I Ran So Far Away - Complete

Chapter 59

The day was dragging. All I wanted to do was get to Escala and see my wife, but I had a shit-storm of crap to deal with at Grey House, first, starting with firing the fucker from my acquisitions team. There was more than enough evidence to go for damages, so as well as giving Martin his walking papers, legal would pursue a case against him.

"Ready to rock-and-roll, boss?" Ros asked, coming into my office after lunch with two cups of coffee. She placed one at the head of the meeting table before seating herself to the right – her customary spot.

"Looking forward to it," I growled, crossing the Italian marble floor to sit beside her. The relevant department head usually handled hiring and firing, but given Martin's seniority within acquisitions, and the fact he'd ripped me off, I was covering all my bases. Accordingly, I'd have Ros, Gurden from HR and two of our lawyers here. "It's your deal he fucked over – did you want to do the honors?"

Ros looked at me, lifting an eyebrow. "That's not like you?" she commented. "I thought you'd want to be the one to hand him his ass?"

I shrugged. "You can fire him, then I'll announce we're going for damages." My faithful COO grinned. Like me, she took Martin's actions personally – the least I could do was give her a role in terminating him. "Alright. Let's get the team up here," I said with a sigh. "Martin's due here in half an hour. We need to run through it before he gets here."

It all went as expected, from Martin's initial offended denial, through to his reluctant confession once presented with irrefutable proof of what he'd done. He walked out of my office a broken man. He'd lost his job, along with any chance of working in acquisitions again. No one would take a chance on an employee caught undermining their employer for personal gain. By the time he'd paid out damages, he'd be left with a reputation in tatters and next to nothing to show for his years of hard work.

"Why do you think he did it?" I asked Ros once everyone had left. Martin had been well paid for the work he did at GEH, so I doubted the primary motivation was cash.

"If I had to guess, I think he wanted to prove himself. Perhaps he resented taking orders from a guy half his age?" Ros replied.

I pondered what Ros said. She might have a point. Martin already had twenty years' experience when we took him on at GEH in our second year. We brought him in to do due diligence and like, but I never involved him in the more strategic aspects of acquisition. It must have been difficult for him to see his twenty-one-year-old boss broker deals the like of which he could only dream about.

"Who's up and coming in the team at the moment?" I asked Ros. Martin would leave a hole in acquisitions that would need to be filled, but it could also be a good chance to mentor some new talent.

"Milne is the logical one to step into Martin's role," she supplied immediately. I nodded, showing I agreed. "The new kid, Saul, has shown a lot of potential."

"How did we find him?" I asked. I'd noticed Saul's input at several meetings and agreed with Ros' assessment.

"He interned with us. Even there he was a real standout."

I reached over and pressed a button on the desk phone, connecting me to Andrea.

"Mr. Grey?" she greeted, professional as ever.

"Can you get me Saul..."

"Bettelheim," Ros supplied.

"Saul Bettelheim's employee file, please?"

"Right away, Mr. Grey."

"Also, what do I have on Thursday?"

Andrea rattled off my various appointments and meetings.