“I don’t understand,” John Burleigh said. He seemed deeply offended and a little bewildered. “Why did you insist that Xavier and his parents be present for this meeting? They are not involved in this matter. And there was no need for all of these strangers, either. This was supposed to be a private business meeting between you and me.”
Cabot looked around at the crowd that had gathered in the reception area of Cutler, Sutter & Salinas. Virginia lounged against the edge of Anson’s desk, her arms folded. Anson was in his chair behind the desk.
Xavier’s mother, Melissa, was perched tensely on one of the two client chairs. Everyone else, including Burleigh, Reed Stephens, Xavier, Emerson Kennington and Cabot, was standing.
“To be clear,” Cabot said, “Virginia, Anson and my lawyer, Mr. Stephens, are present because I wanted lots of witnesses. As for Xavier and his parents, they’re involved in this thing, so I figured they should be present.”
“I thought you agreed to sign the documents that I sent to you,” Burleigh said firmly.
“No, I agreed to take a look at them,” Cabot said. “And naturally I showed them to my lawyer.”
Reed Stephens cleared his throat politely. “That would be me.”
“I see.” Burleigh’s jaw hardened. But he opened his briefcase and took out a folder. “We might as well get on with this meeting. I have four copies of the agreement for you to sign, Mr. Sutter. Two of the parties present can serve as witnesses. I have a cashier’s check for the agreed-upon amount already made out.”
He held up the check.
“That’s a very nice visual aid,” Cabot said. “But there was no agreed-upon amount. You made an offer. After due consideration I have decided not to accept it.”
Xavier grunted in approval. “I told you they were going to try to screw you.”
“Yes, you did mention that,” Cabot said. “And my lawyer confirmed it.”
Emerson Kennington gave Cabot a baleful glare. “What kind of game are you trying to play, Sutter? Whatever it is, I guarantee I’ll fight you every step of the way.”
Reed looked at him. “I have been assured that the terms of the late Mr. Kennington’s estate are quite clear. My client, Cabot Sutter, is to inherit his mother’s share of Kennington International.”
“We have made a serious offer to buy out Cabot Sutter’s shares of the business,” Burleigh said smoothly. “There is, of course, room for negotiation. What number did you have in mind, Mr. Sutter?”
“I’m not much into negotiation,” Cabot said. “But I am willing to do a deal.”
“Name your price,” Burleigh said evenly.
“I’ve asked Mr. Stephens to draw up a document that transfers half of my shares of the business to Xavier, his sister and my other cousins. Those shares will be divided equally among them. Naturally, Melissa Kennington will hold Xavier’s and his sister’s shares in trust and administer them until the kids turn twenty-one. I intend to sign the document in front of all of you today.” He smiled at Burleigh. “Plenty of witnesses that way.”
With the exceptions of Virginia, Anson and Reed, the news was met with stunned expressions.
Emerson Kennington recovered first.
“You can’t do this,” he sputtered. “All of those shares should have come to me in the first place. My father never intended for Jacqueline to inherit. He cut her out of the will the day she ran off with your father.”
“And later, at some point, he put Cabot into the will,” Reed said. “What’s more, he did it in the form of a trust that is very well constructed. You can fight us if you want, but I’m sure Mr. Burleigh will tell you the simple truth – wills are broken all the time, but it’s virtually impossible to dismantle a solidly protected trust.”
“You don’t have to do this,” Melissa Kennington said to Cabot. She shook her head and locked her fingers together. “In fact, you shouldn’t do it. Your mother would have wanted you to inherit all of her shares of Kennington International.”
“Mom’s right,” Xavier said. He shot to his feet. “You shouldn’t give me and the others any of your shares. That’s not fair.”
“Turns out,” Cabot said, “that my mother was part of a small group of women who left me and the other surviving children of Zane’s operation a very handsome inheritance. Evidently, Mom got the Kennington family talent for handling money. If she were alive, she would probably be running Kennington International today. Trust me when I tell you that I won’t starve.”
They hadn’t found a huge fortune in the offshore account, not by Kennington family standards, and it was going to be divided eight ways among the adult children of the cult, but that still meant a nice round number with a lot of zeros after it for all of them.
“We need to discuss this in more detail,” Burleigh said quickly. “There are extenuating circumstances here. As I’m sure you’re aware, Emerson Kennington and Melissa Kennington are currently in the process of dissolving their marriage. The situation is complicated.”
“Yeah, I heard about the divorce,” Cabot said. “That kind of thing can get messy. But fortunately for all of us, there is nothing complicated about the document that my lawyer has ready for me to sign.”
“Let’s talk about this,” Emerson Kennington said.
“What’s to talk about? I have every right to make a financial gift to my cousins. This way if your next wife takes you to the cleaners, as everyone seems to think will be the case, you won’t have to worry about Xavier and your other kids. They’ll be protected. Consider this a win-win.”
“I have every intention of taking care of my own children, damn it.” Emerson shot a quick look at Xavier. “I’ve made that clear to Melissa and her lawyer.”
“I’m sure you have the best of intentions,” Cabot said. “But evidently you weren’t willing to put those intentions in writing.”
“That is a matter to be settled by Melissa and me.”
“There’s plenty of stuff for you and Melissa to work out,” Cabot said. “But this way there won’t be any question of Xavier and his siblings receiving a share of the company.”
Reed opened his own briefcase, took out a folder and handed it to Cabot. “You’re sure you want to do this?”
“Absolutely certain,” Cabot said. He looked at Xavier and winked. “Never let it be said that I can’t do family drama as well as the rest of the Kenningtons.”
Xavier grimaced. “Guess I’ve been a real pain in the ass for you.”
“It’s okay,” Cabot said. “You’re family.”