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“It really can’t,” Lia said. Dropping her hands, she dug in her handbag and pulled out a handful of papers. “You need to see these.”
“What is going on? Is that the chef?” Tommaso asked.
“Just a moment, please.” Taking Lia’s arm, I pulled her from the room and back into the front area of the pub where Graham wiped bottles behind the bar.
“Just read them. Munroe, I’m so sorry,” Lia said, and I held up my finger to silence her so I could focus on the words in front of me. To her credit, she quieted.
“What’s going on?” Graham asked, coming to stand in front of me, and I held up my finger to him as well.
“You know, I have an excellent pickup line that involves one finger,” Graham said.
“Wheesht,” Lia and I said together, and Graham, tohiscredit, shut his mouth.
“Fraud,” I read out loud, and flipped to the other paper. “The Auld Mill is protected land?”
“Aye, there’s a whole family of otters up there. It’s been protected for ages. Wait, were they trying to sell you that property? I don’t think you can build on it at all.” Graham leaned forward and took the papers from my shaky hands. “I didn’t know you were looking up that way.”
“I didn’t say anything as I didn’t want too many people weighing in on my decision,” I said. I could kick myself for not running it past at least a few of my friends. Lesson learned. Turning to Lia, I took her by the shoulders. “Lia. Where did you get these papers?”
“Brice,” Lia whispered, her voice apologetic.
“Bloody hell. We need to work on how he deals with problems,” I grumbled. Reaching up, I pinched my nose as I thought about what to do. It was easy enough to not offer on the Auld Mill property, though I’d need to report the agent for misrepresentation of the land. But the bit with Tommaso was trickier. If I called him out for his criminal charges in front of the others, I had no idea what stream of events that could trigger. For all I knew, he could be with the Italian mob. I would need to handle this delicately.
Thankfully, I’d trusted my instincts and hadn’t signed anything away yet.
“I’m sorry, Munroe,” Lia whispered, clenching my arm. “I know how important this is to you. And, I wouldn’t have come here if I thought Brice was making this up. Please, trust me. I don’t want you to get screwed.”
Bending, I brushed a kiss across her forehead, and then tilted her chin up so her pretty brown eyes met mine.
“I’ll take care of it. Thank you for bringing this to me.” With a glance at Graham, I pointed at the papers. “You’re certain about Auld Mill being protected?”
“Aye. I went to the ceremony celebrating it and everything.”
“Fair enough. Thank you both for that. I’ll speak to you later.” With that, I smoothed my lapels and took a deep breath, before returning to the meeting. Closing the door neatly behind me, I smiled apologetically at the room. “I’m so very sorry about that. Lia, my girlfriend, had an issue at her new restaurant she’s opening. Tommaso knows the place.”
“Delicious food,” Tommaso said, kissing his fingers. “Brilliant restaurant. I hope everything is well?”
“Well enough. Just nerves with a new business.” Smiling, I sat down at the table and picked up the paperwork as I scanned the documents. Clause after clause, tying me and Common Gin up with their companies for years to come. I didn’t need to address the real estate aspect of this, as that would be handled with the agent, so really it was just whether I wanted to bring up Tommaso’s criminal allegations or not. Under the ruse of reading the contract again, I came to my conclusion. One thing I’d learned about really rich people? They hated losing face. I wasn’t going to call Tommaso out, but I also wasn’t going to take this deal.
“Thank you, gentlemen, for coming here today and for offering me such a generous proposition. Respectfully, I will decline the offer.”
“What?” Tommaso blinked at me in surprise.
“Oh, come on,” Craig exploded. “This was all a waste of time? Coming to this empty little town to try and woo you into a deal? Or is this just you playing hardball? If you want to negotiate terms, we can negotiate terms. But don’t just flat-out reject the proposal. We’re offering you the world.”
“I understand.” I smiled at the table as I stood. “And I thank you for your offer. But here’s the thing—I already have the world. Right here, in this empty little town. Common Gin was built on the idea that we were a friendly,accessiblegin—made for the common man. A drink to be shared among friends, of all walks of life. And that’s right where I’ll keep it. I’m happy with my life, and I’m happy with where my business is at. Thank you, again, for your offer, but Common Gin is not available for investment opportunities.”
“Boy.” Tommaso stood and grabbed my arm as I turned to leave. “Do you have any idea what you’re walking away from? Your parents will be furious. If you’d taken this deal, they would have finally had a chance to brag about you.”
“Och, I certainly wouldn’t want that now, would I?” I grinned at him and pulled his hand from my shoulder. “Why break with tradition?”
“Is this about the girl? There’s always another girl…” Tommaso trailed off as I whirled on him, my hands clenched in fists.
“Lia isn’t just some girl, and she’s worthy of your respect. You’ll not speak her name again.”
Tommaso backed up a step, which was smart seeing as I was easily a head taller than him, and with one brisk nod to the others in the room, I left.
“Where’s Lia?” I demanded of Graham when I returned to the bar to find her gone.
