Chapter 66: I Want Some Brotherhood
Armando’s POV—Monday Morning
Finally! My turn and I’m eager to talk to Stephanie. I’ve outlined what I want to cover and I’m ready.
“Stephanie.”
She’s all smiles. “Good morning, Armando.” I get a hug, which is nice and surprising. “Do you think we need to check for bugs?”
I walk to the window and look out. The guys are on the patio and they wave, smiling. Mark’s disappeared again. Probably at the beach, wondering how to save his ass.
I shake my head and turn around. “I think we’d waste valuable time trying.”
Laughter. “OK. Anything you need to tell me that’s confidential?”
“Nah. What I’m going to cover they already know about.”
She sits and sighs. “The level of sexism in your office, right?”
“That’s just the start,” I reply. She attempts to raise an eyebrow and I shake my head. “Not quite, Steph. Anyway, yeah the level of sexism in my office is one problem but I have two more. One, I have a leak in my office and I can’t figure out where it is.”
She nods. “Are you certain you have a leak?”
“Fairly certain. We keep losing bodyguard contracts to competitors and I can’t make sense of it.”
She nods. “OK. Second problem.”
“This one is harder to explain.” She nods. “It’s . . . I . . .” I’m searching for a way to explain this. “I have assholes and arrogant fucks and no way to manage them.”
Both her eyebrows shoot up at this. “I don’t understand.”
I sigh. “I spend half my time in my office explaining shit. I say something, I get questions and comments. They want me to justify what I’m saying. I can’t get blind obedience out of them.” I exhale and sit back. “Example: when you and Hector showed up out the blue for that personal visit to Miami a few months back, remember?” She nods. “I hit the floor the next morning and I’m ambushed. They wanna know why you’re here. Is this the review? ‘This sneaking in shit is disrespectful’. My only comment? You’re here on personal business and you don’t have to give notice or explain. None of our business. But all day, all I hear is comments about it.”
She sighs and pulls her legs onto the couch.
“The petition with Mrs. Guzman, remember that?” She nods, frowning. “I spent valuable time trying to kill that bit of bullshit. Gave them all the reasons it was stupid and they still wanted to elevate it. Result? We lost our housekeeper. That’s what I’m talking about. That’s the stupid shit I have to put up with all the time.”
I lean back and blow out a breath. I can’t wait to hear what she thinks.
“Let’s start with your last problem. Why do you even feel the need to explain?”
I blink. What? She looks at me, head tilted. “I . . . I don’t know.”
“Don’t. Stop doing it. All you’re doing is giving them reasons to talk back. I don’t explain to you guys unless I want to, unless I feel an explanation is necessary. Leadership Core never explained to you, right?”
That’s certainly right.
“I’ve only seen Hal and Danny in action so far–well, Javier a little bit–but they don’t explain things to the men either. They give the order and that’s that. The only people they explain things to are their leadership team, and by that I mean the strategist and liaison. Ram and Manny filter info down. Adam and Chase filter info down. Usually it’s Ram and Adam because they’re the liaisons. Explaining things is not your job. It’s Thomas’s. It’s Diego’s. Quit doing their jobs.”
I lean back and look at her, wide eyed. Shit. That’s a simple answer. And a good one.
“The men need to follow chain of command. Leave it at that. Are Thomas and Diego questioning you like that?” I shake my head. “Then you don’t have a problem. There you go. Any questions?”
I sit back and consider everything she’s said. I can’t believe it. A simple fucking answer to a problem I’ve had forever. I shake my head. Damn. Danny’s right. She’s sharp. My office is fucked. I’m fucked.
She left for the kitchen while I was thinking and has returned with water. “I have a question for you,” she says, handing me a glass. I raise an eyebrow . “Do you feel in control of your office?”
I sit back and consider the question. Finally, I shake my head. “No.”
“Why not?”
“The same thing I just said. I’m constantly questioned, constantly interrogated about things going on. Miami is used to being in charge, wanting to know. The men are used to getting information.”
