Page 11 of Billionaire Romantic
The spreadsheeton my screen is a sea of red, like a digital battlefield where all the numbers have been slain. I blink and rub my eyes, half-hoping that a second look will magically resurrect those digits into black. But nothing happens.
If it were up to me, the idea would have been scrapped days ago. Cash, however, has a strange fascination with this sinking ship, which is the only reason why I’m contemplating throwing them a life jacket. Because if Idon’t rein him in, he’ll do it anyway, and we’ll end up paying way too much.
I call his number.
He picks up on the first ring. “Hey. What’s the verdict?”
“The verdict is no.” Even as I’m saying it, I know he won’t listen to my voice of reason. “My advice would be to leave it and move on.”
He’s quiet for a second. From the hum and occasional honk in the background I can tell he’s in the back of his limo, on his way to his next meeting. “We’re good at fixing things, Noah. We don’t run from challenges.”
“I agree. We can navigate anything that’s thrown at us.” I think about the insider trading fiasco and how we managed toget through it without much help from our CEO. It was at a time when Cash was so distracted by a random woman he’d met in Hawaii but couldn’t find, I thought the entire company might tank while he searched for her. Then she showed up out of the blue—we’d hired her without realizing who she was—and Dusty turned out to be the love of his life. So we forgave him, of course. But I know as we’re talking that we’re both well aware that it was Colton and me who managed to pull I.E. back from the brink. It’s one of many reasons I know he’ll listen to me. “Ashton Holdings is an unnecessary risk. It’s one we don’t need.”
“Our line of business is all about risk, brother. It’s literally how we make money.”
“I’m aware of that, Cash.” I rub my hand across my jaw. “But my job is to analyze whether the risk comes with a big enough reward. And this one isn’t guaranteeing that.”
“Only because it’s been mismanaged for a long time. Surely you can see the potential here, Noah.”
“Yes. I can. But it’s not worth the asking price you’ve given me. Cut that number in half and then maybe we can do something with it. We need to go in lower.”
Cash pauses but finally relents. “Okay. Let’s offer fifteen million then.”
I’m glad he’s finally seeing some sense. “For the record, I still think it’s a bad idea. But you’re right, there’s potential here. And we can work with fifteen.”
“You know, I’m surprised,” Cash drawls. “I thought you’d jump at the opportunity to help a poor little undervalued company with huge potential and a tragic backstory. You know that kid is having a bad month.” The kid who inherited the company and is now acting CEO is listed as L. Emerson. “We’re about to make his day.”
“Either that or ruin it.”
“I respect your opinion on this, Noah, you know I do. I want you to be happy with the numbers.”
“Happy is overstating it. But for that price, we can make it work.”
“Okay. Good. Thank you, Noah. I’ll give this L. Emerson a call tomorrow morning then.”
“Keep me posted.”
We end the call and I lean back in my chair, rubbing my eyes. Fuck, why does it feel like it’s the longest day ever?
Usually I love my job.
I thrive on it.
But the decision I made this morning is coloring everything.
I’ve given up.
No, I’ve decided to be realistic. There’s a difference.
Is there?
The door of my office opens, and Colton walks in with his phone held out, like it contains something rare and breakable. “We have a match, ladies and gentlemen!”
I narrow my eyes at him. “What?”
“Feast your eyes upon your perfect woman. Ninety-eight point two percent compatibility. You should probably just skip dinner and get hitched already.” Cole grins, holding his phone out to me.
I read the name in the middle of the screen. “LuckyIrish? You’ve got to be kidding me. What is she, a leprechaun?”
