AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Christ. I rake my fingers through my hair. My boner is long gone. “Then find another distributor,” I say. “We’ve got several.”
“That’s the problem,” Ben says. “The negotiations with our other distributors in China and Japan apparently went sour a few hours ago. No one bothered us, since it’s the middle of the night here, but now, with the explosion at Jing Min, we’re up the creek. We need those parts, Bray. This isn’t something we can fuck around with. Dad and I are on it, and so are others. But someone needs to get to New York right away.”
He’s right. Our Chinese division is headquartered in New York, and we’ll need to get them on board to translate for us.
“Have you contacted Dimitri? Lizzie?” I ask.
“I called you first, but Dad’s on with Dimitri right now.”
“Okay. Good. How much time do we have?”
“Not much. If we can’t figure it out in the next several hours, one of us is going to have to get to China and throw some leverage around. We fucking need those parts.”
“Fuck.”
“I know,” my brother says.
“This is a really bad time for an explosion,” I grit out.
“Dude,” Ben says. “Is there ever a good time for an explosion?”
I breathe in. Out. In again.
I’m still on edge.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
Fuck. It’s not working.
“I figured you’d want to handle this,” Ben says. “But I can go in your place if you need me to.”
God, how I’d love to send my little brother off to China so I can stay here and make love with Skye.
But I’m not a fucking child. I’m an adult. A business owner. And I have to take care of this issue, which could have massive repercussions not just for Black, Inc. but for all the wholesalers we serve. Jobs are on the line. People are on the line.
“Bray? You there?”
I draw in a deep breath once more. “Yeah. I’m here.”
“You want me to handle it?”
“No. I’ll get the plane ready to go. Skye and I will fly to New York tonight. Dimitri and I will probably be able to handle this. I’ll let you know if I need you and Dad to follow tomorrow.”
I end the call.
“Is everything okay?” Skye asks.
“I have to go to New York,” I say.
“We’re leaving tomorrow,” she replies.
I walk toward my closet. “No. We’re leaving tonight.”
She gasps. “Tonight? You mean right now?”
“Yes. Right now.”
“I… I can’t. What about…”
I turn and meet her gaze. “What about what, Skye? We were going to leave tomorrow afternoon anyway. Do you have some kind of plan for your Sunday morning that I don’t know about?”
“The dogs. What about the dogs?”
“Who do you think takes care of the dogs all day when I’m not here?”
“What’s wrong, Braden?”
“A key negotiation fell through.”
“At midnight?”
“In China. I need to do damage control.”
“Can’t you do it from here?”
“If I could, do you think I’d be flying to New York in the middle of the night?”
“What about Ben or your dad?”
“I run this company, Skye. You know that.”
“Can’t you delegate? Your father and Ben are perfectly capable of—”
“You’ve met my father and Ben once. You know nothing about them other than what you gleaned from one evening with them. Please don’t presume to tell me how to run my company. You’re a photographer, Skye. You don’t know the first thing about my business.”
I regret my words as soon as they leave my mouth, but I can’t soften. Not now. My business needs me, and if I can’t get these negotiations on track so we can get our parts manufactured and distributed, not just my business will suffer. Others who rely on my business will pay the price. Everything will trickle down, and who will get the blame? Not the overseas distributor.
I will. I’ll get all the blame.
“Don’t insult my intelligence,” Skye says, anger reddening her cheeks.
I love Skye. I do. But I don’t have time for one of these conversations. “I’m not insulting anything.”
“The hell you’re not.”
I meet her gaze. “This is business. My business. I’m not insulting you when I tell you that you don’t know anything about it. I’m simply being truthful.”
“But I don’t understand—”
“That’s right. You don’t understand. This is something I need to take care of, and yes, I need to take care of it now. Now get out of bed and get dressed. We’re leaving as soon as you’re ready.”
“If you’d just explain—”
“For God’s sake, I don’t have time to explain. You’re not hearing me, Skye. You asked me earlier why I made you concentrate on one sense. For someone who just learned to hear this evening, you’re not hearing me now.”
Her mouth drops open once more. “Your control over me in the bedroom doesn’t extend to—”
“Damn it!” I scoop her off the bed and force her to stand. “Hear me, Skye. We’re leaving. We’re leaving now.”