She shakes her head. “No, they’re used to wearing you down for information. Ryan’s shut down questions to his department, right?” I nod. “Do they treat Ranger like that when’s he’s there?” I shake my head. She smirks. “Do they treat Hector like that? Anyone in Leadership Core?” Again, I shake my head. “They have a shock coming because I won’t be answering questions either. Asking me questions will be useless. That’s the attitude you need to take.”
I consider what she’s said. She’s right. Upper management has clearly defined the parameters: Fuck you. Asking me questions is useless. I’m not here to answer them. I’m the only one doing something different. She’s the only wildcard left and they will try her.
I exhale. “They will try you the moment you hit the office. I don’t expect Miami to pass your review.”
“Why? You don’t even know what I’m looking for.”
“Doesn’t matter. The men will see it as their job to tell you how our office runs and your job to accept that and be done with it. I want the benefit of your review. I’m jealous of Danny and Javi because their offices are already reaping the benefits. I’m just not sure what will happen in Miami.”
She sits back and stares at me. Finally, she puts the legal pad down and stands up. She motions for me to follow her and we slip out the side door and walk toward the beach.
“I don’t want to be overheard. Level with me now. What do I need to know?”
“OK, I’d love to fire Antonio. He’s the biggest pain in my ass. I’d also like to fire Ignacio and Juan. It’s a gang of five in that office and they like to wait until I’m off guard to attack. Antonio is going to be your biggest problem.”
“Is he the one that submitted that ridiculous petition?”
I nod. “Ask Ella. I spent part of the staff meeting pointing out how stupid it was and they were still determined. I had to allow it up because SOPs state that all petitions from the men must be treated with respect and presented to their chosen audience if they can get 70% of the men to sign on.” I exhale and look at her. She looks stunned. “Exactly. So even though I knew it was stupid, I had to allow it up. That’s why Antonio had mat time with Lester, not me. He was the ringleader in the war against the housekeepers.”
“Huh?”
I smile. “Ella moved all the housekeepers from around RangeMan through Miami. Ella fed them a vegan menu”–she frowns then smirks–”Rose ruined all their favorite dishes and Susan made all of them correctly but never made more than eight servings. After she ruined pounds of chicken breasts, the men finally got the point. They started treating her right and they treated Lucia right.
All of the housekeepers refused to do laundry or anything like Maria used to and half of the men still don’t get the point. They’re succumbing now because they have to, but they still think that the other housekeepers are just having a hissy fit and they can’t wait for Maria to return. They don’t realize that if Ella’s little psyop is going like it should, the Maria we get back won’t be recognizable.”
We’ve stopped on the edge of the beach. I can see Danny in the distance and I wave. He nods and heads back toward the house. I look back at Stephanie and the look on her face prompts me to say everything I’ve been dying to say for years.
“I hate the men in Miami. I hate being in charge of them. It’s the reason why I didn’t want you to take Diego from me. Diego squashes that shit. The men know not to try him with petty bullshit, but when he’s not at my back, they’re on me. I can do my job as XO but not without a buffer. Thomas is doing a good job trying to be my buffer, but they’ve ganged up on both of us. I don’t know how Diego did it, what his secret was, but the men, they never took him stupid shit.”
I refuse to cry like Mark did but I have to take quick breaths to calm myself.
“I’m a man who believes in treating my employees like men, not children. Taking men to the mats is, in my opinion, the last resort, just like spanking a child.” Steph nods solemnly, her eyes big. “I don’t spank my daughters. I talk to them, rationally, on their level, to get them to understand why their actions are inappropriate. It works. I’ve spanked my eldest once Stephanie, just once.”
I clench my jaw and look out into the ocean. “The men? The men don’t respect respectful treatment. They understand and respect getting their asses handed to them. The past few months without Diego in place I’ve had to handle mat time and it’s been exhausting. I’m tired of handing out thrashings to grown ass men for stupid shit. The housekeepers fucked with their stomachs and they endured six weeks of it before they got the point and started treating the housekeeper with respect.”
