Chapter 6
Tanya POV
I can not believe that bitch was calling me a 'ho and in the newspaper of all things. I had to give Isabella credit; she had not done one thing I had expected her to so far. Talk to anyone all you get about her is: she's private, she's quiet, she's nice and she's very kind hearted. What no one tells you is that Little Miss Nice & Quiet is also capable of calling you out and not in a private way.
I never dreamed she would still take the podium on Saturday night, not looking the way she did. After she gave her little rant I have to admit the way she looked only helped her cause. When she said the part about me and Edward I looked over at him and the look on his face spoke volumes. It was WTF meets PLEASE GOD NO- would the man never realize that we belonged together. At least Sinclair was pulling out of Seattle. She would go back where she belonged and I could concentrate on getting Edward to forget her.
Then I glanced at the press release to be printed in the Business Section. So Isabella also owned Swan Enterprises and they wanted to work with Edward in Seattle - over my dead body. He had been avoiding me since Saturday night and that just would not do. He was mine. Isabella was right about one thing, I wanted the Cullen name. Edward was very handsome if a bit stuffy and I do love him, in a way, but I loved his money and standing in the community more. It was time to turn up the heat I needed to know how he felt about her and I needed to do some digging in Chicago, everyone had secrets I needed to find Isabella's.
Alice POV
Things had not settled down since the Gala Saturday night. It was a shock when I realized that Edward liked Bella Sinclair. I was pretty sure he liked her a lot - he would screw this up on his own. Hell he already had and that was before he knew what he felt for her. When he gave the interview I was even more surprised at how open he was. Edward was trusting Bella, to a point, to not make him look worse. I wasn't sure that was possible, then article came and I thought it sounded ok. What I didn't understand was the press release and the importance of her being a "Swan". The guys talked over what might happen tomorrow and if a Board meeting would be called and in the end I think Edward was feeling better about things. After dinner Jasper and I returned to our house and I was hoping to have him explain things to me.
"Jasper, what does Bella owning Swan Enterprises have to do with anything? Why is that so important?"
"It's not that Alice. It was the surprise of it I guess. The Sinclair's & Swan's practically founded Chicago and they are definitely the reason it is the power it is today, not just in politics but business as well. From what I remember Bella's parents were killed before she was of age and there was some kind of dispute about the trust the company was put into but because of her age that information was kept private. When she married and became a Sinclair I think most people outside of Chicago forgot there was a Swan heir left, I know I did. Being a Chicago Swan is almost like being a Kennedy. People automatically listen to what you say."
"Ok I understand that, but it doesn't explain the shock that she is Chairman of Swan Enterprises. There is more Jasper, tell me."
"Well, without a Swan heir at the helm the corporation seemed to float along, there was a difference of opinion in the direction the company should take within the Board. Due to those differences opportunities were not taken advantage of and they lost some of their market share. A few years ago a new Chairman took over Swan Enterprises but all that has ever been made public were the initials I.S., anytime pictures have been taken or the Chairman is needed it has always been a man and I guess everyone assumed that was I.S. In the 2 or 3 years since the change Swan has gained back their market share and is considered a technological leader now, even more so than before the death of Charles Swan, all the credit is given to the new Chairman for turning things around. So, yeah, it is a shock to find out the driving force behind Swan's new, very successful direction is not only a 27-year-old woman but also the last of the Swan's. It will be interesting to see how the business community reacts when word of this gets out."
"Why would people react badly, isn't having a Swan at the helm a good thing? Is this good or bad for Edward?"
"It could go either way Alice. While have a Swan running things again is good, she is only 27 and that could be a problem. Also, why the need to keep things secret? Swan Enterprises throwing their support behind Edward is good thing, regardless of who is running things."
"I hope so Jasper. He likes her and she could be really good for him. I don't want this getting screwed up because of business."
EPOV
As I drove home from my parents I felt the best I had in the last 24 hours. I was still worried about tomorrow but I felt like I had a chance of keeping my job. I still wasn't over the shock of Bella being the last Swan heir and was curious as to why she hid that fact but hopefully I would get a chance to ask her myself. I was surprised by the press release, she must be a very forgiving person to have issued that and thrown me her support. The more I learned about her the more I wanted to learn, she was fascinating and nothing like I thought she would be.
Esme told me about her talk on the beach with Bella and why she couldn't put Seattle back on the table for The Sinclair Foundation and I understood her reasoning. She was right; from a business standpoint it would make her appear weak. From a personal point of view, I wanted her in Seattle so I could start to make amends and get to know her better. I wasn't sure how involved she was in Swan Enterprises but I was hoping she would be very involved on this new bid they had going out. Working with her would give me the perfect chance to get to know her. I knew she was very involved in the Sinclair office search so I didn't think that would give her much time for the Swan bid and that worried me. If Seattle wasn't an option for Sinclair I prayed they wouldn't pick San Diego. Jacob Black was real charmer, a snake charmer.
