Page 104 of Rich and Bossy

I fall into step behind him.

He’s heading for the conference room.

“We have a problem.” He looks over his shoulder as we enter the conference room, right as he says it.

“No shit. That much is obvious. What is it?”

“Oh, you’re about to see.”

He’s right about that.

I see exactly what the problem is when we enter the conference room and I’m greeted by the sight of several board members. Included among them is Hank Landman, chairman of the board.

Ambush meetings are normally not a good sign.

There are others in the room I don’t recognize, a trio of suited men who look like they all forgot to take their shirt off the hanger before they put it on. They look smug, too—I can’t put my finger on exactly what gives me a weird feeling about them, but it’s a poker read. I just know.

I go to Hank first, extending a hand. “Good to see you. Didn’t know we had a meeting on the books. You want me to arrange a light breakfast or some drinks?”

He just stares at me, unblinking, barely gripping my hand when we shake.

“Hey, Pax.” Chuck Dodge, another board member, jumps in. “This won’t take long. We didn’t mean for this to be some kind of ambush. We understand we don’t run the company. You’ve done an outstanding job up to this point. We want to make sure you know that.”

Fucking bullshit pussy words from a man who never worked a day in his life. “Thanks, I think.” I’m still staring at Hank, who looks entirely undisturbed by any of my expressions.

He’s stone-faced, impossible to read.

“We do choose who manages the company though.”

I tear my gaze from Hank and turn to Chuck instead. “Let’s get to it, gentleman. You going to try to throw me out of the company I built?” To hell with playing these games. It might make my life easier if they did, though I don’t know it would make Hazel’s easier.

“It doesn’t have to get to that. It’s not our intention.” He backs up a step, like we’re still trying to be friends here. “Nobody wants to see that happen, son.”

Now, I really know how Hazel felt when I treated her like a child. These greedy fucks have no idea what it is to build something from the ground up, then they come in like vultures at the end and act so self-important and take over like they know what’s best. If they had nothing growing up, and got a job on my warehouse floor, they wouldn’t work their way up to shit. They’d just be poor their whole lives.

William Jones decides this is his time to pipe up while cleaning his glasses with a handkerchief. Little shitbag. He’s always been my least favorite board member, the youngest at fifty and the biggest kiss-ass I’ve ever met. “This union talk at the warehouse has been allowed to propagate all week. Why hasn’t it been shut down?”

“You’ve had the entire week.” Chuck nods along. “We have tried to stay out of it, wait for it to blow over, for you and John to do what needs done. Yet they are still dominating the news cycle. As far as the public is concerned, they’ve already won. I’ve seen barely any pushback from our leadership. There doesn’t even need to be a vote at this point, in the court of public opinion.”

“And if they’ve won, we’ve lost.” Hank places his palms against the table before rising from his chair. He’s a tall, imposing man, almost my size. I might end up looking a lot like him in another thirty years or so.

He’s also furious. Granted, he’s holding onto his fury, hiding the worst of it for the sake of those around us, but he’s good and pissed just the same.

“However.” He nods in the direction of the three strangers. “We are here to help, before more drastic measures become necessary.”

When John looks down and sees my hands balled into fists, he takes a step in front of me. “What does that entail?”

Hank gestures to the three guys. “This is a group of labor-management consultants we’ve contracted. They’re experts at dealing with these types of situations.”

I want to order these fucks out of my building. “Labor-management consultants?” Everyone in business knows consultants are a drain. They’re rarely useful.

No, they’re something else, and he’s covering up what they really are with a colorful title. They look an awful lot like union busters to me. I glance to John, but his expression is unreadable.

He must feel the weight of my stare, because he meets my gaze and reads it for what it is. The slight shake of his head tells me this had nothing to do with him.

“From here on out, the board expects you to follow the recommendations of these gentlemen to handle this precarious situation.” Hank uses his most passive-aggressive, fatherly tone. “They know what they’re doing. They’ll handle this. And we can all go back to being happy.”

This asshole. He and the other board members file out of the room, and it’s a good thing. I don’t know how much longer I can sit here and look at their smug faces.

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