AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I walked him to the cab, my legs feeling like they belonged to someone else. As he climbed in the back seat, I barely caught myself before wishing him good luck a third time.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Landon
Just before I boarded the plane, Adam sent me all the details on the buying offer. I read the entire document during the flight, but I couldn’t concentrate. My mind was on Maddie. I hadn’t waited for her to say goodbye. I’d waited because I was looking for a reason to fight for us. Instead she talked about goodbye dinners, and how she’d known we had limited time together.
Had our closeness been just wishful thinking on my part? I’d imagined a future with her, a family—all those things I hadn’t let myself wish for anymore. My chest ached at the realization that I’d been alone in wanting all those things.
As the plane started the descent, I tried to push away all thoughts of Maddie. Hard as this was, I had to focus.
After landing, I went directly to the office. I knew the board could move fast when it wanted to. Entering the building through the garage, I went directly to the private elevator that led up to my office. As I strode through the corridor, anger simmered through me. This was my company. My building.
Voices reached my ears as I approached the meeting room. I hovered a few seconds in front of the door, attempting to cool down. It didn’t work. My anger had wired into a nasty headache. When I pushed the door open, the buzz died almost instantly.
“Landon, you made it,” Bowman, the chairman of the board, said. His tone clearly conveyed that he’d hoped I wouldn’t.
“Yes. Yes, I did.” I surveyed the room, my gaze lingering on each of the twelve board members. Adam and I had agreed that he wouldn’t attend this meeting. “Don’t look so disappointed. When someone threatens my company, I don’t waste any time.”
“We weren’t—” Bowman begins, but I held up one hand and he fell silent.
“Let’s not pretend. It will make this much quicker.” I took my seat at the head of the table.
“We are just considering the offer. No one’s made any decision, yet,” Delacroix explained. He was one of the mentors I respected most.
“So that six of you already voted for selling is a rumor?” I asked in a measured tone. A shiver went around the table. No one answered, which was answer enough.
“Have you looked at the offer?” Bowman asked.
“Briefly, on the flight.”
“We suggest you look closer. The offering price is more than fair,” Delacroix continued.
“If I were interested in selling, I would look closer, yes. But I’m not interested.”
Delacroix and Bowman exchanged a glance. The rest of the boa
rd was unusually silent.
Eventually Delacroix spoke again. “If I may, Landon, you’ve brought this company to a point so high, one none of us here imagined. But you can’t take it higher by yourself. The partnership with Sullivan was a good interim solution. The synergies would have allowed for exponential growth. But the endgame of a software company of this type, especially when you have so much investor capital, is going public or selling. You know that. I drafted the first business plan with you. You had projected to sell the company three years ago.”
“Business plans can change,” I said dryly.
Delacroix spoke again. “You could move on to other endeavors. Think about what you could do with all that capital. We’re talking north of a billion.”
“I know how much the company is worth.” I leaned back in my chair. The pounding in my temple became more pronounced, and the fact that I’d only slept a few hours last night was taking its toll. I was prone to making rash decisions, and lashing out at people when I was tired. Add people pushing my buttons to that and you had a recipe for disaster.
“Clearly we’re at odds here,” I said as calmly as I could muster. “I know I can still grow the company, bring in higher profits for all shareholders, without selling or going public. We’ll meet again next week, and I’ll present you with the options.” It was Wednesday, which gave me a few days to come up with a plan. “If I get wind that any of you contacted Sullivan, I will be going for blood. Understood?”
No one spoke. They usually didn’t when I was in my ruthless mode, and now I was beyond even that. Exhausted and livid, I left the meeting room. I wanted to go straight home, but first I stopped by Adam’s office. My assistant, Debbie, was in there too. The door was ajar, and she jumped to her feet when she saw me.
“How did it go?” There were finger markings on her cheeks, as if she’d pressed her hands to her face for a long time.
“I’ve bought us a few days to come up with a plan.”
“Do you want me to order from your favorite Chinese restaurant? I can have them deliver it when you get home,” Debbie said.
“I’ll order for myself,” I told Debbie and then left the office. My headache didn’t subside on the drive home, but I was sure it would once I’d cooled down in my loft.
