His hazel eyes narrowed. He was assessing me. “Mr. Townsend,” he finally replied while taking my hand. His handshake was firm. He was signaling that he wasn’t intimidated to step into the spacious corner office of the CEO of Townsend Industries. Why he felt the need to signal such a thing remained to be seen.
“Please, have a seat.” I gestured with my hand to the chair across from my desk, as I moved back around to take my own seat.
Carefully, Lewis sat down, his gaze still intent on me.
“Mr. Greene, I requested you come here today to discuss a few matters with you.”
“Really?” He lifted a dark blond eyebrow.
“You seem to have ties to my father’s affairs. Namely his real estate investments and assets, some of which are co-owned by Townsend Industries.”
To my surprise, Greene began chuckling.
“Did I make a joke I’m not yet aware of, Mr. Greene?”
Shaking his head, he sobered up before answering. “I was wondering when you were going to get to this. It’s been two months since you took over as CEO, Robert.”
I glared at him across my desk and leaned in. “Mr. Greene, I don’t know what kind of relationship you had with my father, but you and I are nowhere near being on a first name basis. In this office, and any other time you see me from here on out, it’s Mr. Townsend.”
He tilted his head, giving me a look. “Is that so?”
“I didn’t stutter the first time I said it.”
“You are precisely how I’d pictured you to be.”
“And how is that?”
“Like him.”
I didn’t have to ask who thehimwas he was referring to. I knew he meant my father.
“But smarter, savvier, more attuned to what’s going on around you. It’ll make you a better CEO. If you’re careful. However, it could get you into trouble if you go poking around into things that aren’t your concern.”
I stared at him, noting his slightly southern accent. He wasn’t from Williamsport.
“Everything that goes on in the Townsend name is my concern.”
He sat back, appearing unbothered, as he cross his legs, clasped his hands, and sat them on his lap. “Are you sure about that?”
“Definitely.”
He nodded. “Well then, let me explain who I am to Robert Senior. I’m his dirty little secret. The one person he never wanted anyone to know about. I run the dirtiest, ugliest, stench-filled parts of Townsend Industries. The parts that don’t make the news. I run the division of Townsend that even the CEO doesn’t know is there. That was how Robert Senior wanted it.”
I didn’t say anything for a long while; I simply stared at the man across from me. I was a good reader of when someone was bullshitting me. Staring into the face of Lewis Greene, I knew he wasn’t lying.
I held out my hands. “It seems like I’ve inherited more than I know.”
Slowly, his head nodded.
“Why don’t you finish filling me in, Mr. Greene? That way, I know whether to keep you on staff in your unofficial capacity, or …” I leaned in, lowering my voice and staring Greene in the eye, “kill you before you can ruin this company with those secrets.”
A deep chuckle emanated from his throat. “You don’t even know the half of it.” For his part, he leaned in closer, lowering his voice as well. “What would be the fun in murdering your own brother before we got a chance to know one another?”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Present
Deborah
