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The corners of his mouth twitch. "You young boys, trust me, she’ll work with you if you offer her something. Anything, please. It will really help me stop worrying. It’s taken my whole life to get this clown set up”— he waves at Nathan— “I can’t help thinking I’ve let my daughter down by not providing her the same security."
His words feel like a poker in my heart.
"I will have to talk to my brothers first. This is somewhat of a special circumstance because—"
He cuts me off. "Of course, she’ll have to sign an NDA. Don’t want you thinking we’re stealing your ideas."
My ideas aren’t what I’m afraid she’ll steal from me. Not that there’s anything left of me for her to have.
"I have one more thing to sweeten the deal," Dennis says, interrupting my thoughts.
"Sir, that’s not necessary!"
"Hush. Consider this a thank you for helping me. My son tells me that you have a special interest in the joint venture you two share and that you might have your eye on buying him out."
Nathan and I share a look.
"Watch?" I confirm, naming the streaming service that Nathan and I started a few years ago.
"Yes. It's doing well, yes?"
I nod. "Very."
"You’ve both worked very hard on it. I’m not surprised it’s doing so well. If you can get Kiara settled somewhere at Baxter Enterprises, in six months, Nathan will sellWatchto you. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
I don’t know how he knows that, but he does and there’s no point in pretending it’s not true. “Yes, sir. It is.”
“Then you can make an offer. As long as it’s reasonable, it’s yours. If you decide you don’t want it. Yin Tech’s 50% stake will go on the market anyway. But this way you will get the first offer."
The saliva dries in my mouth and judging by the way Nathan is downing his glass of Remy Martin XO, he didn’t know about the deal either. But the Yins are a traditional family in many ways, and if there’s anything he’s going to say to his father about their business, he’s going to say it in private.
"I don’t know what to say, sir."
Do I really want to be spending time trying to get Kiara to accept a job from me? It sounds like a complete waste of time; she’s more likely to work on the docks selling lollipops to the sailors than work with me. She made that abundantly clear ten minutes ago, and I don’t blame her. That was how I’d meant for her to react after all. But even so, the lure of having her close by is almost too tempting to resist. AndWatch, even if it’s not the main reason to do this, is a very delicious, lucrative icing on the cake.
Dennis stands up and offers me his hand.
"Believe me, getting Kiara to come work for you is not going to be as hard as you think," he says with a twinkle in his eye. I wish he’d share the secret with me but I know better than to even try to crack that nut.
“Sir, I am doing this because you asked me. Not any other reason.”
He puts one hand to his lips as he reaches into his pocket with the other and pulls out a folded piece of paper and pushes it into my palm. "Call this number. They might be able to give you some insight into what Kiara is doing right now. And what she might be able to offer you at Baxter."
He shuffles away without another word, leaving his son and I to stare at each other.
"He’s wrong, you know," Nathan says, sitting down again, "About Kiara. She’s not going to make this easy for you."
"Agreed.” I nod, watching the older man brace against the wall as he turns the corner. He’s looking older than the last time I saw him just a few months ago and makes me wonder why this is all happening now. “He must know that I’m going to do this with or withoutWatch. I’d do anything he asked of me.” The thought of how this deal affects Nathan weighs on me. “Did you know he was going to offerWatch? "
The thinned lips are all the answer I need.
"And do you really think he’ll convince the board to sell even if I don’t buy it?" I ask even though I know the answer.
"Tell me one time my father has ever said he’s going to do something and then doesn’t. Not when he promised to take me to the movies, not when he promised to spank me when I wasn’t sleeping, not when he told my mother she would not leave this earth without him holding her hand. Not once."
"Fuck. So, I guess I‘d better find your sister a job. If I don’t want your half ofWatchgoing to some other degenerate who’ll outbid me and burn the thing to the ground."
My best friend shrugs, he looks like he has as much to think about as I do. "I’m sorry. I might be the CEO of Yin Tech by name, but you know as well as I do, that while he's around, he's still going to be the one who calls the shots. I should've done what you did and bankrolled my investment inWatchmyself."
