked her to the door, gave her a hug, and told Shayne to send Francis in.

Francis Kyle came into her office with his tail between his legs. Sitting across the desk, she could see the sweat running down the side of his face and the shake of his hands as he held them out in apology.