Page 15 of Priceless
“As I said, we have our ways too.” Everett tapped the folders he brought with him and then set them side by side. “And I took the liberty of putting these together. This,” he pushed one of the folders forward, “is the normal offer you would get.”
He didn’t ask us why we had proposals ready. Frank took the first folder and scanned the contents, his eyes going wide and anger taking root. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“We don’t joke about business,” I said. “So no.”
“No. The answer is no. I’d rather lose my company than that.”
Everett smiled. “Which is why I prepared this. Much of it is the same, but with a few key differences. McCabe Fabrics will still be brought under the umbrella of Zenith Incorporated. We’ll buy you out of the majority of your shares and leave you as the minority holder. You’ll also be allowed to remain in whatever position you want, with supervision, of course. We’re not going to let this happen twice.”
Snarling, Frank reached for the folder. “Doesn’t sound particularly generous.”
I smiled. This was the real Frank. He was nervous, and he was weak, but he also wasn’t the pussy-footing and subtle man who’d come into the office this morning. He was more like a dog backed into a corner.
That was fine. We preferred dealing with people who were honest.
Everett kept his hand on the folder, not letting him take it yet. “We’ll cover all your debts and make sure that the company is in good standing and ready to continue operating. That’s a hell of a lot more than what someone else would offer you.”
“So let me see the offer.”
“There’s one more thing,” Micah said. “And it’s not negotiable.”
“You see,” Everett smiled. “The only reason we’re not giving you offer number one, or letting your company fail so we can pick up the pieces, is because you have something we very much want.”
Frank’s fingers drummed on the table. He was getting irritated. “And what is that?”
“Ocean.”
Confusion clouded his face. “What?”
“Ocean,” I said, repeating her name. It tasted sweet on my tongue. “Your niece.”
“I know who she is.” His brow furrowed. “I’m just not sure what she has anything to do with this?”
Micah stood, stretching and moving to lean against the wall, the picture of ease. “The Zenith Board of Directors, for reasons I won’t go into now, has instructed us to marry. We want Ocean.”
The expression on Frank’s face went from blank to shock, and then he burst out laughing. “What? Why? Of all the people in the world, you want her?”
He stopped laughing when he realized we were all glaring at him. The table creaked where I gripped it, the point of contact the only thing stopping me from launching myself over the table at him.
“Ocean must agree to marry us for a minimum of one year,” Everett said, finally releasing the folder and sliding it across the table.
I glanced over at him, and Micah caught my gaze. I read the message there. One year is just the start.
“Either that, or it’s offer number one.”
Frank glanced through the folder and straightened. His sudden haughty attitude grated on me. “If I’m going to sell my niece to you, I deserve to know why.”
“Bringing Firefly Clothing into the fold requires us to look more wholesome than our previous exploits currently allow,” I said. “Marriage will help that.”
He glanced up at me briefly before looking down at the paperwork again. “I guess that makes sense. More sense than the three of you wanting someone who looks like her. And after the year is up?”
Everett was clenching his jaw so hard next to me I heard it crack.
“She is free to go her own way,” I said, even though the words burned. There was no way in hell we were going to let her go, and I didn’t doubt she would feel the same once she knew the truth. But it was a long road from here to there.
I saw him think it through as he looked at the paperwork. It wasn’t a good deal. Not for him, at least. But he wasn’t in a position to refuse. Sure, he could approach another company, but with the state of his financials, he’d be lucky to get something as good as our first offer, let alone this one. He knew it too. The resistance was all for show.
“I’ll need some time to talk to her,” he said.
