Page 73 of See You Maybe
One of the men by Melissa took a step forward, but Declan lifted his hand without looking away from Chris, and the man stopped moving.
If she didn’t know him so well, Olivia would have thought Declan was unmoved by Chris’s words, but she saw the lines of his face twitch before a smile of savage satisfaction spread across his face.
“You will never win against me, Chris. Under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t even be worth competing against. And let’s be honest…” The smile widened. “This was hardly a competition.”
“Say what you want,” Chris spit, “I won. I’m buying this company, and there is nothing you can do about it.”
Declan turned his back to Chris and addressed the rest of the room, his face inscrutable. “I have acquired the majority share of Armstrong Electronics.”
“That’s impossible,” Kyle insisted, his face turning red. He gestured between Richard and himself. “Between my father, and myself, along with my aunt and cousin, we control the majority. It’s our company.”
Olivia felt sick.
She’d warned them, but she’d failed to make them understand.
Richard had lost his company, and it was her fault.
“No, you don’t, Kyle.” Olivia licked her lips and breathed past the boulder currently in her lungs. “Over the last few years, Armstrong sold off small amounts of shares to raise the capital necessary to expand our manufacturing and testing abilities. Twenty-six sales in two percent increments, to be exact. Fifty-two percent of the company.”
Stuart blanched, and Kyle shook his head slowly, his face bewildered. “No. Dad…” His voice trailed off. Richard’s face had grown pale, and he swayed in his seat, bringing Olivia to her feet.
“Get him a glass of water,” she commanded Melissa.
“I’m fine,” he waved his hand in the air, as he studied the two men squared off across the table. His eyes rose to Olivia’s, and her heart clenched at what she saw. “Could he have bought them all? Is that even possible? Why wouldn’t they tell me they were selling? My family…”
Olivia didn’t know how Declan had secretly maneuvered all the small family stakeholders into selling him their shares, but she didn’t doubt he was capable of it.
“It’s entirely possible.” She struggled to keep her face blank. Olivia could hear the concerned murmurs from the employees behind her. No matter how she might be falling apart inside, she couldn’t let them see.
“But… But what does that mean for us?”
Olivia spared her ex-husband a glance. Now he asked questions? Up and down the table, the murmuring among the people at the table and other members of staff who had come to witness the signing grew louder.
“Prove it.” Chris snapped.
“I’ve already sent the lawyers representing Armstrong copies of my shares and proofs of sale.”
One lawyer pulled out his phone and began punching furiously at the screen. His quiet groan was almost lost under Declan’s next sentence.
“But for now… I’d appreciate it if anyone not currently employed by Armstrong would get the fuck out of my conference room.”
Chris’s jaw worked, and for a second, his eyes went past Declan and then to Olivia, before glaring at Declan.
“This won’t get you what you really want. I’m still the CEO,” he hissed. “And I will destroy you before I see you in that seat again.”
“Vincent,” Declan called, and a man with a close-cut buzz and stocky build appeared in the doorway. Chris turned white. “You remember Vincent Menardi, my father’s head of security, don’t you, Chris? He and I have been having some illuminating conversations lately. The things I’ve learned…”
A dangerous light flashed across Declan’s eyes, and his voice was hard when he addressed Chris. “Now that I know… I promise everything will be back as it should be. Very soon.”
Chris’s throat bobbed, but he reclaimed his composure. “Vincent is a disgruntled former employee. No one will believe anything he says.”
Declan flicked an invisible thread off his crisp, white shirt cuffs and said, in a voice that lifted goosebumps on Olivia’s arms, “Enjoy your life while you still have it.”
“What?” Chris scoffed. “Are you going to have one of your goons shoot me? Here in the middle of a conference room.”
For a few seconds, no one in the room breathed.
“Of course not.” But before the room could exhale, Declan continued with such menace in his voice the air in the room crystallized with his icy words. “When the time comes, I fully intend on keeping that pleasure for myself.”