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CHAPTER1
Nikos Costas drummed his fingers against the marble counter as he waited for the security officer at the desk to review his identification. This was ridiculous. He had an appointment to meet with the new CEO of Coastal Casinos, but when he entered Harbourview Casino, where the corporate offices were located, Nik found himself surrounded by security features that wouldn’t have been out of place at any major airport. With him already running late, the delay in verifying his information was one more aggravation.
He wasn’t supposed to be here. This early February morning, he should have been checking into a five-star resort in the Mediterranean, surrounded by sandy beaches and bright sunlight. Instead, he was in a casino in Vancouver, where the city was grey and gloomy from the rain. It was better than his home in Toronto, which was under a half foot of snow right now, but still. This deal might be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, but he wasn’t happy about cancelling his first vacation in years. Million-dollar deals no longer held the same attraction for him.
As the senior Canadian partner in the small international private equity firm WYCK Capital, Nik was used to last-minute changes in his schedule. Looking for opportunities to invest in companies was a full-time job, and he was damn good at it. But after living out of a suitcase for more than six months and finalizing three takeover deals in three different cities, he needed a break. This detour to Vancouver promised to be lucrative, but it might mean another two or three months of due diligence, nonstop negotiating, and then aggressive culling of any deadweight within the organization. He would have refused anyone else, but he couldn’t say no to WYCK’s founder and managing partner, Charles Worthington. Nik had achieved phenomenal success for a man in his late thirties, in large part because Charles had taken Nik under his wing, first at Morgan Stanley, then by asking Nik to join his fledgling new private equity firm eight years earlier. For that reason alone, Nik could never refuse Charles anything.
The information his partner had sent him was brief and incomplete. Over the past eight months, WYCK had quietly amassed more than 20 percent of the outstanding shares in Coastal Casinos, making them the majority shareholder. The plan was to negotiate a buyout price that would allow WYCK to take over the company, with an expected end date of later this year or early next year. Nik had been aware of the plan and expected timeline. He and his partner had predicted another drop in share price after the year-end financial results were released, which would have allowed them to leverage a better buyout price. Those results wouldn’t be out for another four to six weeks. Something had to have triggered this rush meeting.
An internet search the night before hadn’t told him much, although a few analysts were speculating Coastal was going to post earnings higher than previously predicted. If that were true, the stock price would rise, and the strategy WYCK was pursuing would be less effective. So far, prices had not jumped based on this speculation, but that could easily change.
The sudden trip was irritating, but nothing out of the ordinary. The lack of information about the reason for it was very unlike Charles. What did Charles know that he hadn’t shared with him? Frustration warred with concern over Charles’s behaviour.
The call yesterday directing him to cancel his vacation and fly to Vancouver had been short and to the point. Nik had been ordered to get to Vancouver and meet with the head of Coastal, someone named Jules Roberts. Nik had never heard of Roberts, and he thought he knew most of the casino executives in Canada. There had been almost no information available, other than a short press release from last summer announcing the CFO of Coastal, Jules Roberts, was being promoted to acting CEO. The release had been buried by stories about the arrest and prosecution of the former CEO and other executives for actively laundering gang money.
The limited information he’d been able to dig up had left him feeling unprepared for this meeting. He hated that. Normally he would do a deep dive into any company they were actively taking over. It would take him a couple of weeks to read everything he could find, analyze the annual reports, run risk analysis, and come up with what he believed was a fair price. Instead, he was coming in unprepared.
“How much longer is this going to take?”
The security officer looked up from his computer and frowned at Nik. “We weren’t expecting you. I’ve let them know you’re here. Someone will escort you up shortly.”
Escort him up? He needed an escort? “I’m a banker, for crying out loud. Why do I need a babysitter?” It was a struggle to remain polite when all he wanted to do was get this meeting over with.
Calling himself a banker wasn’t quite accurate, but explaining that he was a private equity investment manager usually had people’s eyes glazing over. There was also the risk someone might understand what he was and figure out why he was there before WYCK was ready to make their interest public news.
