Initiative (Suncoast Society #31)(58)

“Then what is the point? Enlighten me.”

The point was, and she damn well knew it, if they’d ever remotely managed to amass a full fifty percent—damn near impossible due to the way it was structured, but more a lure to get his father’s help with the initial financing—it would trigger a clause that would then allow them to have a money stake in the company.

That’s what Marcus had believed for all these years, anyway.

John had been extremely shrewd in how he’d set up the shares. All the original stake loans—with interest—had been paid back a couple of years earlier, rendering the actual cash value of the shares completely worthless. In fact, Ed hadn’t lied. In the month before he died, John and Susie and Ed had started discussing buying out the shareholders for token amounts to return the company to their sole control on paper, knowing full well his parents might be the only ones reluctant to hand their shares over otherwise.

John hadn’t trusted his parents, sad to say. Which was exactly why he’d set up the unorthodox arrangement to start with. He’d loved them, but his father was a cold, shrewd businessman. John had no doubt if his father had a chance to take over, he would.

The shares were only secured as a money stake as long as the loans were outstanding, to help guarantee they were paid back. Once they were paid off, they converted to voting rights only. His father was well aware of that part.

What John counted on—and had happened—was that Ed and Kaden had buried it down in the middle of the share agreements, easy to miss, about not being able to resell or transfer the shares without a right of first refusal.

And yes, until after the fact, Marcus Costello had missed that little detail. Or if he hadn’t missed it, he certainly hadn’t mentioned it to John, or realized the impact it might later have.

Susie suspected, based on Marcus Costello’s current reaction, that he’d finally taken the paperwork and read through it again overnight, this time paying far more attention than he had before.

No matter what John’s father did now, there was no way in hell he could ever get his hooks into the company for money.

Ever.

Not as long as she was alive, and even then, nope. She was already working with Ed, discussing how to proceed with changing her will. He’d had quite a bit of experience dealing with unorthodox relationship issues as of late in terms of setting up legal contracts that would protect everyone involved in a poly relationship.

She wasn’t sure if she would ever get married again. Now that gay marriage was legal, she really hoped Grant and Darryl could one day tie the knot once Darryl wasn’t paralyzed in limbo by worrying about his job or partial custody of Kyle.

But she damn sure didn’t want John’s parents or brother to ever be able to have the business. She’d shut it down, or sell it to someone else, before she’d ever let that happen.

“The point is, our son started this company. Not you. By rights, it should be ours. We were investors in it when he started.”

“Let’s see, John was in the process of opening this when we met and got married, so in reality I helped him start it. And yes, you were investors in it, but we paid you back. I have certified copies of the notes where you signed off on it, and the others signed off on theirs, if you want to see them.”

He jabbed a finger at her. “You have until noon today to hand those shares over to Jack.”

She scoffed at that. “He signed a notarized agreement and cashed the check. Uh, nooo.”

Marcus leaned in. “At noon, I have an appointment to stop by and talk to my old friend, Reverend John de Papio. You know who he is, don’t you? He’s the head of the Sarasota First Evangelical Christian Church of God, and its private academy.”

She forced herself not to react even though she inwardly blanched. “So? Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

Even though she and John hadn’t been churchgoers, the reverend had conducted John’s funeral at Marcus and Joanie’s request. Susie had been too grief-stricken at the time to argue about it, and John hadn’t left specific instructions other then he’d wanted to be cremated, leaving the details up to her.

He sneered as he whipped out his cell phone. “No, but it might mean something when I show him pictures of their head pianist and head of their music department for their school having sex with you in your pool. A woman who is also apparently involved with the man’s roommate.” He held out his phone.

Fucker. From the looks of it, the pictures had been taken a couple of weeks ago, at least, from the property behind the house. Actually, to get the angle he had and view over the areca palms around the lanai, it looked like he’d had to almost climb a tree or something. There were some of her and Darryl, and some of her and Grant. None of the three of them together, fortunately.

She channeled both Grant and John as she arched an eyebrow and glared up at Marcus. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

“Oh, you think you’re so smart, don’t you? I know you’ve been seeing him and that other guy. Bet they’d both be interested in finding out you’re seeing both of them, wouldn’t they? Especially since they’re friends and roommates?”

At that she had to fight back giggles.

She finally smiled. “I think it’s illegal to spy on people and take pictures of them in their home without their permission.”