Page 66 of Take the Blame (Seaside Mergers #3)

“I-if they hold partial ownership then how are they selling?” I asked.

“Well… a portion of it has been signed away. The son gave up his ownership over the hardware about nine, maybe ten years ago. And the daughter, sad story, she died. I think that’s why they want to sell. They just don’t want to deal with it anymore.”

If I thought the room was spinning before, it was shaking now. I felt like I was going to throw up, which surprisingly didn’t stop me from almost screaming, “How do you know she died?”

Urse jerked back from my sudden urgency, her face scrunching in response to my strangeness. “The report only said the patent loses legitimacy because the holder was no longer with us. Is there something wrong?”

“Yes.” I peered over to the shut door. “Who’s in there this morning?”

“Mr. Fernandez, your sister, and the two Ferguson boys. It’s a rather large deal, and both sides of the merger thought it would be beneficial,” she said. “Ms. Ulburn has joined them as well.”

Dangit. If they were all in there that meant they were signing papers today. This would be official and Harper’s entire childhood, everything his sister had ever known would be gone.

I knew I didn’t speak for him and I knew he probably never told me about any of this for a reason—a damn good reason, and he was probably going to be pissed. But I also knew if they were ready to sell, that meant they were shutting a door that Harper wasn’t ready to be shut.

Dead?

No way. In all the times Harper had told me about his sister, he never once believed she was gone. And if he wasn’t ready to give up on that, if he wasn’t ready to shut that part of the past away, then I wasn’t going to let anybody else close it for him.

Before I knew what was happening—before I knew my place or the facts or the laws or the consequences, I was pushing into my brother’s office without so much as an invitation.

They sat in a tight circle, the Harper’s pressed together on the leather sofa by the window.

The two older Ferguson boys sitting in chairs close to them with papers strewn in their laps, Melissa was sat off to the side with Grace at her elbow also looking at papers and Ox was sat at his desk midway through some kind of statement from the looks of it as I barreled right in and cut him off.

The sharp cut of his eyes as they moved along my frantic face didn’t scare me. Nor did the sharp tone of his voice. “What?”

My brother was the least of my worries as I looked around the room, my eyes eating up the sight of the woman I’d already seen now sitting straight up in her chair as she stared at me, and that of a tall male form that looked way too much like a special guy I knew.

My voice stuck in my throat as I watched them, having come in here with absolutely no plan and no reasoning behind my actions other than a need to protect something important to me. I was panicking. Spiraling fast.

“ Que pasa , Alta ?” Ox said again.

I looked at him, panic crawling up my spine and overtaking me. I wanted to ask him so badly for help. To ask him to stop this. To wait. But this wasn’t his to take control of, it was mine.

I cleared my throat, turning to the two forms on the couch. “Mr. and Mrs. Harper I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

The room fell absolutely still, no one, not even my brother knowing what to do. The Harper look-alike guy spoke first, “Excuse me?”

Something spurred me on, and I found myself springing into action, words flinging from my mouth at warp speed.

“It seems all information was not made known before the completion of this deal,” I said while simultaneously rushing the couple and confiscating their documents.

There would be no signing of any sort while I was around.

“Which as part of our right and per the contract of every Fernandez proposal or offer, puts that offer into renegotiation.”

Wide eyes looked back at me in shock. “Young lady, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I hate to be insensitive but there’s a big difference between missing and dead.

I know it, your son knows it, and your county clerk probably knows it as well.

They can educate you on the extensive avenues you’ll have to go through to prove that death, but until then…

We take patents and copyright very seriously, and if the original property holder has not released ownership to you, then we will have to renegotiate ,” I said more sternly this time.

“Do you understand what I’m saying Mr. Harper… Mrs. Harper?”

Your daughter isn’t dead! I screamed at them in my head.

I didn’t know I was shaking until a steady hand laid over my shoulder, my brother appearing behind me out of nowhere.

Coming in here I had no clue what he was going to say, but I was surprised when, without missing a beat, he looked at his guests and said, “I apologize for the mistake, Mr. and Mrs. Harper. I should have been more prepared. I will call you when the new deal is delivered.”

