An hour later, Jack stalked through the lobby of his New Haven office building with his jaw clenched. His scowl wasn’t aimed at anyone or anything in particular on his way up to the 26th floor offices of Sutton Capital, but people moved out of his way.
He stabbed “26” on the elevator control panel and thought about the unpleasant conversation he and Andrew were about to have. It wouldn’t be fun trying to figure out how a man’s death would affect this vote, but they didn’t have a choice right now. The clock was ticking thanks to the terms of his mother’s will.
Ding. The elevator doors slid open to reveal the reception desk and waiting area of Jack’s company. A deep burgundy carpet with gray edging set the tone for the company as luxurious, professional, and successful. The plush leather chairs and polished petrified wood end tables told anyone entering the space that Sutton Capital was no small-time company. Just the way Jack liked.
His nod to the receptionist was curt but polite as he moved past her toward his corner office.
Jennie looked up when he stopped in front of her desk before entering his office. She was a temp who’d taken over when his own secretary had to leave suddenly for a family crisis, but she’d been more than competent so far.
She always seemed to know when he needed something and she was a whiz at organizing large quantities of data and pulling together what he needed to see quickly.
He might tell HR they could go ahead and hire her on permanently if there was room for her anywhere in the company.
“Jennie, Andrew will be here in a few minutes. Show him right in when he arrives.” He started to turn away, but turned back. “Will you ask Roark to join us when he gets in?”
“Yes, Mr. Sutton,” Jennie said with a nod.
Roark Walker was head of Sutton’s legal department, but he had also been friends with Jack’s mother and father. Jack was still holding out hope the man would have some last-minute solution for this cluster of a situation that was threatening to derail the company he’d thought he would lead for, well forever if he was honest with himself.
Jack strode to his office and shut the door, pacing as he waited for Andrew to arrive. Andrew wasn’t just his best friend; he was also the Chief Financial Officer of Sutton Capital and Jack’s right-hand man at the company.
He hoped Andrew would have good news to help him out of this colossal mess. Andrew was one of the few people that knew Jack the man, beyond Jack the CEO of Sutton Capital. They went far enough back that neither saw the other the way their adversaries did.
Jack’s business rivals feared him and his investors respected him, at least insofar as they knew he could make them a hell of a lot of money.
He never felt weak or anxious when he stepped up to the negotiating table, and he normally thrived on stress and pressure. But, on this—possibly the biggest deal of his life—the unique circumstances had him feeling as if he had maneuvered and negotiated himself right into a corner.
He moved to his mahogany desk and stared down at his reflection in its uncluttered surface. His plans had fallen apart. He had been so certain his strategy would work that he’d become overconfident. That wasn’t like him at all. Jack knew it was his late mother’s involvement in his current situation that had thrown him off his game. He had loved his mom so he hadn’t wanted to address the terms of her will head on and try to challenge her, even if she was no longer here to see him do it.
Now he’d screwed himself over. He needed to come up with another plan and execute it quickly if he was going to save his position in the family company.
When Jennie opened the door and ushered Andrew inside, the tight line of his friend’s lips told Jack things hadn’t gone as they’d hoped.
Andrew had been in on his plan from the beginning. He was Jack’s closest confidant and supporter, but right now it didn’t look like his friend had the news they needed.
“Thank you, Jennie. Hold my calls,” he directed.
“Yes, sir.” Jennie closed the door behind her, leaving the two men in silence.