The Ruthless Gentleman

by Louise Bay

  “And we both appreciate it. But it isn’t the only thing you should be doing. You have your own life to lead as well.”

  Was I just becoming a vessel for other people’s needs and desires? Was I not my own person anymore? It was true that yachting had supplanted any ambitions I’d had before Michael’s accident. But that didn’t mean I didn’t want to take time for myself. I just didn’t have many opportunities. I guess I could take up knitting.

  “I’m in the South of France. How bad could life be?”

  “Well, as long as you’re taking time to do what you want to do. It’s okay to be selfish here and there. It’s okay to enjoy yourself.”

  I’d not been particularly adventurous since I started yachting. Most of the crew I’d worked with spent time at the end of each season exploring and getting to know the country they’d been sailing around. I’d always wanted to get back home.

  “Okay, Dad, look, I’ve got to go.” I was nearly out of minutes, and I didn’t have long until I had to get to the patisserie. “Tell Michael I love him. And go easy on the pizza, you hear me?”

  “Love you, honey.”

  “Love you, Daddy.”

  I hung up and as I headed to the address Hayden had given me, I tried to remember the last time I’d done something selfish or reckless. I could drink tequila with the best of them. It wasn’t like I was afraid of fun. But it always took place within very carefully drawn parameters.

  I’d always wanted to spend more time in Italy, so maybe I’d take a few days at the end of this season and be a tourist instead of going right back to Sacramento. I’d at least think about it even if it was just for a day or two.

  I reached the patisserie so quickly I was almost disappointed. It was a large shop with glass counters running around two sides, with a dozen tables and chairs for people who wanted to enjoy their pastry on-site. I scanned the customers but didn’t see anyone with a brown envelope or who looked like a lawyer.

  Hayden had told me that his contact would find me, so I focused on the rows of desserts, so many that I couldn’t imagine how many customers the shop got each day. There were big cakes and individual cakes. Some had fruit, lots had cream and all varied in color and shape. I should remember this place for my next charter—it would be a good place to send guests who’d never been to France before. Hell, it would be a good place to bring August and Skylar after this charter finished. We could eat cake for breakfast and move on to the bar for lunch.

  “Bonjour,” one of the servers behind the counter said. “Can I help you?”

  I was always slightly depressed when I was in a foreign country and they realized I wasn’t a native. I guess with my polo shirt and khaki skirt, it was clear I was a yacht worker. “I’d like a Gâteau St. Honoré,” I replied. I’d only had one once, but it had been beyond the most delicious thing I’d ever eaten. “Do you have them?”

  “Bien sûr. Large or small?”

  “Two large, please.”

  I followed the assistant along the counter as she made her way toward the section with the large cakes.

  She pulled the tray toward her and chose two towers of profiteroles, caramel and cream. It might just be the best thing I’d ever laid eyes on in my life. I should order ten.

  “Ms. Walker?” a quiet voice asked from behind me. I snapped my head around to find a petite girl with mousy brown hair clutching a brown envelope.

  “Yes.”

  “This is for you,” she said, lifting her chin at the brown envelope in her arms.

  I glanced back at the assistant, who was busying herself making up a box for the cream concoctions I’d just ordered. I unhooked one of the handles of my tote off my arm. “Thanks,” I said.

  She glanced around and then slipped the thick envelope into my bag and scurried out the door. Jesus, the girl looked as guilty as hell.

  Loaded with cake and more questions, I headed back to the tender.

  “You got it?” Eric asked as I handed him the two boxes before climbing back aboard.

  “Sure did. And a treat for us as well.”

  He smiled. “It’s weird that documents are the first thing this guy requests. I mean, usually it’s the wine with this type of guest.”

  “He’s a workaholic.” I shrugged, then took a seat at the back of the boat.

  “I’ve offered to get out the toys a couple of times, but he’s always said no. I guess it’s weird going down the water slide on your own.” He untied the line and cast off.

  “I think he just wants to kick back, relax and work uninterrupted. I’m sure you’ve had worse guests. I know I have.” This charter was unusual but it wasn’t difficult.

  “I guess. I just wish he wasn’t here for eight weeks. If nothing else, I’m going to get a little bored, especially without my computer.”

  It was true; there was a lot less to do when we only had one guest who didn’t seem to do anything but work all night and sleep or work all day. “Let’s finish off the schedules. That way, we can keep the rest of the crew motivated if they’re working toward time off.”

  “Good plan.” Eric started the engine and we headed back to the Athena.

  We’d been gone nearly an hour and a half. Would Hayden have asked Skylar for anything while I was gone? I sort of enjoyed how he insisted on dealing with me as if I was special. The way he’d reacted to me asking him about the preferences sheet—another guest might have lost it, but I liked that I’d read him well enough to know I was okay to bring it up and I liked him even more for filling it out. He understood and respected we had a job to do and he didn’t seem to look down on me—that was unusual. Now here I was wondering if anyone else had noticed that instead of just making sure my hair was neat, now I tried to make sure it looked glossy. Lately I’d worn a little more makeup than usual. Hell, I was running out of fake tan. It was stupid. Hayden didn’t see me like that. To him, I was staff.

