Page 3 of Open To Negotiation

Not bothering to turn on a light, I sunk into one of the chairs in my living room, enjoying the smokiness of my drink.

My mum had loved it here, but we’d moved away when I was eleven. My time with her after that was too brief and my memories were clouded with the weight of her disease; I’d lost her in less than two years.

I’d been lost in building my empire in the last fifteen years, focused on the next acquisition, on the next investment, on making sure that me and my brothers were set up. Now we were a well-oiled machine, and our businesses were pulling in billions per year. Moving back here had always been my plan.

I had no problems with how my life was, even sitting alone in my empty apartment didn’t bother me. I preferred my solitude actually. I spent my days dealing with people and that was the most I could do.

I had my brothers and my businesses. I didn’t have time or a desire for anything else in my life.

After finishing my whisky, I pulled out my phone to answer a few emails before heading off to bed.

Today had been a total clusterfuck and it was only nine in the morning.

I’d been woken up by some idiot setting off the fire alarm in the building at three in the morning, a whole hour and a half before I was supposed to be awake. By the time the fire department came and cleared the building, it was too late to go back to sleep so I had started my day with a run.

Then I’d gotten a call from Arthur to inform me that Shelly wasn’t feeling well but she was trying to come in, so then I had to call her and convince her to stay home. She tried to tell me it was just a headache but after enough back and forth, and her coughing up a lung, I won the argument.

Now I was running late since I’d made Arthur stay home too. Although it was an easy walk from my penthouse he usually insisted, and since it made him feel useful, I allowed it. Not this morning, though.

I had my head down, answering one of the many emails I had waiting for me, when someone bumped into me. The streets were busy with early morning commuters and when I turned to see who I’d run into, I didn’t notice anyone really looking at me.

Another email came in, pulling my attention away from the incident as I headed into the office.

Without an assistant to answer my phone and manage my shit, the first hour of my day was already a mess and I was screwed for the rest of the day. I rang Jaxson on our internal system.

“Does your assistant have some time to help me out today? Shelly’s home sick,” I said as soon as he answered.

“Morning to you too,” Jaxson muttered. I could tell he was distracted, likely with his head in some code. As the head of our security division, he was always getting lost in something. British Intelligence had even tried to recruit him in college, but he claimed he wasn’t cut out to follow government rules.

“It sounds like the Renley property is going to shit and I’m waiting on a call I can’t miss. People won’t stop knocking on my door and I need someone to rebook my meeting with that tech company that wants us to invest because Oli found something he wants more time to investigate.”

“I know, I’m working on the MarTech file right now.”

“So can Dustin help me or not?” I clenched and unclenched my fists.

“Yeah, no problem. I’m mostly at my desk today. I’ll call him, might take him a few to get everything routed.”

I hung up with a grunted thanks before focusing back on one of the many emails marked urgent. They usually weren’t. But everyone liked to add that stupid button.

My cell rang and I reached for it without looking. Either Noah was running late and was going to just meet me at our next meeting, or Dustin hadn’t forwarded my calls from my office line to him yet since those routed to my cell during the day. But the man was an efficient assistant, so it was likely Noah.

“Are you late?” I asked as I moved over the stack of papers on my desk.

“Is that really how you answer the phone,” Warren Kane sneered on the other end.

I squeezed my eyes shut and rubbed the bridge of my nose. The bastard didn’t have my personal number which meant that Dustin hadn’t forwarded my calls yet. “Hello, Warren.” My tone cold.

“That’s no way to greet your father.” I could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

I spoke to the man once a year, longer if I was lucky. He liked to claim the title when it benefited him, particularly in business situations since Knight Enterprises had overtaken his own companies profit margins years ago. He was known in New York, but I was known internationally.

“What do you want? I’ve got a meeting.” In an hour but he wouldn’t know that.

“You’ve been in Calgary for over a month now and you haven’t visited any of my business investments.”

I hated the sound of his voice. It grated on me. Particularly because he only ever spoke to my mother in the same condescending tone and it made me want to strangle him, even then. But I also didn’t like that he kept such a close eye on my movements.

I had no reason to visit any of his businesses, because I didn’t care. But doing it now would buy me time before he popped his head up again, and I had other shit to do instead of waste breath fighting him on it. “Who would you like me to visit?”