It wasn’t all that inaccurate. But Henry was right, this wasn’t the first time they went through the damn fire drill. And they’d come out of it before without getting burned. Unfortunately, this situation was different. They had no choice in the matter, so he’d go along with this dog and pony show—even if he thought it was another disaster waiting to happen.
Miranda already had the crisis team assembled on one side of the table in the conference room when they arrived. Apparently Viv was the only person who didn’t get the memo that they were coming in early, which Jarod found odd considering she’d be his primary contact.
Something didn’t smell right.
Jarod took the open seat that his people left for him in the middle of the table. He had three other men with him in addition to Henry, but it wasn’t Jarod’s idea. He fucking hated traveling with an entourage; it made him feel like a world-class asshole.
All the eyes in the room moved toward him. It was a little uncomfortable, but Jarod had grown accustomed to strangers being involved in every aspect of his life. He’d just do what he always did. Listen to the experts, and then make his own decisions. This time, though, he had no intention of apologizing. Pretty ridiculous considering he just got caught with his pants down—literally—and was at risk of losing millions of dollars. Still, though his behavior may have been a little sketchy, he was the real victim. He was the person being wronged, and if these experts didn’t get that, they could all go to hell.
Of course, as he went over those last thoughts, he realized he wasn’t the only person wronged that night.
Shit, I am such an asshole.
Why’d it take him so long to think of someone other than himself? There was also Candace, and he could only imagine the backlash she was dealing with after this latest scandal. He’d be sure to call her after the meeting. She was a good girl and shouldn’t have to suffer because of his crazy life. Right now, however, it was time to take care of the business at hand.
After Jarod was settled, Miranda made the introductions. She was also a beautiful woman, in a high-maintenance kind of way. She reeked of money, and power, and maybe even a dash of corruption. Jarod could easily read people. Shit knows, he’d had enough practice. You didn’t get to where Miranda was by taking the high road, and he had the feeling she always got what she wanted. Interesting.
Miranda went around the room with the pleasantries, but paused when she reached Viv, like she was implying something. Jarod took it all in.
“And I see you’ve already met Viv,” she said.
“Yes, I have,” Jarod responded, leaning away from the table and taking up more space than he could possibly need. It was all part of the game. “I had to check out Ms. Blake myself before we got this show on the road. No sense in wasting anyone’s time—or what little money I may have left—if she doesn’t have the goods, right?”
“And does she?” Miranda asked in her own commanding voice. “Have the goods, that is?”
Jarod looked over to see Viv holding her breath, as if expecting him to throw her under the bus. Not just yet, he thought.
“We’ll see, Miranda,” Jarod said, casually using her name to take back control.
“Wonderful.” She shared a pirate smile. “Shall we begin then?”
“Let’s.” Jarod returned her fake grin with one of his own.
“Viv,” Miranda said. “Why don’t you bring Mr. Cage’s team up to speed?”
Quickly loading her presentation, Viv hooked up the projector and went over the introductory slides. Jarod knew this was the warm-up before getting personal.
“So.” Viv took a deep breath, before diving in. “I’ve gone over the tape, and we had our tech team take care of any leftover remnants hiding out online.”
Or maybe not.
“Our legal team should’ve done that already,” Henry said.
“Yes,” Viv agreed. “They did a great job, but you’d be amazed how many sites find ways to slink around the system. Like I said, it wasn’t the entire video, but pieces of it here and there. For the most part, it’s disappeared from cyberspace. But we can’t ignore the damage that’s already been done. So we need to get in front of it.”
“What do you mean, ‘get in front of it’?” Jarod asked, not at all happy with the sound of that.
“We need to hold a press conference to address the situation,” Viv told him.
“No,” Jarod said immediately, shaking his head.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Cage. What do you mean no?”
“It’s Jarod, and I mean no. If I wanted people poking around in my business, I would live in Charlotte with all the other wheelmen. I’m not giving in to them.”