Chapter Twenty-Nine

THE day of the Entech meeting arrived at long last. Weeks before, Adam had wanted nothing more than to get it over with. Now armed with the knowledge that the only Preston not in his corner was Roger, however, he was ready to move on with his life and his plans to transition the old computer parts business model into the software and application business he envisioned.

Adam and Karen had flown down the night before, while Roger had left for LA midweek with the excuse that he was visiting an old friend in the area. Adam would have bet money that Roger had spent the extra days working with Entech staff to develop a strategy for the meeting. Adam honestly didn’t mind. Roger saw the business as a tool and had never understood Adam’s need to keep their father’s legacy afloat.

In a silent reminder of her support, Karen touched the back of Adam’s hand as they rode the elevator up to one of the top floors. They settled into the conference room a few minutes later. He thought of his chance encounter with Jackie in the hallway outside and wondered if he might see him again. He wasn’t sure he wanted to. Today of all days, he didn’t need the flurry of emotions pulling his focus from what mattered.

“Breathe,” Karen said. “It’s going to be fine.”

He smiled at her and got up from his seat. He stalked over to the window and gazed out over the city. Below, the cars reminded him of the racing sets he’d loved as a kid—the ones he’d moved around and around until the batteries wore down.

He smiled at the memory. What would you do, Dad? He wondered if his father would have cared as much about saving the company as he did. Was it wrong to want to save it, if it was the only real connection he still had to his father?

You know that’s not true. The house was as much his father’s legacy as the company. Call a duck a duck. You want this because it’s your company now.

“I can read your thoughts all the way over here,” Karen said from behind him. He hadn’t even noticed that she’d gotten up.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” She squeezed his shoulder. “You’re doing this for all of us, Addy. But it’s okay to do it for yourself too.”

“Thanks,” he murmured as he hugged her tight. “I couldn’t have done this without your support.”

“That’s what I’m here for.”

“GOOD to see you again, Adam,” Phil Langham said as he entered the conference room ten minutes later with John Morgan and his usual retinue of baby-faced interns in tow. At the back of the group, Roger appeared ill at ease and wouldn’t look directly at Adam.

It’ll be okay. We’ll work on putting the pieces back together when this is over with. However it goes.

Adam was both relieved and disappointed that Jackie hadn’t shown up to the meeting. As he shook Phil’s hand, he steeled himself and forced back the image of Phil and Jackie together. He needed to be clearheaded for this meeting.

“Phil. John. Good to see you too. This is my sister, Karen Carter.”

“Ms. Carter.”

Adam finally caught Roger’s eye. He offered Roger a reassuring smile and hoped Roger would take it as he’d meant it: from one brother to another. Roger paled and looked away.

They shook hands and sat around the table. Outside the window of the conference room, a helicopter followed a line of barely moving traffic and the sun already glinted off the windows of nearby buildings.

“Shall we get down to business?” Phil asked as he sat at the head of the table.

“Of course.” Adam met Phil’s gaze unflinchingly. “But I don’t think there’s much to discuss.”

“Is there a problem?” Phil asked, unfazed.

As if you don’t know! The man irritated the hell out of him. “My mother gave me her proxy,” Adam said, speaking the words as he’d practiced them in his hotel room the night before. “I control 68 percent of Prestco’s stock. We’re not interested in selling.”

Phil’s smile was pleasant, but seeing the self-satisfied look on John’s face, Adam wondered if he’d been outplayed. He schooled his features and waited for Phil’s response.

“That’s unfortunate,” Phil said and gestured to John, who handed him a folder with a number of documents inside. “I think you may change your mind once you read these.”

John distributed the documents around the table, eliciting something between a gasp and a growl from Karen. Legal documents. Entech Inc. vs. Prestco Inc. and Adam Preston, individually. The complaint alleged patent infringement.

At the other end of the table, Roger looked confused. Well, that’s something, at least. Adam would have hated to think Roger would stoop this low.

“You’re joking,” Karen hissed as she paged through the complaint. “My brother developed those apps. We’ve filed all the appropriate documents.”

“That’s not what our records show,” John said almost gleefully. “In fact, we believe there’s evidence that your brother stole the ideas for the apps in question from Entech’s server.”

Fuckers. Adam inhaled slowly and willed himself not to shout. That wouldn’t help here. “You have nothing,” he said when he was sure he had his anger under wraps. “And you know it.”

“Then you’ll just have to prove it, won’t you?” John said.

“You know damn well what litigating these claims will cost,” Karen snapped.

