“Can’t help myself since I’m always right. I like to show off,” Emma said with a cheeky grin.
“As if,” Cari said. “I think I just need a break. Thanks, sis. I’ll ride down in the elevator with you.”
The ride in the elevator was short, but when she got off Cari felt like a changed woman. So much had been out of her control since Dec had arrived, not only the takeover but her own personal life, though she realized that it was only her perception. She was still the confident woman she’d grown into since the birth of her son. Having Dec back here, just down the hall from her, changed nothing.
“I thought you were out of here,” Ally said when she walked back into the office.
“I just needed a break,” Cari said. She knew the takeover was hard enough on her staff without her running every time things got tough.
“Changed my mind,” Cari said. “I think we need an all-staff meeting. Send a global email and tell them to meet in the cafeteria at two this afternoon. Get the cafeteria staff to set up cookies and sodas. I’m going to introduce Dec and talk about the takeover. I will take questions but only on general topics.”
“Are you sure you want to do that? People are acting crazy,” Ally said.
“I know. That’s why we need to do this. Maybe if we get it all out in the open it will be better.”
“All what?”
“That there will be staff reductions and the best way for them to save their jobs is to do them instead of coming to me,” Cari said. “I’m going down to talk to Dec.”
“I think Mr. McKinney is in there with him,” Ally said.
“His cousin? Why is he here?” Cari asked.
“I don’t know. Perhaps we should bug the conference room,” Ally said with an arched eyebrow.
“I don’t think that’s a solution,” Cari said.
“Well, it would make it easier to find out who is on the chopping block,” Ally said.
“It’s also illegal.”
“Picky picky,” Ally said.
She just smiled at her assistant as she went into her office to gather her thoughts before heading down to see Dec. She jotted down some business questions about reduction targets and the deadline to make all of them. But as she stared down at her own handwriting, she realized she had other questions. Maybe that was why she was so restless.
She wanted to know what he expected from dating her and if he’d be kissing her again. And as soon as she identified what her true worries were, she felt better. She wanted him, and this morning seeing him holding DJ had only made him more attractive to her. He didn’t seem like a loner or a man who would abandon her a second time.
And that was very dangerous thinking.
* * *
Dec leaned back in the leather chair he’d had brought over from his office at Playtone and looked at his cousin, trying to gauge why he’d stopped by. Allan was thirty-five like Dec but was two inches shorter and looked a lot like the Montrose family with his thick dark hair and silver-colored eyes. He was an avid outdoorsman and always had a tan, not hard to achieve in California.
“Why are you here?” Dec said when they finished discussing the current lineup of the Lakers. The cousins had season tickets to floor seats and were anticipating a good year when the season started. “I doubt you came over here to discuss the Lakers.”
“Too true. Kell thinks you’re tired from Australia and don’t have your head in the game,” Allan said.
“Why does he think that? I’ve been sending him reports since I hit the ground. He’s just anxious and acting like a maniac.”
“I agree. But I told him I’d stop by and check it out.”
“Well, you have, so I guess we’re done.”
“Not yet. The assistant to the COO practically glared a hole through me.”
“It’s safe to say the staff aren’t happy that we’ve acquired them. Some of them are downright belligerent but I can handle it. Most of the companies we take over are the same,” Dec said.
“But Kell feels so personal about this one,” Allan said.
“I know,” Dec said, pushing his chair back. “Do you? I know that I’m kind of not as involved in the rivalry as you both were. I mean, my mother could have cared less what happened to Gregory. She saw her money as the solution.”
“It was a solution, but not the one Grandfather ultimately wanted,” Allan said. “I think your dad was sick of the rivalry, too. That’s why—”
“He married an heiress,” Dec filled in. “I know it is. He said as much when he was drinking. Why couldn’t the old man let it go?”