Everyone knew how much he despised the media, so clearly he must have felt like Agnes had just ambushed them.
“Thank you for telling me all this, Agnes,” Heather said carefully. “You didn’t have to warn me about what Gary was up to, and I appreciate it.”
“Of course. Despite all that’s happened, I will always remain loyal to Dover and its staff,” Agnes said. “I could never speak out against you in court or anywhere else. Now, it’s up to you show your loyalty in return.”
“THIS IS RIDICULOUS!” Simon paced up and down Heather’s kitchen, holding a glass of vodka. After the meeting with Agnes they had returned to Heather’s place, and he had been so irritated that he’d demanded alcohol. So far he hadn’t drank the stuff, because the beginning of one of his famous headaches was starting to made his temples throb.
“No, it isn’t,” Heather insisted from her place at the kitchen island. She was eating leftover pizza, that familiar look of determination on her face. Usually Simon loved that look. That look made a fire blaze in her stunning golden eyes. Set her lush lips into a firm line. And that slight blush in her cheeks always made the desire rush in his veins. Right now, though, that look was making him dread what she was about to say next.
“You need to reach out to the media, and I have some ideas on how you can do that,” she continued.
“I’ll bet you do,” he muttered.
She narrowed her eyes. “This isn’t up for debate. You will be working more closely with the media.”
“Look, I know you think this will get the staff to be more loyal to you, but I could get them to do that,” he said. “I’ll meet with the senior managers. Make it clear to them that Dover staff cannot make disparaging remarks about you on Gary’s behalf. Surely that will solve the problem.”
“Even if you did that I’d still want to earn their trust, loyalty, and respect,” she said. “I really appreciate all your help recently, but I’ve got to have my own accomplishments. Otherwise, anything I achieve will be because of my boyfriend’s help and not my own hard work.”
He sighed and held the cold glass of vodka to his forehead. “This is important to you, isn’t it? Beyond how this might affect your case with Gary.”
“Yes. I’ve got this amazing new position and you’re not letting me do my job, Simon,” she said. “I know that you hate the press, but you have the opportunity to redefine that relationship. Right now, you have the opportunity to change the media’s narrative about you. Call the shots.”
The media’s narrative had always aggravated him. At first they had treated him like some kind of eccentric recluse, coming up with all kinds of wild, outlandish stories after he had made it clear that he wasn’t interested in being in the media spotlight. After the scandal with Heather, the press had started to act like he was some billionaire playboy. Neither of those narratives was true. All he wanted to do was get his ideas out into the world to help people, but that had never gotten through.
“Taking back control sounds tempting, but the media always has a way of twisting things around,” he said.
“They’re already twisting things around with Everett’s arrest,” she pointed out. “We can change that narrative. Show them that Dover’s leadership is honest and genuine, and cares about the company. Right now the media is trying to act like everyone at Dover is a lying, scheming spy like Everett. We can change that.”
He paused for a moment to mull over her words. Simon set his glass down on the island. “Okay. Let me hear your ideas.”
“Does that mean you’ll actually hear me out?” she asked. “Or are you going to hear my ideas and then shoot them down the minute you hear them?”
“I can’t promise to agree to everything,” he said. “But I can see how important this is. Not just to Dover, but to you. Gary is trying to hurt you, and if this stops him from doing that—”
“Don’t do this because of Gary,” she said. “I know Agnes encouraged us to take a more active role with the media in order to win over the staff at Dover, but if we let my personal stuff affect work we’ll be making decisions based on fear. That’s the last thing Dover needs right now. I have to separate my professional life from my personal life as much as possible, even though Gary seems determined to destroy both.”