Chapter 15: The Board

"He'll be there," I told the two investors. "Thursday after next. Ten o'clock. In person."

"Then so will we," said the older one, and hung up.

On Thursday the driver was there.

He sat on a bench outside the Kenward boardroom in a borrowed blue tie, holding a paper cup of water with both hands.

"You don't have to do this," I told him.

"I've got a daughter," he said. "Yes, I do."

The boardroom was a glass box in the middle of the ninth floor.

I'd designed it that way so the staff could see we had nothing to hide.

That morning the whole floor had stopped working to watch.

The girl from social stood at the front of the crowd with her arms crossed.

The two guys from sales had pulled their chairs over.

Clay sat on the edge of a desk right outside the glass, in a navy suit, with his coffee.

Niles had stopped him at the door.

"Owners only, Eastman."

"I'll wait," Clay had said pleasantly. "I'm good at it."

Inside, Niles sat at the head of the table.

My father sat at his right hand.

Bailey sat against the wall with a laptop, taking the minutes, in a cream dress with her engagement ring catching the light.

The four outside investors sat on my side.

Two of them I'd met at the Christmas party. Two I'd only ever seen on spreadsheets.

"This is a special meeting called by an owner," Niles said, bored, before I could open my mouth. "Ms. Atwood..."

"Mrs. Eastman."

"Mrs. Eastman has asked us all to give up a Thursday. Let's be quick."

"Happy to." I stood. "I move to remove Niles Kenward as chief executive."

One of the investors made a note.

Niles smiled at the ceiling.

"On what grounds?"

"I'd like you to meet the man who drove me to my wedding."

I opened the glass door.

The driver came in and stood at the end of the table and didn't sit.

Keep reading free with an account. Start Downgrade My Ride? I'll Upgrade My Groom! from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.