It was cold and filled with bitter anger. Harvard had heard that laughter before and knew it only manifested in people who were broken. His eyes scanned the room, and he unobtrusively signaled to his team not to interrupt, but to stay quiet and watch.
“You’ll look out for me?” Preston soared to his feet and leaned over the table toward his father. “The way you looked out for us when you walked out on our mother? The way you’ve walked out on every family you’ve had since then, so you could follow your dick all over London? Please, you can’t even look out for yourself, let alone anyone else.” He slammed his palms on the table, making several people jump.
Stephanie put her arm around Anne, who watched in horror as her son raged at his father.
“You’re the reason this happened,” Preston spat out. “You keep diluting the share base. Every child you have means more people on this board. Less profit for everyone involved. More stupid voices to listen to as they expound their inane opinions about a company that’s nothing more than a meal ticket to them.”
He slapped the table again. “You’ve diluted our heritage. Because of you splitting your shares with every divorce, our family’s position on this board was weakened.” He swung to Jonathan. “That seat is mine. I’m the eldest. I’m the one with the most experience. I should have been CEO. But no, you get to sit in the seat because your father managed to get his hands on the majority share of the company. A company that wasn’t even his. It was ours, damn it.”
He glared at his father. “So, yes, because you frittered away my heritage with your stupidity and inability to keep your dick in your pants, I took it back.” He stood up straight and tugged down his suit jacket, fixing Jonathan with a suddenly calm and intelligent look. “You can’t steal what you already own. As a shareholder in this company, the research belongs to me as well as everyone sitting at this table. It doesn’t matter how much evidence you think you have. Because you cannot steal what you already own.”
Anne sobbed quietly as the shock of Preston’s confession sank in. Theo just sat there, pale and unmoving, as though disconnected from everything that was happening.
“You did it then?” Marcus asked his brother, sounding pained. “You stole from TayFor?”
Preston ignored his brother while he tugged at the cuffs of his shirt and fixed his tie. “I would like to call my lawyer now,” he calmly told Harvard.
“The police are waiting in reception,” Harvard said. “Ryan will escort you to them and accompany you to the station. You can meet with your lawyer there.”
Preston nodded and strode toward the door, hesitating briefly when he opened it. “Think about who the real villain is here. Me for taking what I rightfully own? Or the Ford family for taking our heritage from the rest of us.”
As the door closed behind them, silence fell over the room; all that could be heard was Anne’s quiet sobbing. Until Charles cleared his throat. “He has a point. I mean, I don’t agree with the stealing. He wasn’t just taking what was his; he was taking from all of us. But he has a point about this company having been infiltrated by outsiders.”
“Charles,” Jonathan said evenly, “you’re fired. Clear out your desk and hand in your security pass. I’ve already spent far too many years listening to your bigoted bullshit. I don’t want to waste any more of my life on it.”
“You can’t fire me,” he shouted. “I’m a shareholder.”
“Actually,” Rachel said, “being a shareholder doesn’t automatically guarantee you a position with the company. Employment is at the discretion of the management. I should know; I helped Father draft the regulations.”
“You always were an interfering little hussy,” Charles told her as he got up and stormed toward the door. “I’ll see you and your inbred family in court.”
“Oh, to hell with it,” Harvard said as the man approached him. He pulled back his fist and let rip.
Charles landed on the floor with a bloody nose and a spiteful glint in his eye. “I’ll add assault to my litigation, shall I?”
“You’d need a witness for that to stand,” Jonathan said. “I saw you run into Harvard’s fist. I didn’t see him punch you. Anyone else?” He looked around the table, his expression making it very clear that whatever answer the rest of them gave would determine what side they were on.
“Didn’t see a thing,” Marcus said, and others agreed.
Charles got to his feet. “Samantha? Rupert? Tell them what you saw.” It was an order given by a man used to intimidating his family.
“I was looking at my phone,” Samantha said. “Sorry, Daddy.” She didn’t look sorry. In fact, she didn’t appear bothered at all.
Charles turned to Rupert.
“I saw you get what you deserved,” Rupert said. “And don’t worry. I’m okay with being disowned.”
With pure fury, Charles strode from the room. Followed closely by Anne, who was still crying, and Stephanie, who was comforting her.
Theo blinked several times but couldn’t look anyone in the eye. “I, uh, better go to the police station and see if there’s anything I can do,” he said before he left too.
“Marcus,” Jonathan said, “if you want to go, I understand.”
Marcus shook his head. “There’s nothing I can do there. I’ll see out the day, and then I’m going to find the biggest bottle of whiskey I can get my hands on and ask it what the hell happened with my brother.”
Jonathan nodded. “Well,” he said to the remaining board members, “it would seem we’re a few short. With Charles and Preston gone, the management team will be stretched.” He turned to Rachel, his face softening in apology. “Can you please stay on until we get this sorted?”
“Oh, come on,” Rachel said. “That could take months.”
“I know, but seriously, who else can I ask? Father’s in no condition to come back to work. And no one knows the business like you. Even when you weren’t here, you spent hours going over Father’s reports with him, discussing tactics, formulating policy. No one else could step in and be up and running as quickly.” He glanced over at Harvard. “And you’d be welcome as head of security. Until we sort that problem too.”
Harvard shrugged. He didn’t care where he went as long as it kept him with Rachel. “That’s up to Rachel. Where she goes, I go.”
“Oh, for the love of Gucci,” Rachel snapped. “You don’t need to stay by my side now that the job’s over. Go play with the other boys. I’m sure Callum has someone he needs shooting.”
Samantha stared between him and Rachel. “The wedding is still on though, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Harvard said at the same time as Rachel said, “No.”
“Thanks for clearing that up,” Samantha mumbled before raising her voice. “Until you figure it out, I’ll just carry on planning. Which means”—she pointed at Rachel—“you don’t get out of visiting that bridal boutique.”
“Rachel?” Jonathan said. “What will it be? I don’t mean to pressure you, but I need you. Without Preston, I’ll have to take on our legal work. I could do with another pair of hands to help run things. We could share the CEO role until we figure everything out.”