When Danny appeared through the luxurious entrance at the back of the yacht, I could only stare in disgust that he’d deliberately put me in a position to fail. While Danny walked over to join us, Alex called up to the captain to get the yacht moving.
“Mr. Kyle,” Alex said, ending his call and using his sharp features to level the man, “I do hope you gave Bradley a fat tip for chartering you out to our yacht.”
“Why would I do that?” He waved his hand around the opulent deck we stood on. “I would imagine that Mitchell and Associates would take care of my expenses for me.”
“You’re a creep, you know that?” I said, unable to keep my mouth shut.
“I think he knows that well enough,” Alex said dismissively. “But no, Mitchell will not be paying for former employees to be collected from the ship once we’re done saving Sphere in an hour or so.”
Danny laughed off Alex as we turned to walk into the yacht. Marble floors greeted us, and my eyes were drawn to a grand staircase with polished wooden rails. It was as glorious as a magnificent hotel or resort. From where we walked, it was evident that this yacht had been designed with a taste of elegance that weaved itself around you and filled you with a sense of grandeur and importance. I had to keep reminding myself this was a yacht and not some trillionaire’s toy.
“You realize that the Nazaris no longer want Stone Company’s bid, correct? You’re out, Bree. They’re moving on,” Danny said smugly.
“It’s just a matter of who they’re moving on to, isn’t it, Daniel?” I said.
“Daniel?” Alex quipped in a way that snapped my attention over to him after we walked into an area where the elevators were hidden. “Damn.” Alex hit the button to open the elevator doors, and he looked back at Danny. “Ms. Stone seems to have moved on from the friendly nicknames to the your ass is mine names.”
“Bree,” Danny started.
“That’s enough,” I interrupted. “Both of you. I’ve met with the Nazaris on multiple occasions. I can easily say that when our tardiness adds their reasons for trying to fire us, this magnificent yacht is only going to prove we’re desperate to keep them.”
“But we sort of are, aren’t we?” Alex leaned down and whispered in my ear, taunting me.
I glanced up at him and back to Danny as soon as the doors opened to reveal the insanely awesome party deck at the top of this boat. “Desperate or not,” I tugged on Danny’s arm, “we’re going to be honest and do what’s right since all we’ve done is waste their time and insult them. You’ll be speaking up first,” I told Danny, then looked at Alex, who had a shit-eating grin on his face. “The games are over. Mr. Grayson, please show us to where the Nazaris are and pray to God that the staff on this boat has kept them—”
“They’ve been taken care of,” Alex assured me. “Ms. Stone, Daniel,” he mocked Danny’s name, “if you’ll both follow me.”
I sucked in a breath, keeping my heart rate down as we moved past a sparkling pool, rounded a corner to see a fully staffed bar, hosts and hostesses, and, at long last, the five extremely wealthy brothers from Dubai—the Nazaris.
I took the lead once the men rose from the posh lounging sofas, and I smiled at the one brother who always seemed flirtier and more agreeable than the other four men.
“Xavier.” I smiled, locking eyes with his stunning amber ones. “Damien, Latif,” I nodded at the two always stiff brothers after Xavier met me with a smile. “Malik and Cyrus.” I sighed when the last two brothers smiled and greeted me with a Ms. Stone in return.
“Who are the gentlemen with you?” Xavier questioned, sizing up Alex’s six-foot-four frame. Part of me was shocked that he’d already forgotten what Danny looked like.
“This is my partner, Mr. Alexander Grayson,” I introduced Alex, who practically hopped with a smile to shake each of the men’s hands firmly. “This is the head architect and engineer, Mr. Daniel Kyle—or Danny.” I watched as all five brothers smirked along with Danny. “I’m surprised you’ve forgotten him already?” I questioned, feeling like these dickwads were in on whatever Danny had done behind my back.
