Power Play (7 page)

I always had to blink looking at him to remind myself that my father hadn’t risen from the grave to crap on the way I ran his company.

“Mother, you got any small items to get out of the way?” I said.

“If I had small items, I would not venture down to this steamy swamp to discuss them.”

My mother’s nose wrinkled as if we were floating down some bayou. Her silver hair sat coiffed and she wore a stern, lavender coat. It could double as evening wear at some political soiree.

No doubt she had one planned. Avoiding attending it would be the secondary goal of this meeting.

“Alright.” I chugged half the cup, sat and slid out folders to both of them. “That’s the company I plan to buy. See if the numbers suit you.”

Jesse flipped through his, growing the same wrinkle in his nose mother had. My mother didn’t even glance down.

“So how
are
things in North Dakota?” she asked. “Did you roll around in enough mud to understand the business?”

I clenched and unclenched my fists under the table. This already.

“Things are good. Our boys know their work. I’ve made a report to Stone Oil for various ground level improvements. It should improve efficiency a good amount.”

“And what words of wisdom did those charming men we have working the pipes share? It must have been such a delightful ride back home on commercial.”

“I learned a few useful things. They’re in the report. I’d get you a copy, but I didn’t want to trouble you.”

She gave me the gaze of an irritated tiger. My own blood was at a simmer, but I knew to keep my cool. Each of us held an equal stake in the business. According to my father's will, an acquisition the size of this solar company needed unanimous approval.

Well, at least until the day came where either me or Jesse got the majority.

My father might have hated me, but he’d still gritted his teeth and made me CEO. But he knew exactly what he was doing when he gave my mother control over a third of the company.

She didn't know a thing about the business. And yet, she still would determine which of us would end up in control - by picking who got her shares in her will.

Of course, she preferred Jesse. To her, I'd never behaved like a Stone: mingling with the lower levels, toying with the company’s traditional image, and – most of all – dating publicly out of Dallas high society.

That last one was the clincher. Sure, Jesse was always snapped coming out of clubs with a girl in each hand, but he’d never had the temerity to have a three year long run with a pharmacy student in undergrad. Or an engineer that had interned over at Oil division.

Perhaps it was personal. After all, it did mean rejecting the sort girl she had once been.

Either way, it didn’t bode well. My father might have given tradition and business equal weight, but all my mother cared about was the Stone name.

Jesse finally looked up from the papers.

“You want to build solar plants,” he said. “In the Middle East? The place with most of the world's cheap oil?”

“The Abu Dhabi government wants to build it,” I said. “I just want to buy the company selling them the project.”

“How exactly does that make us rich?” Jesse flipped back a couple pages and pointed at a number. “It’s a small project.”

“Oh good, so you did read. Flip a page over then. This is a pilot project. If it works out, the entire damn region might be lining up to buy. We’re talking billions and billions of dollars.”

“
If
it works, then it
might
take off? I think you’re underestimating the risk.”

Jesse shot me a steely blue gaze. Strange thing was, his eyes were the one part of him that didn’t reflect our father, so it let me relax. I had nothing I needed to prove to him.

My brother was the Chief Sales Officer. Mostly, he kept our richest clients happy. An honest account of his resume would be a list of the old guys he’d gotten laid and the average bottle service bill he footed every night at “business meetings.” Still, it left him with a web of allies. I couldn’t outmaneuver him if his support outnumbered mine.

The only choice I had was to grow the company hard while I was still in charge. Wealth might be a crass and distant topic of discussion in my mother’s social circles, but she'd notice if her rich friends started thinking of me as a visionary.

Jesse might sweet talk them, but I could buy their respect. My mother would never make Jesse CEO if her friends liked me where I was.

“It's a small fraction of our wealth,” I said. “We can take a hit.”

I leaned in and ran through the numbers for Jesse till his eyes glazed over. My mother didn’t even pretend to listen, just scowled at her phone instead.

“Alright fine,” Jesse said finally. “Let’s assume it works. Think about the bigger issues. It’ll undermine our oil division completely.”

“No it won't,” I said. “We're not cutting them off.”

“Yeah, but if we buy this company, it's sending message that oil isn't our only priority anymore. That will rub a lot of our partners the wrong way.”

“Well, it’s your job to make them feel we still care. Or get them drunk enough that they forget about this.”

Jesse sighed and flipped through the papers. He was reaching, I could tell, but he wasn't done.

“What were you even doing in North Dakota, then?” he asked. “Seems like it was a complete waste of time compared to this.”

My mother scoffed. “As if that wasn’t abundantly clear without all this mess.”

Kerry’s glorious body dawned clear in my mind, pale and silky even over the bare sheets. I could whittle away a lifetime wrapped with her and not consider it a waste. Any anger left my mind.

“You know me,” I said instead. “Can’t sit still. Always gotta find somewhere to roll around.”

Jesse flipped through the sheets, still frowning, still shaking his head. But he was close to folding. And his was the only opinion that mattered. My mother always backed his choices.

“Alright,” Jesse said. “You can start the talks if you want. I want you to do full diligence on site at the company. I’m not throwing in my support until I’m certain the numbers work out.”

“Done deal.” I held out a hand.

Jesse offered a firm grip back, but the doubt in his eyes only deepened. Apparently, this pissing contest wasn’t over.

“Actually,” he said. “Consult an outside firm on this. I want to make sure we’re not biased.”

