King of Pride (Kings of Sin, #2)(95)
The room exploded.
Laura jumped up, expression murderous, hands gesticulating wildly at a stunned-looking Paxton.
On her other side, Tobias’s eyes gleamed, his mouth twisted with grim pleasure. A glass shattered several tables down, and several blackmailed board members tried to sneak away before my mother’s cutting glare froze them in their tracks.
Unlike a majority of the guests, she didn’t react to the revelations onscreen. Her expression mirrored that of someone waiting in line at the grocery store, but when her eyes found mine, they glinted with surprise and a fierce, unyielding pride.
She didn’t have to ask whether I was the one responsible for the mayhem. She already knew.
I stood, and the room fell silent so quickly it was almost comical. Every pair of eyes swung toward me as I walked up to the podium and took the mic from a frozen Russell’s hands.
He hadn’t moved since the projector switched on. The color had slipped from his cheeks, but otherwise, he seemed to have trouble grasping the abrupt turn in events.
“Apologies for interrupting your speech,” I said, deceptively polite. “I realize you’re quite excited about your selection as CEO. However, before we officially conclude your transition, I thought you might like to share your extracurricular activities with the company. It seems fitting, given how prominently they feature in said activities.”
Since the evidence was there for all to see, I kept my rundown short. Spying, conspiring with a competitor, using employee records for personal and unethical purposes. The list went on.
“That’s preposterous.” Nerves pitched Russell’s laugh into a higher octave. “I understand you’re upset about losing the vote, Kai, but to frame me for—”
I tapped the podium. A second later, a video replaced the photos onscreen.
Russell and Victor in Black & Co.’s Virginia satellite office, discussing in detail how and when to publish the articles about me and Isabella. The conversation soon shifted to Victor’s payment—a considerable sum of cash plus Russell’s promise to give him several future news scoops if he was selected as CEO.
Thank you, Christian.
The photos and documents were damning, but the video was the death blow.
Panic pooled in Russell’s eyes. He turned, but he must’ve realized he had nowhere to go, because he didn’t attempt to flee while I closed out the night’s show.
“You’re right. I am upset about losing the vote,” I said. Iron underlaid my voice. “I’m upset about losing it to someone who cheated his way into winning. You were a decent COO, Russell. You could’ve competed fairly instead of lying and manipulating the very people you promised to serve.”
“Fairly?” The word brought a violent tide of crimson to his face. “Fairly? There was nothing fair about the process, and you know it. I worked my ass off for the company for two decades, ten of them as COO. I’m supposed to be the second-in-command, yet the minute you swan in, fresh out of school with your fancy degrees and family name, people defer to you like you’re in charge. Well, I’m sick of it.”
Russell’s hands fisted. “The CEO selection process was a farce. Everyone knew you were going to win simply because you’re a Young. I was included as a pity candidate despite everything I’ve done for the company. While Leonora was busy traveling and you were busy chasing pie-in-the-sky deals, I kept the lights on and the offices running. I deserve recognition, dammit, and I refuse to serve under some arrogant, peacocking upstart who thinks he’s better than everyone!”
His voice escalated with each word until it boomed like thunder through the stunned room. A vein throbbed in his forehead, and flecks of spittle sprayed from his mouth. The stench of rage and indignation poured off him in thick, rolling waves, making my stomach turn.
This was a man who’d been bottling up his feelings for years, if not decades. A man who believed so firmly in his martyrdom that he saw nothing wrong with what he did. In his mind, he was well within his rights to lie, cheat, and blackmail his way to the top because he “deserved” it.
I wasn’t immune to my shortcomings. Looking back, I could admit I felt as entitled to the CEO
position as he did. The only difference was, I didn’t fuck other people over to try and get it.
I kept my gaze steady on his. “You say that,” I said, each syllable sharp enough to cut. “Yet you considered Tobias strong enough competition to threaten him into withdrawing. If it were truly rigged, you could’ve stopped with me and left him alone. But you didn’t, did you? Because you know that underneath your justifications and excuses, you simply aren’t that good.”
The low blow landed with unerring accuracy. The remaining color leached from Russell’s face.
His mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out.
I typically wouldn’t resort to ad hominem attacks, but he’d made my and Isabella’s lives hell the past few weeks. Even if he hadn’t targeted me, I would never forgive him for what he and Victor did to her.
The lull finally prompted a measured reaction from the board. To my surprise, Richard Chu was the first member to speak up and declare Russell’s selection invalid. Others fell in line, and things moved quickly after that.
By the time the dazed guests filed out of the ballroom half an hour later, Russell had been stripped of his company titles and responsibilities, his deputy had been appointed his interim placement, and the date for a new CEO vote was set for two weeks from now. There would also be a criminal investigation into Russell’s activities plus a reckoning for the board, a quarter of whom had succumbed to his blackmail for various reasons, but those were issues for another day.