“Jesus. Don’t insult the Nazaris, Ms. Stone,” Alex said in a cocky voice as he raised his eyebrows at me, then leered at Danny. “It’s effortless to forget a man like Daniel. I almost left his sorry ass on the shore when I was taking a call from—” He stopped himself as he pointed around at the men. “Well, you’ll all have to forgive me,” he was using some assertive yet condescending tone, “which one of you called to fire me again? And behind Ms. Stone’s back?”
“That was me,” Damien said indignantly. “And for good reason too.”
“I would imagine. Let’s have a seat. I believe that we all need to clear the air,” Alex said, nodding toward a woman who held a tray of food. “Please, after all of you.”
Alex sat next to me, and I looked across at the other bastards, who were smirking in some knowing game. It wasn’t hard to pick up on the idea that no matter what Alex did for the Nazaris, Danny would walk away smelling like roses, and we would be left to look like lying shitheads.
I glanced at Alex as he casually crossed one ankle behind the other and saw that this man wouldn’t be made out to be a fool. His Italian leather shoes, his bespoke Brioni suit, his fancy-smelling cologne being blown around by the sea breeze, and his unshakeable confidence…all of it assured me that I sat next to a powerful man.
I glanced at the smirk on his face. I could instantly tell that this man lived for shit to go south so that he could come out on top in the end. As intimidating as Alex Grayson could be, I was his partner, and we were both going to bury Danny here and now, just as Alex said when we boarded the yacht.
“Gentlemen,” I spoke after everyone settled into their seat. “I will admit that there are errors in your final specs and the drafts of the hotel resort you entrusted us with at Stone Company.”
“To say the very least, Ms. Stone,” Latif said. “It seems as though all of Stone Company has fallen apart. If what I’ve heard is true,” he looked at Danny, “Stone Company will be going under soon enough. It will be our company that saves you.”
“Excuse me?” I looked over at Danny.
“You heard my brother,” Cyrus said.
“Loud and clear,” Danny smirked. “Sorry, Breanne, but you and I both know that underbidding this job to save Stone’s ass will only put you under that much more.”
Everyone snickered as fire surged through my veins. Well, everyone but Alex, who remained attentive and unexpectedly quiet.
“In the end,” Xavier said with a kind smile, “you’d be paying us to build our dream hotel. I’m sorry, but we’ll be taking Danny’s bid instead.”
“Danny’s bid?” I looked over at that Judas-ass mother fucker. “Well, this is news, isn’t it?”
“Bree, it’s not what you think,” Danny said, seemingly shocked that Xavier admitted that Danny was stealing my clients.
“Please explain, then, because what I’m thinking is that you’re in violation of Stone Company’s—”
“Violation my ass,” Danny interrupted. “Stone Company is gone, Bree. Accept it so we can be done here.”
“Yeah, can I get a bourbon sour,” Alex said to a host who stood next to the bar, utterly off-topic from what was going on. He looked at me. “You look like you could use a stiff drink too. The bartender is phenomenal here. In fact, I’d hire him as my personal bartender if James Mitchell wouldn’t kick my ass for stealing him away.”
“I’m good, thanks,” I stammered, caught off-guard by his question. “Can we focus on—”
“How about you, gentlemen?” Alex ignored me and looked at the arrogant Nazari brothers. “Beers all the way around?” He wound his finger through the air then looked at Danny. “Sorry. That was rude of me to interrupt your thought as if we’re not going to sue your ass for stealing our clients.” He took the bourbon that was quickly brought to him and sipped it. “Go on. This is fascinating.”
Danny leaned his arms on his knees. “It’s no secret that Stone is going under. We’ve talked about how Breanne allowed the engineers to cut corners, the contractors who are known to ghost on projects—”
“Mr. Vallance,” Alex interrupted, calling over a steward. “I’m going to need another bourbon. It seems I’m thirstier than I realized.” He blew out a breath and reclined against the cushion of the sofa. “Tell, Anthony we’re thrilled he’s behind the bar again,” he continued in some damn world of his own. “Just keep the booze coming.” He looked over at Danny. “It seems like it’s going to be a while of listening to your lies.”
“Wait,” Malik spoke up. “Who exactly are you?”
