Holidays with the Billionaire

Chapter 28

Kelton

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I stayed in my office the rest of the day, refusing phone calls and visitors. I called my attorney Jack and told him what happened. After lecturing and scolding me, he told me I had to inform HR immediately and then the shareholders. HR is one thing, but the board is altogether something else. Since it was near the end of the day by the time Jack called me back, I figured I’d do it tomorrow. He also told me he was drawing up a nondisclosure agreement for all the staff to sign to keep them from spreading the photos around to anyone outside of the company. We just have to hope they hadn’t done it already.

But first, I have to go see my brother. I’ll tell him to his face and maybe get some advice. I know he’s never dealt with it, but who had dealt with it was my dad. I asked him to meet me at Seth and Rita’s for some advice.

I pull up to Seth’s massive house and park in the circular drive. I don’t want to do this but if I don’t, I’ll end up driving all the way to Keystone to collapse Jet’s windpipe, along with whoever else gets in my way. I obviously can’t prove it was him, but I do have IT trying to trace it. I’d put the supervisory IT guy on it, asking for discretion, but the whole office had already seen the photos so there wasn’t much he could do. He said he could try to trace the IP address it came from, and asked my permission to send the IP address to another friend of his to investigate, and I told him to go ahead. Once I get my proof, I’m going to fucking bury Jet Keystone.

“Hi,” Rita says, kissing me on the cheek. She holds two glasses of red wine and hands me one.

“Thanks,” I say.

“Is everything okay?” she asks.

Rita’s sweet but she’s very nosy. I’m sure Seth will tell her once I leave but right now, I need to talk to the guys.

“I’ll live,” I reply. “Where’s Seth?”

“He and Dad are in the sitting room.” She’s called our father Dad since they got married, as her own father passed away when she was a teen.

“Thanks,” I say, heading there.

Dad and Seth are chatting and drinking wine.

“You look like shit,” my dad says.

“I feel like shit,” I mutter.

“You’re not sick, are you?” Seth asks, alarmed.

“No, Doc. Not physically.” Though I won’t admit I almost threw up as soon as I saw those photos on Adlee’s laptop.

“What’s going on, son? I’m worried,” Dad says.

“It’s easier to show you,” I say, sliding out my phone and pulling up the email. “This was sent to everyone in the office except me and my secretary.”

They look together as they open the email and scroll through the photos. Thank God they didn’t get any of us in compromising positions. I always keep my drapes closed and Adlee’s apartment is too far up.

“So you’re boinking your secretary?” Seth asks.

If I wasn’t in such a foul mood I’d laugh. “We’re in a relationship. It’s pretty serious. It’s not a fling.”

“Okay, so?” Seth says. “Dad and Mom did the same thing. Worked out for them.”

“Sure did,” Dad says with a grin.

“But these were sent to the whole fucking office! And I know who did it. I’m going to sue Jet Keystone for defamation, invasion of privacy, and whatever else I can get him for.”

“You got proof?” my brother asks.

“No, but I’m getting it.”

“Why is he doing this?” Dad asks.

“He’s been ramping up the threats lately, trying to bully me into selling. I’ve told him countless times to stop. If I refuse to take his call, he emails me at work. Or texts me. He flat-out threatened me a few weeks ago. He even tried to hit on Adlee in Aspen, but she turned him down. Guess he made good on his threats. I just don’t know why he didn’t send me the photos first and threaten blackmail before sending them to the whole office.”

“He knows you’ll never sell, not even with the photos. So he wanted to humiliate you because he’s an immature man-child, trust fund brat.” Seth shakes his head and downs the rest of his glass.

“I’m going to kill him. In the meantime, what do I do? Just go about our workdays like nothing happened?” I groan.

“Well, you might have to move Adlee to a different position, or offer her a severance and let her go. But, be aware she can sue you for firing her after you slept with her,” Dad says.

“I don’t want to fire her, nor do I think she’ll sue me,” I say, lifting the wine to my lips. Fuck this, I need something stronger. I get up and go to Seth’s liquor cabinet and pour some bourbon.

“I mean, you could cool off the relationship but I don’t think that would help. The damage is done,” Dad says.

“That’s what I was thinking. I did send Adlee home as soon as it happened so she wouldn’t have to be subjected to the staff’s gossiping, but I can’t keep her at home forever.”

“How is she doing?” Seth asks. “She seems like a nice girl, I’m sure she’s pretty upset.”

“I’m sure she is,” I say, tipping back the glass and drinking it all in one gulp.

“You haven’t checked on her?” Dad asks incredulously.

“No, I came straight here for advice. I’ll check on her later.” I am worried about her, but I figure I should have some answers for her before I call her, because she’s going to want some. “My attorney says I need to let the board know.”

“When are you gonna do that?” Seth asks.

“Tomorrow,” I reply.

“I have back-to-back surgeries all day. I can’t make it to the meeting,” Seth informs me.

“It’s fine, you don’t have to be there. That’s why I’m here. I wanted to tell you first.” I look down at my empty glass, then to my dad and brother. “How do you think they’re gonna take it?”

“Laskin’s not gonna keep his mouth shut, I know that for sure,” Seth says.