Stephanie takes my hand and we stop for a moment. I’m still looking out at the sea because I know if I look at her, I might cry. I’ve fucking had it.
“When Ranger is in house, they back off completely. Having Ranger in house is always wonderful. I can show my best work as XO because Ranger always knows everything. They never question him. They leave me alone. It’s not all of them, just Antonio, Ignacio, Patrice, and Juan. Occasionally Pedro.
The sexism in that office disgusts me. I tried running a psyop years ago and it failed. It’s like being in a frat house there. Most of the men are single and the way they talk about women …” I shake my head and look at Steph. “Steph, I’m married to a wonderful woman. We just found out we’re having another child.”
Steph’s face splits in a massive grin and she hugs me. “Congratulations!”
I grin. “Thank you. I’m happy and excited but …” I feel my smile slipping away. “I’m the father of two little girls. My wife is having my baby. My sister and my mother live with me. I’m surrounded by strong, opinionated women all day and to hear the way the men speak about women just disgusts me. I can’t stand it. But I can’t give unlimited mat time for it. I need another way to handle it, another method of punishment. Something that makes the point.”
Steph’s nodding now. I wave at Hal, who waves back. I wonder if we’re going to be visited by every XO today. We walk along the beach, deep in thought. I see Mark in the distance. Yeah, he’s trying to figure out how to save himself. Finally, Steph stops and turns to me.
“OK, second problem. Why do you think you have a leak?”
“We keep losing bodyguard contracts to competitors and I can’t make sense of it.” She nods. “We’ll get a potential client into our offices to discuss a contract. We outline the option, go over the threats they’ve received, and we offer a really good contract. We follow up a day or two later and they’re no longer interested. They’ve already signed with someone else.”
“And you ask them why they decided against RangeMan?”
I nod. “Yeah. And the answer is always that they think they’ll be more comfortable with another provider.”
She frowns. “Are there any patterns to this? Is it consistent?”
“It’s picked up in the last few months. It’s starting to get a bit crucial.”
“Is this a reason for me to make my stop into Miami sooner rather than later?”
“Please. I can’t figure out what’s happening there. I just need to stop it before it reaches critical levels.”
“OK. Third.” She frowns. “What was number three?”
I think for a moment. “Well, it was the sexism, but we’ve covered that.”
We walk a little farther before she turns to me with a small smile. I nod and wave at Javier, who’s shown up to check on us.
“What do you want, Armando? What do you need?” I’m sure my mouth is gaping at this point, and she grins. “It’s what I asked Javier when he called while I was in Atlanta. He knew what he needed. He just needed help getting it. So what do you need?”
I see now why Javier is so loyal to her. I don’t think anyone in management has ever just asked me what I want. She has my loyalty too, from this moment.
“Anything?” She nods. “OK, I want Antonio gone. I want the gang of five gone. I want Diego back. I want to plug that damn leak. I want your review, open, honest, complete and as soon as possible.”
I take a moment to think. That question was unexpected and if she’s handing out miracles, I’m taking every single one I can get.
“I don’t want a housekeeper until the men get the idea that women need to be respected.”
“That’s . . . surprising.” She looks confused.
“Ella’s psyop worked on me too. I paid attention. I realize now how badly Maria was treated and I realize that I didn’t make her situation any better. I’ve had time to think about it and I talked to my wife and Lucia about it. Lucia is a distant cousin and she and my wife damn near ripped me a new one over what I told them.” She smiles. “I mean, I never thought about the fact that I had a grieving widow in my office and I never gave her the emotional support she needed.”
