Pregnant By The Rival Ceo. Karen Booth
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the beach with a chef and an on-call masseuse, all while the rest of New York is dealing with gray snow and cold. I can’t wait.”
Fiji. In January. Anna took a cleansing breath. She hated these feelings of envy. She wanted to squash them like a bug.
“We need to talk about that, because we’re going to be away for a full two weeks,” Adam said to Anna. “If you think that’s too long a stretch for you to be in charge at LangTel, you need to tell me now.”
Anna blew out an exasperated breath. “I can’t believe you think there’s a chance I can’t handle it.”
Adam fetched a bottle of beer from the fridge and returned to the table. “What about Australia? What if something like that happens when I’m gone? We’re still sorting out that mess.”
“First off, we’re not sorting out that mess, I am. And you asked me to make those changes. I was following orders.”
“If you’re going to be CEO, you have to think for yourself.” He took a sip of his beer and pointed at her with the neck of the bottle. “There will be no orders to follow.”
How she hated it when he talked down to her like that, as if she didn’t know as much about business, when she absolutely did. “And I will do that once you finally hand over the reins.” Anna tightened her hands into balls. She was so tired of her dynamic with Adam, constantly at war.
Melanie buried her nose in a bridal magazine. Surely this wasn’t a comfortable conversation to sit in on.
“When you’re ready and not a day sooner,” Adam barked. “You know we’re in a delicate position. The company stock is fluctuating like crazy. I keep hearing rumblings about somebody, somewhere, wanting to take over the company.”
She’d heard those same rumors, but had ignored them, hoping they were conjecture and nothing more. “Adam, change brings instability. I think you’re making excuses, when the truth is that you suddenly have zero confidence in me.”
“You don’t make it easy when you make mistakes. Half of the board members are old guard. They do not want to see a woman take over the company, no matter what they might say to your face. We have to find the right time.”
Anna felt as though she was listening to her father speak. Was there something about working out of that office that made a person completely unreasonable? “You mean I have to wait until you decide it’s the right time.”
“You have no idea the amount of pressure I’m under. People expect huge things from me and from LangTel. I can’t let what Dad started be anything less than amazing.”
Anna kept her thoughts to herself. Adam was struggling with their father’s death even more than she was. He might not realize it, but she was sure his iron grip on LangTel had more to do with holding on to the memory of their dad than anything else. Tears stung Anna’s eyes just thinking about her father, but she wouldn’t cry. Not now.
“I can do this. I thought you believed in me.”
“I do, but frankly, you haven’t dazzled me like I thought you would.”
“Then let me dazzle you. I have an idea for an acquisition after the conference in Miami. That’s what I’ve been trying to talk to you all week about.”
“I don’t want to spend our entire evening talking shop. Send me the details in an email and we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
“No. You keep blowing me off. Plus, I’m starting to think this isn’t a discussion for the office.”
“Why not?”
You might get mad enough to set off the sprinkler system. “Because it has to do with Jacob Lin. I’m interested in a company called Sunny Side, and he’s the majority investor.”
Adam’s jaw dropped and quickly froze in place. “I don’t care if Jacob Lin is selling the Empire State Building for a dollar. We’re not doing business with him. End of discussion.”
That last bit was so like her dad, and such a guy thing to do, attempting to do away with an uncomfortable subject with male posturing. It insulted every brain cell in her head, which meant it was time to forge ahead. She wasn’t about to wait for another time. It might never come. “The company makes micro solar panels for cell phones, phones that will never, ever need an electrical charge.”
“Sounds amazing,” Melanie chimed in from behind the shield of her magazine.
Adam shook his head, just as stubborn as Anna had imagined he’d be. “No, it doesn’t.”
“Yes, it does,” Anna said. “We’re talking about a revolution in our industry. Imagine the possibilities. Every person who ever wandered around an airport looking for an outlet will never see a reason to buy a phone other than ours.”
“Think of the safety aspects. Or the possibilities for remote places,” Melanie added. “The public relations upside could be huge.”
“Not to mention the financial upside,” Anna said.
Adam kneaded his forehead. “Are you two in cahoots or something? I don’t care if Jacob has invested in a cell phone that will make dinner and do your taxes. He and I tried to work together once and it was impossible. The man doesn’t know how to work with other people.”
Her conversation with Jacob was fresh in her mind, what he’d said about the end of his friendship with Adam. What if things had been different and they had remained friends? “Funny, but he says the same thing about you.”
Adam turned and narrowed his focus, his eyes launching daggers at Anna. “You spoke to him about this?”
“Actually, I met with him. I told him that LangTel is interested in Sunny Side.”
“I can’t believe you would do that.”
“Come on, Adam.” Anna leaned forward, hoping to plead with her eyes. “We would be passing up a huge opportunity. Just take a minute and look past your history with Jacob for the good of LangTel. You’ll see that I’m right.”
Adam stood up from the table. “I can’t listen to this anymore. I’m going to answer emails and take a shower.” He leaned down and kissed the top of Melanie’s head. “Good night.”
“That’s it?” Anna asked, bolting out of her seat, her chair scraping loudly on the hardwood floors. “The almighty Adam passes down his decree and I’m supposed to live with it, even when my idea could make billions for the company he won’t hand over because he’s so concerned with its success?”
“Look, I call the shots. I’m CEO.”
Anna felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach. “You’ve reminded me of that every day since you took over.”
“Good. Because I don’t want to talk about this ever again. And I don’t want you to speak to Jacob Lin ever again, either.” He started down the hall, but turned and doubled back, raising a finger in the air as if he’d just had the greatest idea. “In fact, I forbid it.”
“Excuse me?” She remained frozen, beyond stunned. “You forbid it?”
“Yes, Anna. I forbid it. You are my employee and I am forbidding you to talk to him. He’s dangerous and I don’t trust him. At all.”
Jacob ended his first conversation with Adam Langford in six years with a growl of disgust, dropping his cell phone onto the weight bench in his home gym. Where exactly did Adam get off calling him? And issuing orders? Stay away from his sister? Keep your little cell phone company to yourself? Jacob had a good mind to get in his car, storm through the lobby of LangTel up to Adam’s office and finally have it out, once and for all. Lock the door. Two guys. Fists. Go time.
Jacob leaped up onto the