Page 10 of Her Dirty Rival
“Give me one reason Ishouldn’t.”
She squints at me, folding her arms as she does some type of assessment. “What doyouwant?”
I keep things simple to start. “Tell me about theposters.”
That predatory look from the other night is back on her face, along with a wry smile and a laugh she exaggerates while throwing her head back. Sheknows.
“It’s amazing the kind of facts one can discover in the tax filings of public companies,” Riley says, locking eyes with me again. “Especially when you have time, and you know what to look for. These types of revelations become even more obvious when the organizations trying to bury pertinent information get arrogant. You know arrogance, right Mr. Alexander? Of course, you do. The thing is, this level of overconfidence lends itself to carelessness, like failing to consider that one arm of Alexander Industries reported an entry on their liabilities, and that number happens to be exactly equal to the total sum of assets minus owner’s equity reported by two massive private energy companies. Do you know what that all means, Mr. Alexander? Let me spell it out for you. Try collusion, fraud, and conspiracy, to nameafew.”
There’s nothing Riley has just said that surprises me at all. I’m the one who pointed out the exact same findings months ago to Dustin, my father, the lawyers, and the corporate controller. They all told me the data is circumstantial at best. Only our public relations team sided with me, because they understand a company doesn’t have to be guilty to be raked through the coals in the public eye. And we are guilty in this case, so the circumstantial statement would only make us look worse. I’ve been fighting internally to bring them in line. Divesting the two energy companies is the only real solution, but the board hates letting go of a cash cow. Hence, thestalemate.
Riley’s discovery pretty much proves my point. If the media makes the connection because of her little protest, headswillroll.
Riley has actually done me asolid.
She finally reaches over to the breakfast tray and picks up a mini Danish. My guess is that she mistakenly believes she has the upper hand. Taking a breath, I give her a rude awakening just as she takes a sip of blackcoffee.
“Have you shared this withanyone?”
“Notyet.”
“Miss Riley, I have to ask. Do you realize what you did to undermine your cause by…spending time with me twonightsago?”
She takes her time to swallow the coffee in her mouth. “I’m notfollowing.”
“Let me paint you a picture. A young law student befriends a corporate executive who works for a publicly traded company. She receives some crucial information about the company’s operations. The next day, she intentionally passes on said information to the public, which has an immediate adverse effect on share prices in the public company. The authorities are soft on this law student, and no one understands why. That’s right up until the media begins to believe that the drop in share prices is only a temporary tactic for yet another organization to swoop in and end up with enough of the shares to become a voting member. Except there’s one tiny little issue. This second organization is owned by the corporate executive who provided the law student with the damaging information in the firstplace.”
A half-smile rises up my face, because although some parts of what I’m telling her is pure bullshit, I’m about to give her exactly what she has just given to me,verbatim.
“Doyouknow what that all means, Miss Hampton? Let me spell it out for you. Try collusion, fraud, and conspiracy, to name a few. Oh yes, and that bar exam said law student hopes to sit? Not gonnahappen.”
She coughs up a bit of coffee. Blood drains from her face and neck. She goes from red to ghostlywhite.
“What do you want?” she asksagain.
This time I can give her my terms. “It’s pretty simple, really. You and your associates will issue a public apology for your actions, and retract all spoken, written, and inferredallegations.”
“Will you drop the charges against myfriends?”
“Yes, both criminal and civil. You’ll get that in writing. But I’m notdoneyet.”
“Whatelse?”
“You will turn over all paper and electronic records pertaining to yourfindings.”
“Fine.” She finishes her coffee and gets to her feet. There’s some pain in her posture as she rises. “Are those all yourterms?”
“Yesandno.”
“Meaning?”
“Those terms relate to what you did to my father’s company yesterday. You also need to make amends for trying to play me twonightsago.”
“What exactly do you want metodo?”
I grin. My dick and I agree. Victory has never felt sothrilling.
