Duke of Manhattan

by Louise Bay

  “What are you talking about?” He sounded defeated, and that wasn’t the man I knew and loved. “Do you need money for the repairs Darcy mentioned?”

  He chuckled and patted the hand I had resting on the side of the bed. I’d never question my grandfather’s love, but he didn’t show it through hugs and declarations. Darcy and I just knew from the way he was always around, making sure we never needed anything, weren’t in trouble, alone or forgotten. He was our anchor.

  “No, I don’t want your money.” He glanced at our hands before nodding. “I’m afraid if your cousin gets his hands on my share, he might have a different view.”

  I squinted as the early morning sun reflected off the windows and into the room. “I’m not following you. What’s my business got to do with Frederick?”

  He took a deep breath and began to cough. Jesus, I hated to see him so frail. I poured him some water from the plastic jug on his side table but he waved me away. “I’m fine,” he said, wheezing.

  “You need to take it easy.”

  “I said I’m fine.” He inhaled and his breathing evened out. I sat back in the chair, trying to look more relaxed than I felt. “Do you remember when I invested in Westbury Group? I took that special share so you wouldn’t have the burden of a loan?”

  “Yeah, of course.” I scanned his face, wanting to get to the crux of what he was saying.

  “Well, the money came from the estate, and so the share is in the estate’s name.”

  “I remember,” I replied.

  “Well, a year or so ago I went to Giles to see if there was anything we could do about this blasted succession thing. It’s not right that you should have to be married to inherit. The estate, Woolton, the title. It’s all rightfully yours.”

  I’d been to see our family lawyer and estate trustee to discuss the future, but I’d never had a conversation about it with Grandfather. I didn’t like to be reminded that one day he wouldn’t be around to keep me in line.

  “You know that it’s not important to me. I have my own money and I can more than look after Darcy.” I hated talking about what happened after. The thought of a world that my grandfather wasn’t a part of wasn’t something I wanted to think about.

  “Well, that’s the point. I’m not sure it will be yours.”

  Had I heard him correctly? “What do you mean?”

  “The terms of the trust set out that I can’t alter or sell any of the assets of the trust after I turned eighty.” My grandfather may be the Duke of Fairfax and heir of the Woolton estate, but everything was managed through a trust that governed exactly what could and couldn’t be done in order to preserve the estate for future generations.

  “Right. I’m not following you.” I glanced over at the door, expecting Darcy to return at any minute. Perhaps she’d understand what grandfather was trying to say.

  “So I can’t transfer that share back to you. You can’t buy me out,” he said.

  I shrugged. “So. Your investment hasn’t affected the way I run the business at all. Keep the share.”

  “But it’s not mine. It belongs to the trust. Which means when I die”—I winced as he said the words—“it passes to Frederick.”

  I still wasn’t understanding. I studied his face, trying to work out exactly what he was saying. “So he’ll have a minor share. So what?”

  “Have you looked at the paperwork we put in place at the time?” he asked, shifting on the bed.

  I couldn’t remember any of the nuts and bolts of what we’d done. I’d been too excited to get my business off the ground to care. I’d found a small biotech firm in Cambridge I’d wanted to invest in, an opportunity that wouldn’t have lasted long. And it had been one of the best decisions I’d made. It had made me a fortune, and opened the door to new opportunities. It was from that investment that all my success had come and I’d finally felt as if I deserved my place in the world. A much as I loved my grandfather, as I child, I still lived with the reality that I wasn’t enough for my parents. Westbury Group helped me feel grounded. It was mine. And it wasn’t going anywhere. “I can’t remember the details. But everything has worked out fine. What’s the problem?”

  “In order to give you the money from the trust, the share needed to have certain powers. So, if I don’t like the way you’re running the group, I can take control of the company.”

  “That’s never been an issue, though.” There was no one in the world who I trusted more than my grandfather to go into business with.