  Ten

  Hayden

  I exhaled, trying to beat back the panic pushing through my veins. I straightened out the Financial Times and read the feature again in more detail. It was all about the performance of private companies and how success was so closely tied to their leadership. The article went on to detail companies that had gone belly up when their CEO left or retired. Phoenix Holdings was highlighted as being at risk as their CEO and owner was coming up for retirement.

  This article couldn’t have come at a worse time. Negotiations between us were tense. We were in the stage where I asked lots of probing questions, and because the CEO was the major shareholder, he wasn’t used to it.

  But it was all information I needed in order for me to complete the acquisition. However much I wanted Phoenix, I wasn’t going to buy it blind.

  Part of me wondered if Phoenix were responsible for the article. It was bound to get people sniffing around. And the CEO would know I’d see it. Whether or not it was planned, it increased the pressure on me to get this deal done.

  I leaned back in my chair and picked up my satellite phone.

  “I need you to do something for me,” I said the second Landon picked up.

  “Nice to hear from you, Hayden. How am I? Fine, thank you very much. Work is good.”

  Sarcasm was my brother’s primary skill.

  “Like you have time for social niceties any more than I do.”

  “True. What can I do for you?” he asked.

  “I want to know if Cannon and Phoenix have a connection.” I went on to explain the article.

  “I don’t get it. You think Phoenix had something to do with the article being in the paper?”

  “I happen to know that Cannon have strong links with the Financial Times. They could have fed the article to them easily.”

  “But if Cannon knew Phoenix was on the market, wouldn’t they be making their move already?”

  My mind was whirring with reasons why Cannon might want me to buy Phoenix. “Not if they’re setting a trap for me.” I opened the drawer in my desk and dropped the pink newspaper
inside. “This article might be designed to attract other buyers and put pressure on me to sign before I’ve done my due diligence. I want to make sure every rock is overturned and I’ve seen every skeleton in every closet. I won’t be rushed into signing this deal.”

  “Are you sure you’re not being paranoid?” he asked. “You need to be focusing on getting your deal done and the leak in your office.”

  “I don’t want to do this deal if it’s not right.”

  “So focus on getting your due diligence done before it can get thrown off track. Don’t borrow trouble.”

  Was that what I was doing? Getting distracted by my own conspiracy theories? Maybe. The thought of someone working for Cannon in the business I’d built, someone trying to destroy me from the inside, wasn’t any easier just because I wasn’t in the office.

  “Okay, you have a point. I just want this leaker found,” I said.

  “From what my team on the ground tell me, no one’s tracked you to Saint Tropez. And I’ve not seen anything unusual back in London, no phone calls from your senior team to any Cannon numbers and no meetings between them either. They’re not making it easy for us. But we’ll figure it out.”

  Landon and I hadn’t discussed the personal connection between our family and Cannon. But we both understood what was at stake. We’d experienced the aftereffects of the destruction of our father’s business, so we knew what they were capable of.

  “If my digging doesn’t work, we’ll have to try to draw them out—we can brainstorm some ideas in a few days if I don’t find something before then.”

  “Hang on,” I said as someone knocked on my office door. Who the fuck was bothering me? No one other than Avery was supposed to be down here.

  I rounded the desk and swung open the door, coming face-to-face with Avery’s big brown eyes.

  She glanced at the phone I was clutching in my hand. “Sorry, I just brought you some fresh coffee as you seemed to want to be back at your desk so quickly and I know how you like a lot of coffee in the morning.” She lifted up a cup of coffee, which was just what I needed in the absence of a slug of whiskey.

  I took the saucer out of her hand and our eyes locked for a second. She really noticed everything. I prided myself on reading people, on building relationships and by remembering small things about people I met throughout my career, but this woman could give me a run for my money. “Thanks. I appreciate it.” Whether she knew it or not, the times I saw this woman were fast becoming the most enjoyable parts of my day.

  “My pleasure,” Avery said and then shook her head slightly.

  I was pretty sure I caught a slight blush in Miss Professional’s cheeks. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, but that didn’t stop me wondering what her real pleasures were.

  I lifted my eyebrows and grinned at her and she shut her eyes almost as if she were trying to regain her composure. Then without another word she turned and I watched her and her fantastic arse climb the stairs.

  My brother calling my name caught my attention and I lifted the phone to my ear. “Sorry, it was just—”

  “Someone catering to your every need? Must be tough.”

  I shut the door, put the coffee on my desk and collapsed back in my chair. “I’d prefer to be back in the office, making deals, but you’re right, if I’ve got to disappear, there are worse places to be.” Just having Avery around was like breathing pure oxygen, adding color to my otherwise taxing days. If she weren’t so bloody professional, I’d have had her bent over my desk by now but she was better than that. Worth more than a quick fuck. She was the kind of woman I’d have to take my time with.

  “And you’re dealing with the lawyers okay?” Landon interrupted my train of thought. “Annie said the drop went well yesterday.”

  “Yeah. I spent the night working through the documents—thanks for arranging that.”

  “No problem. You’re paying me.”

  “I am?” I chuckled.

