The Alpha Kings Secret Son novel · Chapter 6 of 6
Chapter 6: Thirty Seconds of Honest Math
‘Miss Callaghan, the champagne is by the service doors.’
Hargrove did not look at me. He was already turning back to Roman, one hand resting on the gala program and the other reaching for the empty glass beside him.
‘Bring enough for the table.’
The junior administrators around me went still.
Isadora had introduced me twenty minutes earlier as the new temp, with a smile polished enough to sell by the ounce.
‘Mira Callaghan, temporary financial analysis.’
Temporary financial analysis. It had the charm of a damp cardboard box.
I picked up the empty tray.
‘Certainly.’
Hargrove laughed under his breath.
Roman heard it. His face did not change.
That was fine. I had already seen the number.
The board had received the quarterly pre-read that morning. Hargrove had cited page seventeen during the reception, speaking with the calm confidence of a man who had never been forced to reconcile his own figures.
The liability adjustment on the North Atlantic division was wrong. He had moved the exposure into operating costs, then carried the original figure into the forecast. The error inflated the projected margin by 2.8 percent.
I had marked it before leaving my desk.
I had also left it alone. There was no prize for correcting a man who could still send me back to the junior table.
A gala had witnesses, though. That made it useful.
The champagne sat in silver buckets near the service corridor. I took four bottles, then added glasses because apparently humiliation came with catering duties.
When I returned, Hargrove was speaking to Roman across the table.
‘The division is already carrying a twenty-one percent margin,’ he said. ‘With the adjustment, we should see twenty-four by the next quarter.’
Roman looked at the report in front of him.
‘You are certain?’
‘The figures are in the pre-read.’
I set the bottles beside Hargrove’s elbow.
‘They are. The twenty-four percent is not.’
The table stopped moving.
Hargrove turned to me. ‘I beg your pardon?’
‘The margin is twenty-one point two before the liability adjustment. The adjustment belongs under restricted exposure, not operating costs. Carrying it across raises the reported margin by 2.8 percent.’
I placed a glass beside Roman’s hand.
‘The corrected forecast is eighteen point four.’
Hargrove stared at me.
Roman lifted his eyes from the report.
‘Walk us through it.’
I set the tray on an empty chair and took the report from Hargrove’s place.
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