Jannie paled, going white as one of the sheets of paper lying in the printer on my desk. “Sir, let me expl—”
My father reached for the knot on his tie, extending his neck first one way then the other. “No need to explain. The secretary coming on to the boss, I’ve seen it a thousand times. A million maybe. Unfortunately, pawing at my son right in front of me crossed the line.”
Her hand fell from my arm, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly. She dared a glance at me, and seeing I wasn’t going to defend her, a choked sob escaped her throat. She rushed from the office.
My dad sank onto the white leather couch in the corner, flicking his tie as he crossed an ankle over his knee. “That girl was going to cause trouble for you.”
“I know, thanks for getting rid of her. I was just about to do it.”
He nodded. “You haven’t had to deal with employee issues much yet. As you take on more responsibility, you’re going to have to learn how to rip off the Band-Aid and send them packing when the time comes.”
“I can do that.” I didn’t want to, but I could.
“Your brother didn’t like it much either, but such is life. When the going gets tough...”
“The tough go drinking?” I suggested, trying to lighten the mood.
My father chuckled, shaking his head. “The tough get the job done. Then they go drinking.”
“Got it.” Opening my desk drawer, I pulled out a bottle of Peron and two tumblers. After pouring a few fingers into each one, I handed one tumbler to my father and settled on the couch across from him. “Since you’ve gotten the job done, I assumed you wanted the drink now.”
“Thanks.” He held his glass up, tipped his head at me and drank down half of it in one swallow. “He would’ve been proud of you.”
Rarely did I see my dad like this anymore. We didn’t often have the time or the inclination to relax, have heart to hearts or talk about Jack. “I haven’t really done much to be proud of.”
I wasn’t fishing for compliments or trying to be modest. Everything I’d worked on since joining the company were long-term projects of Jack’s I’d inherited. I’d seen most of them through now, but I couldn’t take credit for simply building—literally in some cases—on the foundations my brother left behind.
If I knew my dad though, he wasn’t here to help me with secretarial problems, to shoot the breeze or to reminisce. A minute later, he proved me right. “I don’t agree. You’ve shown some real growth in the last year or so. So much that I think you’re ready to face some new challenges.”
“I am.” No hesitation, because I was ready. At least, I thought I was. They might’ve been my brother’s projects, but I learned a lot from finishing what he started. I felt like it was time for me to spread my wings. Flex my newfound business muscles, so to speak.
“Good. I’m putting you in charge of the new mall acquisition in Times Square I mentioned at the last board meeting.”
Fuck. I wasn’t ready to spread my wings that far. Also, it was too much of a heavyweight to test my new muscles out on. The mall was a sprawling complex currently belonging to one of our biggest competitors.
Dad wanted it, but the owners didn’t want to let it go. Especially not to us.
I took a swig of my drink, focusing on the smooth liquid and the way it warmed my insides on the way down. Not the harsh burn of cheapskate liquor, but the slow heat that didn’t knock your breath away.
Lifting my eyes to my dad’s, as dark as my own, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was kidding with me. “Uh, Dad? Seriously? You want me to run point on that right now?”
In another year or so, maybe I could’ve seen that happening. But an acquisition the size of this one to essentially cut my teeth on?
Without so much as blinking, my dad answered. “Absolutely. Find a good team and get busy.”
“Okay, but—”
He finished off his drink and pushed to his feet, his dark stare fixed on the skyline and the setting sun outside before moving back to mine. “No buts. You’re ready for this, Jer. The stuff you don’t know yet, you’ll figure out, or you’ll get the right people on your team to deal with it.”
“Aye aye, Captain.” I wouldn’t let him see how much this freaked me out. I didn’t even have a goddamn secretary. How the hell was I supposed to put a team together? And then what the fuck was my first move once I had a team?
“I’ll leave you to it.” My father set his empty glass down nearly without a sound and gave me a final nod before leaving my office.
“He’ll leave me to it. Just great.” I rubbed my hand up and down through the hair at the back of my head. Rolling my neck, I let my eyes drift to the ceiling as I thought.
My first move would’ve been to get my secretary in here and ask her to get me anything she could on the mall and all the official paperwork from Dad’s office, but I didn’t have a secretary. Which also meant I needed to start interviewing for a new secretary.
“Fuck.” Okay, I didn’t have a secretary, but I did have Neil. He would know what to do. He was Jack’s best friend, started with the company at the same time my brother did.