purchased, current status of companies we were purchasing, and feasibility for companies that we might purchase in the future. I thought that my head was going to explode. I hadn’t made one real decision all day, and I was already exhausted.
It seemed that Jackson was making a better homeless person than I was making a CEO.
His brain must be going a million different directions all the time. No wonder he’d never managed to fit a woman into his life. His mental capacity had to be maxed out.
I jumped when my phone rang unexpectedly. Ben was supposed to call me every afternoon with an update, so just one glance at the caller ID was enough to scare the shit out of me. He was calling at 7:00 in the morning. That meant that something had happened to Jackson.
“Ben, what’s wrong? What happened?”
“Calm down, Jason. He’s okay.”
“Then why are you calling and giving me a heart attack?”
“Jackson got in a little fight last night in the shelter. He’s fine. He’s just got a split lip, and the guy managed to take off with his jacket. I punched the guy pretty hard in the head, but everyone lived to tell the tale. I don’t think Jackson’s onto me. Sean’s got him now.” Oh God. He was in a fight. I had to put a stop to this. It could have been so much worse.
It wasn’t worth the risk. What were we thinking?
“Ben, I want you to tell him to call it off.”
“Sean? I can’t tell Sean to leave him. We might lose him.”
“No. I mean I want to tell Jackson to stop it. This is too damn dangerous. Where is he?
I’m going to talk to him.”
“He’s fine. Don’t overreact. He’s tougher than I thought. He took that punch like a man.” I did not want to hear about my brother taking punches like a man. Whoever hit him had better pray that I never found out who they were or the smack to the head that he’d gotten from Ben would seem like child’s play.
“I want to know where he is, Ben,” I practically growled at him.
“I don’t know man. I left him with Sean. They were on the subway. They could be anywhere.
“Shit. Well, you can get a hold of Sean right? I am going into the office. I have to cover this stupid ass meeting, and then I am going to pick Jackson up. I’ll call you as soon as I am done, and I’ll expect you to know where he is.”
“Jason, really, he’s fine, but if that’s the way you want it, I’ll tell you where he is when you call back.”
“Thank you.” I closed the phone.
If it was any other meeting I would blow it off, but this was for the Nick Carver buyout that Jackson had been so freaked out over. Nick had called late yesterday and demanded an early meeting. I’d had very little prep time. If Jackson had known about it, he probably would have dropped the whole homeless charade and handled it himself. I didn’t know what Nick wanted, but I had a feeling that Jackson’s leaving and his sudden desire to talk to me were not mutually exclusive events. He wanted to capitalize on Jackson’s absence.
I didn’t have time to get Jackson and bring him to the meeting, and truthfully I didn’t trust the board to make the right decisions without us. Nick was a manipulative bastard, and I couldn’t leave him alone with my staff. There were just too many ways that he could cause trouble. His company might be a good investment, but Jackson was right to be leery of him.
When I arrived at the office, I was surprised to find the conference room empty. Had they moved the meeting and not told me? I couldn’t even complete the thought before Nick walked through the door.
“Mr. Hayes.” His voice was cold and businesslike as usual.
“Mr. Carver, you’ll have to forgive me. I am not sure where the rest of the board is at the present time...” He cut me off.
“I told them that this meeting was canceled,” he said. “I was hoping to speak to you alone.”
“You could have simply requested a private meeting, Mr. Carver, although I have nothing to say to you that I
It seemed that Jackson was making a better homeless person than I was making a CEO.
His brain must be going a million different directions all the time. No wonder he’d never managed to fit a woman into his life. His mental capacity had to be maxed out.
I jumped when my phone rang unexpectedly. Ben was supposed to call me every afternoon with an update, so just one glance at the caller ID was enough to scare the shit out of me. He was calling at 7:00 in the morning. That meant that something had happened to Jackson.
“Ben, what’s wrong? What happened?”
“Calm down, Jason. He’s okay.”
“Then why are you calling and giving me a heart attack?”
“Jackson got in a little fight last night in the shelter. He’s fine. He’s just got a split lip, and the guy managed to take off with his jacket. I punched the guy pretty hard in the head, but everyone lived to tell the tale. I don’t think Jackson’s onto me. Sean’s got him now.” Oh God. He was in a fight. I had to put a stop to this. It could have been so much worse.
It wasn’t worth the risk. What were we thinking?
“Ben, I want you to tell him to call it off.”
“Sean? I can’t tell Sean to leave him. We might lose him.”
“No. I mean I want to tell Jackson to stop it. This is too damn dangerous. Where is he?
I’m going to talk to him.”
“He’s fine. Don’t overreact. He’s tougher than I thought. He took that punch like a man.” I did not want to hear about my brother taking punches like a man. Whoever hit him had better pray that I never found out who they were or the smack to the head that he’d gotten from Ben would seem like child’s play.
“I want to know where he is, Ben,” I practically growled at him.
“I don’t know man. I left him with Sean. They were on the subway. They could be anywhere.
“Shit. Well, you can get a hold of Sean right? I am going into the office. I have to cover this stupid ass meeting, and then I am going to pick Jackson up. I’ll call you as soon as I am done, and I’ll expect you to know where he is.”
“Jason, really, he’s fine, but if that’s the way you want it, I’ll tell you where he is when you call back.”
“Thank you.” I closed the phone.
If it was any other meeting I would blow it off, but this was for the Nick Carver buyout that Jackson had been so freaked out over. Nick had called late yesterday and demanded an early meeting. I’d had very little prep time. If Jackson had known about it, he probably would have dropped the whole homeless charade and handled it himself. I didn’t know what Nick wanted, but I had a feeling that Jackson’s leaving and his sudden desire to talk to me were not mutually exclusive events. He wanted to capitalize on Jackson’s absence.
I didn’t have time to get Jackson and bring him to the meeting, and truthfully I didn’t trust the board to make the right decisions without us. Nick was a manipulative bastard, and I couldn’t leave him alone with my staff. There were just too many ways that he could cause trouble. His company might be a good investment, but Jackson was right to be leery of him.
When I arrived at the office, I was surprised to find the conference room empty. Had they moved the meeting and not told me? I couldn’t even complete the thought before Nick walked through the door.
“Mr. Hayes.” His voice was cold and businesslike as usual.
“Mr. Carver, you’ll have to forgive me. I am not sure where the rest of the board is at the present time...” He cut me off.
“I told them that this meeting was canceled,” he said. “I was hoping to speak to you alone.”
“You could have simply requested a private meeting, Mr. Carver, although I have nothing to say to you that I
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