I stop in the sand and look back out at the ocean. When I think I’ve pulled myself back together I look at Steph. “Honestly, I’m ashamed of myself for never realizing how deeply Maria was still grieving her husband. She had a ‘once in a lifetime’ love and she missed him. She still misses him but I never realized it. I thought she was happy, or at least not grieving him as deeply as before. I never realized how bad it truly was and I’m angry at myself because only my death would keep me from loving my Mariela as deeply as I do. She feels the same for Armand, yet . . . ” I bite my lip and look at the ocean again. “I didn’t see it and I guess I never considered it.
Steph looks solemn. We walk quietly along the shore for a few minutes and Steph quietly presses a handkerchief into my hand. I smile and wipe the few tears that raced down my cheeks. Even thinking of my life without Mariela upsets me.
“The men don’t deserve a housekeeper, but they’ve got it into their heads that since they’ve trained Maria to be what they want, that’s how it should be. Having the infamous Ella Guzman in house was not the experience they thought it would be.” Steph grins and I chuckle. “We were expecting home-cooked meals, shiny floors, catering service. We got pulses, chickpea stews and kale chips.”
She laughs and I shake my head. None of the men want Ella back. Trenton is welcome to her. We continue to walk along the beach and I think. I smile as she picks up seashells and puts them in her pocket.
“What do I really want?” I stop and look at her. She nods, waiting. “I want to feel that it’s my office, like I’m in control there. I sometimes feel like I’m a placeholder for Ranger, just waiting for him to come back. What happens when he does move back, when he takes over the company from Miami? How will that affect my role? I need some clarity.”
“What happens if he never comes back, Armando?”
I stop dead in my tracks and stare at her. “He’s coming back. The plan—”
“Never assume anything about Ranger. What happens in Miami if Ranger doesn’t come back?”
I’m stunned. I’ve never considered that he wouldn’t come back. Everyone knows that’s home base for him. Everyone knows he’s coming back. Right?
One thing I’ve learned: Stephanie Plum has more information than we do. I need to consider this.
She nods and we resume walking. Finally she turns to me.
“Here’s the things I want you and Thomas to do until I get there. One: stop explaining. Give the order and be done with it, and I need you to start doing that the moment you return to Miami. Got it?”
I nod. I’ll do whatever she thinks is best.
“Two, I want you to spend some time with Hal.” I raise an eyebrow. “Hal has the most experience with what you’ve just said. At the moment, the CO works from his office, yet I know that everyone knows that Hal is in charge in Trenton. The Leadership Core was in house, yet everyone knew Hal was in charge. Ask his advice and his opinion on how to make it work, what you should do. Talk to Danny too. He’s in the same position you are. Someday, Bobby is supposed to move back to Atlanta. Ask him what he does, how he maintains authority in that office.”
She’s right. Hal and Danny are the perfect fucking resources.
“Three: Stop treating the SOPs like they’re a suggestion.” I stop and stare at her, bewildered. She grins. “Oh, I’ve heard. Believe me, I’ve heard. The SOPs are just that, standard operating procedures. Quit trying to go around them. Use them. When you enforce them, you can enforce whatever you want in that office and punish the men for being outside of them.”
We start walking in the opposite direction. Hal’s popped up, with Candy, and we wave.
“The one thing I learned in NYC is that men respond to clear orders and directions. Everything you’ve told me this morning leads me to believe that there’s confusion in the ranks.”
I stare at her but she looks at me calmly. I consider what she just said. Damn. We aren’t ready. I nod.
“When you go outside SOPs, the men are uncertain about whether or not SOPs should be followed. When you explain, you allow the men to question your orders, your leadership. You’d never question Ranger, would you?” I shake my head. “Exactly. Ranger doesn’t encourage the men to question him and he stares at anyone who’s bold enough to do it. If the men have questions, they ask him privately and they accept that he might not respond. They’d never question him openly and that’s what the men do to you.” She grins. “Matter of fact, the only person I ever knew to question Ranger’s orders was Hal and he was very very careful about the way he did it. Again, talk to him about it.”