The man sputtered, shooting from his seat in shock and outrage. “What kind of treatment is this? You expect me to bring my business back here after this? Not that it’s any of your business, but we’ve gone through the proper avenues for Mar?—”

The woman rose too, her hand gently covering his arm as she leaned up and whispered something in his ear.

I don’t think I imagined the winces at the name.

It was one thing to speak vaguely of it, but this was their child we were talking about.

Harper’s sister. I hated that I had to do this, but to protect Harper, it had to be done.

A moment later, Harper’s look-alike quieted, his frown deepening and looking too much like the man I knew as he speared his wife with sharp eyes. In a low voice he seethed, “You what ?”

The only reaction she seemed to have was an agonized look as she shrugged helplessly.

Abruptly clearing his throat, Mr. Harper turned back to us and said, “It would appear we all might have some things to rethink. Fernandez, we’ll be in touch.”

The only thing they left behind in their mad dash to the door was one final backward glance at me from Mrs. Harper.

Clay, looking strange dressed in a suit, hopped out of his seat and followed the pair hastily. “Let me walk you guys out.”

The door shut behind them. Nobody moved.

The quiet stretched around us, yet nobody moved .

My mind reeled, but the room remained frozen. Timeless. Stuck in the quicksand that I’d undoubtedly sunk our ship into.

But if there was one person you could count on to break through quicksand, it was Grace Ulburn.

Lucky me.

“Ms. Fernandez,” she said in her shrillest voice. “What on earth do you think you’re doing?”

“Not now, Grace.” I pressed my fingers into the corners of my eyes even as my hands shook. Breathe Al, breathe.

“No, now is the perfect time to discuss this. I have never in my life seen such a display of unprofessionalism and insubordination. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

Slowly, I turned to her. She’d gotten up from her seat and was directly behind me now, decked out in the power suit I hated and looking every bit as self-righteous and annoying as she always did while hovering over me.

And I’d had it.

Call it strange timing to finally become fed up with her policing my every move when I was actually in the wrong, but I was taking what I could get here and what I was getting was real sick and tired of her shit.

“Grace, enough . This is my own fault for never outlining my boundaries clearly, but I’m going to ask you one last time for all the times you’ve done it before, stop speaking to me like I’m a child,” I said through my teeth.

“Stop acting like a child then,” she snapped back. “As I recall you weren’t needed in this meeting at all let alone welcome to crash it.”

“That may be true, but it’s no longer a meeting, it’s now a family matter and I’m going to have to ask you to get out too,” I said, pointing at the door.

“You can’t just tell me to leave you little?—”

“Grace!” An unexpected voice clipped from the other side of the room. A voice I knew. A voice I loved. A voice that never ever sounded as sharp as it did now, usually so mild and reserved.

Melissa got up from her seat and moved so that she was standing in between me and the she-witch protectively, another shocking development as her voice continued to hiss.

“This is the last time I want to hear you disrespecting my sister. It’s gone on for months and she’s asked you to stop numerous times.

This is unfortunate and sudden but I’m sorry to say that we don’t have a position here for someone callous and irresponsible enough to put their personal feelings for a member of our team above the goodness of the company.

Now my sister has asked you to leave this room, and I have asked you to leave this company. Please pack your things and just go.”

Another vat of silence enveloped the room. Grace was again the first one to speak. “Ms. Fernandez, you don’t understand?—”

“Yeah, Lis,” I hissed a whisper, suddenly feeling guilty. “You don’t have to fire?—”

“I understand perfectly. From the withholding of information, sabotaging of work completed, and downright vitriol you’ve shown time and time again, I understand clearly.

You’re threatened by my sister. I’m alleviating that threat for you here and now.

Please leave .” Melissa stood tall, strong, bigger than I’d ever seen her before as she stared Grace down.

In the end it was Ox who cleared his throat and said. “Security will walk you out in fifteen minutes, Ms. Ulburn. Human Resources will meet you at your desk to explain your discharge. We wish you the best.”

If there was one person in the room who didn’t leave anything up for discussion it was Ox and even Grace couldn’t seem to find strength to argue against him after he’d said his piece.