“Oh, absolutely. I’m shocked he hasn’t called or texted me, since I’m sure he saw the email. Though, I did refuse calls and visitors all day. I told him he needed to retire so I’m not on his good side at the moment, anyway. So I’ll take what he says with a grain of salt.” I sigh.

“You told him to retire?” Dad asks, chuckling. “What did he say?”

I go on to tell him about it. And after one more bourbon, which I barely felt, I leave to go home and not sleep.

I asked the board to meet us at the office for an emergency meeting. Our usual monthly meetings are done at a restaurant, usually the banquet room of our favorite Italian restaurant.

I texted Adlee last night and told her to go ahead and stay home again today. I didn’t have the energy or honestly the balls to call and talk to her. She had to be so mad at me. While this is Jet’s fault, it’s really mine by proxy. She wouldn’t have been humiliated like that if it wasn’t for my stubbornness. But I shouldn’t have been subjected to his childish antics, either. It’s better if she takes a day of paid leave while I have this board meeting. I didn’t want the shareholders treating her any differently either, so I really am trying to shield her from that.

With everyone here, I close the door.

“Seth can’t be here today but I’m glad the rest of you came,” I say.

“What’s this about?” Mike, one of our longtime investors asks. He’s in his seventies and is retired but loves to play the stock market and crypto as a hobby. A very expensive hobby that sometimes pays out nicely.

“I know what it’s about,” Jerrold says, narrowing his eyes at me.

I shoot him a filthy look and glance around the table before taking a big breath with my head held high. “Yesterday, all my employees received an anonymous email with some indiscreet photos of me and my secretary, Miss Phillips. Just to put it out on the table and not bullshit any of you, she and I are in a relationship. One that seems to be becoming pretty serious.”

A few gasps and murmurs echo around the table.

“Real cliché, right? The boss and the secretary? Well, it’s not some casual fling. We are talking about a future together.”

“You don’t know who sent the photos?” Marnie asks, crossing her legs under the conference table with her hands folded on top.

“I suspect it’s Jet Keystone, though I can’t prove it. He’s been threatening me almost weekly recently.” The board knows all about my issues with Jet, and they all agree that I would be insane to sell such a prime piece of real estate, no matter what the Keystones are offering.

“My attorney advised me to let all of you know right away. I don’t think anything is going to come of it, but I have to figure out what to do with Miss Phillips to keep my reputation intact. Hers as well. I can’t and won’t fire her, and I hate to lose such a good assistant, but I’m not sure if I should keep her in her current position.”

“If the public gets wind, our own stocks still fall. People don’t like this type of shit. It makes them feel insecure about their investments,” Jerrold says.

“I’m aware. That’s why I’ve called you all in—”

“I will pull out of this so fast, your stocks will drop anyway,” John, a longtime investor cuts me off. His face is red and he shakes his head. “I’m serious, Fox. You don’t need this fucking publicity and I value my money.”

A chorus of agreeing murmurs ring around the room. Everyone looks serious and pissed off.

I put my hands up to try to calm them. “Listen, my hope is to keep it under wraps, and I’ll be meeting with the staff today to make them all sign NDAs. Not sure if it’ll matter, if any of them have shared these photos elsewhere already.” I rake my fingers through my hair.

“Make sure termination is on the table if they even attempt to share them,” Mike adds.

I nod. “I plan to.”

We discuss a few more things and they leave, and I can feel the tension still lingering in the air. I dial HR.

“Lindsey, I need to meet with all of the staff. Is everyone here today?” I ask.

“Yes, everyone except Ms. Phillips,” she replies.

No shit.

“Have everyone head to the conference room, including you and everyone in HR. This won’t take long.”

After I hang up, I quickly print out 30 copies of the NDA. After grabbing an unopened box of pens, I head back to the conference room, where all of the staff sit there looking nervous. They quiet down when they see me walk in.

I hand the stack of papers to Lindsey and ask her to pass them out to everyone, and put the box of pens in the middle of the table. A lot of the employees are standing because there’s not enough room in here for everyone.

“I’m going to cut to the chase here. I’m well aware you all received an email with photos of me and Miss Phillips. She and I are in a relationship and I’m aware how that looks. I’d like to not have to let Miss Phillips go, but our shareholders aren’t very happy at the moment. Which is why I will need all of you to sign the nondisclosure agreement in your hands. If you don’t, I’ll have to ask for your immediate resignation. If you’ve already shared the photos outside of this company before today, well, all I can say is, shame on you. And I’m sure some of you are curious, but we don’t know who sent it, but we’re working on finding out.”

A few people look down, and I can tell they have already shared it. Fuck . Well, all I can try to do is a bit of damage control here. Everyone signs the papers and then they all file out.

Back in my office, I sit back in my chair and stare blankly at the computer screen. Hopefully the NDA will keep them quiet, but it’s Jet I need to worry about. If he leaks it anywhere else... I mean, I guess the small press in Aspen Peak already saw us but it didn’t seem anything came of it. Plus, we were only ice skating. And dancing.

My head is a jumbled mess, and I don’t know what to do. I need to call Adlee but I’m not sure what to even say. I’m sure her friend Gabriel will tell her what I did here today. Hopefully, that will make her feel better. Still, I long to see her, to touch her. I miss her.