  “But when the share transfers to Frederick …”

  The scrape of my chair echoed around the room as I stood abruptly. I shoved my hands in my pockets, trying to keep calm. “Are you telling me that Frederick is going to be able to take control of my company?” My grandfather was the person I could trust most in the world. Frederick was the person who I trusted least. “That he could take everything I’ve worked for all these years?”

  “I’m sorry, my boy. I never meant for it to be like this.”

  I paced up and down by his bed. “So we change the paperwork, right? Can’t we pass a resolution that changes the rights of that share?” I stopped and gripped the cream metal bar at the foot of the bed, waiting for my grandfather’s response. That had to be the solution, right? “I still own the majority of the company.”

  He shook his head. “I wish it were that simple. Once I turned eighty, no changes to investments can be made. I’m so sorry, I had no idea my investment in your company, in your future, could affect you like this.”

  My knuckles whitened as my grip on the bed tightened. “This isn’t your fault.”

  “I should have had Giles do a full review of our assets much sooner, but …” But the stroke had happened and all we’d cared about was his health.

  “Don’t think about it.” I didn’t want my grandfather to worry about it. I could do that for both of us. Westbury Group was everything I’d worked for my whole life. It meant I never had to rely on anyone—it was my independence. Westbury Group ensured I didn’t have to be reliant on anyone for anything.

  “I’d like to think that Frederick will do the right thing, but …”

  I sighed. We both knew that would never happen. If Frederick got the chance to ruin me, he’d grab it with both hands. He’d been waiting his whole life to prove to me he was the bigger man. He wouldn’t pass up the opportunity.

  I had to make this right.

  “We’ll find a solution. I’ll speak to Giles about it.”

  I might not be the next Duke of Fairfax, but I would do everything within my power to make sure that Frederick didn’t end up destroying everything I’d ever worked for.

  Two

  Scarlett

  Dating in New York City was the worst.

  I was following all the advice the internet had to offer—not being too available, not having sex too early and not putting all my eggs in one basket. But I just lurched from one disappointment to another disaster. I’d thought the guy last Thursday was super cute in complimenting my shoes until he confessed he liked to dress up in women’s clothes at the weekend and would like to see if my pink suede five-inch heels came in his size. Maybe I was being too picky, but I just didn’t want to fight with my boyfriend over who wore what when we went for dinner.

  And then there was the guy who looked like he’d never had a haircut and didn’t look me in the eye once during our entire date. And how could I forget the forty-something, sweaty man who told our waitress she had a nice rack?

  I swiped across the screen of my phone to see a text from Andrew—so far no disaster with him. We’d only had one date, and besides getting the feeling he was a neat freak, he seemed relatively normal. I wasn’t attracted to him exactly. And he hadn’t made me laugh. But he didn’t have me wanting to stab him in the eye with a fork after twenty minutes, so I’d agreed to date number two.

  Looking forward to seeing you tonight.

  I pulled up my calendar and found an entry that said, “Dinner with Peter.” I lo
oked back at my phone. Had I gotten the contacts confused? Peter was the one who wore plaid and had a cat. I’d agreed to a third date with dinner because on our second date, he’d tipped our waitress really well, even though it was clear he didn’t earn very much. I wasn’t exactly attracted to Peter either.

  I scrolled through the messaging history. No, the text was definitely from Andrew.

  Shit.

  I’d double-booked.

  The door to my office swung open and my business partner, Cecily, poked her head of corkscrew curls around the door. “Are you free?” she asked.

  “Sure, if you can help me solve my dating dilemma.” I’d been sharing dating dilemmas with Cecily since college. Roommates our sophomore year, we’d bonded as soon as we’d unpacked our copies of The Notebook and abandoned the day for a few hours with Ryan Gosling. I’d been a finance major and her sweet spot had been marketing. It made for the perfect business pairing.

  “That sounds like fun. Being married is so boring sometimes.” She took a seat in the chair opposite my desk.

