Page 1 of I'll Carry You
ChapterOne
I found her.
Jason Cavanaugh looked up from the text that had buzzed through his phone moments earlier. He tried to control his visible reaction, setting the phone face down on the smooth mahogany table in the boardroom.
Curling his fingers into his palm, he rubbed the back of his knuckles with the opposite hand.
Amanda lifted a brow from her seat across from him. “Are we keeping you from something more important?”
The Powell crew had come to the meeting, including Amanda and her father. Both stared at him with identical steel-eyed gazes. Not that Amanda had any business being here. But since her father had purchased a controlling stake in Cavanaugh Metals, who would protest? The moment Jason’s grandfather died, Bill Powell had no one in his way. No one would dare cross him with Thomas Cavanaugh out of the picture.
“Not at all.” Jason leaned back in his seat and rubbed his eyelids. He flipped the leather portfolio closed, not bothering to hide his frustration. His plan for his grandfather’s forty percent shareholdings had been met with derision, unsurprisingly.Narrow-minded idiots.As though they weren’t responsible for the terrible shape the company was in. “I think we’re done here anyway.”
Amanda smirked, tossing her stick-straight dark hair over her shoulder. Her ivory skin contrasted starkly with it, giving her a Snow White-esque look. Not that the bitch was anything like a fairy-tale princess.
More like a vampire.
“We know this is a difficult time for you with the changes in your life and the transition, Jason.” Bill Powell stood, setting his hands on the back of the large leather-back chair at the end of the table. “You’re not thinking clearly right now. Someone’s got to be the voice of reason for you, son.”
I’m not your son.Jason narrowed his eyes at the older man. When his grandfather had been alive, Bill had never dared to sit at the head of the table. As though Bill deserved to sit in that chair after the damage he’d done to the company. “I think I made the case well enough, Bill. It’s not about the transition. After the lawsuit, employee morale is at an all-time low, and our brand is damaged. A third of our workforce has quit. Your deal with Duncan Motors almost cost us everything. I’ve talked to the guys at the plant. This is the best path for the company.” Jason stood, matching Bill’s stance.
Chad Duncan shifted in his seat uncomfortably.Prick.Another viper who had taken advantage of his grandfather’s failing health toward the end. Even leveraged his way to CEO, too.
Bill’s face reddened. “Well, we’re not considering employee ownership. Your grandfather didn’t specify he wanted that in his will, did he now? And I understand that the will is far from a settled issue.” Bill’s eyes locked on his, as though to show he knew exactly what the will had said.And he probably does, thanks to Amanda.“It’s a nice idea, but we’d lose millions with an ESOP. And I didn’t buy into this company for that.”
Jason’s shoulders tensed. When he’d walked through the plant two months earlier, he’d vowed to save the company—not for himself, but for the hundreds of people who would lose everything if he failed.
This plan of making his grandfather’s holdings into an ESOP trust wasn’t something he’d come to lightly. After all, Jason would lose millions of dollars by doing so. But he had the rest of his grandfather’s fortune to soften that blow. And the employees of Cavanaugh Metals had been the ones to make the company successful in the first place. If Jason couldn’t turn things around, they’d all lose.
Jason’s fingers clenched the leather portfolio. But it was his grandfather’s fault this was happening. The old man had ignored Jason’s warnings about doing business with Powell Enterprises. They’d long had a reputation for cutting corners.
“My grandfather’s will is thirty days from being settled, actually. And we’re limping along after that lawsuit, Bill. Our reputation is in the toilet, and thanks to you,onlyDuncan Motors hasn’t left us. But I guess since you’re double-dipping and Duncan’s profits are fine, and you all end up with your pockets full, screw the people loyal to you, right?” He narrowed his eyes at Amanda. “You’d know a thing or two about that, right, Amanda?”
Amanda glared. “You ass—”
“You’re being emotional, Jason.” Chad lay a hand on Amanda’s and frowned. Chad gave him a shit-eating grin. “We’ve been friends for what, twenty years? You should take some mental health days. I know you’re grieving right now, but this isn’t the answer.”
Like you give a fuck about my mental health.
Jason almost laughed in Chad’s face. Instead, he walked out of the office without giving them the courtesy of a goodbye. The click of high heels behind him told him Amanda had followed. She had long legs—she was almost as tall as he was—and caught up within a few strides. “Where are you going?”
He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and clicked on the messages. “TJ’s in my office. I have personal business to discuss with him.”
“Your business is my business,” she hissed, edging into his personal space. Her dark eyes blazed.
Jason looked meaningfully back in the direction they’d come. “Not anymore.” He arrived at the door to his office.
She stopped at the door and crossed her arms. “Making some big assumptions by moving into your grandfather’s office already, aren’t you? You’re still CFO—nothing more. Don’t be surprised if you have no votes left to decide anything with this company.”
Damn the fact that she’d been there when the will was read. “Keep dreaming, Amanda.”
“I need to talk to you.”
He went inside, slamming the door in her face.
TJ sat at the desk, tennis shoes paired with slacks that went up too high on his legs. Superhero socks showed over his ankles. He was munching an apple noisily.
For good measure, Jason locked the door. “What did you find?” He stalked across the room to his desk, tossing the portfolio down on the top. “Your text was less than clear.”