Defending claims like this would exhaust all their reserves. Sure, if they could hold out, they’d prevail in court. “It’s perfect,” Adam said. “Perfect blackmail. You keep us tied up in court, and in the meantime we’re squeezed out of business.”

“Wait a minute,” Roger said, his face pale with recognition. “You said that you’d make sure the deal went through. You didn’t say you were going to blackmail my family to get it done.”

“It’s hardly blackmail,” Phil said. “It’s a reasonable claim, and when it’s properly filed, Prestco will have ample opportunity to prove that the app designs were your brother’s. If, of course, they really are.”

“Of course they’re his,” Roger shouted. “It’s why you want the company, because of what he can do. But if you make us prove they’re his—”

The door to the conference room swung open. “Mr. Roth, Mr. Langham is in a private meeting. I really don’t think—”

“It’s fine,” Jackie Roth told the woman, his voice calm, reassuring. “I’m sure Mr. Langham doesn’t mind if I sit in. Do you, Phil?”

“Of course not.” Phil motioned to an empty chair at the side of the table, but Jackie waited at the head. Phil’s cheeks reddened, but he said nothing, instead vacating his seat and moving to the chair he’d offered to Jackie.

“Thank you.” Jackie glanced at Adam. “Good to see you, Mr. Preston.”

“And you.” Adam had no idea what to say. He was tempted to give Jonah, or whoever he was, a piece of his mind, but he thought better of it. He’d wait and see whether Jackie was friend or foe.

“So,” Jackie continued, retrieving one of the documents from the table and paging through it. “It seems we have a problem here.”

“The only problem,” Adam said with barely controlled rage, “is that your company is trying to steal my family’s business.”

“Is that true, Phil?” Jackie asked calmly.

To his credit, Phil didn’t squirm, although John did. “We’ve done nothing more than make Prestco aware that we believe they have stolen Entech’s work.”

“I see.” Jonah raised a quizzical eyebrow. He appeared almost amused.

“Jonah,” Adam warned, forgetting himself, “you know that’s not true. You can’t honestly believe—”

“He isn’t Jonah,” Phil said. He sat straighter in his chair and appeared quite pleased with himself.

“Does it matter who I am?” Jackie countered casually. “The truth is the truth.” Adam expected more bullshit, but instead Jackie tore the document in half. “And this is a bald-faced lie. Last time I checked,” he added, “it was also a crime.”

“Jackie, I—”

“You’ve said enough, Phil,” Jackie admonished. He turned back to Adam and said, “It’s my understanding that the Prestons aren’t interested in selling. Is that true?”

“Yes. We aren’t interested in selling,” Adam said cautiously. What the hell was Jackie—or was it Jonah—up to?

“Then I believe this meeting is over. Isn’t it, Phil?” Jackie stood and opened the door. He waited there until Phil, John, and the other Entech employees left the room, then said, “Good to see you again, Adam,” and closed the door behind him.

For a moment none of them spoke. Roger looked absolutely terrified. Karen looked deep in thought. Finally Adam said, “What the fuck just happened here?”

“Deal’s off, apparently,” Karen said as a grin spread over her face.

“Addy,” Roger said, his voice trembling, “I’m so sorry. I had no idea. I thought….”

“It’s okay.” Adam got up and put his hand on Roger’s shoulder. “I know you had nothing to do with that bullshit.”

“It’s over. Oh, thank God.” She winked at Adam. “I really have to pee.”

Adam stared at her, uncomprehending.

“Levity, baby brother,” she told Adam. “Pregnant women. You know, we have to pee constantly?”

Adam rubbed his jaw. “And I’ve just signed on to keep working with you? I need a drink.”

“Are you going to talk to him?” she asked.

“Jackie?” No, Jonah.

“Who else?” She laughed and shook her head.

“Are you going to be all right?” he asked Roger, who looked as though he might be sick.

Roger nodded. “I’m fine. Just feeling like an idiot right now.”

“Roger and I can talk while you’re gone,” Karen said. “Go on. You need to see him.”

He supposed she was right. He needed to set things straight with Jonah, even if it was just to say thank you. “I guess so. Yes. Wait for me in the lobby?”

“After I find the bathroom,” she quipped.

“Come home to Napa for the weekend?” Adam asked Roger.

Roger seemed to hesitate, then said, “Okay.”

Adam inhaled slowly, then hugged him. “Good. I’ve missed having you around.”

Karen smiled at him before walking over to Roger and rubbing his shoulders. “I’ve got this,” she mouthed and gestured to the doorway. Adam waved and headed out the door, then to the elevators and up to the thirty-second floor.