  I’d never thought that marriage was boring. I’d loved my husband, had looked forward to going home in the evening and hanging out with him. Over two years after our divorce, and I still missed him. Missed having a partner in crime. Missed my best friend. I forced a smile. “That’s what Marcus said.” Apparently, being in Connecticut with me wasn’t enough for my ex-husband. It was the reason I was here looking over the Hudson and living in a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Manhattan with 90 percent of my belongings in storage. As a married woman I’d lived in a beautiful four-bedroom, clapboard house in Connecticut with incredible views of the water and a fifteen-minute commute to my office. The change was still like a knife to the stomach sometimes. Still in my twenties, I should be embracing living in the city that never slept.

  Maybe I was boring.

  When he left me, he told me he hated the idea his life was mapped out for him, but me? I’d been happy. Content. With Marcus by my side, everything had been as I had always imagined my life would be from a little girl. I hadn’t thought to wish for anything more.

  “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to be insensitive.”

  I smiled. “It’s fine. It was a long time ago.” Except it didn’t feel like it on days like today. I didn’t want to be dating. I’d much prefer to go home and snuggle into bed with a book than go to some fancy restaurant and try to be engaging and funny.

  Dating was exhausting.

  “So what’s your dilemma? I’ll share mine if you’ll share yours?” she asked as she took a seat on the other side of my desk from me.

  “You have a dating dilemma? Does your husband know?” I said, grinning.

  “I’m discreet,” she said with a wink. “Come on, spill.”

  “I’m just double-booked, that’s all. I made dinner plans with Andrew and Peter tonight.”

  “Again?” She cocked her head to one side. “Isn’t that the second double-booking in the last couple of weeks?”

  Yeah. And exactly how had I let this happen again?

  “Well I guess it means you’re wanting to see them.”

  The exact opposite, actually. Andrew and Peter were both nice enough, but I couldn’t see a future with them. Neither of them were my soulmate.

  “It’s no big deal. I’ll just cancel one of them.” Or both of them and have a date with my e-reader. “I assume your dilemma’s not a dating one.”

  Cecily’s curls bounced as she laughed. “No such luck, and it’s not just my dilemma, either. It’s yours too.” She widened her eyes. “We’ve had another approach from Westbury.”

  Westbury was by far the most enthusiastic investment company we’d been speaking to about stepping in to pay off our loans that were about to become due. But it was also the least flexible in its terms.

  “I’m so sorry we’re in this situation,” Cecily said.

  “Don’t apologize. We had to have that money and we didn’t have any other offers.” Cecily Fragrance had become successful almost too quickly and a year ago we had needed a lot of money, fast, to be able to fulfill the orders we were getting. Cecily might have signed the loan documentation because I’d been out of town, but it was as much my decision as it had been hers. “We knew it was a short term thing. Who knew we’d be this successful?” The loans were due to be paid back but we had to keep any cash we had to continue to invest in the inventory. We needed the loans replaced. Next month. If we didn’t get them our cash flow would disappear. “And Westbury hasn’t changed its offer?”

  “It’s still all or nothing. They take the whole business, they hire us as employees and we lose our shareholding.”

  Westbury had a reputation for being shrewd and successful. “The money’s better though,” she said, sounding more positive.

  Most investors were happy to take a minority stake in the company, but Westbury Group wanted the lot. Cecily and I had started this business. We’d handpicked each one of our employees. Hell, I’d even chosen the coffee machine. We didn’t want to just walk away. But was Cecily wavering? Was she on the ropes?

  “What do you mean, better?”

  Her eyes flickered over the surface of my desk. “Enough to pay all the shareholders what we’d hoped to get at the end of year three.”

  I snapped my mouth shut. That was a lot of money.

  Cecily and I could start again. But I loved Cecily Fragrance. It had become something I never thought a job could be—a passion.

