The Love Of Money - Episode 250
09-08-25 (19:12)
"Erin," I whispered, touching my assistant on the
shoulder. "How much does Astrid Håkansson have?"
"Um... three percent," she said, glancing at her notes.
She was my only hope. I glanced at her, but her
attention was on something in her lap. Her phone,
maybe? Fuck! If only I'd gotten her number instead of
the other way around!
I looked at Carla sitting next to her, hoping she could
help me get Astrid's attention, but Hiro's trophy wife
watched the next person to vote with rapt attention,
God, the woman loved drama.
That next person just so happened to be Nina Gerrard.
No... Nina Haley. She was my aunt and had married a
guy named Michael Haley. He worked closely with my
grandfather until killed by my great-uncle. I'd been so
distracted by everything else that I hadn't even thought
about her.
Leaning forward, I looked down the table to get a
better look. She sat near the end, wearing a loose-
fitting blouse and clicking a pen repeatedly as she
stared at Chandler. She appeared in her early fifties, but
her hair showed no signs of gray. Instead, it was all
one uniform, bright, copper color-probably from an
expensive dye job--and fell down her shoulders in
voluminous waves. Her dark blue eyes penetrated as
she waited for Chandler to call on her.
"Nina?" he asked.
"Maddox," my aunt said. "You hear that, Pruden? said,
Maddox!"
"I heard ya," Wayne said over the phone. He sounded
like he wanted to reach through the line and strangle
my aunt, and I would have wondered what that was
about were I not distracted with trying to secure a win.
I leaned closer to Erin and whispered, "How much does
Nina have?"
"Six," Erin whispered back. That made sixteen percent.
I felt a buzz from my phone and checked it. There was
no name, and I didn't recognize the number. I opened it
and read the message: I've done the math. You only
win if you get my vote.
Next was Michael Ross, the man representing my
brother and sister. He wasted no time in declaring for
Maddox. The twins had five percent each, which
brought Maddox to twenty-six percent.
I quickly texted Astrid back: What do I need to do to
get your vote?
I looked up at her, but she was watching Amber Bell,
who Chandler called on next.
"Oh," Amber said, looking up from her tablet as if she'd
forgotten where' she was. She adjusted her glasses,
glanced around the room, and said, "Brantwood
Holdings votes in favor of... Kelly Maddox as CEO." She
ended her statement with a definitive nod, promptly
looked back down at her tablet, and started typing
furiously on the little keyboard again.
With a whopping fifteen percent, that brought it to
forty-one percent. Maddox was closing in fast. I glanced
back at Astrid, who was finishing writing something
down on some of the notes she had. Then she checked
her phone... she sure was taking her sweet time. I
nudged Erin and showed her the text I received, and
she looked at me questioningly. I mouthed, "Astrid," as
subtly as I could.
The phone buzzed in my hand with another message: I
want a seat at the table.
What the fuck did that mean?
I texted back a question mark, and we stared at the
phone intently as it indicated that she was typing.
"Very good, Chandler said. He sounded defeated, but I
couldn't even spare him a glance. My heart was in my
throat. "Kelly Maddox?"
Another message popped up on the phone: I want a
job at VistaVision. High-level. I also need to know you'll
have my back
I didn't understand what she meant by having her
back, but I immediately replied: Yeah, you got it. The
job is yours, and I'll watch out for you.
I hit send, confident that Chandler would give Astrid
almost any position if it meant keeping him as CEO.
However, she'd need to explain the 'watching her back'
part. I was a little concerned that I might be writing too
big of a blank check that I couldn't cash, no matter how
much money I had.
What if Astrid was in a never- ending war with the
Russian Bratva or the Japanese Triad? I wondered if I
was making particular judgment calls about this
woman just because she was a pretty face, and I was
trying to avoid that. Don't forget to leave a Comment 
