AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I only have to drop you off at the mall. No one said I have to take you in," the familiar voice said dryly.
Mykie's eyes widened, and her heart started beating faster. Why would this job be simple? She immediately thought that Caspar should have warned her. He should have known that there was a connection that they both had to this meeting. However, taking a few seconds to think, she neverexplicitlysaid her mission had anything to do with the Harpers.
"Oh, Earl! It's so nice for you to join us!" Madeleine gushed as she stood up again. She held her hand out to her husband as he came over to her. Once he was close enough for her to reach, she slung her arm around his and plastered her chest to his side. "I've been entertaining our guest while we've been waiting."
It was then that all three newcomers turned to look at Mykie. She saw the recognition in the boy's eyes before he blurted, "Mykie? What are you doing here?"
"Renly," Mykie said, giving him a fond smile as she nodded her head. "I'm here to discuss with your father, I presume, a very interesting deal, if he was to accept."
"Oh, joy. You know her," Madeleine said under her breath, but Mykie caught it.
"Ah, you must be Chance's girl!" Earl laughed jolly-like as he held his good hand out to her. She automatically held out the wrong hand, making it awkward.
“I’m so sorry, Sir,” she said, unapologetically before correcting her hand.
He laughed off the mistake, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “No problem! I injured my hand cooking one night, otherwise you’d be making no mistake at all. It's a pleasure to meet you and I'm glad you could carve out time to meet with me."
"Sweetheart, you didn't tell me she was coming," Madeleine said through clenched teeth, but herhappysmile never left her face.
Mykie grasped Earl's hand and was surprised at how tough his grip was. She shook his hand politely, but she didn't let her eyes flicker away from his. He walked into the room like he was at ease with everything in the world, but she quickly realized that it was simply a tactic to set her off course and to underestimate him. Did he notice her from the doorway? Did he realize that she was being sent after him from the beginning?
"Like I told your wife, it wasn't a difficult choice to come here. This is a very important decision for both of us, but it can directly impact your business, depending on your answer," Mykie explained, tightening her grip once to punctuate her silent threat before letting her grip go lax.
Earl let her hand go and nodded. "Well, let's get to it then, shall we?" He waved a hand towards his guests. "Do you mind if my children sit in on the meeting? My youngest, Ellenora, wanted to know what it was like, and Renly is a great asset to me."
"I don't mind at all." Mykie smile didn't reach her eyes. Of course, she minded. This wasn't a family affair; this was an important deal in the making. Did Earl not realize what she was about to propose?
Ellenora clapped and shimmed between her and the coffee table until she could reach the lone chair on the other side. With no other seats, Renly sat down on the cushion beside Mykie.
"I wasn't expecting you to be here," Mykie murmured. She looked up at him through her eyelashes and noticed how put-together and serious he looked. If she knew how close he was to his father or that Earl Harper was even his family at all, she could have done something before then to prepare herself. She cursed herself for getting so distracted by the boys that she didn't properly research before she came. Instead of putting them on edge, she was now the one who was knocked off-kilter.
She shook her head. Now that she realized how distracted she got, she needed to focus on the task at hand. She turned her head away from Renly and attempted to ignore his presence for the rest of the meeting.
"As you know," Mykie said, her voice strong and, hopefully, confident, "Chance Lauder is an investor in a lot of business in this town. To list some of his most notable ones: he's invested in the local research facility for mental health, a sizable chunk in lumber industry here, and he owns one of the most popular bars in the state. Along with owning your competitor. Saying that, Chance would like to offer you a deal."
"We already have big investors in our business, so we're not new to the idea," Earl stated.
"Good. Chance has asked me to offer you fifteen million dollars to sell a huge share of your business to him. If you agree—"
"No. I refuse to sell my business to anyone," Madeleine snapped, cutting Mykie off.
Mykie looked at Ryker, who sat back on the couch and seemed to be watching Mykie for her reaction.
"I don't think you understand what I'm suggesting," Mykie said, her tone showing just how flabbergasted she was. "Mr. Lauder is offering for you to continue running your business, but a portion of your yearly earnings go to him. I believe it's a generous offer."
"We have many investors in our company. We can't neglect the rest of them in favor of your deal," Madeleine stated. She looked Mykie up and down as if she wasn't worth more than the dirt on her heels.
Mykie reached forward and opened the file she had lying on the table. She flicked through it until she found the information she needed and turned the folder around for Earl and Madeleine to read. "I had a chart made up comparing your gross income for the business over the last two decades. It's at this point in the data that I start questioning what changed." She pointed out the spot where the numbers jumped drastically. "Could you explain why that would be?"
Earl was the first to speak between him and his wife. "Our investor came to us about eight years ago."
"Interesting... very interesting. So, this investor wouldn't allow you to sell this business to Mr. Lauder?" Mykie asked. "Is money the issue?"
"We make our own choices. We want to be the boss of our own business, and what you're suggesting doesn't meet our needs, no matter how much money you're offering,” Madeleine said in a clipped tone, shutting her husband down before he had a chance to respond.
"I think we should take it," Ryker stated.
"Ignore him. He doesn't know what he's talking about," Madeleine snapped.
