AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Now I’d like to tell you about a change that will be coming soon.”Here we go. She took a deep breath. The rest of her team looked down, uncomfortably. They knew what was coming. “As all of you know, The Benson has seen revenue growth over the past two years. Nevertheless, the growth isn’t what Holter Holdings investors have come to expect in return for their faith in us. It was a hard situation, because, for obvious reasons, The Benson is a special place for me.”
Wyatt’s voice cracked, and he paused momentarily, seemingly to control his emotions. “That made it extremely difficult for me to think about selling, even though we received a generous and fair offer from CasinoMatch. Still, I have always acted in the best interest of my investors, and this decision would be no different. Today, I want to confirm that, in fact, Holter Holdings will be selling The Benson.”
Alessandra swallowed. She’d known exactly what Wyatt was going to say. Nevertheless, it hurt to hear him say it out loud. She looked around at her team and could tell they felt the same way.
“But not to CasinoMatch.”
Alessandra looked at her team. They were watching her, as if she knew who the buyer was. A list of other possible buyers went through her mind. The Magnum corporation? The Chadwick brothers? To her, it didn’t matter that much since any new buyer would bring in their own leader to run the resort. Her eyes lifted to Wyatt, whose lips had turned upward slightly.
He's smiling?! What the hell?
Wyatt was clearly enjoying this surprise announcement, but Alessandra had no idea why. “Our investors have decided that CasinoMatch is too much of a risk as a buyer. Instead, they’ve found two businessmen who have experience in the industry and who have an interest in ownership. Assuming all goes well with the regulators, the two will buy The Benson, with the sale closing by June of next year.”
“Who?” Alessandra asked.Must be the Chadwick brothers. Murmurs around the room echoed her question.
Now Wyatt had a wide smile on his face. “One of the buyers is… well, me. As an individual, though. Not as part of Holter Holdings,” he said. “I’ll be a co-owner, a somewhat silent partner. This way, I still get to be involved in the resort named for my son. But I’m also still acting in the best interest of my Holter Holdings investors by divesting from the firm.”
Sailor asked the next logical question, “And who is the other buyer… the one who’ll be active in the business?”
“Thank you for asking, Sailor. I’d like to introduce all of you to him. He’s been waiting to meet you all, as well.” Wyatt opened the door behind him, waving to the person outside. “Come on in, we’re ready for you now.”
Right as the unknown person came into view, Wyatt said, “Beauden Brooks, meet The Benson executive team. I think you already know a few of them?” Wyatt laughed. “And in case you were wondering, no, we don’t plan any management changes after our ownership transition. None at all.”
Sailor was the first to stand and start clapping, loudly and enthusiastically. The other executives joined her. They were all offering congratulations, hugging each other. Wyatt and Beau began walking around the table, shaking hands.
Alessandra stood, stunned and immobile. She was relieved and happy, at first assuming she would keep her job. But she couldn’t smile, not yet. She might be wrong. Was Beau still angry at her? What would happen with her and Beau now?
After he’d shaken everyone else’s hand, Beau approached Alessandra. As far as Alessandra knew, only Sailor was aware of the special relationship between the two of them. Nevertheless, the other executives quieted. Alessandra knew they were waiting to see how she would react to this surprising turn of events.
Beau spoke first, and his eyes were filled with a passion that Alessandra hoped only she noticed. “Alessandra, I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to work side by side with you. I’m certain we will work very well together. Very, very well. As soon as we can, I’d love to spend more time with you and go through some of the day-to-day details. What do you think?”
Alessandra extended her hand to Beau’s. She hoped her face radiated the same emotion Beau was showing her. “I’m excited to work with you, too, Beau. Maybe some time this afternoon we can go over your ideas, and I’ll show you our finance reports from the weekend.”
“I’ll pull those together for you,” Roland offered. “Happy to join to explain in more detail.”
“No thanks,” Beau and Alessandra said at the same time. Laughing, Alessandra added, “I’ll just be giving Beau an overview this time, Roland. We’ll loop you in when we go more in-depth.”
“Hey everyone, let’s go get some champagne,” Sailor said. “I know it’s the morning, but we have reason to celebrate. Alessandra, why don’t you take Beau to your office and show him where his office will be? Then join us after. Does that work?”
Damn, that girl is a lifesaver.“Great idea, Sailor. Beau, come with me.”
The rest of the group left to celebrate. Beau felt Alessandra take his hand, leading him to her office. Once inside, she stood in front of him, still holding his hand. Her eyes locked with his, a question on her face. He assumed she was about to ask him something. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.
He held her close, bringing her entire body up to his, exploring her mouth with his tongue. They both knew all was forgiven. In this instant, they had overcome the last vestiges of their questioning, their fear of commitment, their confusion at how to make it work.
Finally, they pulled back from each other. “I didn’t think you’d come back… I thought—”
“You thought I was mad, and I thought you were mad, and we both thought our careers were the roadblock to our happiness. Something like that?” Beau rubbed her back as he spoke.
“Yes, I thought something just like that,” she replied. “But what happened? Now you want to be a businessman? Won’t you be giving up the excitement of being a professional gambler?”
“Hell no, I’ll never give up gambling! I’ll just have to give the Chadwick brothers my money now, since I won’t be able to gamble here anymore. You wouldn’t know this, but I’ve always dabbled in various business ventures. I’m even a minority investor in Holter Holdings. I just don’t talk about my business investments that much. I’ve mostly operated behind the scenes, and I have good managers who help those endeavors succeed. Professional gambling is only one of my many sources of income.”
Alessandra looked at Beau in wonder. “Obviously, if you can afford to buy half of The Benson. I had no idea.”
“Most people don’t. When Wyatt talked about his investors’ concerns with CasinoMatch—and when, the next day, Sailor gave me a little hint about how you were feeling—I decided to approach Wyatt about being co-owners. It solved a problem for him, too, since he was really sad about giving up his son’s namesake. I already told him about us; I didn’t want to hide our relationship from him. And since Las Vegas will be my home, he’ll be seeing us together, a lot. When I move here, I’ll want to give back to the community, contribute to charities, be a good citizen. Las Vegas will be my home. I’ll want to get involved.”
“You’re moving here? What about your ranch in Montana?” Alessandra asked.
“Sweetheart, I have more than enough money to keep the ranch. Besides, if we decide to have kids, we’re going to want to have a weekend place to get away from the city now and then, don’t you think? I hope they’ll like the ranch. And I hope you will, too. I love you, Alessandra. And I’m going to marry you, if you’ll agree.”
The joy in Alessandra’s face warmed Beau. He knew he would never grow tired of having her nearby. “I love you too, Beau Brooks. And if that was a proposal, then yes, I’ll marry you.”
“Are you sure you didn’t say yes just because I saved your job?” he joked.
“I guess I’ll need to decide that before December. I’ve always wanted to be a Christmas bride.”
“Then that, my love, is what you shall be.”
The End
