I nodded. “I figure each of you giving up one percent is fair.” While I would’ve preferred more, I wasn’t a greedy man.
“And you’re looking for sixty percent of this venture?”
“Correct. Considering I’ll fund the initial start-up, plus my name does bear some significance within this industry, I think it’s more than reasonable that I be the majority shareholder.”
“A slight understatement,” he said with a smirk.
I could only offer a grin.
Landon steepled his hands and stared me down. I knew he was attempting to intimidate me. Plenty of people thought that would work. It never had before, and I certainly wasn’t going to give in now. If Landon and Langston opted not to accept my offer, that was their prerogative. However, I would branch out on my own. I’d merely been interested in joining forces in an effort to benefit all of us.
Landon finally nodded. “I’ve been given the go-ahead to make a deal.”
“That’s good to hear. I fully believe this will be mutually beneficial, provided the offer is along the lines of my original proposal.”
“Actually…” Landon pushed the sheet of paper toward me. “When we got together, we hashed it out and thought you were asking for … too little.”
Too little? That was a first.
I didn’t look at the paper, wanting to hear what Landon’s offer was.
He sighed, obviously wanting me to look. “Justin and Ben thought your original offer was more in our favor. And you know Justin. He’s willing to pay if it means having you more involved. We agreed to each hand over two and a half percent of Chatter and only take twenty-five percent of the new venture.”
“Really? Why not simply take what I’m asking for?”
Landon grinned, his gaze moving to Troy briefly. “With the shift in our personal lives, we’re all looking to work less, not more. We figured bringing you on will allow us more flexibility. And by opting for less in the new venture, it’ll give you some wiggle room in the event you need to bring on some additional people.”
This time I did glance down at the paper, wanting to see it in black and white. Needless to say, I was pleased with this turn of events. I smiled when I looked up at Landon. “I’d be honored to do business with you.”
“My friend,” Landon stated, “this is going to make us a lot of fucking money.”
Yes. It was.
Landon’s eyes glanced toward the door. “I really should go talk with Miss Tinsley. We did some checking into her background, so this is just a formality. From the information we received, she’s more than qualified should she be interested in the position. The only obstacle will be her passing the bar in Illinois. Unfortunately, it’s only offered twice a year—February and July—so the timing will be a bit off. But we’ll still welcome her on board if she’s willing.”
I doubted she would have an issue passing the bar. Clarissa was a highly intelligent woman. While she might’ve endured a couple of obstacles that knocked her down a peg or two, I could see the fire in her eyes. She would succeed if she opted to accept.
“May I ask what the stipulations are?” I wasn’t going to intrude on the financials, because that wasn’t my business.
“We’re only asking that she come on board as a full-time employee of Chatter. We’re not looking to outsource. Being that we’re expanding, it only makes sense to bring her on in an official capacity. Healthcare, stock options, all of it. It does come with some legal responsibility on our part, but we feel it’s worth it.”
“She’ll need to hire some people to work for her,” I told him. “She won’t be able to handle the sheer volume alone.”
“Of course. That’ll be at her discretion once she’s agreed to the terms. Not only will she handle the company’s legal contracts, we’d like to offer legal services, such as wills and contract reviews, to our clients.” Landon leaned forward. “The only thing I fear might keep her from accepting is that we’re looking for her to relocate here.”
That was an interesting concept. I hadn’t considered that when I brought this up to Clarissa. Bearing in mind I would be spending a significant amount of time here in the future, I didn’t mind that one bit.
The only question was whether Clarissa would be open to that or not.
Unfortunately, I would have to wait and see.
Troy
I KNEW MASTER WAS TESTING me.
While I continued to think of him as Master—something I enjoyed more and more every time I did—I couldn’t help but wonder if I should be thinking of him solely as my boss. Especially in a business setting such as this one.
Then again, this wasn’t quite the business setting I was used to. Forcing me to kneel beside him was totally out of the norm for our working relationship. I wondered whether it would be a regular occurrence going forward. I’d been shocked when he gave the initial command. Considering it hindered my ability to do my job, I was starting to question his motives.
