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See, Davis Courtney was hoping to stay employed with Grandland Hotels in some capacity, and that wasn’t going to happen until I had all the financial facts laid out before me. It was one thing for Davis Courtney to have bitten off more than he could chew, it was quite another if he was a crook.
So, while I’d known that Preston wasn’t going to be able to meet us for the tour, I had insisted on him meeting us at the headquarter offices of Grandland Hotels. Davis was going to be there, and I needed Preston to make it clear thatIwas the one in charge here. Preston might have been the one to give Grandland Hotels a fighting chance, but I was the one that needed to be impressed.
When my phone chimed with an incoming text, I couldn’t help but grimace a bit. Then I had to let out a deep sigh when I pulled the text up.
Madison:When r u picking me up for the gala this Friday?
The problem with the women that ran in my circles was that most of them were bored socialites. Living off Daddy’s money or their many ex-husbands’ divorce settlements, they had nothing better to do than shop, attend parties, and spend their lives on social media. As a workaholic, none of that shit interested me. I also wasn’t interested in any woman that was more than three years older or younger than I was. I didn’t have the patience for the younger generation, and the older generation expected me to slow down, which I was nowhere near ready to do just yet.
Madison Thompson and I had first hooked up about two months ago at a charity event, and she had seemed perfect to satisfy my occasional needs. However, she was quickly turning out to be just like all the rest that had come before her. She was becomingexpectant, something that didn’t work for me.
Me:I’m not attending the gala this Friday.
I didn’t bother asking which gala she was talking about, either. I had no plans to attend anything this weekend. Now, normally, I’d let Preston tend to the details of Grandland Hotels, but with his personal connection to Davis, I wanted to make sure that there weren’t any whispers accusing him of having any conflicts of interest. I was going to be the one paying extra close attention to this deal, so that meant that my weekends were going to be spent handling all the other shit that I had going on.
Miscalculating her importance in my life, Madison texted back.
Madison:I’m sure that Lee Beatty can escort me.
Me:Perfect. Have a great time
I quickly deleted Madison’s number after firing off that final text. I didn’t need her shit, and Lee Beatty was more than welcomed to her. Though beautiful, there were a million beautiful women in this city. Hell, depending on your definition of beautiful, there were beautiful women everywhere that you looked. There was no shortage of stunning women when you were more interested in their personalities, rather than how perfect their makeup was.
So, yeah, Lee Beatty was more than welcomed to whatever Madison Thompson wanted with him. I needed a woman that had a life. I needed a woman that had no problem with me neglecting her because she was going to be too busy neglecting me back. I needed a woman that was going to be secretly happy when I cancelled plans because she was just as tired as I was. The last fucking thing that I needed was a woman threatening me with another man because I worked too much. No one became a thirty-eight-year-old billionaire without working around the damn clock.
Worst case scenario, I could always order my sex. Women thought that men paid females for sex, but that wasn’t true; they paid them toleaveafterwards. Prostitution was a multi-million-dollar business because men would rather experience uncomplicated sex than deal with the drama of a woman that hadn’t stuck to her end of the bargain.
Pulling up to the hotel, I slipped my phone back in my pocket, forgetting all about Madison Thompson and the stupid gala this Friday. Even though it was early as hell, it was also a Monday morning, so I didn’t have time to fuck around.
Getting out of the car, I buttoned my jacket as I made my way towards the entrance, praying that Grandland Hotels wasn’t going to be a waste of my time.
Chapter 3
Landry~
‘Bryant’ had assigned us each our own sections to audit, though we all knew that it’d really been Tina Shepard that had divided the work accordingly. Since Bryant never left his office, he still refused to take the time to get to know his team, having no idea what our strengths and weaknesses were. In all actuality, Tina should have been promoted to our boss when the position had become available, which led me to believe that Bryant had to be related to someone at the top in order for him to have gotten this job.
When Tina/Bryant had handed us our assignments, the final count had left us with a team of six. Tina had gotten the restaurant accounts, Joshua Suns had gotten the amenities accounts, Cole Butler had gotten the maintenance accounts, Gavin Madrid had gotten the payroll accounts, and I had gotten corporate expenses. Surprisingly, Bryant had opted to be part of the team, so Tina had given him guest check-ins and expenses.
Like most companies that we audited, Grandland Hotels had set aside a couple of conference rooms and offices to help us with what we needed, and all I’d been able to think about was Rowena’s prediction about the shadow when I’d been informed that Bryant Stanton and I would be sharing the same workspace. Tina was working with Cole in the first conference room, Gavin and Joshua had the second conference room, and Bryant and I had to share the third conference room. The nearest offices had been cleaned out to house all the paperwork that we’d be sifting through, but luckily, it wasn’t that bad. With most everything computerized these days, going through the physical records wasn’t as daunting as it used to be back in the day.
Setting up my laptop, I looked up when I heard voices, and I did my best not to cringe when I saw Bryant walking into the conference room. Even though he was my boss, I held very little respect for the man, if any at all. I also knew that he was going to be asking me for all kinds of help like this was our first day of training or something.
However, Bryant Stanton was quickly forgotten when I noticed the tall glass of water walking into the conference room with him. Because I had eyes that worked, it was hard not to appreciate how goddamn hot the man was. I wasn’t big on drooling over men because I just didn’t have that kind of extra time in my life, but I was definitely making some time right now.
Well over six-foot, he had dark brown hair, emerald-colored eyes, a face that reminded me of Colton Haynes, and a body that looked like it knew the inside of a gym. Even underneath that custom-tailored suit of his, you could tell that the man was in good shape for looking close to forty.
Sweet Baby Jesus.
“Ah, Landry,” Bryant drawled out like we were the best of friends. “I’d like you to meet Mr. Rush Crawford. He’s the CEO of Crawford Industries.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to reply with something juvenile, but I managed to control myself, though barely. Even though I’d never seen a picture of Rush Crawford, everyone in the city knew his name. Hell, everyone in the country probably did, too. Granted, not all billionaires were famous, but it was no secret that a thirty-eight-year-old billionaire was rare if the money hadn’t been inherited.
Stepping away from one of the boxes that I’d been ready to open, I stepped forward, reaching out my arm, ignoring the nimrod standing next to Mr. Crawford. “Mr. Crawford,” I said, shaking his hand.
Taking my hand in his, he said, “Ms…?”
“Novak,” I provided since Bryant was a putz.
