“Excuse me,” he said, before reaching over to press the intercom. “Yes, Lori?”
“The attendees for your meeting are here.”
“Thanks. Give me five minutes and then escort them into my private conference room.”
“Yes, sir.”
Mr. Rivers grabbed a folder off his desk, then turned back to Kennedy. “Please join us.”
He then led the way into a huge conference room. Motioning to a chair in the corner of the room, close to the huge meeting table, he said, “I think that spot will be perfect for you.”
Clearly still not understanding what was going on, she nodded and took the chair. Glancing over at Haddison, she found him staring at her intently. His features were unreadable. Then he broke eye contact with her to say something to Mr. Rivers, who merely nodded. Moments later, Haddison took a seat at the table, putting her in his direct view. All he had to do was look straight ahead to stare at her…which he was doing. She should be upset with him, yet his gaze was making heat stir within her.
Suddenly the conference room door opened and Mr. Rivers’ secretary led two men into the room — Nelson Whitworth and Larry Matthews. Huge smiles were on their faces…until they saw Kennedy. They seemed as surprised to see her as she was to see them.
“Gentlemen, please come in and take a seat,” Mr. Rivers said. “I’m sure you know Haddison Wolf, head of security, as well as Ms. Kennedy Bennett. I believe she reports to both of you.”
Both men mumbled something that Kennedy couldn’t hear as they took their seats. It was only then that Mr. Rivers took his place at the head of the table. “I called this meeting because there seems to be a problem.”
The room got quiet. Finally, Nelson Whitworth asked, “And what problem is that, Mr. Rivers?”
Maceo opened the folder in front of him. “According to a report I recently received from Mr. Wolf, it seems we have an issue with discrimination. For the past year or so, the two of you have treated Ms. Bennett unfairly. And I want to know why.”
Haddison wasn’t sure who was more shocked by his uncle’s revelation — Whitworth, Matthews, or Kennedy. He didn’t have much time to decide because Whitworth decided to speak up again. “Lies. Nothing but lies. Haddison Wolf made that up because he and Ms. Bennett are sleeping together.”
Maceo Rivers frowned. “Since this company does not have a non-fraternization policy, what Mr. Wolf and Ms. Bennett do during their free time is no concern of mine. And it shouldn’t be any concern of yours.”
It was obvious by Whitworth’s expression that he was flustered. “But it is if she told him lies. And now he’s passing those lies on to you.”
Haddison noticed Matthews wasn’t saying anything. Unlike Whitworth, he was probably concerned about the information in the folder Maceo had opened. The file was pretty thick.
“Then let’s see what part of Mr. Wolf’s report is false,” Maceo said, flipping through several papers. “Is it true that Ms. Bennett received better performance ratings overall than Larry Matthews? If so, how was he promoted to his position instead of her?”
Haddison watched as Kennedy leaned forward in her chair, as if eager to hear what Whitworth would say. Both men, on the other hand, seemed to fidget in their seats. “There are other things, considerations that are not on paper that made Larry Matthews more qualified,” Whitworth finally said.
Maceo Rivers lifted a brow. “Such as? I hope the fact that his father is a college friend of yours isn’t one of them.”
The two men glared over at Haddison. Apparently, they’d just figured out what he’d actually been doing these past few weeks. Instead of keeping an eye on Kennedy, he’d been watching them. Haddison glanced over at Kennedy. He could tell from the way she was looking at him that she’d pretty much figured out the same thing.
“My relationship with Larry’s father had nothing to do with it,” Whitworth was saying.
“Then tell me what did. And while Whitworth is thinking about what to say, I have a question for you, Mr. Matthews,” Maceo said, without missing a beat.
“Yes, Mr. Rivers?” Larry Matthews asked, clearly nervous. A film of perspiration was dampening his forehead.
“Ms. Bennett made a decision to leave Rivers and go to work elsewhere. I want to know why, when other companies reached out to you questioning her job performance here, you stated she did unsatisfactory work for us? After all, she’s one of the best employees we have in marketing, isn’t she?”
Haddison could tell from Kennedy’s shocked expression that she’d had no idea Matthews had been sabotaging her ability to get another job. Before Matthews could give a response, Whitworth was expressing his outrage again.
“Mr. Wolf had no right to investigate anything we did,” he said angrily, pointing an accusing finger at Haddison. “That report is based on lies that she—” he then pointed a finger at Kennedy, “—probably told him during pillow talk. I can’t believe you’re taking his word over ours, Mr. Rivers. We’ve worked for you a lot longer than Wolf has. You know nothing about him or his motives. Obviously, he’s easily swayed by a pretty face and a—-”
“Enough!” Maceo said, bringing an end to Whitworth’s tirade. He stood and it was obvious that he was furious. “You and Matthews might have worked for me longer, but I’ve definitely known Haddison Wolf a hell of a lot longer than I’ve known either of you. And I have no reason whatsoever to question my nephew’s motives.”
“Nephew?”
“Nephew?”
“Nephew?”
Haddison noted the third outcry of surprise had come from Kennedy.
“Yes, my nephew,” Maceo said, then leveled his razor-sharp eyes on the two men. “And based on his very thorough report, the two of you are fired immediately. Don’t bother to clean out your desks. Haddison and his security team will escort you out of the building.”
“I believe it was a good thing Haddison invited you to attend this meeting after all, Ms. Bennett. At no time were you suspected of anything. In fact, from day one, when Haddison apprised me of what he suspected, he made it clear the investigation was on Whitworth and Matthews — not you.”
Kennedy drew in a deep breath, relieved to hear that. She and Mr. Rivers were alone in the conference room. Two men from Haddison’s security team had arrived and they, along with Haddison, were escorting Whitworth and Matthews from the building. “Why didn’t you and Haddison want anyone to know you’re related?” she finally asked.
“We would have made it known eventually, but we decided not to mention it right away. I’m glad we did. Otherwise, Whitworth and Matthews would not have felt comfortable asking for his help. But Haddison had suspected something about Matthews’s promotion wasn’t on the up-and-up even before they’d approached him.”
“Oh.”
“Now I have a proposition for you — one I hope you’ll seriously consider. I apologize for what they did to jeopardize your chances of employment elsewhere. I own this company and take full responsibility for what happened. My only excuse is that at the time, I was involved in an important business deal and relied on my management team to keep things running smoothly. Apparently, I was wrong in doing that.”