The Forgotten One (The Heirs #2)

Chapter Fifteen

Walking into a conference room with over a dozen strangers staring at him wasn’t something Max would soon forget.

Max shook the hand of Stuart Cadry and took a seat between the attorney and Alex at the head of the table. On Alex’s right, Piper sat, with Chase right beside her.

Piper quickly started writing on a blank piece of paper as everyone took a chair.

A few people said good morning, but the vast majority of them sat as if they were being held up with a stick up their ass.

Piper slid a piece of paper across the table and in front of Max.

There were names written in coordination with where the board members sat.

Alex glanced at him and nodded.

“Thank you for convening on such short notice,” Alex began.

“These hurry-up-and-get-here demands are not how your father did things,” a man from the end of the table grumbled.

Max counted down the chairs. Paul Yarros.

“You can blame him for this one, Paul.”

Any noise coming from people shuffling in their seats stopped.

“Come again?”

“Before we get into that, let me assure you that a decision will be made today about the Starfield Hotel Group, should you agree that is the best course of action. We appreciate your patience in what has been an unavoidable delay.”

“Some of us understand that it takes time to make the right decisions.”

Max matched the name Monroe to the older woman talking.

“It does. However, our delay on this vote was less about understanding the risk or gain of Starfield and more about the inability to legally vote on it.”

“No one has questioned your ability to vote.” Piper’s chart told Max the man talking was one of the two Stone Enterprises lawyers at the end of the table.

“We had a few facts that you didn’t.” Alex smiled at Max.

“What the hell are you getting at?”

The hair on Max’s arms stood up.

Chase growled before Max had a chance. “Alex is running this meeting, Paul. Not you. And if you don’t start checking your tone, I’ll find a reason to get you off of this board.”

The room snapped with unleashed energy.

Paul pushed back in his chair, visibly seething from being knocked back in his place.

Max clenched his fist and released. The clarity of circling vultures came into focus. No wonder Chase and Alex wanted to get this over with.

A quick glance at his watch told him Sarah was seconds away from publishing his story.

Max caught Piper’s gaze.

She mouthed the words Not yet . She was monitoring the internet as the meeting progressed.

Alex took a deep breath. “There were two big surprises that Chase and I received at the reading of our father’s will. The first being that he left this company and his estate to his children. The second, and even bigger, surprise was that we had a brother.”

As each set of eyes at the table shifted to Max, he made sure to meet the gaze of each and every one of them.

A low hum of people talking to each other started to grow.

“Don’t let the name fool you. Max Smith is verifiably the son of Aaron Stone.”

“Aaron never said anything to me about this,” Floyd exclaimed.

Max found that funny. “Most men cheating on their wives don’t announce it,” he said, silencing the room.

Chase grinned and pointed a finger in Max’s direction with a nod.

Piper took that moment to put a thumb up in the air. His story was live.

Sarah had kept her word.

Max leaned into that thought and smiled.

“Aaron left a third of this to him?” Paul asked.

“His name is Max, and yes,” Alex said.

“Why wasn’t Legal informed?”

“Aaron’s wishes,” Stuart answered. “As the executor of his will, I was obligated to only release the information about a sibling to Chase and Alex and give them time to locate Max.”

“Aaron didn’t know where he was ... I’m sorry, Mr. Smith. Where you were?” Mrs. Monroe asked, looking directly at him.

“Up until two weeks ago, I didn’t know who my father was,” Max answered.

Mrs. Monroe lowered her head. “Damn you, Aaron.”

“That’s what we thought. Damn him for putting all of us in this position,” Alex said.

“And since we can’t legally vote with shares that don’t belong to us, we put off the Starfield acquisition,” Chase pointed out. “We hope you understand this delay.”

“This is crazy,” Floyd said.

“Do you know anything about this company, Mr. Smith?” Mrs. Monroe asked.

Max smiled at the only kind face at the table that wasn’t his family. “I’ve been a little preoccupied with the fact I suddenly have a family, let alone something as big as this.”

“I can’t imagine,” she said with a sigh.

“We’re going to need proof.” Paul leaned back in his chair as if challenging their claim.

“We have that,” Stuart said.

This Yarros guy really didn’t quit.

“Max agreed to come today to put to rest any question of his existence. We have been working with an outside PR team, and a statement is already being circulated among the press,” Alex informed them.

“Our stock is going to tank.”

“Shit, you’re right.”

“Instability is death to a company.”

Max lost track of who was talking.

He watched Chase and Alex say nothing as the board members talked among themselves for several minutes.

