Page 30 of Exposed

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“You kids trying to have a meeting without us?” Alex asked as he entered, bright eyed with the confidence of a man who’d spent years honing his upper hand.

“They grow up so darn fast,” his companion said. Seaver jumped to his feet. “Mr. Donovan, what are you doing here.” Madison recognized the name. Marcus Donovan was the hard-charging CEO of E/C, Frank Seaver’s boss, and notoriously, Alex Drake’s biggest competitor. “Now the meeting can begin,” he insisted, as he and Alex entered together.

They made their way to the conference table, but Marcus Donovan went out of his way to walk over to Madison, who stood ready to relinquish her seat to either of the high-powered CEOs. He shook her hand, firmly nudging her back to her seat. She realized as she began sitting that he was slipping something into her palm. “It’s good to see you again, Ms. Taylor.” Madison’s loosely contained reaction was pure irritation ... at herself. She couldn’t believe her lack of recall for meeting CEOs in Manhattan. Really?Another one? As the gentlemen took their seats, she looked down to see what he’d given her. To her bewilderment, her slightly opened hand held a shiny new penny. Astonished and confused, she sunk back into her chair.

Donovan eyed Seaver. “Are we resorting to strong-arming analysts to force a competitive edge? It’s not exactly what we’re known for.” From his blazer pocket he retrieved a pair of glasses, slid them on, then scooped up the documents on the table. He held them up just over his face so only Madison could see. He winked at her through the glasses, then handed the documents to Alex. With his glasses on, she realized who he was, and she tried not to noticeably gasp as the recognition jolted her. Add a shaggy beard and lumberjack apparel, it was Jess’s husband Mark, whom she had mistaken for “Mr. Bishop.”

Alex reviewed the documents, admiring his work. “This little baby is well-written, concise, and fairly generous of me. But if you were thinking of using it, there’s just one little issue. You see, despite the arts-and-crafts way it’s been taped back together, it was obviously torn up, crumpled, and discarded. Meaning that the owner at the time, Ms. Madison Taylor, didn’t seem to want it.”

Mark grabbed the baton. “Seaver, you’re slipping. You’re an attorney. To be a binding contract, there are seven elements that must be met. The first is offer. The second is?”

Seaver looked uncomfortably frazzled. “Acceptance,” he muttered.

Mark rejoiced. “Yes, Seaver, acceptance. I knew you’d get there if we laid enough breadcrumbs. And a contract which was torn up, crumpled, and discarded seems proof positive that there was no actual acceptance. But let’s just verify that, shall we? Ms. Taylor, do you accept the terms of this contract?” They all looked back at Madison.

She sat up, fisting the penny a little harder while darting a look right at Seaver. “No, I don’t.”

Mark glared back at Seaver. “There. No acceptance. The contract is not binding. Ms. Taylor is not the owner of any of the shares of D.G.I.” He looked over to Alex, puzzled. “But you know what’s really concerning me over this, Mr. Drake? It’s odd that Seaver, my right-hand VP, wouldn’t tell me, the CEO of E/C, what he was up to. Doesn’t that seem odd?”

Alex just smirked. “Indeed, it does, Mr. Donovan.”

Mark continued. “I’m guessing it’s because at the end of the day, this really wasn’t about D.G.I. Well, it was a little about D.G.I. But it was really about E/C. The hostile takeover of your company was just the beginning of an elaborate ploy, and not to give E/C the proxy vote, but to give Seaver, specifically, the proxy. So why stop at the proxy for this, since once attained, it would be prime hunting season for Seaver? The corporate vulnerability of D.G.I. would secure a merger between D.G.I. and E/C, and all with Seaver in charge.” Mark shot Seaver a death glare, causing him to cower in his seat. Mark had seen right through him.

Alex chimed in. “And no doubt with a less-than-generous golden parachute payoff not just for me, but for my old pal Mark here.” He patted Mark on the shoulder.

Seaver jumped to his feet. “Mr. Donovan, this is a complete misunderstanding. You can’t possibly doubt my loyalty to you.”

A deadly smile ticked up the corner of Mark’s lips. “Seaver, if there’s one thing I know, it’s that the only loyalty you harbor is to yourself. Lucky for me, you’ve violated several terms of your employment, including misrepresenting the interests of E/C and myself. So, with that, you no longer represent E/C at all.”

Seaver huffed, “You can’t fire me. I’m on the Board of Directors.”

Alex grinned. “Well, I’m sure they’d love to see how you really operate.” He pointed to the corner of the ceiling, where a camera stared down at them. “Smile, you’re on candid camera. In fact, if anything is leaked to smear any of us, or anyone in Ms. Taylor’s family, that little footage is going be the viral video of the century.”

Mark pulled out a tri-folded paper from his interior pocket, handing it to Seaver. “Now, I’m gonna make this easy for you. Sign this resignation, and your ass won’t end up in jail.”

The blood drained from Seaver’s face as he reached for the pen. He knew firsthand that Marcus Donovan rarely made a threat, and never made one he failed to execute. He steadied his hand to quickly sign, then raced out of the room without a word.

Alex and Mark snickered as they watched him leave, then turned their attention to Madison. “You okay?” Alex asked.

“I-I think so,” she said, and turned to Mark. “So, you’re Marcus Donovan, CEO of Excelsior/Centurion. The biggest rival of D.G.I., yet you two are best friends?”

Mark answered. “Well, yes. And yes. Alex and I built our companies, and our friendships, around the same time. We both knew that to get an edge and keep it, we needed to stay sharp. We couldn’t do that by coddling each other. We needed to compete. Hard. We kept our friendship low-key, but always championed each other behind the scenes.”

Alex interjected. “It’s the same with martial arts. I can’t get better if people let me win. I have to keep pushing, and learning, and growing. Otherwise, I’ll stagnate. Our fierce global competitiveness keeps us on our toes, and ensures our respective companies are always poised for success.”

As Madison listened, it was easy to see why they were close, and how they made all of it work without anyone knowing. What wasn’t easy to see was how they got there. “I seriously hauled butt to get here and change my clothes in time for this meeting. How did the two of you get here so quickly?”

Mark leaned across to her. “It’s a piece of cake when I’m the custodian of Alex’s sexy new baby, which cruises at over 280 kilometers per hour.” Her furrowed brow loosened, but the wheels in her head were still cranking.

“And the cameras? I was in this room a few days ago. There were never cameras in this conference room before. How did that happen?”

Alex beamed. “Gina called earlier confirming the meeting with Seaver. I had her get a small crew to install the equipment this morning. Life’s good when you own a company that specializes in surveillance.” Alex took Madison’s closed hand. “You sure you’re okay?”

She felt the clasped penny and looked at the two of them tenderly as they eagerly awaited her response. She let out a breath. “I am now.”

Alex walked over to her and pulled her up from the chair in a warm embrace. “And for the record, the terms of the contract never were satisfied. I’m sorry, Ms. Taylor, but under the circumstances you could never get all my assets. The most I could possibly give you is ... well ... half.”

Madison’s eyes popped, but Alex devilishly muted her as he stole a soft, warm kiss.

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