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CHAPTER 45
ARCHER
Winnie’s brother,Tyson,watches me carefully. He leans back in the wingback chair, his hands clasped on the armrests as he assesses what I just told him. I’ve never gotten to know Tyson very well; he always preferred to stay away from the parties just like I did—maybe even more than I did. But if Winnie trusts him to help us with this, then I trust him, too. I just need to know if he trusts me.
Tyson looks over at Winnie. “Do you trust Archer, Winnie? Like really, truly trust him on this? Because last I talked with Dad, this arrangement between you and Archer was simply that—an arrangement.”
Winnie nods confidently, looking over at me with a soft smile. “I trust him. It’s far more than an arrangement now.”
Tyson nods, leaning forward and placing his chin in his hands. He puts his full focus on me again. “What’s stopping me from going to my dad right now and telling him of your father’s plan? He’s a smart man; he’d figure out a way to not get his board to sway on him.”
I lift my chin. “Because if you do that, we’re going to be forever stuck in this perpetual feud between our families.”
“Until you and I take over, of course. We don’t have to continue to fight the battle.”
I nod. I’ve thought about Tyson’s point alot since my dad pulled me into that meeting. I feel like I have a plan that will finally put this decades-long rivalry to rest for good. “You and I both know our fathers are greedy. They thrive on having power. Neither one of us will be handed full control for at least another ten years. If that. Do we really want to keep fighting for that long? Both of our companies were founded on being stronger together. I think we can get there again.”
“One could argue that we’re greedy for even wanting to go against our fathers. Isn’t that a tale as old as time? Son gets jealous enough of his father that he tries to overthrow him?” Tyson shrugs, pretending to pick lint off his sleeve. “It sounds rather cliché to me.”
“I wouldn’t want this if my father wasn’t trying to take my wife’s family business.” I don’t bother to hide the venom in my voice. The last thing I want is for Tyson to think I’m doing this for selfish reasons. I’ve always been fine being underneath my father, as long as I was still impressing him. What I’m not fine with is holding on to a useless grudge when I feel like we can better both our companies if we just worked together.
“Winnie doesn’t have any interest in Bishop Hotels,” Tyson argues, glancing over at his sister.
Winnie sits there, her hands folded nicely in her lap. I feel a tinge of sadness that even her brother has never noticed that there’s so much more to her than a pretty face at a party. “Winnie has the best eye for design I’ve seen. She’d be an amazing head of design for new hotels and even updating the designs in old ones.”
Winnie’s head shoots up, her eyes wide as she looks at me. I stare back, daring her to tell me that she wouldn’t love doing that. She’d excel at working closely with the design teams—or even leading them. I’m just disappointed her family has been so obsessed with forcing her to attend parties and be the face of Bishop Hotels instead of realizing she has more to offer.
“Is that true?” Tyson asks, focusing only on his sister.
Winnie straightens her spine and looks her brother in the eye. “I’d love to have a say in designs. So many of the hotels are…outdated.” She blushes a little at the last word. It makes me smile. I don’t think she meant it as an insult, but either way, it’s the truth.
“So my point stands. I have no interest in stealing my wife’s family business—the one she deserves more of a say in, might I add. And I’d happily let my father call the shots if I thought he was making good ones, but he isn’t. Instead, he’s choosing to hold a grudge that’s just harming everyone involved.”
“We’re talking about swaying two boards here, not just one,” Tyson offers.
I’ve got to give him credit, he seems interested in what I have to say. Maybe this will actually work out. Maybe we won’t make the same mistakes as our fathers and their fathers and their fathers before them. If Tyson and I can come to an agreement, we can finally end the feud between the Bishops and the Moores.
“I think we’d both be surprised about how interested our boards would be at the prospect of new leadership.” I smirk, leaning back in my own chair as I hold my hands out. “Let’s not forget that with my name alone, part of your board is already in my favor.”
I decide that I actually like Winnie’s brother when he laughs, taking a sip of the bourbon I’d poured him. “Not a bad point.”
“I know,” I clip out.
“So what exactly is your plan? We’ll have to make sure everything is completely solid before the vote. And if that vote goes wrong for us at all…”
“We’ll both be disinherited?” I laugh. Winnie has taught me that I’m not as intimidated by my father as I thought I was. In my thirty-five years of life, I’ve done a great job earning money that’s completely my own.
Sure, my father could decide I don’t get anything from Moore Hotels if he so chooses, but I doubt he will. My hope is at the end of the day, we can both make our fathers see thatthe most prosperous way out of this is for Moore Hotels and Bishop Hotels to become one again.
“Don’t talk like that,” Winnie scolds, sitting up in her chair and reaching to grab my hand. “Tell us what you were thinking for the plan.”
I keep a grip on her hand the entire time we go over, what in my opinion, is our best path forward.
CHAPTER 46
WINNIE
I’mbusy fussing with the back of a diamond earring when Archer walks into the master closet.