Finally, Alex cleared her throat. “I need to remind everyone here that this entire thing has been orchestrated by a dead man. While Stuart may have been obligated to keep all of this a secret, Chase and I were not. That instability you speak of will be transient compared to what could have happened if we had told this board of Max’s existence before we could locate him. Yes, market shares will drop—that was always going to happen with news like this. But it will correct itself. Everyone here knows that. If we can keep our individual statements to the press positive and cohesive, showing the world our unity and strength, this will be but a momentary blip on the stock exchange.”

“Alex has a point.”

“And how do you expect us to be united when someone who knows nothing about us has a twenty-one percent vote on what goes on around here?”

Max had every intention of looking into Paul Yarros at his earliest convenience.

Stuart cleared his throat. “Max feels the best thing for him and Stone Enterprises at the current time is to stay a silent shareholder, relinquishing his vote to Chase and Alex. Essentially, changing nothing.”

“And for that reason alone, no one on this board should feel threatened, and we are therefore unified,” Alex told them.

“We’ve felt nothing but threatened since you two took over.”

“Speak for yourself, Paul.”

Phones started pinging.

“Great.” Someone at the end of the table tossed their phone aside.

Max glanced at Piper. “The media,” she said under her breath.

“If you’re going to escape the chaos ...,” Alex said.

Max checked his watch.

The past fifty minutes of his life had sped by like a flash of lightning.

He pushed his chair back and stood.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Max shook his head and bit his lip ...

Fuck it.

He turned to Yarros.

“Paul? Can I call you Paul?” Max’s tone demanded attention. “You appear to be an educated man. If not, I’m sure you have the ability to look up the definition of silent shareholder . I came here as a professional courtesy to the people at this table and a favor to Chase and Alex. I have no intention of seeing anyone here again until I have something to add to the discussion.” He took a moment to look away from Yarros. “Under no circumstances will I be selling my shares or having private conversations about votes, so don’t waste your breath.”

Max lost his smile and glared at Paul. “And one more thing. If you raise your voice to Alex in my presence again, I won’t find a reason to get you off the board. I’ll take you out of here myself.”

The only sound in the room was the air flowing through the vents.

Chase and Alex stood.

Max moved around Alex and shook Chase’s hand.

“Thank you,” he said.

Max patted Piper’s shoulder and smiled.

And even though he’d never done it before, Max felt the overwhelming need to show this board what unity looked like. Instead of a handshake, he leaned in and hugged Alex, with a whisper in her ear ... “You impress the hell out of me.”

“It runs in the family,” she whispered back.

He pulled away, smiled, and turned his back to the room.

Leaving the office the way he came in, Max found Busa at the elevators.

“How did it go?”

“A little like throwing raw meat to starving animals.”

The elevator opened.

“That’s going to be the weekend theme.”

“Oh yeah?”

“See for yourself.”

On the ground floor, they passed through the monitored exit, with both drivers standing by security at the front doors.

Outside, the media had already set up their cameras.

Sarah stood watching the local news channels as they scrambled to get pictures and sound bites of whatever they could.

The same narrative released by the Stone family was quoted on every channel.

“This story first broke from RMI Magazine , which prompted news stations everywhere to lift an eyebrow. Not particularly known for their accuracy, movement on this story didn’t jump until a statement was sent from Chase and Alexandrea Stone. A story right off the pages of a Hollywood blockbuster is unfolding in front of Stone Enterprises’ main headquarters. Aaron Stone, the billionaire hotel mogul, passed away from natural causes last April, leaving his entire estate to his children. Now it appears that what was thought to be a fifty-fifty split in assets is now spread among three heirs to the Stone empire. According to RMI ’s exclusive, Maximillian Smith spent his entire life believing that his biological father had died shortly after Mr. Smith was born. At the time of Mr. Smith’s birth, Aaron Stone was married to Vivian Stone, the mother of Chase and Alexandrea. It is still unknown who Maximillian Smith’s mother—”

“This is big, McNeilly. Congrats.” Merik, one of her coworkers, nudged her shoulder with his as they watched the TV.

“Thanks.” It was big. The kind of big that pads a résumé like nothing else could.

“What’s he like?”

She glanced at Merik and then back to the broadcast. “Demanding.”

“What does that mean?”

“He calls me at ungodly hours and expects me to drop everything and jump to his location.”

“Sounds like an ass.”

She smirked and then realized how her observations of the man sounded. Max wasn’t an ass, nowhere near it, if she was honest with herself. “No. I wouldn’t say that.”

The cameras panned out in front of Stone Enterprises, where she saw Max climb into the back of a black SUV without saying one word to the reporters surrounding him.

“I overheard Patrick say you’re getting a follow-up interview.”

“Yup. Max agreed to give me the rundown on his mother.”

“Max? You’re on a first-name basis with him?” Merik raised a suspicious eyebrow.

