Contemptous CEO Read online

  “Sorry, Maddie. I got sidetracked for a moment.”

  “I asked if your uncle was worse than you thought the last time we talked.”

  “His days are numbered, Maddie, and I can’t do anything to prevent it from happening. He refuses to undergo any further treatment. You want to hear what he told me last week?”

  “Of course.”

  “He said, and I quote, ‘I’m not a coward who needs to hold on to life with vile drugs that kill everything inside of me in hopes that I’ll live another day. I’m going out as I came into this world: full of piss and vinegar, kicking and screaming. On my terms, no one decides when it’s time for me to go but me.”

  “It sounds like he’s made up his mind. I’m sorry you have to go through this. How is your dad taking it?”

  “Dad is taking it in stride. He’s been so focused on Mom's health; I don’t think he’s had time to let the gravity of his brother's condition set in.”

  “Do you want me to drive around the block, Mr. Livingston?”

  I gestured to Austin to continue driving.

  “So, I take it your mom hasn’t fully recovered from her stroke.”

  “They’ve diagnosed her with vascular dementia caused by her stroke. She doesn’t remember things from the past, and it’s pretty hit and miss with the present, as well. Now enough sad talk, tell me something good.”

  Maddie's heavy sigh resonated through the phone. “I wish I had something good to tell you. Bernstein announced today that he is selling the company and already has a buyer. I didn’t even know he was thinking about selling the company.”

  “Well, shit, Maddie, what does that mean for you?”

  “Hell, if I know. I guess I’ll have to see if there's a position for me at the new company, or if they are going to toss me aside like yesterday's trash.”

  I rolled my eyes at Maddie’s overreaction.

  “They’d be stupid to let you go.”

  In my mind, I saw her twisting a lock of her hair. This was something she always did when she was nervous.

  “I hope they see it the way you do.”

  “You know, if it doesn’t work out for you there, you can always come here. I’ve got connections. Hell, I’d put you to work for me.”

  A whoosh of air echoed through the receiver. I knew it before she even said the words. “Thanks for the offer, Xander, but you know I’m a sun and sand kind of gal. Windy and wet will never be my kind of atmosphere. I’d rather be unemployed living in a box on the beach than settle for grey skies.”

  I had to chuckle at her dramatic description. “You say that now, but what happens when it truly comes to fruition?”

  A voice yelled in the background. Straining, I tried to hear the muffled conversation Maddie didn’t want me to hear. Once she pulled her hand away from the mouthpiece, she began to speak once more.

  “Sorry about that interruption. Something’s come up, so I’ve got to cut our call short. I’m truly sorry.”

  “No worries, Maddie. I’m meeting Lucas for dinner. Take care, and we’ll chat soon." As I pulled the phone away from my ear, I heard her. There was hesitation in her voice as she spoke.

  “Hey, Xander?”

  “Yeah, Maddie?”

  “I…I…” She sighed heavily. “Never mind.”

  After circling the block several times, my driver stopped in front of the restaurant.

  “Are you sure, Maddie? I don’t have to go if you need me.”

  She hesitated for a second before speaking. “Nah, I’m good. Have a good night, Xander.”

  Chapter 3

  Maddison

  Epic fail number three hundred and thirty-five.

  My inner voice reminded me once again that I had chickened out. I had tried to share with him so many times why the option to move to New York wasn’t going to work. If he ever discovered my secret from someone other than me, it would end our friendship.

  “Mom,” my daughter yelled from the kitchen, “are you off the phone yet?”

  Patience was not one of her strongest suits. When Brooke wanted something, it had to be done right away. She was like her dad in that way. I just wish he’d have been here to see her grow.

  “Yes, I’m ready. Grab your bag, and I’ll meet you in the car.” My little girl was growing fast. Tonight would be the first night she wouldn’t be around for me to kiss goodnight. I knew sleepovers would eventually come, and I thought I’d prepared myself for it, but as I slipped on my flipflops, I dreaded coming home to an empty house later.

