His Instant Heir(5)

"How do you mean?"

"You left me without a backward glance, and probably thought our paths  wouldn't cross again. Definitely like this. Now we have to work together  and I'm going to try to save as much of my company as I can and you're  going to-"

"Do what I do best."

"What's that?"

"Make this a profitable move for Playtone Games and somehow convince you that despite all of that I'm not really a Tin Man."

* * *

Cari entered her office and picked up the phone to call Emma. Then  immediately put it down. The time to go running to her big sister had  passed. She was a mom now, a decision maker. At work she didn't need  Emma's advice and she'd made the difficult decision to stand on her own  in her personal life, as well. She knew better than to backpedal now.

She couldn't help it, though. She felt scared and panicked at the  thought of Dec just down the hall from her. And little DJ downstairs in  the nursery. Two males who had the most influence in her life. One by  her design, the other … by fate?

She shook her head. She wasn't going to figure this out right now and didn't want to try. She instant messaged her assistant.

Ally knocked on the door and popped her head around. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes. I need you to draft a memo to the staff from me and my sisters  letting them know that Playtone Games has taken over our company and we  will be using the next six weeks to merge."

"Okay. Anything else?" Ally asked without hesitation or concern. Her  assistant was thirty-two and had gotten married last summer, and Cari  knew she'd just signed a mortgage on a new house. She had to be worried.

"Let them know that Dec Montrose is going to be observing them for the  next few weeks. Everyone who works to their full potential need not  worry."

"Okay. I'll draft an email and send it to you for approval," Ally said.                       
       
           



       

"Thank you. Do you think we could get a temp in here to serve as my assistant?"

"Why?"

"Ally, I'm thinking of transferring you to finance. You have the skills  to be in accounts receivable and that way you won't be attached to me,"  Cari said.

She wasn't sure how much any of the staff knew of the bad blood between  her family and Dec's, but she didn't want to take any chances of Ally  being a casualty of that old feud.

"That's not necessary."

"Being part of this office might be a liability," she warned.

"Like you said, if I do my job I'm fine. Besides, I'm not abandoning you," Ally said with a smile.

"Thanks. In that case, Dec and I will be sharing you as an assistant. Think of it as a dual-reporting relationship."

"Okay," Ally said.

As her assistant left, Cari leaned back in her chair and swiveled around  to face the plate-glass windows that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. She  took a deep breath, warned herself that if she didn't get her head  together Dec was going to walk all over her. And she couldn't let that  happen.

Her door opened loudly and she pivoted around to see Jessi standing  there. She had thick black hair that she wore shoulder length with a  thick fringe of bangs on her forehead. For shock value, she had a deep  purple streak on the left side. On anyone else it might have looked  frivolous but on Jessi it just added to her commanding presence.

"So, how's it look?" she asked, putting a Starbucks cup down in front of  Cari before dropping down into one of her Louis XIV wing chairs. She  wore a pair of skinny black trousers with a rhinestone top and an Armani  tuxedo jacket. Cari loved her sister's bold style.

"Thanks for the skinny latte," she said, taking a sip.

"Figured you'd need it this morning, and with my cute little nephew you  don't exactly have time to get one for yourself. So what'd he say?"

She didn't need to ask who she meant. She sighed. "Dec's here for blood.  He pretty much said he's cutting the dead weight and going to find out  where we are profitable."

Jessi propped one booted foot on her knee and leaned back, taking a sip  of her own drink, which Cari knew was a mocha. Her sister was a rabid  chocoholic. "Figured as much. Can you influence him at all? What do you  think is the best approach?"

"Um … " That was a loaded question. Now that Dec was here and his family  had the upper hand in business, Cari realized her sisters would be at a  disadvantage once DJ's parentage became public knowledge.

"What? Did he threaten you?" Jessi said, jumping to her feet. "I've dealt with the Montrose clan before."

"You have?"

"Unfortunately. Allan McKinney was the best man at John and Patti McCoy's wedding."

Cari remembered Jessi being the maid of honor at her best friend Patti's  wedding two years ago in Las Vegas. She recalled hearing nothing about  Allan, however. "I didn't realize that," she said.

"Well, since we're feuding with his family I didn't think I should talk  about it. Besides Allan was a total jerk douche about a few things. I  can see why there is bad blood between our families. Anyway, I spent the  longest weekend of my life in Vegas thanks to him. If I need to go in  there-"

"No. You don't need to do anything for me, Jess. Dec was fine," she  said. Then she realized she needed to start laying the groundwork for  Dec to be introduced as DJ's father. "In fact, we're having dinner  tonight."

"You are? He must be nothing like Allan, who is an annoying jerk."

Cari laughed, and for the first time this morning she felt maybe it  wasn't the end of the world. No matter what happened at Infinity Games,  they'd be okay. They might be a bit worse for the wear, but her sisters  and she would be fine.





Three


Dec rubbed the back of his neck as Ally escorted the lead programmer  from the IOS team out of the conference room. He needed a long, stiff  drink and an evening where he didn't have to think about staff  reductions. It was clear to him that part of the problem with Infinity  Games was the fact that Cari allowed her staff too much leeway. But that  was neither here nor there. It was almost six and as he had a date for  the first time in almost six months, he was leaving.

"Good evening, Mr. Montrose," the security guard said as he exited the  elevator. The lobby of Infinity Games spoke of heritage. On the wall in  large print was a list of accolades the company had garnered since its  inception in the early '70s. Dec skimmed over the first one, which  listed both Gregory Chandler and Thomas Montrose's names. The next  accolade was a partnership with the Japanese video-game giants  Mishukoshi, after which Thomas's name disappeared. And so began the  family feud.                       
       
           



       

Dec looked at the guard. "Good evening. What was your name again?" he  asked. He knew in takeovers it was important to have a face to go with  every name on his list. Kell wanted this place gutted and soon there  would be no need for two teams of security. And this man looked like a  prime candidate for early retirement.

"Frank Jones," the older man said. His blue security uniform was neatly  pressed, he presented himself in a well-groomed manner and despite his  age, Frank was in good shape.

"Declan Montrose," he said, holding out his hand. The handshake was firm  and strong. There might be some gray in his hair, but Frank's posture  and attitude weren't as elderly as it had seemed from across the lobby.

"Who hired you?"

"Ms. Cari. She said we needed someone who took this job seriously and  understood that security was the most important part of making a game,"  Frank said.

"And that convinced you to take the job?" Dec asked.

"That and her smile," Frank said.

"Her smile?"

"She has this way of making you feel like you're the only one for the  job when she smiles at you. Makes me want to do my best," Frank said.

"She does have a way," Dec agreed. Suddenly he had an inkling of why  Cari was so popular with her team. There was something to be said about  being made to feel important. Obviously it was a skill that Cari had in  spades.

His iPhone rang as soon as he was in his Maserati GranTurismo  convertible. He glanced at the caller ID and wanted to toss the phone  out of the car. He wasn't ready to download information to Kell, but as  the man was his boss and not just his cousin, ignoring the call wasn't  an option.

"Montrose here."

"Here, as well," Kell said. "Is it as bad as we feared?"

"Worse. The staff is really loyal. I think if we kick the Chandlers out  we might have a mutiny. I've spent the better part of the day listening  to how great they are."