I had not been concerned at first when Jacob took over as President of The Black Trust but we started losing jobs I was sure we were low bid on and several high level executives left suddenly, it made things look very suspicious. Nothing has ever been said openly, it was all conjecture but rumors were start to float that Jacob Black was not always above board in his business dealings. If that was true he would take one look at a young Bella and see an easy mark. I knew she would see through him I just hoped she wasn't bullied by his high handed ways.
My phone rang pulling me from my thoughts. I looked at the caller id and groaned.
"Hello Tanya, what can I do for you?"
"Edward, how are you doing? I feel bad about Saturday night. If I had any idea she was Isabella Sinclair I would not have done that, you have to believe me."
"I am fine thank you. Saturday night is not your fault Tanya. I did not know who she was either. I don't want you to feel bad about."
"Have you talked to her about it yet? I read the article and it seems you were interviewed together."
"No, I haven't talked to her. She gave an interview and then I gave one. The reporter put the 2 interviews together. Wait, how did you read it already, it won't come out until tomorrow?"
"Daddy is on the Cullen Board and he forwarded me what was sent to him, you know this Eddie. The article seemed fine and she is backing you in the press release. Are you going to talk to her about everything? In the long run it may be for the best if you just let it go until everyone moves on to the next scandal."
"I can't just let this go Tanya. I judged and hurt her unfairly; she at least deserves an explanation. That is if I can even get her in the same room with me, I wouldn't blame her for never wanting to see my face again."
"She deserves an explanation?" Tanya said very harshly. For some reason she was furious about something. "She doesn't deserve anything Edward, especially your time. You made an honest mistake she should just move from it. You didn't deserve what she said about you, it wasn't true. Forget about her Edward she isn't worth the aggravation." Ahh, and there it was, Tanya is jealous of Bella. It is time to end this conversation, when will Tanya learn that she is not the one for me.
"Tanya I need to go, I have something to look over before tomorrow. I appreciate you calling though. Goodnight." I hung up before she could say anything, the woman needed to learn to let go. Thank God I had never slept with her, a few dates in college were enough to let me see the real Tanya. As beautiful as she looked her personality was just as ugly. She was trouble with a capital T.
I was in the bathroom getting ready for bed when I heard my Blackberry vibrate, I walked to the bed and looked at it - Carlisle. It was past midnight, this wasn't good, and it was 10 minutes before I could open the message. Edward - The Board has called for an emergency meeting at 10:00am. We suspected this was coming, do not stress over this you are an excellent CEO and the family stands by you. - Carlisle
He was right I did know this was coming, but knowing something and then facing it was two different things. I did not have a good feeling about this at all. I noticed I had missed an e-mail earlier from work, after dad's text I wasn't sure I even wanted to open it. Deciding it wouldn't go away if I ignored it I reluctantly opened it.
Mr. Cullen-
I threw a rope because you weren't the only one with a shovel digging that hole. Life has taught my early not to give second chances, 'fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me' not to mention if I do it will actually be your third. If you truly want that chance then you have to earn it, the door is not open but it is cracked a little. I am interested in how you plan on widening that crack. The ball is in your court Edward.
Waiting -
Isabella Sinclair
Well, she didn't slam the door on me and that is a good sign. How do I widen the door? It doesn't sound as if she is willing to meet in person until it is, I need to talk to Esme she should have some idea of how to proceed. I hope, I can't afford to fuck this up. Bella didn't need to say this was the last chance for me to know it was. I would take this as slow as I needed to get this right. As I drifted off to sleep I dreamed of the brown haired beauty again. This time I knew it was Bella, as we lay on pillows in front of the fireplace she was looking at me with desire, passion and most importantly I saw love, a deep love. When I woke in the morning, I wanted that dream to be real. I would do whatever was needed to make that dream reality.
BPOV
I woke up thinking of Edward Cullen, at least in this dream he wasn't yelling at me. We were sitting on a hillside filled with heather and he was looking at me as if I was the most important thing in his world. I hoped that dream was a sign that I wasn't stupid for giving him another chance. I also hoped he realized I was not someone who was going to take his crap, if not I am sure he would soon. Making life a little hard on Mr. I Know Who You Are Cullen could be interesting but I needed to focus on the meeting I was having shortly.
Jacob Black. I had no idea what to make of the man, he was 38 and became President of The Black Trust two years ago when his father became ill. On a personal level if you asked about him, people said he and his wife split very amicably and that he was a gentleman in every way. On a business level though rumors were starting to circulate about unsavory business practices and several high placed executives had left since he had taken over. The Sinclair Foundation had a long standing reputation as an honorable philanthropic organization and I would not allow that to be tainted by Jacob Black if the rumors were indeed true.
