all blew up when I had a fling with an up-and-coming Hollywood actress who made it big.
There was nothing serious between us. She annoyed the fuck out of me, to be honest, but she was gorgeous, so we enjoyed each other sexually several times. But then one night, after leaving a club, she got a phone call from an ex and ended up in a screaming match with him. She cried, yelled, made an obnoxious scene that I loathed. But Marla loved making a scene. It’s her favorite pastime and her career of choice.
People assumed that I was the asshole who’d broken her heart that night, and Marla let the tabloids eat that theory up. “It’s good free publicity, Warry,” she’d told me in her annoying voice. “Really, you should be thanking me.”
That was the last time I saw or spoke to her, and the tabloids have hated me ever since for breaking her heart. Such a fucking joke.
And now Tonya wants me to...what? Invite even more publicity into my life? No thank you.
My jaw tightens. “I’m not interested in being the face of the company like some fucking poster boy.”
Tonya shrugs, unwilling to back down. “You already are the poster boy whether you want to be or not. We want to bolster Knight Enterprises in the public eye? Then give the people something to like about you.”
I swear, I could break my jaw from how damn hard I’m clenching my teeth.
“You know I’m right,” Tonya goes on. “Show me that you have a plan to get your personal shit in order, to be the darling Captain fucking America CEO that the people want, and I’ll back you on this one hundred percent.”
First Pierson, and now this. This board meeting is a complete shit show.
Probably sensing that I’m about to blow a gasket, Harvey stands, intervening slowly. “Alright, why don’t we break here?” The board wastes no time nodding in agreement, no doubt wanting to escape before my temper finally breaks and I end up firing everyone in the goddamn room. “I think we’ve had enough for today. We have plenty of material to go through for now. In the meantime, I suggest we do an interim trial run.”
I look over at my friend. “What are you thinking?”
“How about four weeks?” he suggests. “Let’s see how we can get these ventures kick-started and what kind of launch we can anticipate. I, for one, am interested in seeing the social media response. If the feedback is positive, then we should allocate resources to make it happen. If it doesn’t...we’ll reconvene and come up with another solution,” he says smoothly. “But I think Tonya is right. So get ready to be a fucking poster boy, Knight,” he adds, letting a grin spread out. I want to punch it right off his face.
Tonya nods in agreement. “Yes. Get me a public image strategy I can work with, and I’m all for it.”
Pierson’s lips thin, obviously displeased.
As much I want to argue about this entire thing, Tonya’s right. And with the respect she has from the other divisions...I need her support on this.
“Alright, I’ll have something you can work with,” I tell her, even though it kills me a little because I loathe being in the public eye.
She gives me a perfunctory nod as Harvey walks over and claps me on the back. “We all know that Knight has never fallen short with delivery. He’ll get us where we need to be.”
The more Harvey talks, the more he draws everyone in. I met him in college, and we’ve been friends ever since. He’s always been a smooth talker. If it weren’t for him, I would’ve lost my mind years ago. And probably half my employees.
Being in charge, I can do. Running businesses, handling numbers, juggling responsibilities, I was trained for it. But people...I’m not so good with them. Which is why I tend to have the reputation of being an asshole.
When people annoy me, I let them know. When they aren’t performing well enough, I put them through the wringer. I don’t pull punches or sugarcoat words to make people feel better about their fuckups. I don’t have time for that shit, and I’m not here to hold anyone’s hand.
Much to my fucking relief, the board meeting finally adjourns, and everybody files out until Harvey and I are the last ones here. We leave the conference room, walking down the polished floors of the hall, passing by several other suites until we make it