He nodded, eager to please. “Absolutely. I think the acquisition will go through—”
“It’s already done, but the rest of your company will move here next month. That said, I have the people I want here now. We’ll be moving each of you to departments of need as Gloria said. Today, we have more onboarding that is personalized to your job descriptions.”
Gloria handed out files and more of my team appeared.
“My people will get everyone up to speed and show them to their departments. Most of you won’t be in this office. I have a very small team operating in here, personnel I need direct access to at all times. Every office throughout this building is a part of our family though. Remember that you’re one of us now. Welcome aboard Stonewood Enterprises, where the sky’s the limit for some, but not us.”
My canned welcome earned genuine smiles, but Vick’s was just as fake as my welcome. That woman wanted to roll her eyes at me, I knew it.
I turned on my heel and went back to my office. This was a normal day for me. We acquired companies all the time.
The only abnormal part was that I’d seated Vick and Stevie at two desks directly in front of my glass office. Gloria didn’t question why I wanted an associate lawyer and small business owner there. She eyed me with curiosity when I’d informed her of my decision though.
I wondered too. I told myself that after examining Vick’s file—which I did every now and again for new employees—I’d seen brilliance in her: she’d received a near-perfect score on her LSAT, turned down Harvard for a small school, and her mother used to run a Fortune 500 company. Having her on my team might be beneficial, but then again, I had Harvard graduates milling about in other offices.
So, maybe I was thinking with my dick that day too.
I saw most everyone peeling away from Vick and Stevie as they followed their mentors to the elevators. When the two of them were left with Gloria, I watched her give them the news. A high laugh burst from Stevie, a boy not able to control his emotions at all.
Vick’s amber gaze cut across the room to my office like a razor, catching me staring at her. She shook her head no and informed Gloria of the mistake.
“I’m just a junior associate. Surely Mark or John should be in this space.”
“I’m not mistaken,” Gloria replied. “Your desk is this way.”
Vick glared at me as she followed Gloria to a desk that was in my perfect line of vision. Stevie was directed to sit across from her. As Gloria gave them more instructions about their day, those amber eyes stayed glued to mine. She assessed the situation while I assessed her.
Game on, Pixie.
I headed back to my desk, determined to focus on work. My father’s number popped up on my cell as I sat down. I pressed the privacy button and the windows of my office tinted black so that no one could see in.
“Yeah, Pops?” I answered.
He sighed, “I could have been patching you on an important conference call.”
“And they all would have appreciated the father-son camaraderie.”
My dad’s laugh rumbled through the phone. “More like they wouldn’t have said shit to a Stonewood.”
I grunted in agreement. “What do you need?”
“We have signatures from the Armanelli family still?”
I glanced at my privacy button to make sure the light glowed red, indicating the room’s soundproofing had kicked in before I answered. “Why?”
“They’ll be trying to squeeze more from everyone in Chicago soon.”
“Bastian and I are good. They won’t ask us.”
“Bastian’s dad heads up Chicago, Jett. He doesn’t answer to his boy.” His tone wasn’t lost on me.
“Dad, making a fucking point through them to me won’t help you. You need to hand over the reins if you’re not going to steer Stonewood Enterprises with a clear head.”
“My head’s always been this clear.”
I turned to look out of my window at the lake Chicago abutted. The water shimmered in the distance, ever-changing yet always the same. “You keep up, I’ll give you that, old man. You don’t want to though. Your heart’s not in it. Mine still is.”
“Your heart was always in it. It’s a damn watch ticking to the beat of work. I’m not sure anything will ever jam up those cogs either.”