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He closed the door and took the chair across from me. His seat was twice the size of the one I sat in, with a tall, imposing back that somewhat resembled a throne.
I’d sat here once before, while Harold handed me some ‘truths’ he thought I needed to know. Ones my father apparently agreed with but wouldn’t voice because he was too soft when it came to his only son. Harold’s words, not mine.
At the time, I’d found Harold intimidating. Overbearing. He’d seemed powerful, with his ability to run a company and manage floors filled with staff.
Now he just seemed like a little man, trying to make himself seem big.
“Don’t talk to her like that again.”
He paused in putting on his glasses. “Excuse me?”
“The receptionist.” I racked my brain for her name. “Glennis, right? Don’t talk to her like that again.”
His gaze narrowed. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that. Because, frankly, I have better things to do.”
I sat back and folded my arms across my chest. “Do tell me why you’ve summoned me in here then.”
“Your wife is causing problems.”
I blinked. That had been the last thing I’d expected him to say. “For who, exactly?”
Harold picked up his pen and pointed it at me. “You. Me. Want to explain why I had to take a call from her last night, crying hysterically down the line and making all sorts of outrageous claims about my business and what it owed her.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Your business? Last I checked, I owned fifty-one percent. Making me the majority shareholder.”
Harold tsked and shook his head. “You own half of fifty-one percent. Your new stepsister owns the other half. That makes me the majority shareholder.”
“That’s a matter of paperwork.”
“Maybe so. But we’ll see. Right now, the bigger problem is your wife. She claims you’ve cut her off financially.”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes. I did.”
He scowled, his gaze shifting past me to the glass walls beyond where Kian sat waiting. “I suppose that out there has something to do with it?”
“That out there? He has a name, and you know it.”
“That out there has been a massive problem for you in the past, and I see nothing has changed.” Harold huffed out an angry breath. “You aren’t a child anymore. You want to take over this business, Vaughn? Sort your shit out with Brooke. You need her and her family’s connections if you want to walk in your father’s shoes. You need to prove you’re a family man who can be trusted. Jesus Christ, I thought we were done with this. Clearly, ten years and your own bankrupt business did nothing to make you grow up. You’re still the selfish, spoiled little brat you always were.”
The anger bubbled up inside me. “Then buy me and Rebel out. We’ll take the money, and you’ll never see me again. While you’re at it, you need to pay Kian the money he’s owed. As well as anyone else you’ve been stiffing since my father died.”
Harold stared at me like I was an exhibit in a museum. “You’ve started up with Kian again, haven’t you?”
I ground my teeth. “Even if I have, that’s not your concern.”
Harold just shook his head and laughed bitterly. “I won’t have my company associated with men like that.”
“Men like that?” I spat back at him. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means pull your head out of your ass. I can’t just buy you out. Don’t you think I would if I could? You think I have millions, just sitting in my bank account, ready for me to put in your pocket? It doesn’t work like that, you ignorant child.”
It was the first inkling I’d heard of the business maybe not being as profitable as it seemed. But a lot of businesses had cash flow problems when all their wealth was tied up in assets. I refused to let him take advantage of me, or of Rebel and Kian. “Then sell something.”
He scoffed. “Like what? The building we work out of? We’re mortgaged to the hilt. You’re in this as much as I am, Vaughn. You can thank your father and his lack of business sense for that. The only way either of us is coming out of this with any money is if we make it now that he’s out of the picture.”
Shock punched me in the gut, but it was just as quickly replaced with suspicion. If what he’d said was true, he’d just admitted he had a motive for murder.
If he noticed his slip, he didn’t mention it. “Sign your portion of the business over to me. Or wake up and act like an adult. You don’t get the luxury of doing whatever you want anymore. Our entire business runs on word of mouth and the relationships we build with clients and other CEOs. It’s all about who lets you sit at their table. You think any of them will want to work with you if they’re constantly thinking you want to stick your dick in their asses?”