No, Noah wasn’t petty like that. He wouldn’t get angry just because he was wrong.
Whatever it was, she wasn’t going to dwell on it. This wasn’t his job on the line, anyway. He could be happy for her, or he could stew in silence. She wasn’t going to let it bother her in the slightest.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Noah burst into the boardroom.He’d taken a last-minute flight to Seattle where the headquarters had moved to last year. This meeting had been on the books for weeks, but Noah had planned on attending digitally.
Now, he had a reason to be here in person, and every single person in that room was going to regret it. The ten board members he’d hired to run this organization once it had gotten too large for him to run on his own behind the computer screen jumped and rose to their feet. They were all twice his age or older, but that didn’t matter.
Each one of them knew who was in charge—who signed their paychecks. He’d made sure of that when he’d hired them. He was the bankroller. He was the one who made all the final decisions. And if anyone attempted to do anything without him signing off on it, they were reprimanded.
Not one of the individuals in this room took a seat as Noah made his way to the head of the table. Their eyes darted to each other, not one of them breathing a word. Noah unbuttoned his suit jacket before pulling back the chair and taking a seat.
Here, he was a businessman. Here he wore a mask of the man he’d needed to be when he made the decision to start up this charity. He couldn’t afford to let people walk all over him, and that was exactly what the secretary had done.
He frowned at the men and women who stood around the table expectantly. Then, all at once, they settled into their chairs.
“Mr. Reese, you… ah… erm…” Jonathan was the head of his board—the liaison who passed information from Noah to his team when he couldn’t be present and vice versa. He scooted his chair closer to the table and rested his clasped hands before him. “We weren’t expecting you to attend this meeting… in person.”
“I didn’t exactly have a choice, now, did I?” Noah’s eyes scanned the room for the secretary who was responsible for responding to the emails the board received. If she couldn’t respond to them, she sent them on to Thomas, who was responsible for a wide range of interactions with the public.
The people in the room shifted uncomfortably. And why wouldn’t they be nervous? They knew the rules. He’d laid them out plainly when this charity had gotten too big for him to handle on his own.
Noah placed his palms on the table and rose as his irritated glare swept through the room. “Do any of you want to tell me why I’m being summoned to an event?”
A few of the individuals flinched.
“Because last I heard, that isn’t something I do. Did I not make it clear that I am not the face of this program? I do not make public appearances. I do not want my name plastered in the media. Everything we do is about the people we help, not the people who run this charity.”
Murmurs rumbled through the room.
“Of course, Mr. Reese. We all know?—”
Noah turned to Jonathan. “Then do you want to tell me why my presence is being requested at the event being held in Montana?”
To his credit, Jonathan didn’t shy away from Noah’s dark tone. He moistened his lips and gave a curt nod. “The young woman who is responsible for that email hasn’t been with us long. She was still learning the ins and outs of how we do things here.”
Noah’s brows lifted. “What happened to Pepper?”
Jonathan cleared his throat. “Ms. Mathewson gave us her two weeks’ a couple months ago. I made sure to include it in our notes.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Noah took a steadying breath. He couldn’t exactly be upset with someone who hadn’t been working with them long. It had been an honest mistake. Still, if this was the sort of thing that could fall through the cracks, then the new secretary would need someone to check over her emails before they got sent out. She couldn’t be making official statements that went against the way he ran things.
“Has she not had the training needed for?—”
“We’re aware of how problematic this situation has become, Mr. Reese. She’s been reprimanded for her actions, and she’s been put on probation when it comes to public communication. The email she received requesting your presence should have been passed on to Mr. Daniels, but it slipped through.”
“What have you done to remedy the situation? From what I can tell, the people organizing this event haven’t been given a corrected statement.”
Jonathan shifted his focus through the room again then cleared his throat. “We haven’t made any corrections.”
Noah stiffened, his eyes narrowing. “I beg your pardon?”
The man fidgeted again. “We thought it would be wise to make an appearance. The charity has been so successful, there are rumors that?—”
“Do I look like I care about rumors? This charity is doing everything by the book. We pay top dollar for our bookkeeping, and everything is out in the open.”
“With all due respect, noteverything.” Jonathan was referring to Noah’s name. The one thing that wasn’t public knowledge—his identity.
