Now that sinking feeling was gripping her stomach and attempting to turn it inside out.
“Congratulations, Kenneth,” Zach said. “I know it wasn’t an easy decision.”
“Thank you, Zach. It’s been one of the most difficult decisions of my life. This business represents the sum of my life’s work. I’ve invested a lot of sweat equity in this place, building it from the ground up. So, you can imagine that I want to leave the business in the best hands once I step back.”
Maddie sensed what was about to happen before her father spelled it out. She wanted to say something, but she didn’t want Zach McCarter to glimpse any weakness or uncertainty in her. This was her future. Her legacy. This wasn’t happening—
“I consider the two of you my right-hand people,” Kenneth continued as Maddie’s peripheral vision was overtaken by a white-tinged fog.
You can only have one right hand, Dad. Who is it? Him or me? It’s me, dammit. It’s me. Why are you doing this?
Her gaze could’ve singed a hole into her father as she tried in vain to telegraph her feelings to him. But he seemed clueless.
“That’s why I’ve narrowed the candidates for my replacement down to the two of you.”
He glanced first at Zach and then at Maddie.
“Maddie?” Kenneth’s smile fell. “Are you okay?”
Feeling two sets of eyes on her, Maddie forced her mouth into a smile. “I’m just surprised, Dad. This was the last thing I expected when you asked me to meet with you this morning.”
Her father gazed at her a few beats too long and she was sure he sensed her confusion. He was an intuitive man. He had to know that this was not just a surprise, but a personal affront, an insult.
“I thought you would’ve had some kind of idea,” her father said, “since we’ve discussed the possibility of you running Fortunado in the future.”
The possibility.
He’d led her to believe that it was more than just a possibility. No, he’d led her to believe that she would step into the position of president of Fortunado Real Estate upon his retirement. Now he couldn’t walk it back fast enough.
“I guess I thought you were offering more than a possibility,” she said.
She had dedicated every bit of her postgraduate self to Fortunado Real Estate. She’d sacrificed her personal life, her dating life, working eighteen-hour days and weekends, making herself available to clients twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. While her father may not have out-and-out promised her she would be his successor, he had implied it. Besides, Kenneth Fortunado was all about family. Why in the world would he consider turning over the family business to an outsider?
Her father either chose to ignore her remark or pretend as if he hadn’t heard it, because he was already moving on. It was a good thing he hadn’t pressed her because she wasn’t about to say anything more in front of Zach.
Her father leaned forward, his hands folded on his desk. “Barbara and I leave on our cruise on June 4. That means right after the wedding—in approximately two weeks—I will name my successor. If the two of you choose to accept the challenge, one of you will take my place as president of Fortunado Real Estate.”
Maddie glanced at Zach, fully expecting him to do the right thing and bow out. She wanted him to hold up his hands and say that it wasn’t appropriate, that it wasn’t his place to challenge Maddie for what was rightfully hers. Instead, he flashed that perfect smile with those dimples that opened doors and broke hearts. He looked Maddie square in the eyes and said, “I’m in.”
His smile was reminiscent of the one he’d given her last night when he’d challenged her to a friendly game of Ping-Pong. But this was a competition to determine her future—to decide who got control over her birthright.
But damned if her own traitorous heart didn’t twist at the sheer rakish beauty of him. That hurt almost as much as the thought of her uncertain future.
“Bring it on,” she said, instantly wishing she would’ve said something a little classier. But he didn’t seem to mind. His eyes glinted as if sparked by the competition. She forced her gaze away from the seductive pull of his.
Once upon a time Zach McCarter might have been her secret crush, but now he was the competition. As far as she was concerned, he was the enemy.
“Good,” said Kenneth, turning his gaze on Maddie. “Maddie, I’m proud of you for rising to the occasion. I must admit that I was worried about how you’d take it. But I have to hand it to you for wanting what’s best for the business.”
Maddie dug her nails into her palms as she kept the smile fixed on her face. So, he’d worried about how she’d take it, but he hadn’t given her the courtesy of a heads-up before this meeting? Oh, yeah, they’d talk about what was best for the family business later.
“The real estate business is brutal,” said Kenneth. “Whoever takes over Fortunado will likely face much tougher challenges in the years ahead. I want to make sure whoever I choose is up for the long haul.”
Ostensibly, he was speaking to both of them, but he was looking at Maddie.
And she’d believed it couldn’t possibly get worse.
Were they really going to do this now?
“I’m up for the challenge, Dad.” Her voice was clear and her words were crisp. “I didn’t realize our family business was up for grabs. You know, open to an outsider.”
She was well aware that her words had surpassed crisp and veered into clipped. Her father winced, but she didn’t know how Zach reacted because she didn't look at him. But she’d guess that he’d managed to keep a pleasantly stoic poker face. And if she knew what was good for her, she’d compose herself, too.
Her father cleared his throat. “The business is not up for grabs, as you put it. You might be the one I choose if you prove yourself the worthiest.”
Prove myself the worthiest? What the hell do you think I’ve been trying to do my entire adult life?
Her father’s words shook her to her very core. After all the hours she’d put in, all the sacrifices she’d made for the good of the company, he still wasn’t satisfied that she’d proven herself worthy?
If she didn’t know better, she might think that this had more to do with turning over the reins to one of his daughters. His sons weren’t interested. So, what did he do? He adopted one.
At least she had the good sense to not talk about this now. But they would talk. He had better believe they would talk.
Even in her fury, she had the presence of mind to know that her father wasn’t a chauvinist. He’d trained her himself and he’d led her to believe—
She shook away the thought. And she tried to ignore the little voice that taunted her, reminding her that Zach had outsold her last year.
Not by much, but he’d won.
He’d won and she’d lost.
Kenneth looked from Maddie to Zach and back to Maddie. “Your future is in your own hands,” Kenneth said. “You can win the position, but you have to earn it. I’m speaking to both of you.”
A sound like white noise buzzed in Maddie’s ears.
“I’m a self-made man,” Kenneth continued. “I never had anything handed to me. I built this business from the ground up and I want to make sure my successor not only fosters it, but takes it to places I never dreamed possible.”
He punctuated the statement with a shrug.