Page 53 of The Workaholic Down the Hall

“We're not interested in selling you the Brantley properties,” I said. “We want to sell you the entire company.”

Alex's expression underwent a series of changes in rapid succession from hope to disbelief to anger to wonder before he shut it all down, sat up straight in his seat and gave me the serious, grim expression of a man on a mission, the sort of man who could successfully and ruthlessly run a corporation. “Run that by me again,” he said.

“We want to sell you the company,” Jill said, dragging his attention her way. “We don't like you, but you're inarguably good at what you do.”

Alex turned back to me, studying us both, probably for signs that this was some sort of joke. But it wasn't a joke, Jill wasn't pulling his chain. “I'm going to need a hell of a lot more information,” he said. “And I'm going to need to talk to my own staff and…” He looked back and forth between us. “How much are you asking?”

Jill handed him a file folder I knew held information about our situation and our asking price. Alex looked it over and then looked up at Jill. “I want you,” he said.

Again, a pink flush rose from her neck up to her cheeks. “Excuse me?”

Alex grinned and leaned toward her. “I want you to work for me. My CFO is decent, but he's nowhere near as good as you. If I buy your company, I want you to come with it.”

Jill's back went ramrod straight and her eyes widened. We hadn't seen this coming. “I…We can discuss that possibility after you decide whether or not you want to buy the company.”

Alex's grin widened. “I don't think so, Ms. Reynolds. You're part of the deal or there's no deal.” He pushed his chair back and stood. “If you don't mind I'll take this with me and discuss it with my staff. Am I right to assume there are no competing potential buyers right now?”

“Not at this time,” I said. “But get back to us soon. We'll take the offer to other potential buyers if you delay or try to low ball us.”

He gave me a mock salute. “Don't worry,” he said. “I've got nothing to gain by pissing off my newest CFO.”

We watched him leave and I wished he wasn't so good at what he did so we could justify selling the company to anyone else. “Why do I feel like I've just handed you and the company over to Voldemort?”

Jill spun and grinned at me. “Really, Noah? A Harry Potter reference. I thought you didn't have time for movies or books.”

“I couldn't sleep last night. I watched a few movies.” I stood and walked around the desk to sit next to my sister. “You don't have to do it. We can find another buyer.”

The bleakness in her eyes made my chest hurt. “Can we? There's no one else who's got the capital or the know-how that Owings has. Our other option would be to sell to a huge conglomerate, a corporate chain that would take Dad's hotels and make them into carbon copies of every other hotel in their chain.”

“There's always another option. You shouldn't have to be miserable—”

“I don't understand why he's insisting I work for him,” she said. “What can he expect to get from me? Isn't our company enough for him?”

I studied my sister, surprised to see her own mask slip. She wore that mask even around me. There was a new vulnerability and self-doubt in her expression. “If he gives you any sign of wanting you for any other reason, you get out, no matter what it costs. But it's not a stretch that he wants you as his CFO. We know he fights to have the best of everything and you're the best.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, chewing on her thumbnail, a habit I'd thought she'd broken a decade ago. “He did hire Aubrey out from under us. Maybe this is personal.”

I clenched my teeth. I really hated that guy and I wished I could believe the worst of him, but…”Aubrey went to him, Jill. The guy's a dick, but he's fair and he was able to pay her better than we could.”

She nodded. “I'll make sure we have a contract in place that I only work six months for him. It won't be forever.”

She looked considerably more uncomfortable with this than I would have expected. So rarely did anything ruffle her feathers. “We can find another buyer. Maybe not someone as successful—”

“No,” she said, her mask slipping back into place. “There isn't anyone else. It will be fine. Alex is a professional and he wants the best for his company. I can handle it. I can handle him.”

“And, if you can't, you'll call me and I'll kick his ass.”

She smiled and nodded. “I know you will, Noah. Please, don't worry about me. We're making the right choice here.”

She and I went over some paperwork and were about to head to our separate offices, when Alex called. He wanted to arrange a meeting, with our lawyers and his lawyers and our two staffs, to settle things.

I was relieved that I'd no longer be CEO, that I'd be free to figure out what the hell I wanted for me, but I couldn't help feeling that I'd failed. I'd tried so hard for so long to make the family business the success my father had always dreamed it could be. I'd even convinced most of the family that it was successful, but in the end, I'd failed. I'd let my father down and now his company was going to become part of another company. Our name would be removed and my father's dream would die.

Jill and I went out and had some drinks, toasting to dad and reminiscing about the good times we'd had trying to save the business, the small successes. I went home to an empty condo, tipsy and exhausted. “I'm sorry, Dad,” I whispered to the ceiling.

He didn't answer and I could just imagine him railing at me. He'd always had a short fuse, but I believed, once he'd cooled off, he'd understand. I knew he'd be as excited about a granddaughter as Mom was, and I believed he'd forgive me.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

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