A Brother's Honour. Brenda Jackson

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СКАЧАТЬ cleared her throat. “Yes, may I help you?”

      “We’re the Grangers, and we’re here for the stockholders’ meeting,” one of the men said. She knew he was Jace Granger, the eldest. She recalled he had delivered his grandfather’s eulogy.

      Rumors were going around that Mr. Granger had left the business to his grandsons, and she had a feeling things were about to get pretty interesting around here. Especially since Mr. Freeman, the VP, had been running around like a chicken with his head cut off all morning. He liked power and was fighting like hell to retain it.

      “Yes, Mr. Granger, the meeting is about to begin.” She wondered if their timing was deliberate to make some sort of grand entrance, and she could certainly see them making one. “I’ll be happy to escort you in.”

      * * *

      Jace, Caden and Dalton walked into the huge conference room, and everyone seated at the table glanced their way. Seeing three empty seats, they took them. Jace saw the disappointed look that flashed in Freeman’s eyes and figured the man had been hoping they would be no-shows.

      Once seated, Jace glanced around the room. Everyone who he figured would be here was, and since there were a few people he hadn’t expected, he could only assume they were voting by proxy. One in particular, he knew, was drawing Caden’s attention. Shiloh Timmons.

      Jace glanced over at Freeman. His secretary had called to advise them of the meeting late yesterday, and Jace was certain it was a deliberate move on Freeman’s part. It would have been too late to form any type of strategic countermove. Freeman would be surprised to learn he didn’t have the upper hand he assumed he would.

      At exactly ten o’clock, Freeman called the meeting to order. Since this was an unscheduled meeting, he asked for a motion that the secretary not read the minutes from the last meeting. His motion was seconded.

      Freeman then addressed the meeting, once again offering his sympathies to the Granger family for their loss. He then, pretty elegantly Jace thought, indicated the reason for the meeting. Freeman stated that the company was about to change leadership and direction at the worst possible time. And that although he respected Richard’s decision in wanting a Granger to run the company, he had been vice president for two years and felt more than capable of taking the company where it needed to be. He offered to have the Grangers work under him for a while to learn the ins and outs of the company, after which time, he would gladly step down and let the brothers take things over. However, he stressed that now was not the time.

      Jace glanced around the table. Everyone was listening attentively, a few were taking notes and some had nodded. He was glad they’d made the move to buy up stock yesterday. His keen sense of discernment allowed him to pinpoint the people Freeman already had in his pocket. So Freeman’s claim that he would only take over for a short while was a bunch of bullshit, and they all knew it.

      After Freeman stopped talking, the secretary asked if anyone had anything to say before votes were cast. Jace knew it was his time to speak, and he stood up to do so. “This company was started by my great-grandfather over seventy years ago and was later run by my grandfather, father and then, in my father’s absence, my grandfather again. On his deathbed Richard Granger asked that my brothers and I take over the day-to-day operations of Granger Aeronautics. All of you know how much my grandfather loved this company, and he would not have made such a request had he not felt that we could succeed in what he was asking us to do and that it was in the best interest of this company. He had faith in us, and I’m hoping you do, as well. I am ready to take over as CEO and move this company in the right direction. I ask for your vote of confidence.”

      Freeman then asked for a vote, indicating for his secretary to do a roll call. From the smile on his face, it was apparent he was fairly certain he would come out on top. However, Jace saw that smile turn to concern when, during the roll call, it was obvious that a number of stockholders had gotten rid of their stock yesterday.

      The roll call had been done in alphabetical order, and Jace wasn’t surprised when Freeman had five times the number of votes Jace could cast due to proxy. He saw shock and then anger appear in the older man’s eyes when he saw how many voting shares Jace, Caden and Dalton had obtained.

      It was a close vote, and the last person on the roll call was Sandra Timmons. Shiloh was her proxy. She had enough shares to cast the deciding vote. Jace refused to look over at her, figuring that Caden had been doing it enough for the both of them.

      The secretary spoke up. “Shiloh Timmons, proxy for Sandra Timmons. How do you want to cast your vote?”

      Jace literally held his breath. He didn’t release it until he heard Shiloh say in a clear voice, “I am voting for Sandra Timmons, thirty shares for the Grangers.”

      * * *

      “Your girl saved the day, man,” Dalton said after the meeting had adjourned. “I was sweating bullets there for a minute.”

      “She’s not my girl,” Caden said as he stood at the window in the conference room and looked out. “And I wish you’d stop insinuating that she is.”

      Dalton, who was leaning back lazily in one of the conference room chairs, shrugged broad shoulders. “You and Shiloh were close growing up.”

      Caden turned around. “Yes, and if you recall, that was before...” He paused, knowing he didn’t have to go into any details. Dalton knew. Each of them had felt the pain of suddenly being ostracized by their friends.

      “She was just a kid, Caden. A kid who had to do what she was told. Can you imagine her going against old man Timmons? If you remember, the man was an asshole.”

      Caden did remember, but there was more to his and Shiloh’s history than Dalton knew. More than anyone knew. And he wasn’t about to enlighten his brother about anything now.

      Jace entered the conference room. “I just talked to Vidal. He’ll make sure the transition is done as smoothly as possible. Everything is set.”

      “Set how?” Dalton wanted to know. He had several million dollars in Granger shares, and he intended to get a return on his investment. Stuart would have a cow when he heard about what he had done. The first rule when investing is to make sure you don’t lose money. That meant he needed to stay on top of things so that rule was not broken.

      “Freeman and I have reached an understanding,” Jace said easily.

      Dalton sneered. “Understanding, my ass. I don’t trust him.”

      “Neither do I,” Caden said, leaning against the wall. “Hell, Jace, the man was trying to take the company right from under our noses.”

      “He didn’t think we were ready to take over things,” Jace said somberly.

      “Can’t blame him, since I thought the same thing myself,” Dalton said. “But I still don’t like what he tried to pull. So now that we’re in, are you going to give Ms. Bradford a call?”

      Jace pulled the business card Vidal had given him from his pocket. “I might as well. Vidal showed me a number of profit and loss statements, and this company is so deep in the red it’s not funny.”

      That’s not what Dalton wanted to hear. “But it can be turned around?”

      Jace heard the concern in his brother’s voice. “You’ll get a return on your investment.”

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