Alex licked his lips and smirked at me. “No wonder you’re all being duped into doing business with a fool. Everyone in this business knows who I am.” He eyed each of the Nazari brothers. “I’m sorry you men haven’t done your research on the most influential and powerful men in business. It’s a shame because if you had, you’d already know that my company has merged with Stone, and the financial concerns Danny has brought to your attention are no longer valid.”
“Stone merging with another firm? That is a lie. No company would merge with a firm that is going under,” Xavier looked at me. “Danny sent the numbers to us to prove Breanne’s firm is not to be trusted.”
“Wow,” Alex said. “You’re full of surprise betrayals today, aren’t you?”
“The merge is not official,” Danny blatantly lied.
“Bullshit,” I snapped. “You know goddamn well it is. Now, tell me why you believe it’s okay to go behind our backs and lie to our clients to secure them as your own.”
“We’re keeping the original design,” Latif said, “and we’ll be entrusting Daniel Kyle to deliver on his promises.”
I wanted to punch Danny in his face, but my angered reaction was stopped when Alex used the back of his hand to stop himself from spitting out the bourbon he’d sipped. I pursed my lips and refocused on the shit that’d just rolled off Latif’s tongue.
I glared at him. “Unfortunately for you, Daniel Kyle does not own the designs for the hotel,” I confirmed. “The designs you wish to keep are the property of Stone Company whether you believe we’re going under or not.” I sat up. “You gentlemen appear to be intelligent; why else would you be firing a group that you believe is going under? Am I correct?”
“Correct,” Malik answered.
“If that is correct, I cannot help but wonder why you would trust an employee of that company,” I said. “Regardless of where you believe Stone is, you will need to decide for the vision you have with your grand hotel. With that said, you need to choose here and now if you want my design that encompasses your dreams for the resort in Malibu, or if you want a knock-off from a startup company.” I glared at Danny. “A company ran by someone who’s using Stone’s reputation and numerous awards of recognition in concept and architectural designs to build a company of his own. I will tell you,” I eyed each of the five men’s dark expressions, “if I find that Daniel Kyle and Sphere has taken so much as a millimeter of my design detail for your hotel in Malibu, there will be legal action to follow.”
“You can’t afford to retain the lawyer,” Danny sneered.
“No, but the man who owns the Stone firm, this yacht, Mitchell and Associates, and everything that goes along with that company can afford it, and he will procure a legal team with fervor,” Alex chimed in. “I struggle to imagine what your corrupt little self will do once the big guys step in.” He looked over at the Nazari brothers, who were no longer amused. “I also wonder how you’ll fare when you see us building your hotel’s vision on Malibu’s shore for ourselves, and then kicking your asses right out of my house when we’re taking a hell of a lot of business from whatever Daniel Kyle designs for you.”
“That’s our vision, our hotel, and our agreement,” Xavier snapped.
“Not if you go with this twisted chump.” Alex sipped his bourbon and pointed toward Danny. “It’s Breanne Stone’s concept and vision. In fact,” he sat up and moved his glass between his palms, “it’s the only reason Mitchell and Associates merged my company with Stone. You see, gentlemen, Mr. Monroe and Mr. Mitchell are enormous fans of Breanne Stone’s ideas so much so that they’ll gladly keep her as my life-long partner, even after they both willfully accepted the debts of Stone group.” He looked at Danny. “Debts you must know that Breanne’s dishonest employees caused. But that’s office drama, gentlemen. The yacht is stopping here, and a charter boat is on its way to retrieve the six of you if you decide to continue on this foolhardy path.” He casually took a sip of his bourbon. “Or you can choose Stone to bring your vision to life and let the charter collect Danny’s deceitful ass. You’ve got five minutes to make the right call.”
“The right call?” Cyrus spoke up.
“How are we to be assured that if we go with Stone and not Daniel Kyle that our vision will be put on the shore in Malibu?” Latif questioned.
“You’re Alex Grayson, the former executive at Mitchell, aren’t you?” Xavier asked as if he’d had a revelation.
