Alex Iwent to see my dad after work because he’d called twice before noon to complain that I’d gone MIA now that I was married. As if a wife was some kind of cloaking device. I should’ve known better than to assume it would just be the two of us, though. Douglas was hardly the needy dad type, who just checked in with us because it’d been a while since we’d last hung out. When I walked into the sitting room, I stopped short. “Well, if this doesn’t feel like an ambush, I’m not sure what would. Did you bring guns? Knives?” Sterling looked up from the armchair, one ankle crossed over his knee and a glass of bourbon in his hand. He grinned. “You wound me. We came all this way to surprise you and this is the welcome we get?” Jameson was sprawled out on the couch like he’d made the journey all the way from California on foot rather than a private jet. “I feel like we need a do-over. Do you want to walk back out, come in again, and then screech about how happy you are to see your cousins?” I laughed, but then Harlan spoke up. “Alexander.” He stood near the window with his hands clasped behind his back, his posture as military straight as always. “It’s good to see you again, son.” “Harlan,” I r eplied, nodding, then looked back at Sterling and pointedly widened my eyes. “You were supposed to tell me when you were landing.” He shrugged, slowly arching a brow as a smirk spread on his lips. “Where’s the fun in that? I like surprises.” “Surprises are how people lose money,” I said dryly. Jameson snorted. “Says the man who married into a hostile board situation.” My father cleared his throat from his chair and waved me into the room. “Sit down, Alex. It’s good to have all of us in the same room again for once, isn’t it? It’s been too long.” Although I still had the distinct feeling that this was an ambush, I sat, mostly because I wanted to hear what it was really about. We did the polite catch-up first, Sterling asking about the performance of the Westwood branch in Chicago while Jameson wanted to know why Jane hadn’t killed me yet. I asked about their kids and how San Francisco was surviving Sterling’s leadership.
It was normal. Easy. Honestly, I would’ve been thrilled to see my cousins if I’d known they were coming. We all got along well. Always had. These two and I, in particular, were close enough in age that they’d always been some of my best friends despite living in different states. Jameson and I even shared Trent as our closest friend who wasn’t related to us by blood. Usually when these guys came to town, we had a blast together, but they weren’t here to blow off some steam with their cousins this time. Their impromptu visit was about Thayer, and if they’d all felt the need to come, then I wouldn’t like what they wanted to discuss. It was a suspicion that was confirmed when Harlan shifted his weight and the temperature in the room suddenly changed. He glanced at me. “Talk to me about the Thayer board,” he said, finally addressing the el ephant in the room. I leaned back, my grip tightening on my drink. “What about it?” “I hear you’ve made yourself known,” Sterling said carefully. “They know what’s coming.” “They do,” I r eplied, my voice even but flat. “You already knew that, though. So why are you here?” “Well, in my case, I wanted to tell you in person that I’m in,” Harlan said. “If you need my vote, my influence, or my name attached to it, you’ve got it. I considered what you said during our last meeting and you have me in your corner.” I didn’t hesitate. “I know.” Sterling laughed. “Of course, you do. Cocky bastard.” Jameson finally sat up, his bourbon dangling between his fingertips as he leaned forward, eyes intent on mine. “For what it’s worth, I’m ready to help Colin however I can. If it’s agreed that he should remain in his position as CFO, I’ll make sure he has the backing and resources he needs.” “I appreciate that,” I said, a tiny thread of relief sliding through me. “He’s good. Better than the current board gives him credit for.” “No argument there,” Jameson said. “Finance game recognizes finance game.” I grimaced, trying to fight back laughter. “Now there’s a phrase that will never catch on.” Jamie winked. “That doesn’t make them any less true.” “As much as I hate to admit it, you’re not wrong,” I said, grinning until I turned to Sterling. “Which brings us to you. Your dad’s in and your CFO is keen. Where’s your head at?” Sterling swirled his drink, carefully considering his words. “I’m more cautious, as I should be. Our branch of Westwood and Sones doesn’t get to be aggressive just because you’re emotionally invested.”
