What happened?”
“They’re in need of capital,” Daniel replied, leaning forward in his chair. “If someone doesn’t bail them out soon, they’ll be out of business before the year is out. They’ve extended themselves as much as they can with the banks, and if they want to go forward with any of the new products Shane Adams is creating, they’re going to need investors.”
Ethan nodded. “Is Kayla Adams agreeable to an outsider investing in her company?” he inquired. Byron’s eldest daughter was CEO of Adams Cosmetics and he doubted she would appreciate an outsider owning a piece of her pie. Matter of fact, she would be livid. Kayla had never liked Ethan since he’d declined her attempt at seventeen to lure him into bed. He’d been six years her senior, and having any kind of relationship at the time would have been completely inappropriate. Though now would be an entirely different matter altogether.
“I’ve heard she’s amicable,” Daniel returned. “If they don’t get funds soon, they’ll have to take the company public and submit an IPO. You and I both know that is not only costly, but the Adams family would also lose control of their company.”
Ethan smiled. “I highly doubt she’s accepting this lying down.” Kayla Adams was a fighter.
“So are you open to buying the shares the Adams family might put on the market?”
“Of course, but I want more than a few shares. I want to own the majority interest,” Ethan replied. If he was going to invest in a sinking ship, he needed complete control to bring it back from the brink of disaster. “Start inquiring with our bank on raising capital.”
“Ethan, the Adams family will never give up control.”
“Then find a loophole.”
“You sure don’t want much,” Daniel returned, closing his file. “I wouldn’t think you’d be so ruthless, considering your history with the family.”
“You know me, Daniel. Since when have I ever let personal feelings get in the way of business? I want the whole pie or nothing at all, and this circumstance is no different.”
“Understood.”
“Treat this as extremely confidential,” Ethan added. “I don’t want word of this leaking out.” He had to strike while the iron was hot and prevent any other corporate mammoths from snapping up Adams Cosmetics. Their cosmetics company would fit in nicely with Graham International, which specialized primarily in fashion and perfume but had a small cosmetics division.
“Absolutely.” Daniel nodded and headed toward the door, but stopped short. “You know, Kayla Adams is going to consider your interest in the company as hostile. Especially considering you’re asking for majority shares.”
“Oh, I know,” Ethan responded. Kayla was not going to cooperate with him. In fact, since that incident in the stables when she was seventeen, Kayla had made a point of keeping a wide berth from Ethan every time they met. At first he’d thought he was imagining it. He assumed Kayla was embarrassed at her juvenile seduction attempt, but after the last party they attended a few years back, when she’d pointedly refused to dance with him, Ethan knew he wasn’t. How could she go from wanting him to not wanting to be near him? Ethan suspected that Kayla was as far from immune to him as she portrayed. “I will handle Kayla.”
“Are you sure about that?” Daniel asked.
Ethan chuckled. Kayla was a spitfire, and she wouldn’t take kindly to Graham International owning a stake in Adams Cosmetics, but Ethan was determined.
“Daddy, what are you doing back?” Kayla asked when she came down to breakfast the next morning and found her father sitting at the dining room table. It was a beautiful spring day in mid-March, and the flowers on the family’s eleven-bedroom estate in Atlanta’s Buckhead division were blooming. But Kayla didn’t feel as cheery as the weather.
“And where’s Mom?”
“Went to the spa,” her father replied, looking up from his paper. “She wasn’t too pleased that we cut our extended vacation short.”
“Of course she would be upset. You promised.”
“I know, but once I heard about Adams Cosmetics, I had to come back.”
“So you came back because of the company?” Kayla asked thoughtfully and rose from the table to serve herself some yogurt and fresh fruit from the buffet table behind them. Victor, their butler, always had a delicious spread for breakfast.
“Don’t be upset, Kay,” her father said, using the nickname he’d given her as a child. It was usually when he wanted her to do things his way, but it wouldn’t be that way this time.
“You don’t think I can save the company on my own?” Kayla asked as she sat down with her plate. She reached for the coffee carafe in the center of the table and poured herself a cup. She brought it to her lips and took a sip. It was as she liked it, strong and black, much like her men.
“No, of course not.” Byron rose from his chair and came to sit beside her. “That’s not it at all. I just know how much you want Adams Cosmetics to stay in the family.”
“It’s how it’s always been,” Kayla responded. “And now, Shane and Courtney want to bring in ‘investors.’” She used her hands to make quotation marks. “They want to bring outsiders into the company.”
“It’s what has to be done.”
“Then why did you never do it?” Kayla returned, a little too harshly for her liking.
“Because I was a fool,” Byron admitted to his daughter. “I didn’t want to admit that I could be wrong. I don’t want to see the same thing happen to you.”
“You weren’t wrong, Daddy. This is a family business,” Kayla persisted.
“One that could go bankrupt due to the bad decisions I made in the past. Kay, if you want to save Adams Cosmetics, we’re going to have to do what needs to be done and sell some of our shares.”
“I can’t let you do this. You and Mama started this company. How does Mama feel about this?” Kayla inquired. She doubted her mother would be happy to hear that they could be losing a part of the business it had taken them a lifetime to build. Not to mention the long working days and late nights they’d endured during the early days to make the company a success.
“She has given me carte blanche to do whatever is necessary.”
Kayla shook her head in resignation. “I just can’t believe it’s come down to this, selling off our shares for the almighty dollar.”
“It will keep the company solvent. More than that, it will give you the much-needed capital to invest in the new fragrance line Shane has created, as well as expand our skincare line. These are all projects you’ve wanted to do for a very long time, but didn’t have the finances.”
Kayla respected her father’s opinion and knew he was right, but it hurt all the same. “Okay.” She shrugged her shoulders. “You’ve convinced me. Now what?”
“Now what?” her father asked, stroking her cheek. “Once the company is back on its feet, it can finally allow you to have a personal life and give