“The one and only. Now, are you going to play with the executives who have the financial backing to see your vision through, or are you going to go dream under stars with Danny?”
“Dream under stars?” I softly said to Alex.
“Four minutes and we’ve got transportation arriving to bring you back to the docks, gentlemen,” Alex said, ignoring me.
“We want the best.”
“You obviously can’t afford the best,” I said to Malik. “If you could, you wouldn’t have accepted Danny’s bid, knowing he was burying my company with it.” I exhaled. “And you sure as hell wouldn’t be going with some lying piece of shit employee who works for a company that was going under. If you want our business, the bid increases by ten million,” I said, going for broke. Fuck it and fuck them. I didn’t care. This meeting was insulting enough.
“Jesus Christ,” Alex whispered under his breath, sitting up and looking at me in humor and shock.
“We were told you’d buy our real estate, and it would only cost half the original amount due to errors.”
“That’s before I found out that you were leaving my firm for Danny’s offer,” I said. “If you want my design and my vision, you will trust that I will reengineer a bigger and better hotel, and you will pay the ten million extra. I know very well as I sit here and quote you on this higher bid that James Mitchell will snatch up the designs in a hot second if you pass on them.”
“What are you doing?” Danny seethed.
“Stating a fact.” I smiled at him and the five brothers who were now at the mercy of paying for my design and work.
“What makes you so sure that Mr. Mitchell or Mr. Monroe will buy your design?” Xavier asked, more agitated than I’d ever seen him.
“Because they bought a company that was going under for my design and engineering talents alone.” I looked at Alex. “Isn’t that what you mentioned?”
“I’ll call Jim Mitchell right now and tell him the offer is officially on the table.” Alex licked his lips in humor. “I’m confident he’d gladly pay an extra ten million to build a new resort on California’s coast. Well, done,” he mused.
“No. This is our hotel, and the blueprints are what we want. There are no other designs that have captured what we wanted as this one has.”
Alex stared at his phone and clicked his tongue, feigning horror or whatever he was doing to increase the dramatics on this. “I’d hate for my best friend to miss out.” He sighed. “How about a good faith deposit, and we keep Mr. Mitchell’s grubby little hands off your design?”
“We’ll give a fifty-percent down-payment now to secure you as the firm we’ll be working with,” Malik said, looking at Danny. “You will hear from us on a better day, Mr. Kyle. For now, I hope that boat is here to bring you off this one and back to shore.”
“Boat’s certainly here,” Alex said. “Unlock this for me.” He reached for the iPad that I didn’t realize I was holding with white knuckles. “I need that fifty-percent deposit on the Nazaris.” He looked at Xavier. “I trust you can have it wired to Stone Company by the time we remove an unwanted rat from the yacht. Then Breanne can use her talents and help you see your innovative hotel come to life.”
“You’re all damn fools,” Danny said as he rose.
Alex waved over security. “Get this idiot off the yacht and stay with him on the charter until he’s seen to shore.”
“Yes, Mr. Grayson.”
I watched in shock as Danny tried to walk with his head up and disappeared through the private area that hid the elevators in the lavish yacht. Did I just upsell myself by ten million and seal the deal without ever addressing or fixing the errors?
“What the hell just happened?” I questioned Alex after the men picked up their phones to make contact with their bankers.
“You just blew my fucking mind,” Alex grinned. “Ten million additional dollars?”
“I should’ve gone for twenty,” I said with a smile.
“Jesus, woman,” Alex chuckled. “Now I know why Brooks lost out on a couple of projects. It turns out you know your worth. That’s highly admirable.”
“I don’t need your approval,” I said.
“No shit.” He nodded with a coy smile. “Let’s go grab a quick drink, settle the Nazaris in to enjoy this yacht for a few days, and I’ll call for the chopper to pick us up and get us the hell out of here. It looks like I didn’t need the yacht after all.”
Talk about getting burned and then rising out of the ashes. I was prouder of myself than I’d ever been, and I couldn’t wait to tell Theo, Cass, and Nicole about this.
