Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
I knew that was going to piss off the board, because they were very prompt, and wanted the meeting to end on time so they could get out of the office.
That was why I always pushed to have it late in the afternoon. One, even if we only took an hour, by the time that we were done, five o’clock rush-hour traffic would be upon us, and all of them would have to drive home in the middle of chaos. Having to reschedule this meeting just made me happy.
I was petty.
What could I say?
“Oh, Ms. Clayborne,” my assistant that literally ran everything for me—the one that I paid more than anyone else in the company to do it—rushed up to me. “I have your meeting notes right here and…” she trailed off when she saw Copper.
Her mouth fell slightly open, eyes widening comically.
“What the hell?” she breathed.
I grinned and turned my head so my assistant, Millie, couldn’t see it.
Millie was a great assistant.
I didn’t think she had any idea what she was signing on for when I’d hired her, but now she ran the place like one well-oiled machine.
What she didn’t do well was people.
She was staring at Copper, blinking rapidly, and pretty much making a fool out of herself.
Unable to stand it anymore, I said, “Thanks, Millie.”
Millie’s head whipped toward me and she mouthed, “Who is this?”
I grinned. “Millie, I’d like you to meet my brother, Copper. The new CEO of Castanon Enterprises. Copper, this is Millicent McDaniel, the best assistant to the CEO anyone could ever dream of. I pay her a hefty amount of money to pretty much run the day-to-day business and be my right-hand woman. When things go wrong, they call her. When decisions need to be made, she delegates and then decides who gets to contact me. Which, thankfully, is not that many people because Millie is so great at what she does.”
Millie’s face went flushed.
I grinned and said, “Is everyone here, Millie?”
“Y-Yes,” she stuttered. “Good luck.”
I rolled my eyes and said, “This time, I don’t think I’ll need it.”
The problem with being a woman in a male dominated field, and a woman that was superior to said males, was I caught a lot of shit.
Most of the men on the board didn’t think that I should be there—and they were probably right. I shouldn’t.
I didn’t have the knowledge, the know-how, or the desire to be there.
Yet, I was there. And they had to fuckin’ deal.
“What was that supposed to mean?” he asked as he caught my arm before I could enter the boardroom.
“Wait outside for a bit and listen from the open door,” I suggested. “You’ll see.”
He hung back as I made my way inside.
Every last one of the men in the room sneered at my outfit.
All of them thought it was inappropriate for me to dress in my scrubs for the day (because most of the time I worked after these meetings) and never lost a chance to tell me how inappropriate they thought I was being.
“Ahh, Ms. Clayborne,” one of my least favorites drawled from his position at the opposite side of the room. At the head of the table, might I add. “It’s nice of you to finally join us. And dressed so well.”
The condescension dripping from his tone made me want to launch myself across the table and maim him with my fingernails.
But I was better than that.
Most of the time.
I wished I could fire his ass.
Marcellus Lynch, head of accounting, and the biggest pain in my ass that there ever was.
Copper’d heard enough after just one comment and came through the door.
The second biggest pain in my ass, Martin Palmer, stiffened in his seat.
Why?
Because they all knew what it meant when Copper came back into the fold—and they all knew him because he’d once been a staple here, even at seventeen.
He’d done a lot of growing up over the years.
Copper wasn’t the sweet teenager he’d once been.
In that teenager’s place was a man that looked frightening as hell and ate board members for breakfast.
Copper’s t-shirt stretched as he reached out and pulled a chair back for me to sit down on.
I did, not caring that it wasn’t at the head, but at the right of the head.
Once seated, Copper took the seat at the head of the table and then leaned back in the chair as if he’d done it a hundred times before.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Lynch asked, looking frantic.
He was nervous.
Good.
“I think by seeing me here, Lynch, that you can use deductive reasoning to spell it out for you,” Copper drawled. “Now, let’s get started. Who goes first?”
“You are not CEO of this company,” Martin Palmer said, sneering. “We don’t have to answer your questions.”
“Not yet, no,” Copper agreed. “In fact, I think we’ll keep Keely as the CEO for now. I’ll be the assistant CEO.”