We keep walking and I think about everything she’s said. I’m betting that’s exactly how Diego put questions down. He simply didn’t respond and they learned not to bother to ask him. When I allow them to question me openly, the men feel they run the show. I feel the first rays of hope in my heart. A simple answer for a problem that’s been plaguing me.
She stops and turns to me, smiling. “You have good lieutenants. I’m sure you already knew that.” I smile. Thomas and Diego are priceless. “They told me about Antonio. They told me about the Miami office. I wanted to know what you thought before I did anything because that’s still your office. Your domain. They begged me to help you because they are concerned about you. The problem I see is that, in trying to help you, they’ve also taken your position.”
Her face is serious. “Armando, you’ll need to put them back in their place too. I want you to think about the ways in which Diego is acting as an XO in your office. Think about the ways in which Thomas is acting as more than the liaison and ask yourself ‘Does this enhance my position? Or are they doing my job?'”
I’m sure I’m white. I’ve never considered that they could also be usurping my power.
“Ask yourself: If I were out of the office for an extended period of time, would I even need to return? If the answer is no, then you have a problem. The boss should always be needed.”
I nod. I don’t need to think too hard on that question. She’s convinced me. I’ll need to put my Core in check too. Shit! I didn’t realize it was so bad in that office.
We start walking and I’m thinking about exactly how bad home office is. Between my loss of authority, my Core Team’s ‘help’, and the rampant sexism, home office is hell. How did I let it get so bad? It was never like this before . . .
I stop and stiffen my back. Antonio. I didn’t want to face it and I didn’t want to accept it, but my problems started right after I hired his ass. Slowly but surely, I’ve lost face in my office. Everyone’s been telling me to fire him. I should have done it. I’m in this position now due to my inaction.
Steph has stopped in front of me. I look down and she’s taken my hands. “You’ve barely been here three days and I can already see a change in you. You’re relaxing. You’re letting some stress go and that’s good. This is what I wanted for you, so I want you to take some time and think about what I’ve said and remember: What if Ranger doesn’t return to Miami? Let that guide your decisions.”
She’s right. There’s a subtle power struggle in my office, one I’ve been ignoring, hoping it would just go away. On one side there’s me, the man with the title. On the other, there’s Antonio, Ignacio, Juan, Patrice, and occasionally Pedro. Diego runs interference because they all report to him, but with him in NYC helping Javier, it was open season on me and they took it.
I see now what to do. I’m ready. I need to talk to Hal and Danny. I look down at Steph, who’s smiling.
“You look like you’ve made some decisions already.”
I grin. “I have. This has been great.”
“My job, as I explained it to Javier weeks ago, is not to tell you what to do if I don’t have to. It’s to help you weed through your choices.” I nod. “I think for you, it was a matter of saying what you already knew.” I grin and she extends a hand, smiling. “Welcome to Denial Land. Current population, two. How would you like to redeem your frequent visitor points?”
I collapse to the sand and laugh. Hilarious. She plops down next to me and we lean against each other, chuckling. Finally, she looks over at me.
“Feel better?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. I’m feeling like a snack.”
I stand and pull her up. We head back toward the house. I have a lot to think about.
Steph’s POV
OK, so intel on Armando is correct: he was overrun. He allowed his office to control him and he couldn’t figure out how it happened. And I find that the more that I learn about Armando, the more I like him. When he said that he believed in treating the men like men, instead of like children, I agreed. Taking men to the mats should be a last resort. Hal treats it like a last resort. You get mat time with Hal when you’ve pissed him off. Otherwise? Monitor duty.
Then again, the men know what mat time with Hal is going to consist of. Pain and lots of it. I’m betting Thomas and Diego handled mat time for Armando in Miami, so the men didn’t get a sense of what pissing off the XO would mean. I’m betting some attitudes in that office are already changing because Armando had to handle discipline on his own. I need to call Ella and get a real understanding of exactly what the housekeepers did to the Miami men. I get the feeling I’ll need to adapt some of those procedures and reuse them.
