Undeniably His(91)

“Who are you gentlemen with?” Peter asks.

“TALVIS Advertising,” the taller man says with a grin that betrays his deadpan eyes.

“They’re from TALVIS, Kalin,” Peter shouts.

Kalin jerks his head toward the deck, scrambles toward me, and pulls me toward him by my shoulders. His face is tense and slightly pale. “Listen to me. Go to the middle deck down the stairs, and toward the bow of the boat where the bar is. Get behind the bar and hide. There’s a gun behind the bar under the napkins in the middle drawer. Grab it and be ready to use it. Don’t make a sound and don’t let anyone know you’re here.”

“Okay, but what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know who these guys are. It’s best to be safe.”

Kalin climbs down the stairs and I peek over the rail to see two figures standing between Kalin and his parents. Kalin gives Peter and Lauren a stern nod and presses the remote so that the stairs retract and stow to a compartment under the deck.

Kalin turns his attention to the men standing between him and his parents. “Excuse me, who are you gentlemen?”

“This is Ed Horner. My name is Charlie Cattano. We work with your board of directors, Mr. Davis.”

“Who, specifically?” Kalin asks.

“We’ll let you figure that out, Mr. Davis,” the stocky man says. He nibbles at a piece of gum as a cocky grin spreads across his face.

“Peter. Lauren. Would you please wait inside the house? We can discuss your offer for the yacht inside.”

“Okay, Mr. Davis.” Peter gives Lauren a thoughtful glance and walks her toward the house.

“Not so fast,” the taller one barks. “You two can stay, Mr. and Mrs. Davis.” He says the names in a low-pitched sneer.

“Who the hell are you guys?” Kalin growls.

The men glance at each other and back to Kalin. “It’s a shame what happened to Dale, isn’t it Mr. Davis? I understand he was an old college buddy. You know, if you had given him a job, he probably wouldn’t have poisoned himself to death with all those toxic chemicals,” the lankier one says.

The shorter one snorts out a laugh.

Kalin flashes him a cold smile. “Let me guess. You’re the two tough guys who slapped Lia and ransacked her apartment.”

The stocky man is expressionless.

Kalin fixes his eyes on him. “You guys should really pick on someone your own size.”

“That’s why we’re here, Mr. Davis.” The shorter man lifts his chin and returns his cold expression.

“Now, gentlemen. We have some business to attend to.” The lanky man opens a briefcase and turns it toward Kalin. “Mr. Davis, we need you to sign over your stock and forfeit all future rights in the company. This stockholder agreement outlines everything.” His casual tone betrays the obvious threat. He turns to Kalin with a deadpan expression. “All you need to do is sign it.”

“Or?” Kalin asks.

The lanky man leans in to Kalin. “Then you can decide which one of your parents we’re going to kill.”

Kalin glances at his parents and back to the contract. His eyes move over the contract and he begins to read it out loud.

“The distribution of the shares is subject to prior stockholder agreements and contracts, and the board retains first rights to acquire all shares.”

He glances up with a glare before returning his eyes to the contract.

“As the board retains preemptive rights to acquire all the shares, Mr. Kalin Davis agrees to sell his entire shareholding in TAVIS Advertising held by his ownership to the board at the fair market price on the day of sale, or $57.14 per share.”

“That’s awfully generous of Mr. Corman and Mr. McMillan. It almost looks like a normal business transaction.” His tone is laced with scorn. “It won’t raise one red flag, except for the fact that a contract signed under threat does not constitute a legal contract.”

“I won’t tell if you don’t,” the lanky man scoffs.

“I bet they were really wishing I would have just died as planned. It would have been so much cleaner, as the shares would automatically revert to the board. This contract makes things so muddled.”

The stocky man steps forward. “We can still arrange that, Mr. Davis.” He points the gun at his jaw.

“Easy, Eddie,” the lanky man says calmly. “Just sign the contract, Mr. Davis, and save us a long day. You’ll still have your money and your life.”

The stocky man takes a few slow steps backward to where he was standing.

Kalin takes a pen from the briefcase and signs the contract. “You know, fellas, it just dawned on me that Dale had no real reason to kill me. I mean, he was going to die anyway. He had no family to give the money to. He had no real reason to do any of this, unless he was using you as much as you were using him. He probably knew you had no intention of giving him a goddamn thing anyway. He just wanted a chance to live, and would say anything to get it. But he didn’t go through with it, did he?”