“We have a board meeting in five minutes.”
“I’m aware, and I’ll be attending through video. I just texted Matthew to see if he can clear your afternoon becauseafter the meeting . . . you may have something more important to do.”
“Done. Text Margret to clear Declan’s afternoon as well. I think I’d like to spend some quality time with my little brother today.”
“You got it.”
“Where is Ella?”Emily asks as I take a seat next to her in the smaller board room.
“I made sure Matthew didn’t inform her of this meeting.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m tired of seeing her belittled by the board and sitting in their crosshairs. She is the one who has saved my ass, and I can’t stand watching anymore vitriol hurled her way. I’m fucking over it.”
“You really do care for her, don’t you?”
I nod. “I do.”
I probably shouldn’t admit that to one of my employees, but I don’t know how to stop myself anymore. It’s all hit me this weekend; I’m over the charade. I’m over the PR stunts. I’m over the back and forth. I just want Ella. I want to start a life with her, and the first step toward that is to get the board out of my way. Then I can fully focus on TDC, Yegor, and Sergei and remove the threat they pose. But most of all, I’m done denying my feelings.
As soon as everyone is seated, Emily stands and begins her presentation.
“It’s been two months since Mr. Langford and Ms. Hale began their relationship, and I now have some clear numbers to present.
“Press attention associated with Mr. Langford or Langford Holdings has been predominantly positive at a seventy-twopercent positivity rate, as opposed to forty percent, which was Mr. Langford’s pre-relationship average. Both Mr. Asher and Mr. Sterling Langford report the acquisition of Lennox Rose Group as being greatly helped by Ms. Hale’s agreement to become a brand ambassador for their luxury companies, and overall public support of the union between Mr. Langford and Ms. Hale has a sixty-four percent approval rating.
“The influx of press since the beginning of the relationship has driven up engagement on all social media platforms, as well as traditional news outlets, podcasts, and various other entertainment vehicles. All these avenues have practically exploded, with a four hundred percent increase from that of this same time last year. This has resulted in a significant increase in revenue for Langford Holdings as well as for its subsidiaries, particularly those directly marketed by Ms. Hale in her London tour, as well as Vericom in their smartwatch launch. Many of these subsidiaries’ revenue is up anywhere from twenty-five to sixty percent, depending on the company and their products.
“All in all, the union of Mr. Langford and Ms. Hale has had an incredibly strong impact on Langford Holdings and Mr. Langford himself, and all objectives of the union have been achieved in only two months’ time, even allowing for a few instances of bad press. We project this positive impact to continue to improve in the future. We do expect a plateau at some point, but we also predict that increasing the levels of the relationship to an engagement would continue to create strong and positive press, generate revenue, and all in all greatly benefit Langford Holdings.”
Fucking hell. I’ve never thought of my relationship status in such clinical terms. Who knew it had a sixty-four percent approval rating? How did Emily’s team even quantify that? I don’t even know what the fuck to do with that information. Not that I care; it’s not what matters anymore.
“Thank you, Emily,” I say, excusing her. The faces of some board members are far from happy, and I can’t fathom why since Emily’s report was nothing but fantastic news. Whatever beef they have with this report, I want to listen to it head on and I’ll circle back to Emily later.
“Why all the glum faces?” Declan asks the members of the board as soon as Emily leaves. It’s like he’s reading my mind. “You all threatened and forced Asher into this, and he’s exceeded every expectation—no, not just exceeded them—he’s obliterated them, just like he always does. With all the money this little arrangement has made you, you should all be crying tears of joy, and yet all I see are unhappy faces. I am at a loss to understand why.”
“While we can all appreciate the increase in revenue,” Janet says, picking her words carefully—something I’ve never seen her do, “I do wonder if it’s too much. If Asher and Ella are now overshadowing everything else.”
“Overshadowing what?” I snap.
“Langford Holdings for one, along with our subsidiaries and the other board members and their endeavors.”
“What are you talking about?”
She clears her throat. “Well, there’s only so much press coverage to go around. I couldn’t get any press for my daughter’s engagement this weekend because all any outlet was talking about was you and Ms. Hale.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. You were one of the staunchest supporters of this, Janet, and now you’re mad because your daughter didn’t get her fifteen minutes of fame?”
Alan, who sits next to Janet, gives her a pat on the back and nods for her to continue. One of her faithful lap dogs offering support. These fucking clowns.
She sits up straighter and squares her shoulders. “It’s not about fifteen minutes of fame. It’s about getting the type of press someone of my daughter’s station is due. She’s a New Yorkheiress for god’s sake, and almost no one reported on her engagement. Two months ago, she would have been front-page news, now she was relegated to page six.”
I laugh out loud now. “This isn’t a fucking popularity contest. I can’t help that your and your daughter’s feelings are hurt because she’s not getting enough attention.”
“It’s not about feelings! It’s about the way of things. Before ‘dating’ you, no one would have cared whoElla Halewas,” she says Ella’s name with dripping disdain. “And now, she’s all anyone can talk about.”
“Oh, I see.‘The way of things,’” I hiss. “Ella isn’t an heiress, and therefore she doesn’tdeserveattention above that of your precious little heiress.”
