Chapter 1

Ryan

Much could be said about hating Mondays, but as I walked into my office for the last minute board meeting, my week was off to a rocky start.

“Here’s your coffee, sir, and there will be donuts and fruit in the boardroom. Mr. Weaver is in your office.” I took Gina’s hand off of my coffee as she opened my door and then closed me and my best friend, Jason inside.

“Hey, man. I hope you’re ready for a beating.” Jason lounged in front of my desk with a grin. If anyone understood my distaste for board meetings it was my friend of twenty years. We’d know each other since we were twelve years old and there wasn’t anyone on the planet who knew me better.

“Yeah, thanks. That’s what I need for keeping you around all these years. Remind me why I do it?” I lowered myself into my leather chair and spun around to face my city view. It was much more appealing than Jason’s pretty-boy mug, and it reminded me that as CEO of Walker Industries there was an awful long way to fall.

I’d inherited the view from my father, Douglas Walker, and after taking the company public, which meant gaining shareholders, he and the other seniors on the board had their balls in a twist.

“You keep me around to have your back, which I will no matter what.” He glanced at his gold watch that matched his hair and grimaced. “Looks like you’re on in five. We better walk down.”

“Dammit. You’d think being the boss I’d get to sit for ten minutes.” I grabbed my coffee, and the two of us headed out. Jason flashed Gina a wink, clicking his tongue in the process, which earned him a sideward glare from me.

“Don’t mess with Gina. She’s a good girl and off limits. I’m putting a ban on all secretaries in my offices, so you’ll have to go find yourself a nurse or a stewardess; maybe a nice school teacher.”

“I’d prefer a naughty librarian, or maybe a sexy lawyer.” He slapped a hand on my back. “You’re the one needing to get a life, man. What kind of woman are you looking for?”

“I see plenty of women. As if I don’t have enough problems?” I stopped down the hall from the boardroom and pushed my coffee cup at Jason so I could straighten my tie, collar, and cuffs. I couldn’t walk in looking like I’d slept in my suit from a night out partying, which is the perception that some of the men still had of me; the one’s who’d known me since I was a gangly kid hanging around my father’s office with my brother David.

He had died eight years ago when I’d lost control of my car on the way home from a concert and ran off the road. The car had flipped, and a piece of glass had sliced through his carotid artery. He’d bled out before help arrived and died right beside me while I was pinned in, helpless to save him.

I shoved the memory down to a dark place in my soul as I continued down the hall staring at the floor until the walls turned to windows. I glanced over and eyed the other men who had gathered around the table and cringed knowing they must have something important in mind to call for an emergency meeting.

It wasn’t like they were blindsiding me, I knew they wanted to talk about the latest environmental reports that had been plastered all over the news, but what worried me wasn’t the why of it as much as what they intended to do about it. Any issue that went to a vote would most likely be in their favor over mine, and that was because of my father’s influence.

I noticed him sitting right on the opposite end of the table from where I’d be, and as a matter of perspective, it would be hard to tell which one of us was actually at the head. He wasn’t fooling me. I knew he liked that way.

Jason opened the door, and I strolled past him into the room where I was greeted by the others as I passed heading for the other end of the table. “Good to see you all so bright and early, gentleman.” Mrs. Cassian cleared her throat. “Madam, it’s good to see you as well.” I gave her a warm smile even though she looked as if her face would crack if she returned the expression and just as I suspected, she didn’t.

“Good to see you, son,” said my father, his voice rising above all the others. “Mr. Donahue is going to give the reason for our little get together.”

“That would be wonderful.” I turned my head to the gray-haired man who had always looked like a real-life version of the Monopoly man.

Mr. Donahue had been with the company since the early days and was one of my father’s very first employees. He cleared his throat and held up a newspaper from the week before. “Our meeting today is in light of this article written last week. It seems Walker Industries is getting a lot of negative attention that is not only going to damage our reputation, but it’s going to cause us to lose our shareholders, which will be least of our worries once the government gets done with us.”

“You didn’t ask us here for a recap, so what are you proposing?” I wanted to cut to the chase. Too much critique and my father was going to get wound up. Far be it from him to let anyone else ridicule when he could have the honor. He’d been hard on me my entire life and especially since David’s death.

“There are many of us who believe it’s time to bring in our own environmentalist. Someone from the outside who cannot be seen as biased in any way.”

“So you’re saying our own environmentalist, which we spend hundreds of thousands a year employing isn't enough?”

My father cleared his throat and squared his shoulders. “We just think this particular situation calls for someone that the public can’t see having an agenda.”

Jason spoke up. “Couldn’t this cause a bit of dissension with the team on staff? That’s no way to show confidence in an already difficult time.” He had a point and not only that, but I could end up losing important relationships and trust if things went wrong.

“I’m not sure this is our best recourse. Why don’t I have our guys hire someone new” We could bring in a new face, someone who’s going to be fresh on the case but won’t squash any toes.”

My father waved his hand dismissively. “Absolutely not. It wouldn’t do any good. I know you want to protect that one department, but a well-rounded businessman like me knows it’s much better to protect the reputation as a whole. People are claiming they’re being poisoned from their drinking water which is a serious issue. I’m sure those boys on your environment team will understand it’s just good business.”

I clenched my jaw so hard I was surprised it didn’t snap, but then I took a slow deep breath so they wouldn’t notice I was rattled. My father never had any confidence in me, but this wasn’t the time to sort out family issues. I would also ignore the attempt to make seem heartless. As if I didn’t care about people and their drinking water? That’s why I’d hired an environmental team in the first place. “I don’t think it’s good business to go against the grain when there’s a less abrasive way to handle this.”

My father waved his hand as if I were a fly he could shew away. “I say we take a vote. We could be here all morning going back and forth, and quite frankly I have a ten o’clock tee time I’m determined to make.” My father gave a smug chuckle and eased back in his seat.

“Yes, let’s,” said Mr. Donahue, smiling at my father, his long-time buddy. I had no doubts that the two of them had this all orchestrated beforehand and I was prepared to lose to them. I usually did. My father’s influence was still powerful in the company even though I’m the one who had taken us to the billions.

“All in favor?” Mr. Donahue spoke out across the table, taking note of the hands that already gave them the majority. “Opposed?” There were a few hands raised beside mine and Jason’s but like it or not. My father would get his way once again.

“It’s a majority rule,” my father announced as if it weren’t painfully obvious. “We’ve already gone through a list of candidates, but one, in particular, we’re going to send over for you to meet. She comes highly recommended.”

Great, just what I needed, some tree-hugging, ninny consultant getting into my business and pissing off the team. “Fine. If that’s everything?” I glanced around the table meeting the other’s eyes with a glare. As their eyes turned away from mine, my anger grew. But there was nothing I could do but deal with it. “Then the meeting is adjourned. Thank you and have a nice day.”

I sat there as the room cleared; all but Jason and me. “Sorry, man. I saw that coming.”

“Yeah, my father is a bit predictable. He would have never talked to David that way. He’s always trying to make me look small in front of his friends as if he’s not content enough to sit back and let me shine. Sure, I get it, it should have been David’s place, but I don’t know what to do to fix that, you know? What do I say? Sorry?” Jason shook his head. He’d always avoided saying too much when I brought up David as if knowing it was better to let me vent. But then again what did you say the guy responsible for killing his brother?

I caught my breath and tried to calm down. “I can’t believe he found a woman. I bet she’s a real ball buster too.”

“She might not be that bad. Maybe she’s a naughty environmentalist.” His eyes brightened as a grin spread his lips. “If that’s the case, I call dibs.”

“I wouldn’t get too excited. I could never be so lucky.”