“I’m glad you asked, Junior. Your mother and I thought long and hard about this,” I replied, sure to make eye contact with each of them. “First of all, technically nothing changes. Your mother and I are still the majority shareholders, but someone has to make decisions in our absence, and ultimately... we decided the person best suited for the job is Orlando.”
All eyes turned to Orlando, and as they studied him, I studied them. They had no idea what the future would bring, and neither did I, but I knew something wasn’t right, and that was why I was stepping down so that I could prepare.
Orlando
3
Every eye in the room was upon me the second my name slipped out of my father’s mouth. I scanned the room, looking each of my siblings in the eye as I tried my damnedest to hold back a smile. Yes, my father had chosen me to lead them, and I was sure there was going to be some resistance, but he had to choose me. It was the most obvious choice. Who else would he have chosen to lead us—Harris, Junior, or Rio? I don’t think so. I mean, Rio didn’t have a chance, and although Harris was smart and close to the old man, he still wasn’t blood, and everyone knew Junior didn’t want the responsibility. Besides, I’d worked my ass off for this business, for this family, so why wouldn’t they appoint me its new leader? I just wished Pop had told me ahead of time so that I could have come up with something inspirational to say.
No matter. I’d think of something when the time was right. I hadn’t even gotten a chance to let things sink in before my pain-in-the-ass little sister Paris stood up, pointing her finger at me and shouting with her usual lack of tact, killing the moment. “Daddy, why him? Why would you choose Orlando to be in charge?”
My father’s head swiveled in her direction. “You wanna know why? Because I said so, that’s why.”
Paris’s spoiled nature, along with the fact that she was my father’s unquestionable favorite, allowed her leeway in most situations, but the look in the old man’s eyes was all that was needed to remind her to sit down and not question him any further.
It was obvious to us all that he wanted to say more to my sister but held his tongue due to her guest, the politician’s kid. Why the hell would she bring someone she barely knew to a business function like this, anyway? All she was really doing was trying to seek brownie points with the old man. Maybe if she were more focused on business, like the rest of us, instead of partying and men, she’d have his attention the way she wanted it.
Foolishly, she mumbled something to my brother Rio, and my father looked even more pissed.
“What was that?” he snapped, his eyes shifting back and forth between Paris and Rio. “You two got something to say?”
Rio slumped back in his chair, but Paris boldly stood up again and said, “I’m sorry, Daddy, but I gotta say this. What about Vegas? How you gonna put Orlando in charge and pass by Vegas?”
Once again the room fell silent, and this time all eyes, including mine, were on LC. Heck, now that she’d mentioned it, I wished I had asked that question myself. Vegas was my older brother, between Junior and me. He’d been away for almost three years, but everyone in the family, including me, knew he’d been groomed to be the heir apparent since we were little. He was the only one in my family, other than the old man, I’d have no problem taking a backseat to.
Pop glanced knowingly at my mother, as if this had been the subject of many conversations between them. He sighed, then glanced at each one of us. “Your mother already spoke to Vegas about this, and he’s one hundred percent behind our decision to have Orlando run the business. As you all know, he’s got other things he’s taking care of right now.”
Yeah, but what’s going to happen when he comes back? I thought as I watched Paris take her seat. My little sister and I were going to have a long talk in the near future, because there were going to be some changes around here now that I would be in charge. Her spoiled behind wouldn’t like the changes one bit, but she was going to have to deal with it.