Page 104 of Brutal
They’d been so sure about this move that not only had they planned on putting Oliver in my fucking place, they’d started lining up replacements, too.
Chase starts laughing. “Oliver? Uh, no offense, Oliver, but you know numbers. You don’t know contracts, and you don’t know tech.”
“I’ll take offense, actually,” Oliver says with a sneer. “Isn’t it a conflict of interest for you to be on the board anyway? Since you’re Drake’s friend?”
Now Chase smiles wider. “Nope. I was one of the founding investors. I helped draw up the IPO contract. But if you want to talk conflicts of interest…?”
That’s my cue. I’m supposed to stand up and give a speech and reveal all the shit we’ve discovered over the past twenty-four hours of research and stalking.
I can’t move, though. I’m completely frozen, the words dying in my throat. I know these things like the back of my hand. I’ve talked about them over and over.
So why am I sweating and failing to come up with anything at all?
Mimosa squeezes my shoulder and stands up. “Of course, Mr. Vicious.” She does something, and the screen in the back wakes up to display a new set of slides. “Hi everybody. Thanks for being here tonight. What an exciting first board meeting for me!”
Fuck, how is she acting so perky? I barely recognize her.
“I know some of you were blindsided by this turn of events. Mr. Brutal and I certainly wouldn’t have expected such respected members of our company to have been plotting against him like this.” She shakes her head, an exaggerated gesture for the audience. “But I did do some digging, and did you all know that Mr. Browning has been investing in one of our direct competitors?”
There’s a murmur from the crowd.
“Now, I’m just an executive assistant, but I’ve read a little about contracts and business practices.” Mimosa uses the clicker to flip to the next slide, showing the portfolio of our competitor. “Look at that. If things went horribly for us, they might be positioned to take a larger share of the market. Or even swoop in for a hostile takeover.” She giggles vapidly, like she really doesn’t know what she’s talking about. “Which could result in a huge profit for George Browning, but where does that leave all of you? You sell, after your stocks have tanked? Hmm, sounds like a loss to me.” Mimosa shakes her head. “You’ll cut your losses, I suppose. Go on to direct other companies. But…”
I could kiss her. I could absolutely fucking kiss her right now, right in front of the rest of them. I don’t know where this side of Mimosa came from, exactly, but it has me sitting straighter, my expression losing its tension and becoming more confident as I feel it. I finally understand that my friends—and Mimosa—will back me, no matter what, even though I don’t fucking deserve it.
Hunter makes an exasperated sound. “We’d be out millions first.”
“And that’s before all the lawsuits,” Chase adds. “You did all read the contracts and board manuals, right? The ones that outline the very, very narrow circumstances Drake can be removed from the company?”
Mimosa flips to the next slide, which has that part of the contract highlighted. “Huh, sounds like if you have a problem with Mr. Brutal, you should quit the board yourselves instead.”
I take a breath and stand up, holding my shoulders straight. I smile at everybody in the room, scanning their expressions. When my eyes meet Mimosa’s, she nods to me.
“Amber explained it all pretty well,” I say, and I’m shocked at how steady my voice is. “I’m the company. The company is me. Rachel said our stock prices are up when I’m not in the news? That’s because everybody trusts in my vision. You kick me out? You’ll have somebody who only cares for their short-term profits, who will sell just to cash out their stock options early. I’m the only one this invested in seeing the company thrive.
“Every new app idea, every new feature? That’s me. All the fucking contracts we negotiate, all the legislators we bring onto our side? That’s me. You think George over there gives a fuck about anybody but himself? No. You think Oliver gives a fuck about anything but his paycheck? I had to tell him to drop the Chandler deal, that it would never go anywhere—and I was right. We saw how that fucking company imploded.
“So tell me again how much better off you’d all be without me? Oh, and if you vote me off? Yes, I will fucking sue every last one of you. You think your millions compare to the billions I will pour into these lawsuits? Can you afford to go toe to toe with me in a legal battle?”
The room is silent. I don’t know if this is enough. I don’t know if this swayed their opinions.
“Let’s vote,” George demands, though he no longer sounds as confident as before. “All in favor of removing Drake Brutal as CEO, raise your hands now.”
George and Oliver both raise their hands.
There are others who start to raise their hands, but they immediately drop them when they realize they don’t have a majority.
I glance over at Rachel. “I’m surprised you aren’t raising your hand.”
Rachel shrugs. “I don’t want a protracted legal battle, and also,” she looks at George, “Fuck you, I’m not killing the company just so you can get rich off our failures.”
She’d been the one I’d been the most worried about. Even if it had initially looked like a minority, her vote could’ve swayed some of the more on the fence members to change their minds.
I can breathe again.
“So I think it’s time to vote in favor of removing George Browning from the board,” I say with far more conviction and authority than he’d shown when trying to oust me. “For obvious reasons.”
This time, everybody’s hands go up except for George and Oliver.