Cash
I’m not looking forward to this conversation, but Jules is out having dinner with her friend, so I can’t use her as an excuse to put off this visit with my father. He isn’t going to like what I have to tell him. The estate is dark and quiet. I don’t know where Mom is, but I find my father alone in the study nursing a glass of bourbon.
“How’s your wife?” he asks, looking up from the latest issue of Forbes magazine.
“She’s awake.”
“Blackwell called me about an hour ago.”
“So you know about the murder charge?”
Taking a sip of his drink, he nods. “Your wife got herself into a load of trouble. I’ve called for an emergency meeting with the Board tomorrow.”
As I settle into the leather chair next to him, I grit my teeth. “You could have left it to me.” All the phone calls and scheduling of press conferences, and now this. He launched me to CEO last year, but when it comes down to it, he doesn’t trust me to do the job.
He waves away the objection. “You were busy clearing your head, remember?”
“Don’t use my personal life as an excuse to act like I’m a damn puppet. It’s getting old.”
“Then I suppose you won’t like that I called for a press conference as well.”
“I guess it’ll be as good a time as any to announce that Monica and I are divorcing.”
He lets out an exasperated sigh. “This idea of yours is getting exhausting, Cash. There is no way in hell I’ll allow you to risk the future of MontBlake. You’d better pray Monica is willing to look past your infidelity in trade for your support through the legal mess she made.”
“She’s already agreed to grant me a divorce. She also agreed to step down as Chairperson.”
His eyes go wide. “The Blakes won’t support it.”
“They won’t have a choice. Upon the divorce, our family will gain majority share of MontBlake.”
My father isn’t speechless often, but he’s gaping at me now, lips moving to form words.
“Get real, Cash. Ned will never allow the transfer of those shares.”
“He will if he wants to stay out of jail for extortion.”
“What in the world are you talking about?”
“He blackmailed Monica into plotting a takeover of the company. She’s willing to make this right, and considering what he did was illegal, I don’t see him putting up a fight.”
He gets up, drink in hand, and paces the study. “What did he have on her?”
“Did you know she was involved with Kaden?”
He finishes off the amber liquid in his glass, and the lack of shock on his face answers my question. “What does your brother have to do with this?”
“She was pregnant when she went to Paris. She gave their child up for adoption without telling him. Ned was going to tell Kade everything if Monica didn’t agree to his scheme to coup a takeover.”
With a harsh thump, Dad drops the empty tumbler onto a side table. “I knew he wanted to get his hands on the company, but I didn’t think he’d go this far.” He pauses, and his shrewd gaze lands on me. “What else did Monica disclose?”
“You mean did she tell me about your affair with Roni?”
A grunt accompanied by a furrow between his brows is his only answer.
“She told me everything.” I rise and stand face-to-face with him. “And now you’re going to tell Mom about the affair.”
“So quick to judge,” he scoffs. “What makes you think your mother doesn’t already know?”
“She knows?”
“We’ve been sleeping in separate bedrooms for years. I’m not the only one screwing other people.” He wanders over to the crystal decanter and pours me two fingers of bourbon. “We have an understanding. Your mother and I know what’s important.” He hands me the tumbler before reclaiming his seat by the fireplace where the glow of gas-lit logs cast the room in warm tones.
“The company,” I answer with a curl of my lip. “Always the goddamn company.” I move to take a sip then think twice about it. Jules has already been confronted with one drunken asshole tonight. I’m not about to add to the tab.
“Yes, the company, but also family, Cash. Your mother and I might not have the type of marriage you approve of, but we still respect each other.”
I can’t help but gape at him. “So you’re saying you and Mom have an open marriage?”
“Yes, for many years now, and this is why I know you and Monica can make it work.”
“I’m not you, Dad. Zero respect remains between Monica and me. She couldn’t even tell me the truth until she got cornered into it. Our marriage is dead and has been for a long time.”
“You’re positive this is what you want?”
“Yes. I’m in love with someone else, and Monica…she still has feelings for Kaden.”
“This isn’t how I envisioned things would end.”
“You and me both.”
“And you’re sure Ned won’t be a problem?”
I lean forward, confronting my father head-on. “You need to trust me to do my job. Ned Blake will pay for what he’s done. I will protect the company.”
“I sense a ‘but’ in there somewhere, son.”
“But I’m not your puppet.” I set the untouched drink onto the table next to his then slide my wedding band off my finger. “It’s time to cut the strings, Dad.” The ring drops to the table next to the glasses. “If you want to keep me on as CEO, then it’s time you started enjoying retirement.”