  Landon rarely talked about money, but the fact that he’d paid cash for his penthouse in Kensington told me business was booming for him.

  “It’s not like we’re family or anything. You’ll get my bill at the end of this.”

  “You better be worth it.”

  “I’ll remind you of this conversation when you sign the Phoenix deal.”

  “If you’re sending me a bill anyway, can you dig a bit deeper into the crew here? I just want to make sure everything thoroughly checks out.” What I wanted was more information about Avery. What drove her to be so good at what she did? What had made her become a yachtie and not go to university? I’d seen glimpses of the Avery underneath the professional façade, and I wanted to know more.

  “I’ve done thorough checks—there’s nothing to worry about.”

  “Do me a favor and the next time we do a drop, give me everything you can find on Avery Walker.”

  “The chief stewardess?”

  “Yeah, that’s the one.”

  “Is something making you suspicious?”

  Only the fact that I trusted her and didn’t know why. Wanted to fuck her but hadn’t made a move. It was weird. Not like me. “Nothing I’m ready to share. Just an instinct.”

  “Okay. I’ll do some follow-up work on her.”

  “Now, get out of here—I’ve got to go and catch some rays.” I hung up and grabbed my laptop. Sunbathing and relaxation was the last thing I needed, but I found I quite enjoyed my interactions with Avery and so working from the main deck, knowing she would pass by intermittently tending to my every need, wasn’t an opportunity I was going to pass up.

  Eleven

  Hayden

  All I got from my lawyers were invoices and bad news. “Fuck,” I spat as I hung up my satellite phone.

  This deal had started off like clockwork and then out of nowhere the wheels had fallen off and I was stuck in the middle of the Mediterranean without an assistant or my email. I wished to God Landon had found the leak, so I could get back to London.

  There was a rap at my door. “Come in,” I said. If it had been anyone other than Avery, I wouldn’t have answered but she was so dedicated, always knowing what I wanted before I did, not to mention she was fucking beautiful. She was basically kryptonite for me.

  “Hey, I just brought you a coffee, but did I come at a bad time?”

  I sighed as I sat back in my chair. “Thanks. On this deal, there’s never a good time.”

  She winced, placing the large cup of coffee in front of me. I caught the scent of her—all sunshine and summer flowers, as though she just came from a better part of the universe than I did. “Anything I can help you with?”

  “Unless you can explain to me why people decide to clam up on me and make outrageous demands then I’m not sure you can help.”

  She transferred her weight onto one leg, and her hip pushed out to the side, creating a delicious curve I wanted to trace with my fingertips. “What’s happened? Someone’s stopped talking to you and has started demanding stuff? A customer?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “I know it’s all super top secret and everything, so don’t tell me anything you shouldn’t, but sometimes just talking out loud can help shuffle stuff around in your brain and a solution appears.”

  A grin tugged at the corners of my mouth. She made it sound easy and if I didn’t know better, I’d have believed her.

  “I see your skepticism.” Her eyebrows darted up. “Try it.” She lifted her shoulder in a half shrug. “You never know, I might even be able to help.”

  I sighed. Avery’s presence was calming and I wasn’t ready for her to leave. “I’m trying to buy a company. And it was all going according to plan and then the seller just starts making crazy requests in the legal documentation and he’s not answering his phone. And I don’t have email so I can’t email him. It’s bloody frustrating.”

  “You think he’s gotten a better offer and he’s stalling?”

  She was smart. That was my suspicion but if he was after
the best price, he’d have put the company up for auction. “Maybe. I feel disconnected from the process out here. If I were back in London I think I’d figure it out. It’s like I have one hand tied behind my back.”

  “And you can’t get back to London because you don’t want anyone to know you’re buying this company.”

  I didn’t deny it—she didn’t know which company and she’d been vetted. I needed to stop being so paranoid, as Landon had said. “Something like that.”

  “So you’re out of your comfort zone but that doesn’t mean you’re in a worse position. If you were in London, what would you do in this situation? I mean if it’s so secret, I guess you couldn’t just have a meeting with this guy and ask him outright what the matter is?”

  I reached behind my neck, pressing my fingers into the knotted muscle. “Right.” What would I do differently if I was back in London? “Seeing people is the easiest way to figure out what they put a value on. It’s pretty easy to read people.”

  “That’s for sure. Mainly. Although not always. Some people are tough to figure out. Especially those who don’t care if they’re eating oysters or fish sticks.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “You trying to make a point Ms. Walker?”

  She laughed in such a completely unaffected and genuine way, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She leaned on the side of the desk and I shifted my chair around so I was pointed toward her. “Seeing people definitely makes it easier to read them, but what do you already know about this seller? Is it a corporation? A family? What?”

  “A guy in his mid-sixties. He started the business nearly fifty years ago. He’s selling up and retiring.” I was probably telling her too much but I trusted her, trusted Landon to have vetted her.

  “Oh wow. Fifty years. So he’s gotta find it tough to let go.”

  I chuckled. “I’m not getting it for free. He’s going to retire a very rich man. He could live on one of these for the rest of his life and his kids are still never going to have to work again.”