I was having trouble concentrating on the details, but I’d heard enough to know she was being serious. “I’ve gotta go. My dad’s been trying to get in touch with me.”
She snorted. “No shit. Call me back and tell me everything.”
I hung up and told Gigi that York Capital had been the victim of a hostile takeover this morning because of our uncle’s inability to remain solvent. “Instead of him owning up to it and asking the rest of the family to buy him out, he apparently took a better offer from a stranger,” I explained, not telling her the new majority shareholder wasn’t exactly a stranger to me. Gigi pulled me through the door to her office and sat me on the sofa before taking the seat next to me. I noticed her hands were shaking.
“I’m sure it’s fine,” I said, lying through my teeth. “We’ll figure it out. Maybe it’s all a big misunderstanding.”
Gigi’s lifted eyebrow called me on my bullshit. Mark went through cash like water. If anyone would sell out the family firm, it was him. It was bad enough that my father had asked me to look into ways to safeguard the company from doing just that several years ago. I’d drafted documents to include new rules requiring three board members to sign off on any significant stock transfers. If this had actually happened, more people had known about it than Uncle Mark.
“Ellison, if we lose the pledged donations from the York Foundation… we could be in major trouble.”
She was right, but there was no use worrying about it based on a rumor. I dialed my father.
He answered with his familiar booming voice. “Why the hell did it take you so long to answer?” Before I could respond, he kept talking. “I need you here right away. Charter a plane if you have to. Mark has really screwed the pooch, and you’re going to need to find a way to get us out of this mess.”
I was tempted. The fact Grey Blackwood was involved meant part of me wanted nothing more than to fly back to the city and get right in the middle of my father’s drama. But I’d sworn, sworn, I was no longer going to bow to his commands. I no longer worked for York, and I needed to make a clean break. If it was true, and my father’s company had actually been taken over legally, there was nothing I could do to help him anyway.
On top of that, I didn’t trust myself in the same room with Grey Blackwood.
“I can’t,” I said. “I have commitments here. I’m sorry.”
The moment of silence before he blustered his disapproval felt like a vacuum sucking all the air out of the space between us. “You what? You’re sorry? Sorry doesn’t begin to cut it. Was it or was it not you who I tasked with making sure something like this never happened? Get your ass down here and fix this now. This is your mistake. You’re going to clean up the mess you made, and you’re going to do it right now.”
“I don’t work for you anymore, Dad. So no, I’m not coming back to New York. You have brilliant attorneys on staff. Ask them for help.”
His voice lowered dangerously as if he was speaking through clenched teeth. “Technically, legally, you still work for me. According to the terms of our agreement, the foundation will not send the final payment to your little charity project until you’ve completed your contract with York.”
My stomach dropped. He was right. The academy was counting on the final contribution the York Foundation had committed to, and the only reason the York Foundation had agreed to such a large donation was because of my contract. If we could get the company back, or if Grey was the kind of man to honor the foundation’s pledges, it would matter.
“I did complete my contract,” I said. “I am entitled to two weeks of vacation.”
“Vacation is at the discretion of the manager, and this manager says it’s an inconvenient time for you to be out of the office. We will pay you the value of the missed vacation days, of course. That is, unless you can provide written proof your vacation was approved by your manager?”
His smarmy tone made my skin crawl. Warren York was well versed in manipulation, and he wasn’t stupid. He would have made sure he could back his threat up before insisting I return. Of course I hadn’t gotten my vacation approval in writing. No one ever did. And my manager had been my father.
“Ellison, I need your help,” he said, suddenly lowering his voice and sounding sincere for once. “He’s going to take the house.”
I glanced up at Gigi, whose smooth skin was marred with wrinkles of concern. How the hell was I supposed to tell her the money we’d counted on wasn’t coming? And how would she take the news that my parents were now homeless because of a revenge scheme I’d inadvertently triggered all those years before?
Because suddenly my brain was kicking into gear with a vengeance, and I knew without a shadow of a doubt Grey Blackwood had planned this. He’d deliberately targeted York to get back at us for screwing him over in college.
And it was all my fault.
After ending the call, I stared into space, trying to process everything he’d said.
“Ellison, what the hell? Say something.” Gigi’s face had lost some of its color. “Is it true? Did Mark sell his shares to someone else?”
I nodded. “Grey Blackwood.” The name said it all. Gigi may not have known my true feelings for Grey, but she damned well knew the name.
“Wait. The kid from the country club? The one who—”
“Yeah. That one.”
“But he’s…” She frowned. “Wasn’t he a scholarship kid? Who does he work for? How could he afford to buy a majority share of York?”
I let out a humorless laugh. “He was a scholarship kid to Yale, Gigi. And he works for himself. He built a career around investing in high-risk venture capital projects until he had enough money to begin taking over other companies. He’s a billionaire now.”
“That kid who tried seducing you—”
“He didn’t seduce me,” I hissed. The last thing I needed was for fellow staff members to overhear me. “I’ve told you guys this a million times. It was my idea. That closet thing started out as a dare—I’m the one who lured him into the closet. It wasn’t his fault. Also? I wanted it. I had a crush on the guy. Okay?”
Her eyes were wide. “I know you said that, but… we all just thought you were trying to save face. Especially when you didn’t end up dating any guys or coming out or anything.” She looked understandably confused.
“He’s getting me back,” I said, almost to myself. I ran my hands through my hair, which was getting way too long since I hadn’t had time to get it cut. Finishing up my job at York had been a whirlwind this summer. Now that I’d finally broken free of the place, here I was again. All because of a mistake I made when I was twenty-one.
“What do you mean?” Gigi asked. “Getting you back for what?”
“For not standing up for him! For not speaking up at the time and telling everyone it was my fault. He lost everything because of me. His job at the club, the internship at a VC firm after graduation, the respect of his coworkers. Jesus. My friends humiliated him. They told everyone he’d been the victim of a killer prank that night. It was awful. I don’t blame him for wanting revenge.”