CHAPTER 1
Christian Elliot
“Profits are up twenty percent. Our stocks are trading high. We’re in an excellent position.”
I turned my chair enough to take a quick glimpse at the PowerPoint presentation. Our CFO had yet to move away from the more primitive method of highlighting the company’s good fortune. I concurred. Wewerein a very strong position, also exploited by our expanding portfolio.
No longer were we only involved in the purchase and dismantling of failing companies; we’d also ventured into land development. Our stock had soared almost immediately after the announcement.
“How are we with the contracts overseas?” I asked, which continued to be the burning yet unanswered question. Elliot Enterprises was set to initiate new operations in several foreign countries, which would increase our bottom line by hundreds of millions of dollars.
Potentially. A word my father enjoyed tossing around as a slight.
Suddenly, everyone in the room seemed uncomfortable; three of the board members glanced amongst themselves without looking me directly in the eye.
“Why don’t we continue the meeting tomorrow,” my father told everyone, already nodding toward the door. He was dismissing them, which meant he had something on his mind.
Something I wouldn’t like.
Stiffening, I watched as the members gathered their things, quickly leaving the room as if there was a sudden fire in the building.
“Stay for just a moment, Christian,” my father commanded.
I sat back in my seat, eyeing every single board member individually as they filed out, the last one closing the door behind him. Sighing, I glanced out the window. Carmichael Elliot was the founding father of the company, only recently retiring. Yet he remained on the board if for no other reason than to annoy the hell out of me.
He’d built the company from barely making ends meet to the multibillion-dollar corporation it was today.
“What’s up, Pops? We’ll need to cut this short as I do have other meetings today.”
He swiveled his leather chair, sliding a file he had under the financials toward me.
“What’s this?” I asked, snapping my fingers on the cardboard to keep it from being tossed to the floor.
“Take a look and you tell me.”
My father had been more like a dictator than a diplomat, running the company with an iron fist. While highly respected by some, he’d earned his reputation as a savage in the boardroom. He’d also never been a warm and loving father.
I opened the file, instantly amused as I flipped from one photograph to another. Each one had been captured by paparazzi, glitzy photos of different women I’d enjoyed spending time with. In truth, I had been bored to death, annoyed they’d latched on as if they would ever be of importance in my life. “Who did you task with creating a memory board of my recent excursions?”
He drummed his fingers on the conference room table. “You’re nothing but a playboy, Christian. That was acceptable when you were in your twenties and merely holding an honorary position as vice president. Now that you’re CEO, that behavior can’t continue.”
“And exactly why is that?”
He turned to face me, leaning forward with his hands clasped. “Because we’re moving into some very conservative countries who value families more than anything. To come in as the playboy you are will be considered an insult. Contracts have yet to be signed because of your depraved behavior.”
“Oh, come on.” I shot the file back in his direction. “We’re not in the dark ages any longer.”
“In some countries, they still are.”
“Are you trying to suggest the contracts might not be signed if I don’t pretend that I’m a homeboy, watching Netflix dutifully every night?” I laughed. This was such a joke.
“I’m not suggesting. I’m telling you that’s what will happen.”
“So what do you suggest?”
“I suggest you settle down.”
“Meaning?”