I held in my laugh. He wanted someone more than Trey backing me up. As if it was my ego driving me and not my intelligence.

“No problem,” I said.

We turned to our mother. She took a moment to look up from her phone.

“What?” she said to Jesse. “You’re ok with this?”

“I’m ok with getting a closer look.”

She shrugged and went right back to her screen. “Then do whatever.”

“You approve the motion?” I said.

“I approve the damn motion. OK?”

“Yes, ma’am.” I popped out of my seat, clapped Jesse on the shoulder and went for the door.

“Deacon.” My mother’s voice rose.

Shit.

“Yes?” I said.

“I need you at the fundraiser this evening. There's going to be a candidate for governor there that we might support. He’s looking to meet the current CEO of Stone Holdings.”

Current CEO. My blood boiled.

“I really need to get started on the paperwork for this. It’ll be morning in a few hours in Abu Dhabi.”

“Then you should have plenty of time. I’m sure my friends won’t be wanting your charms for more than thirty minutes.”

Politicians - another group of useless people. Still, until I had control of this company, I’d have to be ok with a little irritant here and there.

“Fine. I’ll be counting the minutes though.”

My mother rapped the table. I knew exactly what was coming. “And after that, there is a rather lovely young woman who is keen on meeting you.”

“I’m not interested in dating at the moment. Give her to Jesse.”

“My plate’s full,” Jesse said.

Mother scowled at me. “She’s the daughter of Roland Tarly, the candidate for governor. It would be a major advantage to have a direct line to the governor, don’t you think? You’re always the one looking for ways to improve the business.”

It was a nice try, but she was thinking about our family name more than anything. “That’s not exactly the strategy I had in mind.”

Her eyes flashed. “I am asking you to talk to her for an evening. Somehow she has managed to avoid hearing about the filth on your fingers. There’s precious few left like that these days.”

“Listen, I'll come to your shindig, but it ends there. Thanks for the offer though.”

I strode out before another word could reach me.

The sky had turned hues of red by the time I reached my office, but my mood had settled. I’d gotten as much as I could expect. Of course, I’d done exhaustive analysis before presenting that deal, but doing it again on-site wouldn’t be a problem.

I clapped my hands and reached for the phone. Trey and I were going to get plastered before we hit that damn geriatric gala. No rules against that.

But first things first. Time to find an outside firm who could get Jesse off my ass.

I buzzed Demetri.

“Yes, sir?” he said.

“Get me a finance consulting firm,” I said. “I need an international team put together fast.”

“Which company?”

“I don’t care. The one with the hottest analysts.”

“Uh…which one is that?”

“Why do I pay you if you don’t know this sort of thing?”

He tapped furiously on his keyboard. I chuckled. The kid was so serious. I couldn’t fault him given who I was and who he was, but he should know my humor by now.

Besides, consultants weren't usually that hot. The only exception that came to mind...

The hairs rose on my arm.

“You know what?” I said. “Forget it.”

I knew just who I was going to show Jesse. And I knew just how to get face time with a sexy workaholic.

Boy did I love hitting two birds with a single stone.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Kerry

“I said hands in the air,” the man screamed at me. We stood in the middle of a concrete warehouse floor.

I didn't know this guy, but he was white, with dark hair and a leather jacket. His gun stared at me with its one wicked eye. It looked so real up close, pitch black and intimidating.

You could barely tell it was a prop for improv.

Good, it helped me stay in the moment. That’s what this was about - not dwelling on the past, not thinking, just reacting. The stress set me free.

Very slowly, I raised my arms. “I didn't see nothin’,” I said, my lips trembling on their own.

“Maybe, but you picked the wrong time to walk into this store.“ He stared at me, froth almost on his lips. “Now get on the ground.”

“Can I put my hands down first?”

Someone chuckled behind me, but the gunman glared at them. “Get down, hands up.”

“Now, son,” the fat store owner said to side of us. “That's physically impossible. She’s at least going to scrape her knees.”

“Scraped knees?” I said, looking panicked at the jean cutoffs I was wearing. “I'm a knee model!”

More laughs came from behind me. Weak, but warmer. I could do better.

“Knee model?” The gunman scratched his forehead with the barrel of his gun, earning his own laughs. “Who needs a knee model?”

“I'll tell you who,” I said, grasping for an idea. “Artists. I pose for all the best ones.”

“I've never seen any painting of a knee, and I rob a lot of art museums.” More laughs. “You look like you're lying, little girl. Just get down.”

Little girl? He wanted to turn me into some naïve young woman? Improv was supposed to let me try being different people, not go back in time.

“A lot of artists use my knee, man. You ever heard of a guy named Da Vinci?”

“Italian guy? Yeah, I think he painted my dad's house the other day.”

Big laughs. It wasn't even a joke, but the timing sold it. A sudden heat flooded my ears. I wanted a laugh like that.

“My knee was probably his inspiration,” I said. “Why don't we go to your dad's house and check?”

“Sure thing. Right after this guy gives me the money in the register.”

The fat guy's eyes shot wide, but he didn’t say anything.
I looked over the side of the small wooden stage. We had just a minute on the timer. An idea hit me.

“Wait,” I said, playing up my confusion. “You were just looking for money this whole time?”

Chuckles.

“You got that right.“

“Well why didn't you say so? I've got money in my pocket right here.”

“You're too young to have more than a dime.”

I struck the urge to roll my eyes. You were supposed to roll with what your partners suggested, but I was not going to keep being dismissed.