"Thank you. What is your name?"
"I'm Allie."
"Allie, please inform the rest of the staff we're ready for them. They have five minutes."
"My pleasure, Mr. Gallagher."
Allie went back to the front of the office to complete her duties while my men and I made ourselves comfortable in the conference room. Though it wasn't my primary source of income, I enjoyed buying struggling companies, restructuring them, and seeing how profitable I could make them. It was almost a hobby, one which incidentally made me extremely rich.
Men and women in suits and subdued expressions filed into the room. They sat stiffly, some with trepidation in their mannerisms, some with indignation. I didn't fire anyone for looking at me sideways, but I put a checkmark in the negative column if they forgot to be respectful to their new CEO.
By the time the meeting concluded, approximately three quarters of the employees found themselves without a job. It wasn't difficult to filter through their files and come up with the reason the original company had failed. Incompetence was rewarded while the executives became lazy, assuming they were above hard work. Under my ownership, anyone with a less than stellar evaluation had to go. Exceptional employees were promoted with a large bonus, ensuring they would continue to maintain their work ethic.
As they stood to leave, I felt the glares of the newly unemployed aimed in my direction. Shrugging it off wasn't a big deal for me, but I was surprised to see a woman I'd let go standing in the doorway.
"Mr. Gallagher, I'm sure we can find a way to make this work."
Logan frowned. "Make what work?"
She flicked a heavy-lidded glance in his direction, then refocused on me. "I'll do anything the three of you want."
"In order to keep your job?" Caden clarified.
"Yes." She practically purred the word, reaching out a long red nail toward my arm.
The look I gave her was enough to wither a grown man. "Don't touch me."
With her finger centimeters from my skin, she froze. "Surely the four of us could get really cozy together."
"Not in a million years," I spat, skirting around her and heading for the front doors.
"It's not just me, right? She's super hot?" Caden asked.
"It's not just you," Logan answered.
"Doesn't matter what she looks like," I said. "The answer is always no."
I thought of Kinsley at home with Maddie to keep her company. Once she heard I was leaving, Maddie insisted on staying at the house. I'd told her to go ahead and help Kinsley redecorate while I was gone. Kinsley needed a friend and someone she could lean on while she was in the throes of the newborn stage with my son. I regretted having to leave so soon, but there were some things I simply couldn't reschedule.
The idea of having sex with the woman desperate to keep her job didn't interest me in the slightest. Especially not including my friend and my cousin in a foursome, but not alone, either. Missing Kinsley was new to me, but I had several more days' worth of business to attend to before I could go home to her.
21
Kinsley
I hung up my cell phone, setting it on the nightstand and turning to face Maddie. "Burke says they won't be back as soon as they thought."
"I just got a text from Caden saying he'd call me later." Maddie looked at her phone one more time before setting it next to mine. "I suppose that's what it's about."
We stood in one of the many guest bedrooms after Maddie had stripped the floral wallpaper. Our next plan was to paint the walls before bringing in the new furnishings I'd bought online.
"I knew he'd start finding reasons to stay away." Sitting on the edge of the bed, I rubbed the small of my back. "I need a break."
"I told you I'd do it all, and you could just sit down and supervise."
I looked at the scraps of wallpaper I'd gathered and stuffed in a trash bag. Physical work still tired me out more quickly than usual. "I know."
Maddie focused on me. "Are you sure this is what you want?"
