Page 32 of Redemption of a Prince

“How do we deal with that?” He sounded genuinely interested. “It’s rare that I’ve run across that kind of situation, so I’m not sure how to make them act better. What are your thoughts?”

Nikki thought about it as she munched on her meal. “I’m not really sure. Do we walk away from a deal where we’re likely going to get everything we want, even though we’re spending a fair bit more than we’d hoped, over bad attitudes? It’s highly unlikely we’ll have to deal with these men long-term. Once everything is signed, we’re done with them.”

“True.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but it took him a minute to figure out how to say it. “I know it’s ridiculous that I should have to, but what if I talk to them before you come in? Told them their behavior is unacceptable and needs to improve immediately. If it doesn’t, the royal family will never do business with them again.”

She tilted her head as she stared at him. “You can do that? Put a moratorium on who the family works with?”

“Maybe, maybe not. It’s not really binding, but I can recommend. If the family really needs to work with them, they likely still would, but the mere threat could be enough. I don’t even know why we’d want to work with them again, but most people don’t want to run the risk.”

Nikki turned that idea over in her head. “Maybe? Let me think about it. You shouldn’t have to, but if it works, is it worth it?”

“That’s up to you. If you want to handle it, we can do it that way. If you’d rather, you can go in and tell them basically the same thing, and I can just back you up. It doesn’t have to be me.”

“Let me think about it.” In some ways, she liked the second plan better, but would anyone believe that she could prevent the royal family from working with someone? If Ezekiel backed her up on it, maybe it would work. “I’ll let you know.”

“Then let’s figure the rest of this out.”

For another two hours, they went over everything they’d handled that day and what they expected to deal with the next day. Overall, aside from the attitudes about Nikki, the negotiations were going very well.

Eventually, she did change into those comfortable pyjamas and snuggled under the covers in the big bed. Everything threatened to overwhelm her, but she didn’t give into the tears that wanted to escape.

On the way to the meeting the next morning, she told Ezekiel they’d play it by ear. If it was more of the same, Nikki would once again threaten to walk and make it clear that she’d recommend the royal family never did business with them again. Ezekiel would back her up, if needed.

All morning, they skated the line, as though they knew they were on thin ice. Every time she’d think they had one more chance, they’d back off and act more appropriately.

During lunch, Nikki excused herself to use the restroom. When she returned, she overheard them talking.

“I think we’ve almost got them. I can’t believe we have to deal with Nik, though. She’s incompetent. We should be dealing directly with King Geoffrey, but Zeke would serve nicely in a pinch.”

“Even one of the twins would have been better. With their penchant for cosplay, they likely don’t understand the business side of it anyway.”

Nikki heard something behind her and turned to see Ezekiel walking her way. She held a finger up to her lips before he could say anything.

“We’ll just tell them that other offer came in on the land. We already drove the price up nearly double what the owners are willing to take for it.” The lead negotiator snorted. “Along with lifetime passes to both resorts. Who wants stuff like that instead of as much cash as we can get out of them?”

Nikki shared a look with Ezekiel.

They heard footsteps coming toward the door so they both backed up and managed to look like they were deep in conversation far enough away they couldn’t have overheard.

“We’ll be back in a few minutes,” the lead guy told them.

“We’ll be waiting.”

Nikki pulled out her phone, held it close and sent Ezekiel a text.I wonder if they’re watching and listening. But we’re going to get a much lower price, give the owner the lifetime passes, and give the owners better compensation separately from this deal. These morons don’t deserve the commission.

He waited for the text to come through, nodding as he read it.If we’re on camera, they know we heard. If we’re not, even better, but we can’t know yet. Can we lower their commission as part of the deal?

A diabolical thought entered Nikki’s mind. She gave Ezekiel a grin and a raised brow as the men came back.

She knew exactly what they were going to do.

9

The stress level in the auto was lower when leaving the conference than it had been on the way there. Zeke took that as a good sign.

As they’d done the last two days, they waited until they had a light dinner in front of them to discuss how the day’s negotiations had gone.

“So?” Zeke asked as he picked up his sandwich.

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