The Forgotten One (The Heirs #2)

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Glad I’m not going out there.” Max watched a monitor that had a camera on the press gathered in an oversize conference room.

Unlike the chaotic mess outside the Beverly Hills mansion, this organized madness was just that ... mad.

Cameras of all sizes and shapes filled the back walls on tripods; in front of them, reporters talked into the camera and lights to whoever watched on the other side. In another aisle of reporters, shorter tripods held more cameras, these ones staggered so as to not disturb the media behind them. An even larger number of reporters sat on the floor, still cameras in their hands.

Center stage sat a podium with over a dozen microphones waiting for Chase and Alex.

“You’ll have your turn, don’t worry,” Alex said.

Max shook his head. “That’s your world, not mine.”

Chase took his eyes off the monitor long enough to roll them.

Alex shook the paper holding the statement she planned on delivering. “There’s going to be a lot of questions about the market.”

“More like accusations,” Chase countered.

“That, too.”

“How bad is it?” Max asked.

“Bad enough that some will sell their stocks ... and low enough where others will buy to get what they think is a bargain.”

“Would it be a bargain?” he asked.

“A hundred percent. The market flexes, people panic. I don’t doubt it will take a little time to recover. It will bounce.”

“Slower because the board refused to vote on the Starfield merger,” Chase added.

Alex shrugged. “That might actually work in our favor. If we keep change to a minimum, public perception will shift faster.”

Chase turned back to the monitors. “What we say out there will shift public opinion ... What the ... ?”

Max and Alex turned their attention to Chase, who stood peering closer at the screen.

“What is it?” Alex asked.

“Melissa is here.”

“What?” Alex pushed Chase aside and took his place. “Why is she here?”

Max moved between Chase and Alex. “Which one is she?” He’d seen her in the interviews stored on the internet but couldn’t pick her out of the crowd.

Chase pointed.

The petite blonde looked like Beverly Hills. Dark glasses ... inside a building. Red lipstick, hair so perfect not one strand was out of place. And even though she was young, Max would bet half of her face was filled with chemicals. “That was your stepmom?”

“That was the woman married to our dad,” Alex corrected.

“Pretty sure that’s the same thing, Alex,” Max teased.

She scowled.

Chase chuckled. “It’s a touchy subject.”

Yeah, Max knew that ... and poked fun at the subject anyway.

Piper walked into the room they were waiting in, papers in her hands. “Here are the latest stats.”

Alex looked at them first.

Max saw the flash of either worry or disappointment before Alex pulled her shoulders back and fixed the emotion showing on her face. “Okay.”

Chase looked at the numbers and cringed.

Max glanced at Piper, who wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

Just then, the door opened, and four people filed in.

Max was introduced to someone from Public Relations; a lawyer he recognized from the board meeting; Floyd Gatlin; and Arthur Ripley, the CFO.

“Did you see the numbers? We’re in trouble,” Gatlin said the second he entered the room.

“Running around saying the ‘British are coming’ is going to panic everyone, so keep the commentary to yourself, Floyd,” Alex warned. “I’ll do the talking. You stand there and look pretty.”

Max laughed.

“You think this is funny?” Gatlin bit out.

“To watch a grown man act like an infant who wasn’t given a sucker ... yeah, I find that hysterical.”

Gatlin took a step into Max’s personal space. “These numbers represent millions of dollars.”

Max squared off with the man, lost his smile. “Panic doesn’t look good on you. I can see why Aaron didn’t leave you in the CEO chair. You’re not fit for the job.”

“Whoa.” Chase moved closer.

“And what the hell would you know about running this company?”

Max clenched his fists. His pulse quickened.

Chase stepped between them, eyes on Max, a hand on Gatlin’s chest pushing him back.

“Max . . .”

Max caught Chase’s eyes.

“You have a plane to catch.”

Right.

Max blinked and redirected the energy he wanted to use by way of his fist into Gatlin’s face. He knew there was a reason Gatlin hadn’t been fired, but Max was starting to question that decision.

He released a slow breath. “I do. I’ll keep you updated.”

Chase patted his shoulder.

Max nodded and glanced toward Alex. “Good luck out there.”

Alex smiled. “Piece of cake.”

