Chapter 46: A Place of His Own

By Monday morning, Andrei had three separate problems waiting on his desk.

Dominic.

Sebastian Group.

And what remained of the Vance-Sebastian alliance.

He dealt with them in that order only because Dominic arrived first.

His half-brother walked into the office without knocking.

"You told the Board."

Andrei continued reading.

"Told the Board what?"

That made him look up.

Dominic closed the door behind him.

"About what happened."

"No."

Dominic hesitated.

"You didn’t?"

"Alexander asked that it remain private."

"And you listened to him?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Andrei stared at his brother.

"Because not every piece of information has to become ammunition."

The words landed exactly where he’d intended.

Dominic’s jaw tightened.

"So what happens now?"

"Regarding the incident? You follow whatever recommendations the professionals who assessed you gave."

"I’m not insane."

"I didn’t say you were."

"Then don’t treat me like I am."

"I’m treating what you did seriously."

Dominic looked away.

Andrei’s voice softened slightly.

"If any part of that crisis was genuine, get help for it. If it wasn’t, then you need to understand why you thought frightening someone into coming back was acceptable."

Silence.

"And the company?" Dominic eventually asked.

"That’s separate."

Andrei slid a folder across the desk.

"You’re under suspension, and your lawyer is already negotiating on your behalf.

"I acted in good faith."

"Which is precisely why I won’t interfere."

Dominic gave a humorless laugh.

"Convenient."

"What is?"

"You get the company while I get investigated."

Andrei leaned back.

"There it is."

"What?"

"The part where you decide this must’ve been my plan."

"Wasn’t it?"

"No."

"But you benefit."

"Yes."

Dominic clearly hadn’t expected the admission.

Andrei continued before he could respond.

"If the Board removes you permanently and appoints me, I benefit. Pretending otherwise would be dishonest."

"At least you admit it."

"I also know benefiting from your mistakes doesn’t mean I caused them."

Dominic said nothing.

"I won’t recommend your resignation because I want your chair. I’ll recommend whatever I believe gives Sebastian Group the best chance of recovering."

"And what do you believe?"

Andrei regarded him steadily.

"That voluntarily resigning from your remaining executive positions would be better than forcing the Board to remove you."

Dominic’s expression hardened.

"So you do want me gone."

"I want the company to stop paying for your personal decisions."

"I’m still a Sebastian."

"So am I."

Andrei hadn’t said it as a challenge.

Maybe that’s why it sounded like one.

The room went quiet.

Unlike Dominic, Andrei hadn’t been born carrying the Sebastian name. Conrad hadn’t even known he existed. But once the truth came out and the DNA test confirmed their relationship, their father had formally acknowledged his eldest son.

That hadn’t automatically given Andrei a place inside Sebastian Group.

He’d still had to earn one.

"Our surname isn’t an executive qualification," Andrei continued. "If you want to come back someday, rebuild the Board’s trust and prove you can separate your personal life from the company."

"And if they make you permanent CEO?"

"Then I’ll do the job."

Dominic laughed bitterly.

"Just like that?"

"No."

Andrei glanced at the mountain of reports waiting on his desk.

"Apparently, it involves considerably more paperwork than that."

Dominic didn’t laugh.

Andrei hadn’t expected him to.

He simply took the folder and left.

Only after the door closed did Andrei return to the second problem waiting for him.

Sebastian Group itself.

That problem, ironically enough, had become easier to handle now that Dominic was no longer making decisions for it.

That afternoon, Andrei’s legal director entered carrying the latest report.

"The Westbridge transition is formally closed."

Andrei looked up.

"Everything?"

"On our end, yes. Vance Legal approved the final reconciliation this morning."

No punitive terms were hidden between pages. No attempts to squeeze Sebastian Group simply because its former CEO had given Vance Holdings every personal reason to do so.

Alexander was getting his company out.

Nothing more.

Nothing less.

Andrei found himself respecting that considerably more than he would’ve respected some grand display of generosity.

His phone rang.

The name on the screen made him pause.

Alexander Vance.

Andrei answered.

"Vance."

"Sebastian."

Apparently, they’d reached the stage where surnames functioned perfectly well as greetings.

"I received confirmation that Westbridge is officially closed on your end," Alexander said.

"So did I. Mercer already took over operations, so there wasn’t much left to settle."

"There were still accounts and contractual releases."

"Which our Legal departments apparently managed without starting a war."

There was the briefest pause.

"A remarkable achievement."

The dryness in Alexander’s voice almost made Andrei smile.

"How are the remaining projects looking on your end?"

"Three are essentially settled. My team expects another two weeks for the last two."

"Mine said the same."

"Then we’re finally agreeing on something."

"I wouldn’t go that far."

That time, Andrei did smile.

The humor disappeared almost as quickly as it came.

"Alexander."

"Yes?"

"About the incident with my brother."

A brief pause followed.

"There’s nothing to discuss."

"I know. I simply wanted to thank you."

"You don’t need to."

"I think I do."

Andrei turned toward the windows.

"You could’ve handled that very differently."

"But I didn’t."

"No."

And that was precisely the point.

Alexander could’ve turned what Dominic had done into another public scandal. After everything that had happened, few people would’ve blamed him.

Instead, he’d made certain Dominic was safe, placed the situation in the hands of his family and the appropriate professionals, and asked that the entire incident remain private.

"For whatever it’s worth," Andrei said, "I’m sorry about what happened between you and Dominic."

Alexander didn’t answer immediately.

"You don’t owe me an apology for your brother."

"I know."

That wasn’t why he’d said it.

Apparently, Alexander understood.

The conversation eventually returned to business.

Transition dates.

Project schedules.

Outstanding obligations.

Nothing particularly interesting to anyone outside their respective companies.

And yet, when the call ended, Andrei realized something had quietly changed.

The first time he’d walked into Alexander’s office, he’d gone there as Dominic Sebastian’s replacement.

The next time they met, he doubted either of them would be thinking about Dominic at all.

A knock interrupted the thought.

His executive assistant entered.

"The Chairman wants to see you."

Andrei glanced at the clock.

"Did he say why?"

"No, sir. Only that he’d like you upstairs immediately."

That was unusual.

Andrei closed the Westbridge folder.

"Anything else?"

His assistant hesitated.

"Most of the Board is already there."

Andrei’s hand stopped.

The Board wasn’t scheduled to meet today.

"Most?"

"Everyone I saw, sir."

Interesting.

He stood, buttoned his jacket, and headed upstairs.

No one stopped him outside the conference room.

Andrei opened the door.

Dominic wasn’t there.

Every other seat was occupied.

The Chairman gestured toward the empty chair at the opposite end of the table.

"Andrei."

He waited until Andrei sat down.

Then he pushed a folder across the polished surface.

There was only one page inside.

And one line had already been highlighted.

APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Andrei looked up.

The Chairman folded his hands.

"We believe it’s time to remove the word interim."