I smiled, but there was no humor attached to it. “You say that like it’s a flaw.” “It’s a risk,” he countered calmly. “My job is to name those. You would do the same if you were in my position.” He wasn’t wrong either, but part of me still wanted to put a fist through his face for saying what he was. Thayer Steelworks was a damn fine investment, and if he wasn’t so worried about me, he would see that. Plus, I happened to know that he hadn’t exactly been thinking with his head when he’d saved his own wife’s little company a couple years ago. It was fucking rich that he was coming at me with this shit now, knowing what he’d done for her not so long ago. Yeah, but her company didn’t cost nearly as much, a logical voice reasoned softly from the back of my mind. I sighed, lifting my chin and clenching my fingers into fists in my lap, but I didn’t let them fly. Harlan turned to me again, his face a mask of that cool, collected calm that my family was known for in business. “Let me ask you something, Alex.” I met his gaze. “Go on.” “What happens if the board convenes to vote on the ouster of the current CEO, and Nora Thayer doesn’t vote in your favor to install her daughter in that position?” “That’s not even a remote possibility,” I said immediately, frowning as I wondered where this was even coming from. “Nora would definitely vote in Jane’s favor.” Harlan didn’t look convinced. At all. His head tilted and he studied me like I was a chessboard he’d been staring at for decades. “Are you certain about that?” “Yes,” I said, but then after a beat, I knew I couldn’t just leave this. Neither my dad, nor my uncle, nor my cousins just floated random possibilities when billion-dollar deals were at stake. What-ifs weren’t their style. Not unless it was relevant. “Why wouldn’t she?” “Because Nora stands to get a massive payday if Thayer sells out in its entirety,” Harlan said, his expression solemn. “We’re talking about a lot of money here, son.” My jaw tightened. “Is that confirmed?” Harlan nodded. “According to Zach’s research, yes. Nate has corroborated it. What interests me is that she hasn’t disclosed that little tidbit, has she?” “No,” I said. “Not as far as I know.” And I would’ve known. Jameson frowned, sitting up a little straighter now, as if he was only just joining the meeting for real. “The board wants a sale?”
“Eventually,” Harlan said. “All of you already know that they want to ke ep Thayer functioning just well enough to pad their own pockets while they look for a way to sell the company piece by piece. It leaves them with clean hands clutching big checks, the biggest of which will be in dearest Nora’s hands.” Sterling exhaled. “That could be a real problem.” My spine felt like someone had r eplaced it with a boiling hot broomstick. “Jane doesn’t know about this.” “Of course, she doesn’t,” Harlan said, blowing out a breath before taking another sip of his drink. He swallowed it slowly, real empathy in his eyes when he looked at me again. “They don’t want her knowing, Alex. Right now, she’s the obstacle.” “Understatement of the fucking year,” Jameson muttered. “She’s an actual, living brick wall blocking their plans.” Harlan inclined his chin at his son, but he spoke mostly to me, only glancing at the others every so often. “If the board votes her out and pushes for a sale, Nora’s vote becomes very valuable.” I shook my head once. “She won’t do it.” Harlan’s voice softened, which somehow made it worse. “You’re thinking like a husband, not a board member.” Sterling set his glass down. “Okay, so if this is a real issue, why don’t we just offer to buy out Thayer as is? That solves the problem cleanly.” I gave him a sharp look. “It would also permanently plummet Thayer’s production value and its standing in terms of future contracts.” Jameson nodded slowly. “Hostile buyouts poison the well, bro. You know that.” “Not to mention that I’d be handing my wife a rotten fruit. One she spent years trying to save. I’m not doing that.” Harlan watched me closely. “You’re loyal.” “Yes,” I said. “I am.” Sterling sighed after studying my face for a beat. “You’re in de eper than I thought.” “I married her,” I said. “What did you expect?” Jameson smiled faintly. “Honestly? Less teeth.” “Jane Thayer rebuilt that company with no support, no safety net, and a board actively working against her,” I said. “I’m not going to be the man who finishes what they started.” Silence fell as they all stared at me, but finally, Harlan nodded again. “Alright, Alex. We won’t acquire them outright.” Sterling picked up his drink. “We’ll proceed carefully instead.” I looked around the room at my family, feeling the weight of their names and expectations, but I still felt oddly steady.