  She was on the phone talking to her friend Bridgette when I climbed into the driver's seat. Reaching up, I pressed the garage remote to open the door. As I put the car in reverse, I watched the shirtless neighbor from down the road walk by with his goat on a leash.

  Damn, he is hot.

  As the car backed down the drive, Brooke caught sight of our neighbor, as well. “He’s kind of weird, don’t you think, Mom? Who has a goat as a pet? What a dork.”

  A tall, sexy, rock hard body I’d like to sink my teeth into dork.

  “Yes, it is a bit unconventional, I’ll have to admit. But we can’t judge people when we don’t know the whole story. There may be a perfectly good reason he has a goat. Wouldn’t you feel bad for calling him a dork if there were a perfectly good reason?”

  I tried to teach Brooke not to pass judgment based on first impressions. That was one thing I hadn’t liked about Xander’s uncle, Malcolm. If it weren’t for the fact that Malcolm had a soft spot for Xander, I’d never have given him the time of day.

  He was a driven man, had his whole life mapped out when he graduated from college, and he expected Xander to be the same. I guess Xander followed in his uncle's footsteps instead of his father's.

  “I still think he’s a dork, Mom. Come on, admit it. You think so, too.”

  A giggle flew from my lips before I caught myself. “Okay, okay, it is a little odd, but that doesn’t mean he’s a dork.” I focused on the road as we made our way onto the freeway. “I spoke to Bridgette's mother earlier. She said she is taking you two out to the movies tonight. Are you excited?”

  Brooke fidgeted in her seat briefly. “Yeah, I guess. I’m not much of a scary movie fan, but that’s what Bridge wants to see.”

  “You know, you should tell her if you don’t want to see it. I’m sure you both can agree on a movie you’d both like to see.”

  “It’s all right, Mom. She’s been kind of sad lately. Her parents are fighting all the time, so if watching I See You makes her happy, I can sit through it.”

  I reached over, grabbing my daughter's hand and squeezed it. “You’re a good friend, Brookie.”

  Unwrapping my hand from hers, she pushed mine away. “Mom, I’m not five anymore. You can stop calling me Brookie.”

  “You’ll always be my little Brookie, even when you’re old and grey.”

  “Mom, why did my dad leave you?”

  I hadn’t expected her to ask me that. When she was old enough to understand, I had told her that her father and I agreed it was best that we go separate ways. She had never once questioned it or asked anything about her father. She was used to our life without him.

  “I told you. We agreed we were better off without each other.”

  “I know, but doesn’t he want to know anything about me?”

  “What makes you think he doesn’t already know everything there is to know about you?”

  “Because he’s never met me. How can he know everything there is to know about me if he’s never met me?”

  I knew my time for evading her questions would soon come to an end, but for now, I just needed her to let it go. I wasn’t ready to disclose the whole story behind what had happened between her father and me.

  “I know it’s hard for you to understand, but it’s better this way. Someday, I’ll tell you the whole story, but for now, please just let it be.”

  I saw her turn her head and look out the window from the corner of my eye. “Fine, Mom, I’ll let it
go. For now, but one day, you’re going to have to tell me everything.”

  Chapter 4

  Xander

  Lucas was already sitting at a table in the back of the restaurant when I walked in. He disconnected his call when he saw me approach.

  “Good to see you,” he said as I pulled out my chair and took a seat across from him.

  “Likewise,” I said as I raised my hand to grab the waitress’s attention. She was slender, a small mahogany-colored ringlet rested over one eye, and I couldn’t help but inwardly laugh as she attempted to blow it out of the way. The badge pinned to her shirt just above her left breast read Shelly.

  “Yes, sir. What can I get you?”

  My eyes travelled from the exposed valley between Shelly’s breast up to her face. Her eyes twinkled when she looked at me. As she waited for my response, I saw the quick wink she’d given me.

  “I’ll have an H41, please.”

  Lucas tossed his swizzle stick at me, his smile mirroring the Cheshire cat. “Did you see the way she looked at you? She wants what you’ve got in your pants.”