I can’t wait to meet Antonio. I find it interesting that Mando never once said that Antonio is his cousin. Is that a positive or a negative? Still trying to protect his cousin? Or doesn’t want me to consider that in any decisions?
Yeah, I think my plan for Armando will work. I need to get it cleared but it’s perfect for him. It will help me, him, and Diego all at once.
Danny’s already started prepping lunch. I’m learning that men will cook if it involves open flames. Javier looks up from the counter and grins.
“Hey Boss! It would help if you remember to take your phone with you.” I look at him and he chuckles. “We got a not-so-happy call from the CIO that your personal trackers were headed in one direction but your phone was in another.”
Sigh. I have to remember the freakin’ phone. Otherwise, Hector will drive here to attach it to me permanently.
Danny grins. “We told him you were in the company of one XO, another XO was on the beach within a one minute sprint distance of you, and the rest of us were popping up randomly to ensure you were still alive. He’s still grumbly but I think he accepted that.”
Good. I don’t want to spend all my time fighting with Hector about my trackers. I’ll call him tonight and apologize.
Mark, Hal and Candy all return for lunch and I tell the XOs I want to speak to them, very quickly, after lunch. Candy sets up a towel to sunbathe in the backyard and I decide to join her. Hal is a lucky man; Candy is reminding me of Kate Upton, looks-wise, and she’s really nice. I like having her around and I’m glad she accepted the invitation to stay here the rest of the week. It’s nice not being the only woman around. I told the men I need another woman around and I have HR related questions for her. None of them are grumbling about it but I don’t want them to think I’m showing Hal favoritism. It’s just my luck that his girlfriend has skills I can use.
I think they’re accepting it because my first questions for her involved reducing their workload.
After lunch we meet in the sunroom. Each of the men has his folder and pen, ready to take notes. I look at each of them and consider what I want to say.
“The reason why I asked each group to join me at the beach was because I thought we all needed this.” The men shift, getting comfortable, and nod. “No one shares information in this company. Each branch looks at the others like outside competitors. It’s good to have competition within the company, but you guys are vicious.”
I see a lot of embarrassed faces right now.
“I’m not blaming you for this. Not really. I’m aware that there are other factors at work, but I’ve learned a lot in my five months in charge. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that when I force all of you to work together, you’re ten times more brilliant. I saw that in NYC.” I smile and look at Javi, who looks startled.
“Remember that jam session in Jorge’s office right after he was hired? Jorge, Manny, you, and Diego all bouncing ideas off each other? Lester and I thought it was brilliant, and Les was tempted to order Chase and Pat to join us there that day because it was just so much fun. He joined us here for the strategists’ week. He couldn’t help himself and the guys have enough ideas to keep us moving forward for at least 5-10 years in his opinion.”
The guys smile. They see where I’m going now.
“I want to encourage more of that within the company. At least within the top leadership. You guys should call on each other first when you have problems or need advice. I see it in bits and pieces, between Hal and Danny, Armando and Mark, Danny and Javi, but I want all of you to consider your skills and abilities and work with each other. Danny is brilliant with finances.” Danny smiles, both dimples showing. “I keep wondering if some of that stuff is illegal”–the men chuckle–”but Ryan keeps saying it’s fine and legal.”
“Hal is definitely a processes man. Give him a start and finish and he maps the in-between. Hello! Ridiculous level of security here.” Hal grins and the men laugh.
“Javi is definitely a critical thinker. Give him an idea, show him the numbers, and he will pick it apart. Sometimes he picks it to smithereens”–I shrug and the men laugh again–”but you know he’s fully examined the idea before he OKs it.”
I turn to Armando and Mark. “I haven’t been to your offices yet to see your strengths and I can’t wait. Everyone at this table has something to add, something your fellow XOs can use. Start calling on each other. When you have problems, get together as a group to solve them instead of calling one XO or another. Believe me, between all of you, you solve the problem faster and better.”