“No one sells my wife’s company out from under her. Not the board, not us, and sure as hell not her own family.” Naturally, my dad watched us with a painfully smug expression on his face. He leaned back in his chair with his hands laced over his stomach, looking like a man who’d successfully predicted the weather and wanted credit for inventing the sky. “I told you this was a really good match.” I rolled my eyes at him. “You sold it under the banner of efficiency. A sure thing for the majority.” “Semantics,” he r eplied cheerfully. “Efficient. Brilliant. Tomato, tomahto.” Harlan didn’t smile exactly, but there was something approving in his expression. “You committed quickly. Faster than I expected.” I shrugged. “When you know, you know.” Sterling snorted. “You sound insufferable.” “Says you.” Jameson grinned. “He’s married. Of course, he’s insufferable. Have you met yourself since you got Laney to sign on the dotted line?” Sterling opened his mouth, probably to tell Jameson he was the same, but Harlan held up a hand, silencing the banter before it could get too comfortable. “Dedication aside, the truth of the matter still rings. You should not trust Nora Thayer until she votes like she’s trustworthy.” That wiped the smile off Douglas’s face and, annoyingly, also put a knot in my stomach, but my uncle continued. “Let’s not pretend Nora doesn’t have options, gentlemen. She came from a family with money. She’s lived off her daughter’s trust fund for the past five years. That well doesn’t last forever.” Sterling sighed. “Lifestyle cre ep is real.” “That’s the polite way to put it,” Jameson added unhelpfully. Harlan looked directly at me. “The idea of a few million coming her way if the company sells, even to us, is going to be hard to ignore. Especially when she’s currently relying on her daughter to fund her lifestyle.” My jaw clenched. As much as I wanted to believe that the woman would always have her daughter’s back, that just wasn’t true. Jane had told me all about how Nora used to float from lunches to galas, largely ignoring her own children in favor of whatever social engagement tickled her fancy. Sure, that had been back before her status had been wiped away by her husband’s arrest, but that didn’t mean that selfish streak wasn’t still in there. Shit, she treated Jane less like a daughter and more like infrastructure.
I thought of the house Jane wouldn’t leave. The brother she wouldn’t abandon. The fact that she was married and still couldn’t move in with her husband because she was too worried about her youngest brother. Parentified didn’t even begin to cover it. Harlan looked at me like he knew what I was thinking. Considering he knew everything about everyone, he’d probably correctly guessed where my mind had gone. “As it stands, Jane is the adult in that household, and Nora knows it.” Douglas scoffed. “So what, we assume the worst? That woman has been through a lot and her daughter has stuck by her side. That has to mean something.” “Does it?” Harlan said evenly. “We’re not assuming the worst. We’re assuming reality, and the reality is that the woman has lost everything, but she stands a chance at getting some of it back, financially at least, if that company sells.” The very fact that we were discussing this left a bad taste in my mouth. But only because he was right. Jane’s trust fund was probably well on its way to being obliterated at this point, given how she’d been covering all her family’s expenses and her brothers’ schooling for so long. Nora would know that, and she’d be worried about where it would leave her once it was gone. Jameson sighed. “What about the current CEO? Andrew?” “Alex needs to get face to face with him,” Harlan said. “Apply pressure.” “No.” Sterling shook his head immediately. “He doesn’t matter. The man is checked out. He never even truly checked in. Your battle isn’t with him. It’s with the board.” I exhaled. “I know.” Worried flickered behind his eyes as he held my gaze. “If Jane is going to be CEO, even with you and possibly me taking the vacant board seat and investing to carry a single vote in Jane’s favor, Nora still has to vote with you.” Harlan finished for him. “Otherwise, you don’t have majority.” The room went quiet again, but only for a few seconds before Sterling finally nodded. “I’ll invest and take the seat, but I’m not doing this blind. Nora has to be managed. Carefully. Closely.” Managed. Christ. My dad rubbed his hands together and stood up out of the armchair he’d been occupying. “This is all very dramatic. Is anyone else hungry?” I stared at him. “You’re unbelievable.” “I’m coping,” he said. “It’s how I survive.” Eventually, after a quick lunch with my cousins and our dads, the conversation wound down. Harlan clapped me on the shoulder, Sterling
promised to follow up with Zach, and Jameson talked about looping Colin in once things were official, but I left my dad’s house with that same bad taste lingering in my mouth, snow crunching under my shoes as I walked to the car. Jane deserved better than this. Better than a board salivating over a sellout. Better than a mother who might or might not choose her. Better than having to carry everyone else’s weight just because she was capable of doing it. As I climbed into my car, my phone buzzed and I smiled when her name lit up my screen. Jane: Wyatt ate all the cereal and put the box back in the cupboard empty. I’m considering pressing charges. I laughed out loud, my fingers flying across the screen to r eply before I turned over my engine. Me: I’ll have Zach draft the paperwork. When I drove away from my father’s house, the knot in my stomach finally loosened just a little. I couldn’t fix everything that was wrong in her life. I couldn’t force or buy her mother’s loyalty and I couldn’t go back in time to make the woman be a proper mother either, but Jane had me now. No matter if it meant navigating mothers, boards, and brothers with all the subtlety of a wrecking ball, I was in. Fully. And together, somehow, we’d figure it out. At least we could do that now that we knew what might be coming.