Piper was the affectionate one. She opened her arms for a hug, which Max couldn’t exactly refuse. “Call if you need anything,” she whispered.

Max made eye contact with the other men in the room and then lingered on Gatlin before he opened the door to leave.

Max used the opportunity for the few minutes he was going to have to himself to make a call he’d been putting off.

Jeff answered with a curse. “Holy fuck.”

Max pictured Jeff sitting in the cab of his truck, taking the morning break before going back to the grind.

Literally.

“Hey, Jeff. How’s work?”

“How’s work? That’s all you got? How’s work? The friend I’ve been working with for three years is plastered all over the news, and all you fucking have is ‘How’s work?’”

“I couldn’t say anything until things went public.”

“Is it true? Aaron Stone was your father?”

“According to the DNA test.” Not to mention how much he and Chase looked alike.

Jeff started to laugh.

That laughter caught, and Max found himself laughing with him.

“Son of a bitch. That’s unbelievable. Are you freaking out?”

Max settled into his seat in the back of an SUV while another grown man drove him to the airport. “I honestly don’t think it’s sunk in.”

“The news said you inherited a billion dollars.” Jeff sounded more excited than Max.

“I haven’t seen all those zeros yet, but that’s what I’m told.”

“Fuck, man. I don’t even know what to say. I’m happy for you. Jealous as all hell, but happy for you.”

That made Max smile. “Thanks.”

Jeff started laughing again. “I guess you can pay me back that ten bucks you owe me.”

Max laughed. “I don’t owe you crap.”

In the thirty minutes it took to traverse the cross-town traffic and make it to the airport, Max caught Jeff up on what would be public knowledge by the time Alex and Chase were out of the press conference.

Jeff told him that the media had shown up at the yard and interviewed Sheri. They’d tried to talk to Jeff, but he didn’t say much other than Max was his friend.

Max spoke briefly of Alex and Chase and kept the mother search completely out of the conversation.

Max promised that when things settled down and the media found a new story, he’d be back in town and they’d get together for a beer.

The driver moved through a secure gate where Max showed his driver’s license to a guard. From there, they pulled right onto a runway and stopped before a private jet that sat waiting for him.

The second the car was in park, the driver jumped out, opened Max’s door, and then moved to the back of the car and grabbed Max’s suitcase.

“Mr. Smith ...” A man dressed in a pilot uniform descended the stairs leading onto the plane.

“Hello.”

“I’m Carson, your pilot.” They shook hands. “My copilot today is Megan. I understand we’re waiting for one more person.”

Max couldn’t stop staring at the jet he was about to fly in. “She should be here anytime.”

“Come on board. Let me show you around.”

While the two of them were talking, the driver had already taken his bag inside the plane and was walking out.

Max thanked him before he got in the SUV and drove away.

“Have you ever flown on a private jet?” Carson asked.

“I was wearing a hard hat and steel-toe shoes last week. What do you think?”

Carson laughed, shook his head. “My brother works with heavy machinery. I don’t envy him.”

Inside the cabin of the plane, Max found himself speechless.

Plush chairs framed a couch, with a large-screen television mounted on a wall. Carson showed him the kitchen and pointed out where the bathroom was and the door to the bedroom. The space was bigger than Max’s first apartment, only with nicer finishes.

According to the pilot, the plane had belonged to Stone Enterprises for the last five years, and while it was a corporate plane, it was primarily at the call of the Stone family. Carson rattled off what speed the plane flew at and the distance they could go before needing to refuel.

“Normally when we land at our destinations, we check into a Stone hotel. Since we’re avoiding the media, there is a car that will pick you up and take you to a Morrison property.”

Max recognized the name. “Chase and Alex’s mother’s boyfriend?”

“Precisely. You’ll be a special guest—I’m sure they’ll take great care of you.”

“As long as I can avoid the cameras, I’ll be fine.”

Carson’s phone buzzed. “Looks like your guest has arrived. I’ll prepare the plane for departure.”

Max looked around the cabin in awe.

How was this now his life?

The sound of Sarah’s voice snapped him out of his daze.

“Are you kidding me right now?”

Max moved to the cabin door with a calm he had to fake.

Sarah stood at the bottom of the steps, staring up at him. “You’re serious?”

Max lifted his hands up, palms in the air.

Sarah squealed and ran up the steps to the plane.