Page 514 of Savage Bosses

Shrugging, she says, “I knew it.”

“Knew what?”

“When you first told me about you two, I knew you still had it bad for him. It was in your eyes, voice, and smile. Whenever you talk about work now, you only complain about him and say nothing about anyone else.”

“Does Bray know?”

She shakes her head. “Girl, no. You heard that saying, ‘Don’t shoot the messenger?’ I don’t plan on taking any chances. You know how your brother is about you with his friends. Hell, you just heard him at the table.”

“Yeah, feels he has to stand in Dad’s place since he’s all the way in Charleston.”

“It’s your life. Brayden might be upset, but you and Ro must decide what you want from each other. If you decide to be together, don’t let anything stand in your way. Bray will get over it in time. Just prepare for the initial fallout and decide if it’s worth it.”

Sighing, I agree. “You’re right.”

We return to our dinner and enjoy the rest of the night despite the gloomy air that clings to me.

CHAPTER 7

Ambrose

“T

hank you for meeting with us today, Mr. Charles,” Andre Baxter says, looking at me over his wireless glasses. “I understand that there’s been a change in the guard, and you have a lot going on in your transition. It means a lot to us that you’d honor the meeting in light of Mr. Cape’s passing. Please accept our condolences.”

I nod and glance at the company’s attorney, Rick Ward, sitting to my right and then back to the attorney sitting across from us. “We understand you wanted to contract Top Tier to handle the construction of a new resort here in Ocean Falls. Am I correct in my understanding, Mr. Baxter?”

My cousins, Marco and Alessandro DeLuca, sit across the table from me with their attorney, Andre Baxter, and Greyson and Mitch Black sit to my left with their attorney, Dave Wolf. Beside Rick is my brother, Austin.

“That is correct. The DeLucas and the Blacks have been in business discussions for the last year about a project they want to undertake. They’ve met with various contractors but settled on the fact they all want to do business with Top Tier.

“What these gentlemen are proposing is to bring a resort hotel here to Ocean Falls similar to the resorts that the Blacks own in other cities around the world. However, this would be an adult-only resort that include a casino and a gentlemen’s club.”

“What type of offerings will this resort provide?” Rick asks.

“It will be an all-inclusive, adults-only casino resort,” Mitch says. “The adults-only isn’t singularly focused on the casino, but also the fact that we’ll host special events designed for singles to meet potential partners. The other side of the resort specializes in romantic couples’ getaways. Of course, we’ll have the casino, on-site restaurants, bars, spas, saunas, scuba diving, snorkeling, shopping, golfing, and other amenities.”

“Based on the specifications you provided in the original conference call, we have had our lead architect, Austin, draw up a few designs,” Rick says.

“Yes, he’s sent those to us via email. We’ve narrowed those down to one design,” Alessandro replies.

“I have met with the local council, and I’ve been assured that we shouldn’t have any problems procuring the permits that we need to begin design,” Marco says with a wicked gleam in his eye.

I’m sure that meeting included bribes and maybe a few threats if necessary.

“That and we’ve purchased the land,” Dave Wolf says, leaning forward on his elbows as he clasps his hands. Looking around the table, he asks, “Gentlemen, is there anything stopping us from moving forward on this agreement besides negotiating costs?”

Rick looks from me to Austin and then back to me again. “Gentlemen, I’m sure you know it has always been Top Tier’s policy to conduct business negotiations with reputable businesses. Businesses like the Black Hospitality Group are among the companies we prefer to conduct business with. I um…”

Rick clears his throat, and I bite back a smile as I look at my cousins across the table. Their dark eyes hold no warning of the hell they could create for our attorney’s life. I feel the tension emanating from Rick as he chooses his words carefully.

“I believe the board will challenge the legitimacy of conducting business with an unknown group, which might create funding issues, produce time constraints, and pose potential risks—”

“The only risk that I see is not doing business with us. I don’t play fucking games. When I see an opportunity for growth and—”

“Marco,” Mr. Baxter warns, touching Marco’s shoulder. He takes over the conversation while my cousin controls his temper. “We could easily bring in another construction company to handle a project of this magnitude, Mr. Ward. A company that would be eager to grow in this area, stake its claim, and build its reputation on a project like this one. It would be easy for them to redirect your clients and business to themselves by offering predatory pricing. I don’t think your company would look too kindly on missing out on an opportunity like this one when the variables are all laid out for you.”

“I can assure you that our company would not look kindly on doing business with the mafia,” Rick boldly bites off, slinking a gaze towards my cousins.

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