TWENTY
EVERYONE WAITED WITH BATED BREATH for Mr. Geffen’s vote. It was as if the boardroom were covered in mousetraps, and the tiniest move would set them off in a cascading flood of snapping jaws.
“It’s Macalister’s lack of remorse,” he said, “I find the most troubling about this whole disaster.” When Macalister looked ready to protest, Mr. Geffen lifted a hand to cut him off. “Our stock is down fourteen percent, which is a disaster if I’ve ever heard of one, and I’m sure the shareholders agree.” His gaze zeroed in on the chairman. “In hindsight, I don’t believe you’d do anything differently. You made an egregious mistake. Worse, you won’t admit to it, or any failure, and that has me questioning your judgment. I’ve been in the business a long time. Not every decision I make is the right one, but I know there’s a lesson in failure. I don’t think you’re willing to learn it.”
I sensed what was coming before the words were out of his mouth, and my pulse fluttered. My heart soared in my chest.
Mr. Geffen turned his attention to the rest of the board. “I hold Macalister personally responsible for this, and removing him is the best way to appease the angry shareholders we all have to answer to.”
Oh, my God.
I put my hands flat on the table to prevent myself from flying out of my chair. Three votes for, three votes against, and I would be the tiebreaker. Everyone realized it at the same instant.
“That’s it, huh?” Mr. Lynch was pissed. “It all comes down to the whim of some twenty-two-year-old girl, who’d probably rather be out shopping than here, doing her husband’s bidding.”
“You’ve no fucking idea what you’re talking about,” Royce snapped.
“Don’t be fooled.” Macalister said it begrudgingly. “Marist is young, but she might be one of the smartest people at this table.”
Did he think flattery would save him? Or was he thinking about how he’d been so confident he was going to win, he’d told me his plan and given away everything?
Mr. Lynch gave his boss a skeptical look. “Well, hopefully, she’s smart enough to make the right decision, then.”
Macalister’s pale blue eyes were filled with alarm he tried to disguise. Was he coming to terms with what he’d thought was impossible? He sat in his chair looking tense, and I imagined he could feel his control over HBHC weakening as it began to slip from his grip.
“Marist.” He said it the same way he’d command me to be reasonable. “You don’t want to do this.”
My tone patronized. “I don’t?”
“Abstain your vote. You shouldn’t have to choose between family.”
My laugh was devoid of warmth. Like that was even an issue, and he didn’t care about that. It was a nice try, but I was aware if I didn’t decide, a tie would be ruled in the chairman’s favor.
Cracks of anxiety began to bleed out of him. He gripped the armrests of his chair and sat at the edge of it. “Or you could be brave and make the difficult, right decision—and choose me.”
I sucked in a breath. There it was, what Macalister had truly wanted from me since the night of the initiation when I’d made Royce his father’s proxy. I’d picked his son over him, and Macalister had never recovered.
His chest began to heave. Inside him, chaos brewed and ate away at his self-control. His eyes were wild and unfocused, and his expression desperate. He looked so incredibly mortal as his world began to fall apart. “Pick me, Nyx.”
Confusion splashed on the rest of the board’s faces, but I wasn’t deterred. Medusa wasn’t just taking him down, she would destroy the perverse tradition that had drawn her into this world. Did he understand that? I’d thought Ascension was the Trojan Horse, but had it been me all along?
“I’m not Nyx,” I spoke with a tone of absolution, in a way he would best understand, “but you were right to be afraid of me.” My gaze turned back to my husband. I wanted to watch Ares’ face when we claimed victory. “I vote no-confidence.”
All the air went out of the boardroom, making it a vacuum, and for the second time this morning, I turned the men into stone. They became a garden of statues gathered in a semicircle around the table.
I stared into Royce’s eyes. In the window behind him, the city of Boston loomed like it was resting on his shoulders. Was he ready for the weight of it? I thought so. He’d spent so much of his life preparing, plus he had me as his partner, and I was eager to rule alongside him.
It was obvious to me he felt a mixture of emotions, but he kept them contained. Hardly anything leaked out. There was only the hint of a smile twitching on his sexy lips before he spoke. “The board has voted to remove you from your seat. Vice-chair David Burrows will be our acting chairman and CEO until a new one can be elected.”