The Billionaire’s Tenacious Boss (The Maxfield Brothers Series Book 1) (10 page)

S
tephen stood
in the doorway between his father’s and Angie’s hotel rooms. He had no doubt that the old man had purposefully arranged things this way to make sure that Stephen couldn’t sneak in there at night.

Angie stood over at Duncan’s sink and examined his medicines. “Are you sure you’ve taken all your pills this morning? With all the stress of traveling, it can be easy to forget,” she fussed.

“I’m sure,” Duncan said but kept his eyes fixed on Stephen.

“So it’s a coincidence that we’re here at the same time without a scheduled meeting?” Stephen said lightly.

“I like to catch them on their toes,” Duncan said just as easily. “And I figured since you were in Chicago, I’d head to New York. But it’s great that you’re here too.”

“Hmm,” Stephen mused. “All right. I’m going to get back in touch with Gabe and hammer out the details.” After sending a final regretful look in Angie’s direction, he left to go to his own room. Safely hidden behind the closed door, he dialed Gabe’s number again.

“Your receptionist has a big mouth,” he snapped.

“I’m sorry?” Gabe said absently.

“Duncan is in New York. The only other person who knew I’d be here is your receptionist.”

The typing of keys stopped abruptly. “Did you say that
Duncan
is in New York?”

“That’s exactly what I said. He already had rooms waiting for us when we got out of the taxi.”

Gabe chuckled. “Did he put you and Angie on separate floors?”

“He might just as well have. His room is right between us. But that’s not the issue. His presence alone is going to distract the group. How am I supposed to convince them that the company is better as a whole if the reclusive Duncan shows up? This is a nightmare!”

“Calm down,” Gabe said. “Jesus. I can’t believe that Duncan flew over there for you, but when I…you know what? Never mind. Now is not the time to get into it.”

“Get into what?” Stephen asked. He’d expected Gabe to be as outraged as he was, but instead, he seemed almost jealous.

“Nothing. I’ve emailed Carl Johnson. He’s agreed to call a meeting tomorrow at 8 am, and he’s already sent me a list of questions. I hope you’re settling in for a long night of prep work, Stephen.”

“Send me the email. I’ll video-chat with you later to go over some key points. Keep me informed of everything,” Stephen insisted as he hung up. With a sigh, he loosened his tie and rolled up his sleeves. The meeting was supposed to have been an impromptu and casual chat. Now it was turning into a long, detailed conference.

Not that it mattered. His planned evening with Angie was already ruined, so he might as well make the most of this trip. Pulling out his laptop, he logged in and got to work.

* * *

O
nce Stephen was
out of the room, Duncan turned on Angie with fire in his eyes. “So I hear that Chicago was successful,” he hissed.

She whipped her head around and stared at him. A minute ago, he looked like a feeble old man. Now he looked like a predator. “I thought you’d be happy,” she said coolly. “You usually relish in stealing jobs from Maxfield Construction.”

Duncan rolled his eyes and sank on the bed. “And he used that to his advantage. How could you let this happen?”

“How could
I
let this happen? I’m fairly certain your words were ‘Angie. Make sure Duncan Enterprises walks away with this job.’ And that’s exactly what you got. Besides, this brings in a huge amount of money for Construction. Not to mention that Snyder is a gold mine. Everyone will want you once they know you’re working for him. He has international contacts,” Angie pointed out.

“Yes. And now the investors are really going to want to sell when they realize we’ve landed a gold mine,” Duncan said sarcastically. “I’m in New York to fix this, Angie. And I need to know what side you’re on.”

“There aren’t any sides here, Duncan. There is only Duncan Enterprises, and I’m here to make sure that the company comes out on top. Why are you so fired up to sell when you have the potential to be great again?”

“Great takes an awful lot of work. Are you really willing to devote that much effort into a dying company, Ms. Lopez?”

Angie stared at him. What on earth was he talking about? A dying company? “Mr. Maxfield, I’m sure your trip over here was tiring. I’m going to go check in with Stephen and see where he’s at with our presentation. Why don’t you lie down and rest for a bit. I’ll check on you in an hour, okay?”

He snorted and waved her away as he lay back on the mattress. She slipped out of the room and hurried to Stephen’s door. Before she could even knock, he flung it open. With a growl, he yanked her inside.

“Did you tell Duncan that we were going to New York?”

Taken aback, she stared at him. “Stephen, I didn’t know myself we were going to New York until we were at the airport gate. I did not inform your father, but even if I had, there wouldn’t have been enough time to grab a plane and get here before we did. What is wrong with you?”

He ran his hand over the stubble of his chin and sighed. “Sorry. Paranoid. Okay, well, Duncan puts a wrench in our plans. With him here, the investors want answers. It’s going to be a long night of prepping. Are you up for it?”

Angie rotated her shoulders and smiled at him. “Are you kidding? Try and keep up,” she said teasingly.

He bent down and gave her a quick kiss on the mouth, and she found that she didn’t mind one bit.

Several hours later, there was a knock at the door. Angie took the opportunity to stretch as Stephen went to answer it. She’d been hunched over the laptop as she and Stephen strategized.

“Started without me, huh?” Duncan grumbled as he walked in.

Guiltily, she glanced at the clock. She should have checked on him a while ago, but they were so caught up in the report that she hadn’t even noticed the time flying by. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Maxfield, but I’m glad you’ve rested. Stephen and I have made some real progress.”

