Page 22 of Frayed Bonds

She walks toward the table, reaches into the top of her dress and pulls out a few hundred euro notes, tossing them onto the table in front of Antonio. His eyes widen behind his thick, framed glasses for a second before returning to his usual apathetic stare. His hands tap the top of the table and my eyes zone in on the movement.

“I don't need your pity money.”

“Val, I did–” He starts to stand up.

“Enough.” My voice slices through the air, and he freezes mid-way. My eyes shift between the two of them.

“If that’s all Valerie, we’re in the middle of a meeting,” I say, and nod my head towards the security guards who are still standing at the door.

Her mouth falls open at my dismissal, but she doesn't fight them as they guide her to the door closing it after her.

Antonio grabs the notes off the table before sinking into his seat once again.

The room falls deadly quiet as the door shuts behind Valerie. Inhaling deeply, I try to recalibrate my brain and when I look up at Diego, he’s wearing the exact look I knew he would be.

“This is exactly what I'm talking about Ambrose,” he sighs.

“Between the headlines in the news and outbursts like this, it makes you and your brothers seem unfit to run the company. The announcement of a new CEO, especially a successor, is supposed to raise our stock price, not drop it. With your reputation, you're lucky if new investors want to touch us with a twenty-foot pole,” he adds.

My hands grip the edge of the oak table, knuckles turning a ghostly white as I try to contain the whirlwind of thoughts running through my head.

Diego Da Silva is Vitale Holdings’ second largest shareholder after my brothers and I. Although it's unlikely we will be bought out, we, or rather I, can be voted out.

The eleven men in front of me make up the board. Considering my brothers and I hold only four votes if the rest agree on something, we will run into some pretty big issues.

Loyalty in the business world is a crazy thing, people tend to shift their loyalty to wherever they can get the most money and right now, that’s not in my nor my brothers’ favour.

“Diego, I assure you, we’ve got this under control. We have plans to meet with new investors to secure a major deal in the entertainment industry. The share prices will rise with time.” I look up at him and his face is anything but pleased.

“Ambrose, I'm not worried about the investments, I have faith in all of you to fulfil your duties to the company. It’s the reputation of the company I'm concerned about. We can’t have scandal after scandal whenever your personal lives make the news, things have to either stay under wraps or be more stable,” he says and I nod.

“The only time I want to see the Vitale name in the media is when we secure new deals and attract investors.” He re-emphasizes his point.

“I understand, Diego. On behalf of my brothers and myself, we want to assure you all that Vitale Holdings is in the best possible hands.”

After a slight pause, a few nods and hums of approval, all the board members begin filing out for the evening, while my brothers all move to take a seat. I feel like a child who has been chastised by their parents for something they didn't even do.

I call over the blonde waitress who’s been working between our meeting and Valerie's table.

She nervously comes over, her eyes flashing with something wicked. Usually, she would be my perfect cup of tea, but right now my mind is tainted with a certain shade of pink and the scent of jasmine.

“A round of scotch for my brothers and I.”

She nods too eagerly and my eyes travel to her name tag. “Oh, and Erica, when a Vitale covers a bill and tells you not to mention who it’s from, we expect you to keep your mouth shut. You’re fired.”

Her jaw drops, eyes wide “B–But,” she stammers out.

“Just get the scotch.”

“Ambrose,” Augustus says, his hand stretched out as if to ask me what the fuck.

“If she can’t even fucking keep a payment a secret, how can she keep quiet about what happens in these meetings?”

He bites his tongue, withholding his response but not without a death glare in my direction.

I sink into my seat and silence fills the room. The tension is high with unspoken words, the weight of the meeting hanging over all of us.

Outrage floods through me that so many on the board agree with the idea that neither I nor my brothers are fit enough to run the company.

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