He was late, 30 minutes late to be exact. I was just standing to leave when he approached the table full of apologies.
"I am sorry for being late Mrs. Sinclair. To be completely honest I was reading an article out of the Seattle Times. I understand Seattle is out, Cullen just couldn't help but let his true colors show could he?"
"Good Morning Mr. Black. Yes, Seattle is out but as the article clearly states Mr. Cullen was not the reason for that. It was other things. Now, why don't we order some breakfast and discuss what your firm and San Diego have to offer."
He didn't seem happy that I took control of the conversation and was unwilling to discuss Seattle or what happened there. We spent the next 2 hours going over his proposal and while everything looked to be above board, his figures seemed much lower than anyone else I had talked to in any city. It made me wonder if he was using substandard materials or low-balling his estimate, I would not accept either business practice. I wasn't sure if he was insulting my gender, my age or my intelligence but it was insulting.
As things were winding down he kept asking personal questions and I kept deflecting them. I didn't share the personal side of my life with anyone and damn not sure not someone who was treating me like I was an idiot.
"Mrs. Sinclair, would it be possible for me take you to dinner tonight? I would like to find out more about the work the Sinclair Foundation does and how that could help San Diego."
"I am sorry Mr. Black but I have a dinner meeting with the City Planning Commissioner to discuss some things but I do thank you for the offer."
"Perhaps another time and please call me Jacob. I look forward to meeting with you again before you leave town."
"Thank you Jacob. I will have Sinclair's Controller go over the proposal and set up a meeting within the next week and call me Isabella."
He looked confused, "I thought someone told me you preferred being called Bella?" then he smirked.
My jackass alarm went off, he knew much more about me than he had let on. I wondered why? "My friends call me Bella yes, but business associates address me as Isabella or Mrs. Sinclair. If you'll excuse me I have a conference call I need to make. Goodbye Mr. Black." That wiped that smirk right off his face, it was replaced with an angry scowl I don't think I was suppose to see. Passive-aggressive definitely, I walked away with out looking back.
Once I returned to the suite I immediately called Gabe about the meeting. "Gabe, I am going to fax you the proposal, something just is not adding up. I don't want to say more, I would rather you come to your own conclusions about it and we need to take look at Jacob Black."
"Why? Did he do something?"
"No, but he kept trying to circle things back to personal issues and wouldn't drop the whole Seattle issue. When I told him to call me Isabella he mentioned he thought I liked to be called Bella. He made it seem as if he knew more about me then he was letting on and it made me uncomfortable."
"Ok, I don't want you to be uncomfortable. I will look deeper into Black's personal history. Now, do you want Allan there sooner or is next week still fine?"
" I need him by Thursday. I told Jacob I would set up a meeting by the end of this week and I want Allan to be there as the Controller. Fly Allan in on Thursday and I will set the meeting up for Friday. I hope my other meetings go better, I would like to have an office on the West Coast but Jacob Black may not make that easy. Right now Philadelphia is still first, do you agree?"
"Yeah, with Seattle off the table I would have to say Philly too."
"Good. Now, let me go I need to put my Swan hat on and call Richard. Talk to you later Gabe."
"Bye, Bella."
CPOV
I hadn't seen Edward yet this morning. Before any of the board members arrived I would have said this was going to be easy but now I wasn't sure, some of them were being very stand offish. Emmett and Jasper entered with Edward and I was glad he looked less stressed. He would need to be calm, cool, and collected to get through this meeting. As the last of the members walked in my head snapped to Edward and he looked back confused until I tilted my head at the last member to enter, Richard Campbell. How had I not remembered that Swan Enterprises had a seat on the Board?
The meeting was as argumentative as expected. They wanted the Cullen's to abstain from voting, that meant our majority stock share was out. The people in the room voting accounted for 30% of the outstanding Cullen stock, there hadn't been time to mail out proxies for the remaining 17% owned by small stockholders. The largest voting share is owned by the Volturi Brothers if they pool together they would be the majority with 8% of the public stock.
The Volturi's had been on opposite sides of things with Edward and I recently concerning the direction of the company and large jobs we should or shouldn't bid on. But I didn't expect them to push this hard for his removal and they were swaying other members also.
I sat at the head of the table as I watched my son deflate as his job slipped through all of our fingers. He defended each of his decisions valiantly and in most instances they had benefitted the company but the Volturi's would not let go of this and they were throwing around names of possible replacements also. They were entirely too organized, they had just been waiting for the opportunity to pounce on Edward. As they called for a vote Mr. Campbell's phone beeped, without even looking at it he said "I need to take this call gentlemen please hold the vote."
"Yes Ma'am"
"Na Volturi's brú le haghaidh vóta, ba mhaith leo an tUasal Cullen amach." (The Volturi's are pushing for a vote, they want Mr. Cullen out.)