I stand and walk outside to join Candy. I need to think about how I’m going to combat Miami now. If the XO can’t stand his men, then probably the CO is going to be tempted to fire them all.
Mark’s POV
I’m looking at my fellow XOs. Danny, Javi and Hal are still smiling over Steph’s comments about them. I already know what she thinks about me. Armando is the only man whose skills she hasn’t seen.
“You know, as much as I give Steph credit for what she said about your process skills, I don’t think that’s your best skill,” Danny says to Hal, who raises an eyebrow. “Nah, your best skill is people management. Your men are loyal. Ram and Manny are clear that they admire and respect you and a few months ago, you guys were all equals. It’s clear you’re in charge of your office and your men don’t leak.”
Javi nods. “Yeah, dude. If she’d asked me for your best skill, I probably would have said that too.”
Hal blushes. “Thanks.” He shakes his head and grins. “I’m always surprised by Steph. She doesn’t realize that’s her best skill.”
“Explain,” Armando says, leaning forward.
Hal laughs. “Steph’s friends? Let’s see. Former hooker. Stay at home mom. Mob princess. The world’s ugliest cross-dresser. A fence with goods no one wants to buy and a permanent adolescent who stays high. A dwarf with no social skills and an elderly woman who hasn’t seen soap since Reagan was president. RangeMen, including Ranger himself, and a bunch of cops, although we don’t count them in the Trenton office. Anyone who’d bet on her life is not a friend, but she counts them.” Hal shakes his head. “Ram has a more comprehensive list. Now, name one person you know that can corral those different types of people together.”
I see his point and smile. I look at Armando, who’s frowning. “Your best skill is your patience and your willingness to work with anyone.” He looks at me, confused. “Anyone willing to put up with the overly opinionated macho attitudes of the Miami office has the patience of a saint.”
He smirks. “Says the man who used to be a member of that office.”
We all laugh and I take a moment to look at Armando. It’s clear that his talk with the CO has left him with things to think about. I’m fighting the urge to ask, so I’m surprised when Armando speaks.
“Mark’s best skill is calm, cool assessment.” I look over, startled. “No matter what, he approaches problems methodically. His ability to break a problem or situation down has kept me out of trouble many times. He doesn’t make assumptions.”
Danny, Javi, and Hal all raise an eyebrow and I can hear them thinking except where the CO is concerned. I nod. This might be my best opportunity.
“Except where the CO is concerned.” Everyone looks at me and I look at my fingers, then at each man. I let my gaze settle on Hal. “I recognize that I allowed personal . . . considerations to outweigh a more professional approach to the CO. I was wrong for that. She didn’t deserve that and I’m sorry I’ve treated her the way I have over the past five months.”
I get the feeling that if I can get Hal on my side, Javi and Danny will follow, so I stare Hal directly in his eyes. He doesn’t flinch.
“I’m committed to working with her, moving forward. I don’t want her to withhold opportunities from my men just because she hates me. I’m determined to improve her opinion of me, if not for me, at least so my men don’t suffer from the fact that their boss has been an ass. I’m asking that you give me a chance to show that I can change.”
“Why?” Hal asks, leaning forward.
I slump back. I can’t think of what I need to say fast enough and Hal’s nostrils flare. I see Mando reach out a hand in a placating manner, as if to say ‘give him a minute’. Patience and mercy. The man has it in spades.
“I’m not going to feed you some bullshit. You asked me not to and I wouldn’t anyway. Not with my life on the line. I can’t think of a single thing to say to you to convince you that I’m sincere in working with her except to say that I’ve never broken my word once I’ve given it.”
Hal sits back, cold eyed. The room is silent.
Thank god for Candy.
“Hal?” We look over and she blushes. “Your phone is ringing. Your mother.” Hal leaves.
Danny looks at me. “Good start. And yeah, you’re right. You need to win over Hal on this one.”
The guys stand up and, again, they leave me to my thoughts.