“Oh, stop. It’s not all that. You don’t conduct an interview over dinner and keep calling someone by their last name.”

“Dinner?”

Sarah gave all her attention to Merik, rolled her eyes, and then turned to leave the room.

“McNeilly!” Patrick yelled her name as she passed by his office.

“Yeah?” She popped her head in.

He motioned her inside.

“I was just about to leave.”

He shook his head. “No, no ... I need video for the website. I located his address in Palmdale. I want you out there to talk to him.”

Palmdale?

Max hadn’t told her his address, not that she asked. There wasn’t a point since she had his personal phone number.

“Not happening.” Her knee-jerk response was out before she could suck the words back in. She’d been one story away from the unemployment line less than a week prior. Mouthing off to her boss was probably not the way to go.

“Excuse me?” Patrick slapped back.

Sarah held her ground and combated Patrick with logic. “Do you really think a man that has just announced to the world that he’s the newest overnight billionaire is going to retreat from media madness by holding down in Palmdale?”

“What are you saying? You think he’s staying with one of the Stones?”

“That would be my guess.”

“Great, then you’re going there.”

“Patrick . . . ,” she started to argue.

“We’re staying on top of this story.”

“If we start chasing him like a tabloid, he isn’t going to give me the time of day.” Of that, she was certain.

“We are a tabloid.”

“But—”

“I want the first sound bites. You said he’ll talk to you. Go talk to him.”

Dammit.

Sarah walked away from her boss and grumbled when she was out of sight.

At her desk, she pulled her cell phone out of her purse and walked down the hall, where she could have a private conversation.

As soon as she was comfortable that no one could hear her, she dialed Max’s number.

She paced the hall, listening to the ring. “C’mon, Max.”

Hearing the line kick in brought a wave of relief through her whole body.

“You kept your word.” His voice sounded like a low purr.

It made Sarah smile.

“I told you I would.”

“Where I’m from, that isn’t something I can count on.”

“Thankfully, my boss agreed to the delay. Listen, where are you right now?” Someone crossed the hallway. Sarah moved away a few paces.

“Today’s not a good day for that coffee I owe you,” he teased.

“Ha ha. Patrick is insisting that I get a sound bite and is demanding that I stake out wherever you are.”

“The exclusive interview wasn’t enough?”

“I told you he was a shark.”

“That you did,” he said with a sigh. “Sorry to disappoint you, but that isn’t happening today. We all agreed that no one was saying anything to the media until a press conference is held.”

“I know. You told me that. Regardless, he’s making me go out in the field. And since I like my paycheck, I have to play by his rules. If you see me in front of your brother’s house, know I’m there out of duress.”

Max laughed. “You’ll be wasting your time at Chase’s home anyway.”

“You’re not going there?”

“No.”

“Are you on your way to Palmdale?”

“How do you know about Palmdale?” His question sounded more like an accusation.

“Patrick, my boss. Was there something about shark you didn’t understand?”

“Well, shit.”

“You didn’t really think you could keep your home address a secret, did you?” The man had no idea what was coming.

“It’s not like I own the place.”

Sarah saw someone coming and ducked into another hall. “Are the utilities in your name?”

She heard him blow out a breath.

“Sorry, Max. But if Patrick found you, others did, too. Either way, I suggested to him that you wouldn’t go to Palmdale. And since you and I never had this conversation, I’m going to sit in front of your brother’s house eating cold pizza and drinking bad coffee.”

“No one is going to be there either,” he said.

“And how would I know that? I’m talking to ...” An editor stepped out of her office, putting a bit of panic in Sarah’s chest. “Hi, Aunt June ...” Her voice rose an octave, and she stopped whispering.

“Where are you?” Max asked.

Sarah acted like she was talking to anyone but Max. “No, I’m at work. I can’t really talk right now.”

The senior editor offered Sarah a thumbs-up. “Great story,” she whispered as she walked by.

“Thanks,” Sarah whispered back.

Max was laughing. “I’ve had plenty of names, but Aunt June is a first.”

The editor disappeared, and Sarah went back to her hushed whisper. “There is no privacy here.”

“Well, thanks for the heads-up.”

“Anytime.”

“Anytime?” His voice dropped.

“After ten in the morning,” she clarified, trying to ignore the flutter in her belly.

She had no room for a fluttering anything when it came to Maximillian Smith.

He chuckled. “Goodbye, Sarah.”

“Bye,” she whispered back.

Sarah disconnected the call, shook off the gooseflesh that popped up all over her body, and walked back to her office.

Kiev, one of RMI ’s top photographers, was there waiting.

“Looks like we’re a team today.”

She grabbed her purse. “We’re wasting our time, but okay.”

Sarah had covered her bases with Max, and that’s all that truly mattered.