The security officer gave a small shrug. “Everyone coming to see the executives gets an escort.”
Nik surveyed the lobby while he waited, noting the security differences between Harbourview Casino and the casinos his company already owned in Ontario. The central entrance reminded him of the trunk of a tree, with branches leading in multiple directions. One branch led to the hotel lobby, one led to the casino, and, based on signage, a third took people to the theatre and events centre. The corporate offices were the final option. A central desk operated by security sat in the rotunda, keeping watch on everyone coming and going. The casino entrance had another security checkpoint, plus metal detectors. He’d never seen that before in a Canadian casino. Employees were protected by the Plexiglas screens that had become ubiquitous throughout the pandemic, but a closer look told Nik there was something different about them. They looked more like the bulletproof screens he’d seen at some of the companies he’d dealt with in the United States.
Nik thought back to some of the articles he’d read during his hurried research the night before. There had been some kind of major incident at the casino a few months earlier—a gang member had kidnapped the casino manager, ending in a shootout in the parking garage. The incident had made national news, although Nik had been mired in another complex takeover at the time and had paid little attention. Even last night he’d only skimmed the story, his interest limited to how it had affected company revenues.
“This have anything to do with what happened last October?” He kept his tone casual, but any little piece of information he could glean might be helpful when it came time to negotiate share pricing. Maybe the enhanced security measures were turning customers away instead of making them feel safe.
The officer’s expression was carefully neutral. “We made a few changes after the incident.”
The security officer was attempting to brush off Nik’s questions like they were no big deal, but his delivery was too smooth, too practised. When the officer didn’t volunteer any other information, Nik gave up his line of questioning. He turned his back and leaned against the desk. This was getting him nowhere, and there was nothing to do but wait.
Another officer, a woman with long dark hair, strode across the lobby. “Mr. Costas? Follow me, please. I’ll take you up to your meeting.” She led him to the elevators, swiping an electronic key card for access.
Nik noted that she was around thirty, pretty, with dark eyes that matched her dark hair. Her resemblance to his ex-wife was superficial, but it was enough to set him on edge. “Finally,” Nik grumbled.
“The wait was unavoidable, I’m afraid. It’s been a busy morning.” Her tone was respectful but firm.
They rode up to the executive offices together, but the officer remained in the elevator when the doors opened and Nik stepped out.
“You trust me on my own now?” Nik didn’t hide his sarcasm.
The officer gave him an amused smile, her eyes flicking over him just enough to let him know she found him attractive, even if he was being a jerk. “We verified that you were who you said you were, and you were expected. You’re not a threat. Our job is done. You want the office at the end of the hall, by the way.”
With that, she pushed a button to close the door, and Nik was left standing in the hallway. He turned abruptly and headed towards the office, shrugging off a twinge of guilt for being an ass. Not every woman with dark hair and dark eyes was his ex, and he’d had no call to be rude to someone just doing their job.
He noted several empty offices as he trekked down the long hallway: VP Operations, VP Security, Communications. Coastal definitely hadn’t recovered, which meant they might be ripe for a takeover. The surge of excitement this generated was welcome. He needed to feel something about this opportunity, or the deal wasn’t worth doing. All the empty offices left him wondering how the new CEO had managed when they were missing so many key players. What was the holdup in recruiting to fill them? Were they in over their heads?
There was no one at the desk outside the office of the CEO, although at least it looked like it was normally occupied. The door to the office was open, and Nik ducked his head inside to announce his arrival. He stopped short at the site that greeted him: beautiful, shapely legs poking out from under a tight black skirt hugging the curves of the woman’s bottom. An absolutely perfect bottom, he noted appreciatively. Whoever she was, she wasn’t tall, even wearing what had to be four-inch heels, but every inch of what he could see was beautifully proportioned. A curtain of blonde hair dangled into the cabinet she was digging through.
The blonde hair coupled with the short stature tugged at his memory, and a flash of a single night from years earlier came and went. Nik shook his head to chase away his memories, then cleared his throat to get the woman’s attention without startling her.
“I’m looking for Jules Roberts. Can you tell me where I can find him?”