  “She wants my wallet?” I attempted to direct the conversation in a different direction.

  “Yes, No. Sort of.”

  “Which is it, Lucas, yes or no?”

  “Yes, she wants the money in your wallet. But no, she wants a taste of your manhood.”

  “For Christ's sake, man. Think with something other than your little head. So, I saw our friend LaCroix tonight as I was leaving. He was taking his girl on a carriage ride.”

  “See, you need a good woman to do shit like that with. Isn’t it time you forgot all about Maddison and moved on with your life? It’s been twelve years. She’s not going to change her mind and move across the U.S. to be with you.”

  He was probably right. I should move on, but honestly, I was not sure I wanted to. I lived and breathed my job, and I didn’t have time for anything serious. I had the hookup scene dialed in for when I had an urge, but those rarely came anymore.

  “I didn’t come here to discuss my sex life with you. And, to be honest, maybe we should dissect why you don’t have a steady girl.”

  Lucas raised his hands in defeat. “Consider this topic closed for the night.”

  When our waitress returned with my lager, he gulped down the rest of his whiskey and ordered another.

  “So, what’s new with your uncle that you want to talk about?”

  There was so much to talk about, I wasn’t sure where to start, so I started with the board meeting earlier this week and how Malcolm had one goal going into the meeting, and that was to make me Chairman of the Board to secure my legacy. “Stay focused, and be present. None of that daydreaming you do so often,” he’d said before walking through the double doors. The minute the board voted and agreed to name me Chairman, my uncle called the meeting short and excused himself.

  “That’s so Malcolm,” Lucas commented as the waitress sat our dinner plates in front of us. “Then what happened?”

  “I asked him why he called the meeting short. He gave me another lecture about being direct and to the point, which pissed me off. Then, I told him to stop playing teacher with me and to come clean and tell me what was going on.”

  “And?”

  “I’m starting to regret agreeing to have dinner with you, Lucas.”

  Lucas raised his glass stopping just short of his lips. “Christ, you take forever to tell a story.”

  “He told me it was simple. He needed the board to vote in his favor to appoint me, and they wouldn’t have done that if they knew just how sick he was. Once they agreed, he was done playing their game and didn’t have a second more to waste on them. He said, and I quote, “I’m done playing their game, and now I can rest knowing you control everything that happens from here on out.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean? I don’t get it, Xander. You were already President, so you had control of the operations. Once you were voted in as Chairman, he lost full control of the company.” It didn’t take him long to realize the implications of what he had just said. “Shit, man. You now own a three hundred billion-dollar company. That makes you as rich as Bill Gates once was.”

  I nodded my head in acknowledgment, knowing fully the extent of my wealth and the power that came with controlling one of the top Fortune 500 companies. I was right there with Amazon, Apple, and even Walmart.

  “You need to talk with Hollis. It’s time you start investing your money properly.”

  I raised one eyebrow and was about to question what the hell he was implying, but he interrupted me before I could.

  “I’m not saying you aren’t already investing properly, but you need to think on a bigger scale now. It’s different than just investing your millions. You’ve now got hundreds of those that need someone of his skill level to help you manage.”

  He was right, but what he didn’t know was that Livingston Technologies and Uncle Malcolm were already working with Hollis LaCroix. His company managed several funds for my uncle.

  “I see dollar signs rolling around in your head. You think there's a referral fee from our buddy if I strike a deal with him. Simmer down, big boy. Uncle Mal already works with LaCroix.”

  Just then, Shelly, our waitress, laid the bill on our table. We both reached for it, but I was faster. After placing several hundred-dollar bills in the folio, I pushed away from the table.

  “Thanks for dinner, Xander. I’ll have to invite you more often if you’re going to pay.” Lucas laughed.

  “You’re such an ass sometimes. You know that?” Just as we reached the door to the restaurant, my phone rang with an incoming call. The name “Malcolm” displayed on the screen. Answering, I said, “Mal, what’s up?”

