Page 2 of Sex, Blood, and Real Estate

"If not, use a little of your mojo, and they'll come around," Taylor said with a wink.

"I'll give them a little more time, but if things sour, then yes, I will use my mojo." He laughed.

"Nothing wrong with a little persuasion," Emmanuel stated, pulling Taylor in for another kiss, and Sam decided it was time for him to go.

The meeting went off as expected; Grey took the offer and adjusted the cost and the timelines, both of which Sam was adamantly opposed to. They went back and forth for a while with Grey's assistant, Griffen Humbolt, attempting to work out a deal adjusting the timelines but not touching the payments and fees.

In the end, they were closer to an agreement, but they were not yet there. Marc recorded the meeting and deftly provided Sam with the facts and figures required.

“Let us study these figures and have our legal teams review our options.” Holden Grey stated and stood up. Sam could feel the man’s frustration and seemed to be blaming his assistant for not getting the job done. Griffen started the meeting with a sense of belief and a certainty that he would reach an agreement, and Sam was hopeful that he was correct. But Holden Grey was not bending on the items that mattered so negotiations naturally stalled.

"Marc will show you out." Sam stood and left the room through a back entrance that led to his office. The costs they would incur over and above the price of the property were not acceptable. Sam decided to give it time and wait for Grey's next move. He walked over to his window and looked out at the building and property in question. It would complete the Cabot business compound, and he would have it one way or another.

"They have left the building." Marc stepped in and announced, and Sam turned away from the window. "I was surprised that Grey did not allow his man more latitude in making deals. No matter what the guy suggested, Grey shook his head."

"He's dragging his feet and testing to see how desperate I am for the property. It was a ploy and nothing more than a complete waste of my time."

CHAPTER TWO

Wyatt was told five minutes before leaving that he was not accompanying them to the meeting with Cabot. He should have been prepared to be cut, but for some reason, he thought his father was being genuine this time. He says yes just to get him to go away and stop bothering him and then cuts him out with no time to argue.

“You should have been there Wyatt.” Griffen told him. “Samuel Cabot is what you would call, drop dead gorgeous, and I believe that’s the reason your dad kept you out of negotiations. He didn’t want you sitting there drooling over the guy and embarrassing us.” He laughed and a few others in the vicinity joined but Griffen’s jokes were getting less funny by the day.

“Did you get a deal?” Wyatt asked the one thing that Griffen would not want to talk about.

"Cabot is on the ropes, and he knows it. He wants that property and will meet our demands." Griffen tried to puff out his chest, but Wyatt knew it ended like the other three meetings, with his father refusing to accept anything less and Cabot refusing to accept anything more. Griffen could try to color it any way that he wished, but in the end, there was no deal, and that was the fact of the matter.

“Father is impressed with Rowan’s work and is contemplating letting him join the negotiations. I think Rowan would add a fresh perspective don’t you.” He got in a jab at Griffen’s ego.

"Mr. Grey would never trust such sensitive work to someone like Rowan. Like you, he has no experience and little talent." Griffen went in for an attack.

"He's shown great promise with the work he did on the conflict with the church and the parks department. He got everything father asked for out of that deal, and he called the man a genius." Wyatt wasn't certain what took place with that job, but he was having fun goading Griffen.

Griffen was about to mount a comeback which he probably thought was funny but was cut off when his secretary handed him a message. He looked at it, smiled and handed it to Wyatt. “This grunt work is more your forte.” He said with a sneer. “Do it right and maybe daddy will let you serve coffee and donuts at the next meeting.” He laughed as he walked away.

“Yeah, he was definitely going to find a new job.” He looked down at the message it was from Marc Wellman personal assistant to Samuel Cabot, and they were asking for a complete copy of the inspection and appraisal completed two years ago when the property had first gone up for sale.

Some of the information was there in their records but there were permits and such that were filed with the city and was too late to get that information from city hall. He would go in the morning and drop it off at the Cabot offices. It wasn’t difficult, just time consuming and effectively lowered him to the status of messenger.

He closed his cubicle for the night and left. His plan was to job search, and hopefully, he could find something soon before he lost it on Griffen and his father. He had a few contacts from school, and he was going to use them. He headed home to his place downtown.

He lived alone and spent as little time as possible at his father's estate in the country. He was locked into parties and Sunday brunch once a month; otherwise, he never went near the place. It was a cold atmosphere with just his father and stepmother living there with a few staff.

The house was huge and cavernous and cold, damn cold. He moved out right after he graduated high school, and his father seemed to be glad that he did. They weren't close or supportive, but they were family, and as long as you didn’t need anything, life was okay.

Sam had dinner alone in his apartment at the Chateau. He needed time to think and decide his next move with Holden Grey. The man wanted an exorbitant amount of money and time to hand over the building and property and it did not work with Sam's timeline to start construction in the summer. Things take time and if Grey continued to be difficult then the prospect of a glamour was becoming real.

His uncle really didn't like tampering with a human's free will, especially in a business setting, but his options were running out. The legal department requested more documentation regarding the upgrades claimed in the recent offer, which might tilt power in their direction if the claims could not be verified.

They could easily pay any price that Grey requested, but Sam would not be used and made a fool of by a greedy profiteer. He walked out onto his balcony and looked out over the vast fields, drinking in the fresh night air and clearing his head. As the night refreshed him, he came to the decision that the negotiations had gone on long enough, and it was time to end things.

"Uncle, I'd like to meet and discuss the Grey purchase." Emmanuel would know that Sam was coming to get permission to push the business to completion. That's what late-night discussions were for.

"I'm in the south cellar; I'll wait for you." He answered without question.

"Thank you." He closed the call and headed for the south cellar. The south wine cellar held the Master's private collection, and he often went down there to turn bottles, taste test, and brainstorm new ideas. He was sitting at one of the long tables with two glasses of wine when Sam entered.

"Sit and have a taste of our finest." He said, and Sam did just that.

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