The Love Of Money - Episode 243
08-08-25 (16:04)
"The Cost Of Doing Business"
Introduction:
The board meeting heats up.
"You know who this is?" I demanded, jabbing my finger
at the woman I'd last seen holding me prisoner.
"Yes. This is Miss Amber Bell. She's a solicitor
representing Brantwood Holdings." Chandler said,
looking confused. Everyone in the room looked
confused, and despite the outrage I felt, embarrassment
blossomed like the first few kernels of popcorn. Doubt
started to seep through the cracks in my mind.
Turning my attention rallied my confidence, however.
She was a dead ringer for the wornan standing with
the mercenaries while Natashya had a gun to her head.
"This woman was in Vegas last weekend! She was one
of the ones holding me hostage!"
"I... don't understand," Amber said, and my heart
skipped several beats. The vocal fry... the cadence of
her voice... this was the woman who lied about holding
Emily and threatened Natashyal She was the one who
asked me about the flash drive! She gave me a fucking
hand job while I was tied to a chair!
"Where were you last weekend?" I spat.
"I was in Alexandria, Virginia," Amber said, looking
puzzled. Her brow furrowed, causing her glasses to slip
down the bridge of her nose. "I was meeting with a
client"
That doubt resurfaced thanks to how confident she
sounded in the answer and how genuinely confused
she looked. What the fuck was I supposed to say to
that? Shouldn't I call her a llar? Then what? It was my
word against hers. Plus, it dawned on me that I
probably seemed a little unhinged, and the last thing I
wanted to do was start publicly accusing a stranger of
lying and looking even crazier.
More than a few seconds passed without either of us
saying a word, and no one else chimed in. I glanced
behind me to see Helen, Erin, and Chloe standing just
inside the door. I was hoping Chloe would recognize
her-he'd been there after all. Unfortunately, I couldn't
find a hint of recognition on her freckled face. I guess
that shouldn't have been surprising. My bodyquard had
been too that shouldn't have been surprising. My
bodyguard had been too busy dodging bullets to notice
some accounting nerd, and by the time the shooting
was over, Amber had disappeared through another
door.
Pet usual, Helen's face rivaled those found at the World
Poker Tour, while Erin looked like a deer caught in
headlights. The look on her face said, "Abort! Abort!"
Someone coughed awkwardly in the silence.
"Marcus," Chandler said. "Might I have a word?"
I could feel the eyes of every person in the boardroom
burning holes in me. "Yeah," I said, following him out of
the boardroom and down the hall with Chloe, Erin, and
John on my heels.
About ten feet down was another, smaller, unoccupied
meeting room. Grayson led me and the ladies through
the doorway while John stayed outside so no one
would disturb us. As Erin shut the door, Chandler
whipped around and steepled his fingers in front of him,
doing a phenomenal job of controlling his temper. I'd
never seen him this close to exploding.
"Meaning no disrespect, Marcus, but couldn't you have
handled that with a bit more tact?"
"Tact?" asked. "Tact!? That woman is responsible for
killing people at that party! Ray died because of her!
She had me beaten, she interrogated me... some guy
peed on me, and you want me to pretend that we're
cool?"
"Sir," Chloe said, her tone cool and professional, "Are
you sure she's the one?"
I wanted to say I was one hundred percent sure, but
was never really one to fully trust myself, and this was
no exception. Sure... she was the spitting image of the
woman I saw that night, but there was a lot of gunfire,
and it wasn't like I got a long look at her. Her voice
solidified it, but I don't know if would have picked up
on it without the visual component. No... as convinced
as I was that she was the woman from Vegas, I
couldn't be one hundred percent sure.
"I'm one hundred percent sure," I said to Chloe.
I must have been pretty convincing because Chloe
didn't hesitate.
Pulling out her phone, she began scrolling through her
contacts as she said, "Alright." She turned and headed
for the door.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
With her phone to her ear, she turned to look at me
and said, "To find proof." Then she was gone.
"How do you want to proceed?" Chandler asked.
That was a good question. "What are my options? Can
we postpone the meeting?"
Chandler shook his head emphatically as he slashed the
air with his hands. "Out of the question. Perhaps if you
had fallen ill or something, but after that display, if we
didn't follow through today, there would likely be a call
for a vote of no confidence, and since I'm the CEO they
would be voting on, I wouldn't get to cast my votes.
"Couldn't they do that anyway?" I asked, suddenly
afraid I'd really fucked up.
"They bloody well might," he said. "A no-confidence
vote could serve as a last-ditch attempt, but it can be
challenged in court, and If there's not a solid
justification for it, the no-confidence could be
overturned. However, the majority owner of the
company going crazy just before voting his preferred
candidate might be solid justification."
The poor man looked anxious enough to tear his hair
out in large clumps. "How about you give me a few
minutes to unruffie any feathers, and then you rejoin us
in, say... ten minutes?"
Deferring to his expertise, I nodded, "If you think that's
best."
Relief seeped into his features, and he visibly relaxed,
his shoulders sagging as he exhaled. I hadn't realized
how tense he looked.
"Thank you, Marcus," he said, giving me a tight smile as
he laid a hand on my shoulder. "Chin up. If there's one
thing I'm good at, it's getting out of a sticky wicket.
The smile I returned was just as brittle as his. Chandler
headed for the door, then paused with his hand on the
knob and looked back at me. "You really think she's
guilty?"
I nodded. "Yes. She's a psychopath."
"Well," Chandler said. "It's not the first time I've dealt
with psychopaths in boardrooms. The business
-environment seems to attract them." His smile became
a lot more genuine... more Chandler. "Not to worry. Not
much she can do besides take away your company and
all." With that, he slipped out the door and closed it
behind him. Don't forget to leave a Comment 
