“We’ve all been a little distracted lately. Lydia is…awful.” Julia shook her head. “And I’m certain this has really been weighing on you.”
He sucked in a breath as he balanced his elbows against his knees and stared into space. Truer words had not been spoken. They’d battled DG Industries for two years, surviving multiple attacks and, amazingly, finding happiness with each other along the way. But now, after everything, it would all come crashing down because he couldn’t secure enough funds to outbuy Lydia on her stock grab. How she got the money, he still hadn’t figured out, but he couldn’t match her dollar for dollar.
Her lead had been too big and with their limited capital, they’d never catch her.
She rubbed her hand up and down his back. “What do you need from me?”
“About twenty percent in stock.” He shot her a glance. “Sorry. Honest answer, just sitting here listening to me complain is enough.”
“I’m happy to listen to you vent. It can also lead to unexpected solutions, things you haven’t thought of.” she answered.
He puckered his lips as he sighed. “Not so far. The real issue here is, we just can’t raise any additional capital. We’re too far leveraged, too much debt already.”
“What about the Solaris project. Isn’t that going to generate something?”
“Eventually, yes. The way Lydia is moving, she’ll own the company before that’s even off the ground.” He clenched his jaw as he rose again with a curse under his breath.
“This must be so frustrating. I’m so sorry,” she said as she rose and slid her arms around his waist.
He pulled her closer to him, squeezing her close as she rested her head on his shoulder. “It’s so much better with you here. If you’d have left…never mind.”
“I’m not leaving. You’re stuck with me.”
“Good,” he answered. “Although you may change your mind when I’m destitute.”
“I won’t,” she said with a laugh.
Her answer made him smile. “What if I really take this hard and wander around the house in my bathrobe all day?”
Her shoulders shook with laughter as she leaned her head back. “Stop. You’re not going to do that.”
He chuckled. “Oh, you don’t think so?”
“No,” she said with a shake of her head. “No, even if Lydia pulls this off, you’re going to be back on your feet in no time. You’re not going to be content to just fade into the shadows.”
He pressed his forehead against hers. “Mmm, I love how much confidence you have in me.”
His phone rang, ruining the close moment. “I’m beginning to hate that sound,” he said as he dug into his pocket. “It’s Mike. I need to take this.”
“Sure. Good luck,” she said before giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be in Kyle’s room.”
He kept his fingers wrapped around her hand as she stepped away, giving it one final squeeze before he begrudgingly let her go.
Without her, he felt untethered, like he was floating in space without a lifeline. He loved the calm she brought to him, and how much she believed in him. It was unfortunate that he’d fail her so early on in their marriage.
“Tell me something good,” he said as he answered his phone.
“DG is still at twenty-two percent,” Mike answered. “We’re going to buy until we can’t buy anymore, but I don’t think we’regoing to hit the magic number. We need to start discussing contingency plans.”
“Have you spoken to Mitchell?” he asked. At this stage, they needed to bring the legal team into this.
“Placed a call earlier this morning, waiting for a call back.”
“We need to figure out if she has the votes or not. We’re never going to match her. Which means we need to secure more votes.”
“If we can. And if she gets to the twenty-five percent. Maybe this is a show of power and not a coup.”
Grant scoffed as he paced the floor of the waiting room. “No. This isn’t a show of power. She’s been doing that for two years. This is her move.”
