Page 33 of The Billionaire Babe

“I’ll let you get back to world domination,” I say, unable to stop the corners of my mouth rising.

“I’ll let you get back to being all sweaty and macho.” She giggles before the line goes dead, and I throw my cell back into my bag.

“Yeah, I knew there was something else about her…” I turn quickly in surprise and see Brady standing right at my back with a grin. He obviously overhead my entire conversation.

“Don’t start,” I warn him.

“What, that you invited girls to our traditional pool night?” he teases but does so from a small distance so I can’t throw my fist in his face.

“Shut it.”

“You’ve got it bad, AJ.” I take a step forward, and my fist connects with his cheek lightly. He stumbles back and folds himself in half, laughing like he has heard the best joke ever.

“My boy is in loveeee,” he says between chuckles, and I jump on him, wrestling him to the mats, where we roll around on the floor and rumble together like kids. It is the most fun I have had in a long time.

17

VALERIE

I look at the reports in front of me, wondering if I can make sense of them all. I have immersed myself in work these past days, so much so, the numbers I am looking at are all starting to merge. I have read every report, every strategy, and have had meetings with key people across finance, marketing, and sales to ensure I am well-versed. I have reviewed our HR policies, seen the reports from our employee hotline, did a pulse check on our team's mental and physical health, tried to gauge the culture, what it is like, what we can improve. I have even spent more time with our team who run the Van Cleef Foundation, a department that my mother started and one I have worked with a lot. I have tasked them with looking at more grassroots charities and ways we can help the local community, particularly kids. After the incident with Levi, I know that is an issue the city has, and if Van Cleef can put some money together to help, then that is what I want to do.

But regardless of how much work I am doing, my mind still wanders to AJ. His body, his strong hands, the way we rode his bike together. His protective nature, his dislike of accepting my help, the way he kissed me. Actually, mostly the way he kissed me. I have never been kissed like that. Ever. With so much possessive want, the tight grip he had on my face like he couldn’t let me go for a second.

It's been a few days since that night. I made calls the next morning and managed to get Levi off with a fine and a final warning. If he breaks the law again, he will be looking at jail time. I was surprised to get the text from AJ, and I wasn’t sure how the call would go when I rang him, but he invited me for another date. I can’t say I have heard of Jordie’s before, but I have talked the girls into coming with me tonight, and I desperately want to see him again. Now as I sit here with George, discussing the business and my situation, my confidence rises as does my confusion and anger.

“So George, you’re telling me that my father is trying to secure the entire foothold of this region of Montana?” I ask, wide-eyed. I have been looking at the map on my screen for mere minutes, but I can already see that something isn’t right. Who needs that much land in Montana?

“That’s what he wants…” George says hesitantly.

“But if he does this, he will effectively be pushing people out of their homes, to what? Build a resort? Construct some office and retail spaces?” I look at him like this is ludicrous, because it makes no sense. George has worked for Van Cleef Corp for years and was my mother’s right-hand man. He and my father don’t see eye to eye, but my mother made the instructions clear when she passed. George was to stay on, no matter what, and for that, I am glad. He is my closest confidant in the business.

“He doesn’t care. He wants to buy the property and build.” George nods in confirmation.

“But that makes no sense. Sure, we build properties all the time, but we have never gone into a new region with the idea to flatten homes, take over an entire portion of a neighborhood, and kick people out. What is he even thinking?” I almost shriek. This makes me really unsettled. “My mother wouldn’t have wanted this.”

“She always said we build for the success of everyone,” George states.

“She did, didn’t she?” I murmur, her words now coming back to me. Van Cleef Corp has been highly successful over the years. That’s not to say that we haven’t made some questionable decisions, but for the most part, we have been successful in building our wealth and that of others where we can.

“Your father doesn’t care. He wants to own that parcel of land,” George confirms.

“But we have Tennessee to focus on?” I question. While we run multiple projects at a time, buying businesses, merging them, building new ones, focusing on a new hotel build in Tennessee while also managing something nearly identical in Montana doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

“Tennessee is good, but your father can’t get a collaborator and he is chasing the dollars.”

“I understand that. But we have run the numbers. Tennessee will be fantastic for us. It will increase employment, provide much-needed infrastructure, and we are using all local builders and suppliers. Not to mention, it is right near Whispers. We both know how that town has grown to become a billionaire hotspot. But this?” I taper off, not seeing any additional benefit aside from our bottom line. It feels icky.

“We need a partner in Tennessee to make it marketable, though,” George says, looking at me.

“I’ve got us one.” I know I can trust George. He hates my father.

“Who?” he fires back. He might be close to seventy in age, but he is quick as a fox.

“Well, maybe two, actually…” I tease, my smile small but there. “Whiteman’s and the Rothschilds.” His eyebrows shoot to his hairline.

“Well, shit. Your father tried to get Whiteman’s and they wouldn’t take his call. But the Rothschilds?” he says, leaning back in his office chair, not looking convinced.

“I had a meeting with the Rothschild boys. It’s early days, just starting conversations, but they are keen to reinvest in more local projects now that Harrison is president. While their overseas expansion into Singapore has been fantastic for them, they now need to refocus domestically and they would like to collaborate, to again show the people they are investing in America. They want in on our Tennessee project and anywhere else we might have our sights on,” I say, my mind racing with the possibilities.

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