  It had provided distraction while I was grieving the loss of my marriage. I’d never understood it when my friends talked about their work like it was a hobby until Cecily and I started our business. It never felt like work for me. I loved it. And Cecily Fragrance had been the only good in my life since my divorce. I had needed a change, to not just see the hole where my husband had been wherever I looked. Marcus walking out had rocked my world, but a drive to prove he’d made the wrong decision had lit a fire in me. It was proof to my husband that I wasn’t as predictable, boring and safe as he thought I was—he’d no doubt expected me to stay in a corporate job at an investment bank with a steady monthly salary for the rest of my career. Setting up my own business, with no structure and process unless I created it and taking a chance on getting paid every month was something he never would have thought I was capable of. And not something I’d ever imagined for myself. But when your world is on its ass, sometimes, you’ll try anything. I might not have been able to save my marriage, but I wasn’t ready to give Cecily Fragrance up.

  “What do you think? You want to walk away? Give up everything we’ve worked so hard on and let someone else reap all the success and rewards?” Say no. Please say no.

  She winced. “Well, not when you put it like that. But I’m not sure we have a choice. None of the other offers pay off our loans in full.”

  Had she given in so easily?

  I certainly hadn’t. My brother was a wealthy guy and would want to help us out if I told him the situation. But I knew his company had taken over a rival recently and he didn’t have a lot of cash at the moment. Besides, I wanted to do this on my own. I didn’t want my brother to have to save me.

  “I understand that you’d rather see Cecily Fragrance continue without you than fail with you.” I didn’t think it would have to come to that. I knew we could make this work. We’d brought it this far.

  As the face of the company, Cecily handled all the major business meetings, while I concentrated on keeping the wheels turning on the day-to-day operations. I’d heard plenty of horror stories of management getting distracted with new investment and I was determined not to let that happen. I’d not dealt with the investors but if Cecily was being beaten down, it was my turn to step into the ring. “We may still get other offers, might even be able to use those to increase some of the offers we’ve already had.”

  She picked lint from her skirt. “Maybe. I just really don’t want us to go under and we’d still have jobs.”

  “How about I meet with a
ll the bidders and try to negotiate?” I suggested. “I worked for an investment bank. I might have learned a couple of things on the way.” Surely there was a way Cecily and I could keep running this business with the loans replaced.

  “You think you might change their minds?” she asked.

  I shrugged. “Who knows? But it’s worth a try, isn’t it? We still have some fight left in us, don’t we?” I wanted to know I hadn’t lost hers.

  “The next instalment on the loans is due in a month—we don’t have long.”

  I nodded, trying to ignore the twitch under my eye telling me it was an almost-impossible task. “We can’t give up, Cecily. This is our baby.”

  She smiled half-heartedly. “It’s taken so much energy to get this far, I’m not sure I have enough to finish the race.”

  “Well, that’s why I’m here. I’m going to get us both over the finish line. Whatever it takes.”

  I was going to save Cecily Fragrance.

  And I was going to cancel on Andrew and Peter and call my sister, Violet, for drinks. I wanted to have the evening I wanted to have, rather than the one I thought I should have as a twentysomething in Manhattan.

  “I hope to God you’re banging them both. And at the same time every Tuesday,” Violet said as I explained to her about my double-booking. My sister told me nothing but the truth, and she believed in me more than anyone I knew. If I was going to fight Westbury Group to retain a shareholding, then Violet was the perfect pre-match pep squad.

  “Shhhh,” I said, glancing around to check if anyone had heard her.

  The bar, one of my favorites, felt like a private member’s club from the fifties with its low lighting, Chesterfield sofas and American standards coming from the grand piano in the corner. It represented how I’d imagined Manhattan would be rather than the realities of dating, long hours and traffic that weren’t quite so glamorous.

  “Well, really, what were you doing bringing me to a place like this?” she asked.

  She was right. This was the sort of place Harper and I came with our best friend Grace. Violet and I normally ended up going for burgers in midtown. “I like it.”