11. Aiden

CHAPTER 11

AIDEN

EIGHT YEARS LATER

T he knock on the door is the only thing that stops my spiraling thoughts from going to a seriously dark place.

I look up to see Beth peering through the crack, and I gesture for her to come in. She's the greatest PA a guy could ever ask for. I wouldn't be half as organized as I am without her. She's the most well-presented and well-ordered person I've ever met. I'd hate to know how long it takes her to get ready in the morning — she never has a hair out of place and her shirts and skirts match impeccably.

I ought to give her a raise. The issue is, I'm not sure I have it to give.

"Everything okay?"

She purses her lips like she's trying to figure out how to word what she wants to say. "You know what time it is, don't you?"

I glance down at the clock on my desk. "It's one forty-six. Why?"

Almost nervously, she sighs. "Please tell me you haven't forgotten about the two p.m. meeting? You know, the one in ten minutes? The one where Nicholas is going to slash this company to shreds?"

How could I forget that?

"No, Beth. I haven't. Thank you for reminding me anyway." She hesitates in the doorway, and I raise an eyebrow at her. "Is there anything else?"

I've never seen this woman look so flustered before — and I'm not sure anyone else would notice. Even five months ago, when her job changed from being my father's PA to mine, Beth was the picture of professionalism, forging ahead and pulling me and the company along with her. Even when I was a mess, she never was.

A lot's changed since Dad died. I'm pretty sure he took my belief in Fletcher Tech with him.

Beth pushes her shoulders back and sighs, grounding herself. "I want you to promise me my job's safe. I'm sure that Nicholas is going to advise layoffs, and he'll be looking for surplus staff to axe."

I rise to my feet, smiling grimly at her as I round the desk. Carefully, I perch on it and shrug, letting my hands hang limply by my sides. "I swear," I say. "I couldn't do this without you, Beth. You're not surplus and you're definitely not useless. I need you. The only way Nicholas could persuade me to fire you would be to tell me that the whole company's going under."

"And you think he isn't going to do that?" She folds her arms, clearly heartened by my endorsement, but skeptical about the current situation.

Honestly, she's probably right. "Not yet. We're clinging on. Just about. It's not looking great, but we're not sunk yet."

" Yet being the operative word."

"Aren't you the one always saying to think positive?" I try and crack a smile, even though neither of us are really feeling it, and she throws back her own that looks just as forced as mine.

"Thinking positive and preparing for the future aren't always compatible," she says. "No amount of positive thinking is going to save this company."

"I hope Nicholas has come up with something good. We need profits now, or at least an even break. And if I can do it without losing anyone, even better."

"But what really are the chances of that?" Beth's face is not in any way hopeful.

I pinch the bridge of my nose and take a deep, steadying breath, trying to fill myself with the vague plastic and paper smell of the office rather than my rising anxiety. The chances are slim. The accounts are absolutely dire.

Turns out, I inherited an enormous problem rather than a successful company. Sure, Fletcher Tech is worth billions, but the way Dad was hemorrhaging money instead of using it in any way that made sense means everything's spiraling downwards. At least he kept accounts, but they're full of stuff like fully funded business trips to Korea for three weeks, flying first class, high-end restaurant deliveries every single day for lunch, and random millions in bonuses for himself and others because he felt like it.

Adding in the hit our stocks took when he passed, none of it's a pretty picture at all.

And Beth knows that as well as I do. We're on a knife edge and I'm about to get sliced right down the middle and take the whole damn ship down with me.

None of this is my fault, but I'm going to get the blame. I'm the one in charge. I'm the one who'll have to face the firing squad if this all collapses.

I stand again, hoping I'm not visibly wobbling. "If we lose anyone, it won't be you. But I'm going to do everything I can to stop all of this falling apart around us."

Beth's face has returned to its classic professional neutral, a straight-faced sort of stern that could mean anything. Still, I know her too well and I can see the doubt behind her eyes. "I know, sir. I know."

She turns and closes the door quietly behind her. I sit for a long moment in silence.

Then a notification beeps on my computer telling me about the meeting I know I'm meant to be in. I let it beep. There's nothing in the whole world that can cheer me up right now.

But I'm technically the boss. I'm literally the boss, God help us. And that means I have to show my face, even when shit is hitting the fan. I hope that Nicholas isn't going to rip me apart too badly. I hope he has a way out.

Dragging my feet like it's going to buy me a little more time, I open my door, step out and carefully close it again, then walk down the corridor like I'm about to go to my own execution.