Duncan only grunted as he peered over her shoulder. “Those numbers aren’t right,” he growled.

“Those are projected numbers. By taking Garret Snyder’s job, we’ve extended our reach, and this is the speculative number of jobs we might get with that new exposure.” Stephen shot Duncan a nervous look, and Angie couldn’t help but smile. It was so obvious that Stephen wanted his father’s approval even while he continued to maintain that Duncan meant nothing to him.

“Fine,” Duncan said.

Angie jumped in as she scrolled through the presentation. “The board has been tracking our movements, and they’ve been keeping a record of our jobs. They have some pretty serious questions. For example, why did we offer our services for such a low price on high budgeted jobs?”

“Those were the jobs that you stole from Maxfield Construction,” Stephen prompted.

“I didn’t steal anything, boy,” Duncan snapped. “I happened to make a better offer than you!”

Did her room have a minibar? She would need to check that out. “Back to your corners,” she told them, holding up her hands. “We all know that we’ve all made mistakes with this company, and now we need to answer for them. Duncan, you better have an answer ready for when they ask that. Stephen, they’re going to want to know where you and Nathan have been for the past few years, and what the two of you can offer Duncan Enterprises in the future. They will want to know where your loyalties lie.”

The two men stared at her, and she stood and put her hands on her hips. “Guys, don’t give me that look. You both know you have some issues that need to be worked out. This is only going to be successful if we work together. Duncan, I know you want to sell. But even you have to admit it’s going to be hard to convince the investors to pull out when this much money is involved. And as long as we have backing, the board members aren’t going to want to sell. So figure out which side you’re on.”

Duncan drew up to his full height when she threw his words back at him, but she stood her ground. When it came down to it, she wasn’t playing for Team Duncan or Team Stephen. She was playing for Team Angie, and that meant she was going to do what was best for the company. Even if Duncan yanked it all away from her, she would still have a successful endeavor under her belt. And at the end of the day, that was all that counted.

They both grumbled, but they finally sat down in an unspoken truce. Pleased with herself, Angie smiled. “I’m ordering room service. Play nice while I’m gone. We’re going to knock them dead tomorrow.”

* * *

T
he meeting was grueling
, but at the end of it, he considered it a success. Both Angie and Duncan were too tired to converse much on the plane ride home, but Stephen was wired. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so challenged, and he’d loved it.

They dropped Angie off at her home, and while he was sorely tempted to join her for the night, she’d made it plenty clear through her body language that she wasn’t ready for Duncan to know. Regretfully, he shook her hand and said good night.

“Glad to see you haven’t lost your edge,” Duncan told him as he got out of the car. “You might do something with that floundering company of yours after all.”

It was the closest thing to a compliment that Duncan had ever given him, so Stephen simply nodded. His father headed to his room, and Stephen headed to the liquor cabinet. The day was cause for celebration.

“I heard things went well.”

Stephen nearly jumped out of his skin when he flipped on the light and saw Gabe in the chair. “Christ, man! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” Gabe watched him silently as he poured himself a drink. He took a sip then answered, “Yes. Today was rough, but overall, I think it went well.”

“Did anyone question why I wasn’t there?” he asked coldly.

“Look Gabe. I know you’re upset…”

“Upset?” He got up and advanced towards Stephen. “Are you kidding me? I’ve been helping run this company since college, and you sweep in to save the day! It was me who drew up those numbers for you. I’m the one who has been in constant contact with New York. And you jet over there without a second thought. Not only is that completely out of character for you, but it’s incredibly unfair to me!”

“I saw an opportunity, and I took it,” Stephen responded defensively. “It’s not like your name didn’t come up time and time again. Trust me, I gave you credit where credit was due. The trip was only supposed to introduce me to the New York investors. I had no idea that Duncan would show up and make such a big deal out of it!”

Interrupting them, the door swung open, and Nathan walked in. “What the fuck is going on in here?”

“Nothing that concerns you,” Gabe snapped. “Go back to whatever little project you’re pretending to be working on and leave this to the grown-ups.”

Stephen’s mouth dropped open, and Nathan stopped in his tracks. “Excuse me?” Nathan said softly.

“You heard me,” Gabe growled. “All you’ve done since you’ve been here is disappear.”

“I’ve been analyzing the data. That takes time!” Nathan yelled.

“Whoa!” Stephen threw up his hands. “Everybody settle down.” His two younger brothers fell silent and stared at him. “Look, I know that we haven’t always gotten along. And it only stands to reason that the stress of being under the same roof and working for the same company might cause us all to reach the ends of our ropes. But let’s agree that we’re here, we’ve each got a job to do, and let’s step back.”

He took a deep breath and turned to Gabe. “Gabe, you’re right. You’ve been with this company for years without a word of thanks, and you should have gone to New York. But you called us in to do what you could not. And it’s not because it’s not in your power to work up a new plan, but you’ve got so much on your plate already. Nathan and I do not. So let us get on with what you jerked us away from our lives to do.”

Gabe didn’t say anything, and Stephen turned to Nathan. “Gabe’s not wrong. You’re not around a lot, and that’s fine. But keep us in the loop; if you let us know what you’re doing, maybe we can help.”

“Fine,” Nathan said tightly.

Stephen turned to Gabe, but his brother stared at him, his jaw clenched tight. “Gabe,” Stephen prompted. “We won’t get anything done if we keep fighting.”