  “Alexander, its Gilbert. Come quick, please.”

  I didn’t have to ask. I heard it in his voice. Something was wrong with Uncle Malcolm.

  “I’m on my way.”

  Chapter 5

  Xander

  When I entered the elevator and hit the PH button, it felt as if the lift moved at a crawl. In all the years I’d lived in the building, it never felt as if it would take hours to get to the eighty-eighth floor. But tonight, I was crawling out of my skin, waiting for the bell to ding and announce my arrival.

  As the doors opened, Gilbert, my uncle's valet, stood waiting for me. His eyes revealed a sadness I’d only seen once before, and that was the day after my mother's stroke when the doctor told my father and me she’d never be the same.

  “What’s wrong with him, Gilbert?”

  “He’s asking for you, Alexander. I believe the time has come.”

  I moved quickly through the house; my feet desperate to get to him. When I reached his room, Betty, his nurse, stood beside him, adjusting his breathing mask. He quickly slapped at her hands and mumbled something beneath the plastic cone.

  “Uncle Mal,” My voice shook as I spoke, “tell me what I can do for you.”

  With a frail hand, one I hadn’t even noticed until now, he lifted his breathing mask to speak. He coughed briefly and then motioned for me to lean closer to him.

  “This is it, son. There is a letter on my desk in my study.” Uncle Mal lowered the plastic cone to his face and took several deep breaths before lifting it once again. “Read it, then set up a meeting with Hollis LaCroix and Baxter Young right away. Do not wait until I’ve been laid to rest boy. Time is of the essence. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, sir. I understand.”

  He lowered his breathing mask once more as he took several labored breaths. When it appeared he was able to speak without coughing again, he gave me several words of wisdom.

  “Life is too short to grieve, my boy. Move on, and don’t wallow in remorse. Never regret a decision you make. If it was the wrong one, own it, and move forward. Lastly, pride is a foolish man's worse enemy. Trust me, I know.”

  Cough, cough…

  “I need my rest, boy. Now, go and leave me be.”

  I nodded my head so m
y uncle would know I acknowledged his words. It took everything I had in me not break down and cry. But I knew he’d see it as a sign of weakness, and that would only disappoint him, and the last thing I ever wanted to do was disappoint him.

  I had almost made it to the study when I heard an eerie squeal come from my uncle's room. I turned on my heels and ran for his door, falling to my knees when I saw the straight line rolling across the screen.

  He knew. That was his goodbye to you.

  “Do something,” I screamed at Betty. “Resuscitate him, please!”

  My heart was heavy in my chest, and I felt myself gasp for air in an attempt to keep myself from hyperventilating. “Are you deaf? I said, resuscitate him!”

  The corners of Betty’s mouth turned down. “I wish I could, Alexander, but his directive doesn’t allow me to do that.”

  “Fuck his directive. I’m giving you a directive.”

  Betty slowly moved toward me, her hand reaching down to grasp my arm and help me to my feet. Without thinking, I clung to her. My arms wrapped around her, and I held on tight. I knew this day was coming, but I never anticipated it to be tonight. I took one last look at my uncle, then locked all my emotions deep inside. I gave Betty one last hug before turning and heading toward my uncle’s study. Sure enough, just as he had said, there was a grey envelope with my name scrolled on it in his handwriting. Grasping the letter, I made my way to the elevator and pushed the button for the seventy-sixth floor. I needed copious amounts of alcohol to get through the rest of the night, and this letter, I was certain.

  I pulled my phone from my pocket and tossed it on the table. It wasn’t until then that I noticed I had a text from Lucas.

  Lucas: Is everything okay, man? You left like a bat out of hell when your uncle called.

  I didn’t have the energy to deal with Lucas tonight, so I ignored his text and headed toward my living room. With a crystal decanter in one hand and the letter in my other, I sank into the sofa and poured three fingers into my glass before placing the stopper back on the top and setting it on the coffee table before me.