"I’m here to save the company, not make idle chitchat, and time is of the essence."
Cade rolled his eyes. "Yes, but it's not that limited that you can’t say hi to your team. Don't be an asshole."
"I'm efficient. Once I get a handle on things, there’ll be time for a meet and greet later."
"How does anyone hire you to do anything?" Gabe asked.
"Because I'm very good at my job. No one cares about interpersonal skills as long as I save their company, which I do."
"Well, you’re a Whitley, and this is Whitley Advertising. People are going to expect a bit of a familiarity in your approach, not you storming in here, cutting everyone's heads off."
They both stared at me. They weren't going to let it go.
"Fine."
"How very gracious of you," Cade said under his breath. "Come on, let's go."
For the next twenty minutes, I was introduced to everyone on the management team. Many of them were part of the old guard, as I liked to call it. They'd been here for two decades and probably knew the company inside out. In my experience, those loyal employees were a wealth of information. Despite what I'd told my brothers, I knew I had to find out what made everyone tick—who was indispensable and who was not. Who made the right decisions and who didn't. I could only do that by knowing the team.
I wondered which of them had worked for my father and if any of them knew he'd been cheating on my mother. Not that it mattered; bygones were bygones.
I was already off to a bad start. If my thoughts spiraled in that direction, it wouldn't do anyone any good—least of all me.
"And here is your office," Gabe said. We stepped inside a huge room.
"It’s very spacious," I said appreciatively. "Thanks, brother."
"I relocated the manager who had this office. It’s the biggest one available, and I know you like your space."
"Thank you. I appreciate this."
"Everything for Jake," Cade said. “In case it’s not obvious, we want to convince you to stay in Boston. We like having you here. And besides, only you can turn the company around. The rest of us can manage businesses, but this one needs an overhaul. That’s your expertise”
“I already said yes.”
Cade nodded. “But we want tokeepyou here.”
“I’m not going to bail. I promised Grandfather I’ll help.”
Cade smirked. “That was your first mistake. Promising before you saw the financial documents.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll see soon enough.”
"What about someplace to stay?" Gabe asked. "How long are you going to camp at the Four Seasons?"
"I'm comfortable there." I walked over to the desk, pulling back the leather chair and sitting in it. My brothers took the two chairs in front of the desk and brought them next to me, one on each side. We could go through reports easier this way.
"Are any of our condos free?" I asked.
"Three of them," Cade said instantly. Our family kept them mostly for business partners. Whenever someone came into town for a longer period, they offered them a place to stay for the duration of their meetings. "You plan to move into one of those?"
I just wanted to know all the options for Natalie.
My thoughts were consumed by her, and I couldn't deny the pull I felt toward her. I’d become aware of it at Martha's Vineyard and couldn’t let go. I didn’t know if it was her unabashed ability to challenge me, or the fact that she genuinely wanted to make my grandmother happy. It seemed to be more than a job to her.
"Do any of you have contacts with security companies?" I asked.