Evelyn scoffed. “Important? This company meanteverythingto him. He ate, slept, and breathed it.”
Reginald smiled at her and warmth filled his eyes. “I know.” He turned his gaze to Billy and Poppy. “I considered your offer for about a minute and a half. My apologies, but I will have to decline.”
“Why?” Poppy’s eyes grew twice their size. “Did we not offer you enough money? We’ll raise it. Whatever you want.”
Once again, he held a hand up to silence her. “This isn’t about money. This is about doing right by an old friend. Theodore.” He looked at Billy. “I love you, William, like a son. You know that. But I cannot give you the stock in good conscience, because your wife is trying to push you to be something you are not. I’m sorry, William. Your wife is a gold-digging opportunist.”
Poppy gasped.
Billy sank down in his chair a few inches.
Reginald locked eyes with Chase next. “When we spoke a few weeks ago, I had every intention of selling the stock to you.”
A terrible feeling of dread overwhelmed Chase, and he suspected he was about to get bad news. Reginald was about to tell them all that he was selling his stock to Evelyn, their mother. That would give her thirty shares. She couldn’t do anything on her own, but if she hooked up with Billy and his wife, they could wreak havoc with his plans for the company.
Reginald explained his decision with a soulful look for Chase. “If I sold you my stock, you would have sixty percent, and no one could ever disagree with you again. Your father didn’t even believe thatheshould have the lion’s share. He always said it was good for a man to have others to balance him out.”
Chase shrugged, while Poppy beamed at Evelyn. She probably thought she could get their mother on Billy’s side whenever she wanted something done. Chase knew better than to argue with Reginald. Once he made his mind up about something, he stuck to it.
“I considered you, dear Evelyn, the best-case scenario,” Reginald said. “But then I realized you would be caught between your sons. Every time a vote came around, they’d both be pulling on you, and that wouldn’t be good for your family. So, I decided not to give the stock to you either.”
“But that’s all of us.” Evelyn shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“You can’t sell to someone outside the family,” Poppy said. “The agreement you signed clearly states you have to sell the stock to a Grayson.”
“True,” Reginald said. “However, it doesn’t state which Grayson I have to sell it to, so I chose to give my stock to Katie Grayson.”
Four voices shouted her name at the same time. “Katie?!”
Chase couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Why would Reginald sell his stock to a girl who had been a Grayson for less than a year? Was he trying to stir up trouble on his way out?
To be fair, Reginald didn’t know the marriage was a temporary matter. “What happens if we divorce?” Chase asked.
All eyes swung in Reginald’s direction, eager for the answer.
“The shares would be spread out equally among the remaining members of the family.” Reginald came around the table with his hand extended, so Chase stood. While they shook hands, Reginald pinned him with a steely gaze. “If you let that lovely girl get away, you are a fool, son. She is one of a kind.”
Chase nodded in agreement. He had already figured that out, but Katie was still in love with her deceased husband. He’d caught her staring longingly at her old wedding photos, and he couldn’t compete with a ghost. There was also the chance that he couldn’t love her the way she deserved.
Reginald left the room after a bittersweet goodbye to them all.
“I knew it,” Poppy said with extra venom the second the door closed. “I knew she was digging for gold.”
“Shut up,” Chase said.
“Are you going to let him talk to me like that, Billy?”
Her husband, his brother, sank down further in his chair.
Poppy glared at him before scowling at Chase. “Bury your head in the sand then. You’re blinded by love. The fact is, that little secretary of yours just made herself a stronger player than your mom and your brother. Maybe I should ask her for some pointers.”
Usually, he tried not to listen when Poppy talked, but she could have a point. Maybe he was too close to Katie to see what she was doing. He would bet money she didn’t care about power or the Grayson name, but she had both now. She was a Grayson with thirty percent stock, more than his mother, more than his brother, and almost as much as him.
If all she wanted was a baby, why hadn’t she told him about the stock?
Why hadn’t she refused to take it?
His worst nightmare when it came to marriage seemed to be coming true right before his eyes. It was possible he didn’t know Katie at all. Look at Billy. His brother’s wife was an obvious gold-digger, but Billy didn’t see that. He was blind when it came to Poppy. What if the same thing was happening to him?