Page 9 of Bound To Be Mine

His younger brother. A step down from Adrian. The big boss. The man in charge.

“I’m not operating without information,” I said with a lot more calm than I felt. “I’m operating without your specific information. There’s a difference.”

“Then let me fill in the gap.” The smile she flashed hinted at the savageness she cloaked in a designer suit. “The lifestyle brand works because it’s a complete offering. Cleo’s designs are extraordinary, but a dress doesn’t exist in a vacuum. A wedding isn’t a thing you can purchase like a Blackwell garment. A wedding is an experience. Every element of that experience communicates something. The florals, the table settings, the flow of the event are all directed by me. To put it bluntly, it’s my world. Blackwell Couture can choose to live in it or walk away.”

Holy shit. I opened my mouth to reply when she held up her hand to stop me.

“Without me, you have a very beautiful dress and some pretty little extras. That’s not the experience. That’s retail. Anyone can do that. I am the only one that can do what I do. Again, this is my party. You can accept the invitation or not. Blackwell is not the only fashion house looking to get into the game.”

It was a good answer delivered with the confidence of someone who knew she held just as many cards as I did. I hadn’t been expecting that. Alarm bells began clanging in my mind. Had I miscalculated? When I walked into a room, I was the one with the moves. I had the money and the name. But this little spitfire suddenly seemed like one hell of an opponent.

I was formulating a response when she kept going.

“I recently planned the Delaney-Hamlin wedding. Before that, the Whitmore wedding in San Francisco, and the Callahan-Wallace reception in Malibu.” She said all three with the easy shorthand of someone citing well-known clients. “If you have questions about who I am and what I bring to the table, you can start there.”

I looked at her. “I don’t know any of those people.”

Dash slapped his palm to his forehead beside me and I turned to look at him.

“Briggs.” His voice had the careful quality of someone defusing something. “Kyle Hamlin is literally the highest-paid actor in Hollywood right now. The other ones include a Grammy-winning musician. The Whitmore wedding was on the cover of three magazines.”

“I don’t read those magazines,” I said.

“Nobody’s asking you to read them. I’m asking you to exist in the same world as other humans.” He shook his head. “I say this with love. You need to come up for air more often.”

I glanced back at Mandy, who had listened to this exchange with a bored expression.

“Can we please sit down and have this meeting?” Cleo said with disgust. “The paperwork is done. This is redundant. Briggs, honestly.”

“By all means,” I said and gestured to the table as a whole.

Everyone took their seats again.

I sat at the head of the table. “Now, I asked a valid question and I would like to address that and avoid the information that isn’t applicable to this deal.”

“You know what,” Mandy said, and pushed her chair back. “I don’t have to explain myself to someone who doesn’t have the basic courtesy of knowing who he’s meeting with.” She stood, smoothing her blazer. “I have more work than I can handle and I don’t need this deal. Cleo and Callum, I love you and wish you the absolute best.” She looked at them and looked apologetic. “Call me when you’re back in LA.”

“Mandy, wait,” Cleo started.

“I’m good.” She picked up her bag. “I really am. This just isn’t the right fit.”

And she walked out.

I watched her go. Then I looked at the door for a moment after it closed.

“Well,” Dash said pleasantly. “That was more eventful than I expected.”

I shook my head. “If she can’t handle one question, she’s not what we need. Business is tough. If she’s not willing to answer basic questions, it’s not a business relationship we should pursue.”

“She can handle the question fine,” Cleo said, disgust lining her tone. “You handled the question badly. That was a choice. A bad one. Callum and I are not signing without Mandy. That’s not a negotiating position. That’s just the truth. She is the reason this brand works. Her sense of style is what ties the whole line together. If you want to go back to Adrian and explain why you tanked a deal he spent months building, that’s your business. But for now, it seems like we’re done here.”

She stood and Callum followed her out the door. The conference room was suddenly very quiet and very empty.

Dash waited until the door closed again, then swiveled his chair toward me. He arched one thick brow. “Wow.”

“Don’t,” I said.

“I’m not saying anything but wow.”