Our life as we were just starting to know it was unraveling. I could feel it in my bones. And if I didn’t get to Jane first, I might just end up losing the only thing I actually cared about in all this bullshit, and there was just no way I was letting that happen.
My next call was to Trent. The phone rang twice before someone answered with a lazy, sing-song. “If you’re calling to tell him lunch is ready, he’s out in the fields and forgot his phone again.”
I closed my eyes. “Charlotte.”
“In the flesh,” my sister said cheerfully. “What’s up, corporate doom and gloom? You sound like you’re about to eat a junior executive.”
“I need you to talk to Trent,” I said. “Immediately.”
She hummed. “That tone usually means you’re either about to propose a hostile takeover of the whole damn world, or someone is sleeping with someone they shouldn’t be. Which is it?”
“Tell Trent he’s investing twenty-five million dollars into Thayer Steelworks,” I said. “As long as Westwood and Sons acquires it.”
There was a beat of silence. Then I heard liquid spray, followed by violent coughing.
“Oh my God,” Charlotte gasped. “I just choked on my coffee. Alex, what thefuck?”
“Just give him the message,” I said tightly. “Please?”
“Have you lost your mind?” she demanded. “Because I’m pretty sure that’s money you’re casually lighting on fire.”
“Maybe, but I’m doing it anyway.”
“Okay,” she said slowly after a few beats of silence. “Let’s try again, but this time, start from the beginning and pretend I’m not watching my husband’s net worth evaporate in real time.”
“Stop trying to be cute, Char. That’s a drop in the bucket and you know it. It’s up to him to invest more. It’ll be worth it.”
“Even so,” she said. “Pretend I’m completely out of the loop and tell me what the hell is going on over there.”
“Thayer Steelworks is about to be sold out from under my wife,” I said. “Tonight. There’s an emergency board meeting and a surprise player has entered the game. He’s late, but not too late.Wemight be if we don’t move on this, though.”
“Alright, but why does Trent need to be involved?”
“Because if the board is going to force a sale, I want it controlled,” I said. “We’ll be in the room, so we’ll know what the offer is when they do, but I want to have a counter ready within the next couple days.”
She went quiet for a moment and I could picture her sitting on the kitchen island, her feet swinging and her brain firing on all cylinders.
“This is about Jane,” she said finally.
“Yes.”
“You love her,” Charlotte said, not asking.
I swallowed. “She’s my wife.”
“Mm. That’s not what I said.”
I exhaled through my nose. “I’m about to go scorched earth, Char. I don’t care who I piss off. I don’t care how ugly it gets. She worked her ass off for that company. They don’t get to take it from her because they’re greedy, and scared, and think she’ll fold just because she’s a woman.”
“Look, I get it,” Charlotte said quietly. “I just think you’re making a lot of moves very fast.”
“I don’t have the luxury of slow,” I snapped, then forced myself to rein it in. “Sorry. I just?—”
“You’re scared,” she finished. “Welcome to marriage.” Charlotte sighed. “Okay. I’ve got my practical hat on. Trent will want details. Structure. Risk mitigation.”
“Tell him Zach is digging,” I said. “Nate’s team is drafting a buyout contingency and I’m ready to get moving the second the board votes.”
“Is it a done deal?” Charlotte asked.
