Page 14 of Bonking the Billionaire

Pluck.

Perhaps instead of pulling nose hairs, suffering Sebastian was more like slowly prying off my fingernails. The pain wasn’t sharp and then over. It only grew worse with every passing word exchanged.

I checked the time on my phone to see how much longer I would be forced to endure this torture. Another agonizing hour and forty-seven minutes to go.

FOUR

OSCAR

I clenched my fists on the steering wheel and went through the motions: braking, hitting the gas, turning. The city flashed past, but I saw nothing. Frustration blurred everything together. No matter how little I wanted to care, my thoughts continually returned to that insufferable meeting in Father’s study. Six days had passed.

Time and attention were my greatest resources, far more valuable than money. I couldn’t afford to keep thinking about my brothers, but nonetheless, Sebastian’s smug face filled my head. He’d propped his feet on Father’s desk. He’d laughed, a hearty and robust sound. He’d stuffed his cheeks with cheese and called me a dog.

A spike of rage rushed through my veins, causing an involuntary growl to rumble low in my throat.

Walter Carrington had fathered three sons, each with a different woman. I was the oldest, and the only one whose mother Walter never married.

I was the feral stray—raised by a single mother who taught me that to survive was to fight, tooth and nail. Jasper was the golden retriever—loyal, amicable, and carefree. Sebastian was a different species altogether, a pretentious peacock—unashamed as he strutted about, flaunting his exorbitant privilege like a twisted badge of honor.

The steering wheel groaned, the cracked rubber warning me that my grip was too harsh.

I needed to get my head in the game. With a deep breath, I focused my attention on the buildings I passed—a wash of silvers, grays, and browns. Noting my location, I realized I was almost to the Lacuna building.

I parked three blocks from my destination on a residential street with no meters. I set my suit jacket and tie on the passenger seat to ease the severity of my look. I placed my phone in the glove box to prevent unwanted interruption, along with my wallet in case of any security frisking at the entrance.

I had yet to visit the facility in person, as everything I’d needed to start my analysis was in the portfolio of papers on my desk at home. Emotion complicated what needed to be professional analysis. To stem the hemorrhage of money seeping from the business, I would need to be ruthless. Relentless, if I meant to force what was left of Carrington Incorporated to grow.

There was no reason to alert leadership that I was coming and allow them time to hide their messes. A stealth ambush would prove far more fruitful.

I’d combed through the finances of Carrington Media several times since inheriting the branch a month ago.

I was the only Carrington son to dedicate my life to business. I’d achieved my Master’s degree in it, and used that degree to land a job with the country’s leading computer software developer. I’d clawed my way up through their ranks. Some part of me had needed to prove my worth to the father who never wanted me. Instead of giving me his approval in life, he chose in death to leave me the least successful of the conglomerate’s three branches. The worst inheritance to the least favorite son.

I chose to take Walter’s final slight as a challenge. Over the past weeks, after contacting experts and researching my options, I’d determined a plan forward, one that would take the media branch beyond the success my father had achieved. The first step was purging inefficiencies and financial bleeds in the current system.

Jasper and Sebastian may not have cared to keep what they’d been given, but I would. And I would run the company far more efficiently than our father ever had.

The first step involved inventorying and shuttering large sections of the Lacuna Television Network, the largest financial drain in the media division.

I shook away my thoughts and turned my attention to the streets of Epiphany.

I’d waited until after the start of business hours, yet the streets were still clogged with bumper-to-bumper traffic. Pedestrians swarmed like ants on the sidewalks. The morning sun hung heavy in the cloudless sky, scorching all who dared to venture outdoors. The heat and the stink of exhaust, dirt, and metal were tempered by a wealth of shade trees.

A block from the building, I encountered a swirling line of strangely-dressed, overly-enthusiastic people. Some wore nothing but swimwear. Others appeared to be prepared for Halloween in elaborate costumes. I spotted a cardboard robot, a golden Abraham Lincoln, and a scantily-clad nun. Many of them talked to one another, while some danced in place.

Curious, I chose a person who was fully clothed and not otherwise engaged.

“Excuse me,” I said. “What’s this line for?”

The woman turned. She looked me up and down. “Auditions. You have to go to the back of the line.”

“Auditions for what?”

She looked at me like I’d lost my mind.“Stardom.”

She whipped back around and focused her attention in the direction of the Lacuna building.

I wasn’t sure if “Stardom” was intended as a synonym for fame, or if it was a program my company was considering producing. If it was a show, the title wasn’t in any of the ledgers that had come across my desk. There certainly were a plethora of gaps in the records though, so it was possible this was one of them.

---