"Sea, tá siad ag luascadh comhaltaí eile agus a thairiscint ar ainmneacha athsholáthair."
("Yes, they are swaying other members and offering replacement names.")
"Tá mé Ma'am d'fhág an tUasal Praghas i limistéar feithimh agus tá mé an diosca agus cóipeanna páipéar de na proxies orm." ("Yes Ma'am I have left Mr. Price in the waiting area and I have the disc and paper copies of the proxies on me.")
"Níl, Ma'am lig mise amháin a mhíniú Carlisle agus beidh mé tú a chur ar speakerphone."
("No, Ma'am just let me explain to Carlisle and I will put you on speakerphone.")
I had no idea what the hell was going on. Richard was speaking in a language I didn't understand and it didn't look like any one else did either. I figured out he was talking to a woman and I recognized the Volturi's, Edward's and my own name but not anything else.
Richard placed his phone on the table and looked at me, "Carlisle with your permission the COB of Swan Enterprises is on the phone and would like to contribute something to the meeting. Also there is a Mr. Price in the waiting if he could be escorted back here he may be able to answer questions also."
"No, the debate is over a vote has been called." The 3 Volturi brothers yelled.
"Gentlemen as Chairman only I can call a vote and I haven't yet. I would like to hear what she has to say, go ahead Mrs. Sinclair."
"Good morning, Carlisle. Has Mr. Price entered the room yet?"
"Yes, he just closed the door."
"Gentlemen, Mr. Price is with the SEC, I contacted him yesterday to get his help with what I wanted to do. I will and he can assure you that everything has been handled legally and will stand up in court. Saying that, as of 9:15am eastern standard time I personally own 7% of The Cullen Group, add that to the 6% Swan Enterprises has and Richard is holding proxies for our 401K participants, totaling another 6% of Cullen stock. In all Richard will be voting for 19% of the outstanding stock today."
There were gasps all around the room. "You can't do that," yelled Aro Volturi.
"Yes, she can," Mr. Price spoke. "As Mrs. Sinclair stated I am with the SEC and all sales were and are legally binding Mr. Volturi."
"She is only doing this because Swan has a bid coming out they want him to work on." Aro yelled.
"Yes, and don't think I don't know why you are doing this Aro. Would you like to tell Carlisle why you are so desperate for them to do more work overseas? Edward Cullen is the one pushing not to work on those projects, isn't he? You are trying to do what is best for your company and I am doing what is best for mine. Is this really the place you want to air the dirty laundry of your company or let the others know why you need this so badly?"
"No" Aro said. I swear I think he is sulking in the corner.
"Then I think Carlisle should call the vote unless you want to withdraw your complaint Aro because I assure you with my votes and the others I have with me on this Edward Cullen is leaving that room as CEO of The Cullen Group and you can not stop it."
"Are you threatening me little girl?" Aro snarled.
"No, Sir I am not. I am however letting you know that you do not scare me, not personally and not in business. You forget who you are dealing with, Bella Swan may not be a threat but as Isabella Sinclair I know where your skeletons are buried. Do not force me to dig them up for you. Now are we voting or not?"
"No, Cullen is fine as CEO. For now." Aro said angrily striding from the room.
"Richard, please take me off speakerphone."
"Yes Ma'am. It was not a problem Isabella. Yes, I will. Good luck in San Diego and enjoy the festival. Thank you Ma'am. Goodbye."
Richard turned to Mr. Price handing him a disc, "Mrs. Sinclair says thank you and this should have the information you need on it."
"Thank her for me, good day gentlemen."
The other board members had left the room. "Richard what the hell just happened here? What is up with the Volturi's?"
He laughed, "She said you would ask. I can't tell you much. Mrs. Sinclair spelled out her motives clearly. If The Cullen Group wins the Swan bid she wants Edward as CEO because it will be helpful for the company. What she did today was for the best interest of her company and yours."
"But what about the threats between her and Aro. Does she really know what she is doing? He can be dangerous."
"She knows this Carlisle. Have you forgotten how long Edgar and Aro knew each other and did business together. She probably knows better than most how dangerous he is, but she will not back down on this and she never bluffs. If you want to know any more than you need to speak with her. I need to get back, good day."
Emmett, Jasper and I were looking at Edward, he was having a hard time processing what just happened. "I have no idea what to say about anything that has happened this morning boys. I suggest we all get back to work and use the rest of the day and evening to just process everything on our own. Why don't we meet in the gym tomorrow morning and we can discuss everything then?" They just nodded and went back to work. I was having a hard time concentrating too. It had sounded like whatever Aro was involved in he was trying to involve Cullen in but had not succeeded yet, I had to make sure we stayed uninvolved in it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.
Please read & review.