Page 71 of Hired Husband

“It’s not,” I said, glancing at his assistants and inclining my head toward the door. “Would you give us a minute, please?”

They exchanged a nervous glance, but Dad motioned for them to leave before checking his watch. “Wait in the car. I’ll be there in ten at most.”

I almost snorted. It was adorable he thought we’d be done in ten minutes just because something was waiting at the office. Something was waiting right here, and it was way more important than whatever budgeting meeting or executive committee nonsense he had to get to.

When his assistants finally left, he turned to me, setting the briefcase down on the desk and perching himself right on the very edge of it as he held my gaze. He crossed his arms loosely over his chest, those dark eyes curious but wary on mine. “What happened, Jasmine?”

“What happened?” I repeated incredulously. “What happened is that you lured Isaac here all the way from the States, took him away from his home and his family under the pretense of letting him design and build your new complex, and then you cut him loose.”

Dad scoffed. “That’s what you’ve cornered me about? Isaac’s pitch?”

“Of course, that’s what it’s about.” I threw both of my hands into the air. “He and Joseph designed the most perfect industrial compound this country has ever seen. They worked on that pitch night and day for weeks and you rejected them.”

“Sweetheart, I didn’t reject them,” he said calmly, lowering his arms to wrap his fingers lightly around the edge of the desk. “I agree that they designed a masterpiece. It would’ve changed the game for industrial developments in Sharm, if not all of Egypt, and I would’ve loved to have been a part of that.”

“Then why aren’t you building it?” I snapped and planted my hands on my hips. “Isaac did everything you brought him here to do, but he didn’t get the job. How does that even work? You went to Chicago to get him, made all sorts of promises about the project, and now, he’s leaving empty-handed to go back to the very place you took him away from.”

Dad blew out a weary sigh. “Isaac doesn’t want to work for me, honey. He wants to work with me, doing his own thing, and I didn’t promise him anything. I gave him an opportunity. He knew we’d have to get it past the board and that if it didn’t work out, he wouldn’t be involved in this project. It’s nothing unusual. This sort of thing happens every day.”

“I don’t care.” I lifted my chin a fraction of an inch and shook my head. “Your board made a terrible decision and you can’t let them get away with it.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “They made the decision they believed carried the least risk.”

“Well, they’re idiots.”

“They’re businessmen,” he countered. “David and his team won the bid because their presentation was more conservative. It costs less, it can be completed in a shorter amount of time, and it poses less risk of going over budget or being held up by installation delays. It was nothing personal.”

“Nothing personal?” I scowled at him. “Isaac and Joseph poured their hearts and souls into their design. David probably typed plans for industrial development into Google and printed out a template.”

He sighed. “Jasmine, I want Isaac onboard. That’s why I gave him the opportunity to come here and to present in the first place, but in the end, the global economy is putting everyone on edge. Most companies in the world are risk averse right now and GlobalStar is no different.”

“If you want him onboard, you can stop this,” I said firmly. “You have never been risk averse. That’s why GlobarStar is what it is. You see opportunities, you take chances, and somehow, you always succeed.”

His expression hardened just a touch. “I can’t stop anything, Jasmine. I am one vote on that board and I cast it in favor of Isaac, but the others didn’t follow my lead.”

“You’re Basel Saad.” I shook my head in disbelief. “Since when do you wait for people to follow your lead?”

“Since I appointed a board of directors, sweetheart. They’re there for a reason and they saw Isaac’s presentation simply as too ambitious for the company’s appetite right now.”

“Bullshit,” I snapped. “You wanted him here. You know how brilliant that design is. Who cares what they think?”

“GlobarStar,” he replied without skipping a beat. “The company is not me, Jasmine. I get one vote, the same as everyone else.”

“But you own them!”

“I do not.” He stared at me, his patience obviously running out. “You can light into me for the rest of our days and it still won’t make a difference. The votes have been cast.”

“You could’ve pushed harder.”

“I did.”

“Well, then you should’ve kept pushing.”

He arched an eyebrow at me. “Do you think I walked into that room and simply surrendered?”

“Why else would David have won the bid?” I asked, frustration practically running like an electric current across my skin. “He’s not an engineer or an architect. How does a businessman beat two professionals who actually know how to build the thing? How do you even know that David’s projections are accurate? He’s never done anything like this before.”

“No, but he put together a team who has.” My father regarded me for a long moment before rubbing a hand across his short, graying beard. “I didn’t want Isaac to lose, Jasmine.”