“Exactly. We all function as something else. I’m Gentry’s executive assistant and take a lot of a VP’s duties. You’re doing the job of CFO and finance and treasury VP. Mrs. Chan is in the same position, and what happens when our top engineers find other jobs that don’t require such long hours?”

“They’re paid for those hours.” I hated to be the dick that pointed it out, but Grams would do the same. She had. Several times.

“They are compensated well. No one can accuse King Oil of crappy wages or benefits.”

That topic had kept me up more nights than I could count. Job security. Compensation. I had cost enough employees their livelihood.

“But,” she continued, “I have wage and benefit package comparisons too. We’re not that much better. Ultimately, we can’t keep going like this, Aiden. Emilia needs to understand that a company isn’t any stronger than its employees and if they’re burning out at alarming rates, the business will burn out.”

What she said resonated more than it had in the past. I didn’t approve of how Grams presided over the board as if the other members didn’t have a say, how she maneuvered the votes to go how she wanted. But when it came to this topic, the topic of hiring another VP to work under me, I’d resisted. For good reason. And Grams had backed me up without saying as much.

I wasn’t a natural micromanager. I hadn’t wanted to be. Until I’d experienced the hell that was having the buck stop at me when the person under me, the vice president that Kendall had wanted to hire, had majorly fucked up.

So I didn’t push Grams when it came to the inner office. Between Dad’s relationship with Kendall and my brothers nearly ignoring the stipulations of the trust, she’d been pushed more than she had in her whole life.

“All right,” I said. “All we can do is approach her and lay out the data. Hope she sees the need.”

Kendall leveled her turquoise gaze on me. “I need your voice too, Aiden.”

Damn. Anxiety curled up my spine. I didn’t want to oversee anyone. That just gave me more information that I might miss. I wouldn’t suffer the repercussions. I was the boss’s kid. Wasn’t that what the headlines had said shortly after I started in this position?

“Let me know what you need.” It wasn’t exactly noncommittal. Grams might see reason and approve more positions, and that didn’t have to be anyone under me.

“I need numbers,” Kendall said. “How much would it cost to advertise for and hire qualified applicants, and for job retention. Emilia’s going to see the cost and that a handful of us are already getting it done. I’d like you to put a price on how much it would cost the company if we lost you, or Gentry.”

My brow furrowed. “We’re not going anywhere.”

“Not by choice.”

My eye twitched at her statement.