Raise The Price

by Mark Stanley

  "Please Mark..." Her breathing was very shallow and very fast.

  "Shush."

  I bent lower so that my mouth was on the top of her foot and removed her shoe, as she still rested on my shoulder. With the shoe now removed, I kissed the left foot and its toes, running my tongue up and onto her ankle, before replacing the shoe and doing the same with the right foot.

  "Please Mark..."

  "No."

  She whimpered at her increasing level of desire.

  Moving from her feet, I began the long journey, from her ankle to her bottom, kissing, caressing and licking, on the inevitable path to complete satisfaction, but not yet. Victoria's utterances were now becoming pleas, but all went ignored as I reach her bottom. I kissed both cheeks before sliding my tongue down the cleft. Whilst in the bathroom she had obviously prepared both of her orifices for action. Her anus was scrupulously clean and I kissed and lightly licked as she spread her legs. I could smell her vagina, that had been cleansed but also perfumed and this increased my already high arousal.

  "No more Mark, fuck me..."

  "No. Get onto the bed."

  As she did so I removed an item that I had secreted under the pillow before joining her on the bed. I repeated, to her front the exercise that I had done to her back. Slowly, incredibly slowly, I made my way from her ankles, up her calves and eventually to the area immediately above her stocking tops. From this position, Victoria could entwine her fingers in my hair and try and direct me to the area that she most wished me to attend to. But I was in no hurry, for I worship her body as she well knows all areas and parts. Bypassing her leaking vagina, I kissed and used my mouth to make love to her tummy and then onto her breasts.

  "Please Mark, no more darling, please no more..."

  I relented and made my way, slowly back to the waiting prize. I'm pretty relaxed about my fetish for nylon and I luxuriated in the feel as it rasped with the roughness across my engorged member. I moved a hand down and grasped it before rubbing it harder against Victoria's lower thigh. She felt the stiffness and pushed her thigh against me. I moved my mouth lower and lower. Victoria was now trying to push my head down at a pace I was unhappy with and so I pushed back, but allowed my fingers to caress the inside of her thighs. Victoria was very excited and released my hair before moving her hands behind her knees and hooking them back, so as to reveal the item that she craved attention for.

  "Please Mark, please."

  She pulled the lips open. I had never seen her so excited. By now, the build-up was reaching a crescendo and so taking hold of the pencil slim vibrator, I allowed by tongue to do some of the entertaining at the desired site.

  "Aaahhhh!!!!" Almost as soon as my tongue had made contact with her clitoris she convulsed and orgasmed, thrusting her hips off the bed as if I had entered her. As she came down from this legal high, I recommenced but made sure that the vibrator was ready, manoeuvring it against my tongue and mentally braced myself for the minor electric shock that was about to enter this sensitive sense as I switched it on.

  "Noooooo!!!" It was an experience that she would never become accustomed to as I used this toy, in this manner, so infrequently, for whilst it was great fun for Victoria it was agony for me.

  "Stop, stop...please...!"

  I was now anxious that things moved on before the moment was lost and so flipping her over, she immediately knelt and I thrust forward to meet her own involuntary convulsions. We stayed in this position with me thrusting forward to meet her return until...the inevitable happened.

  "Yes, yes, yes!" And I climaxed.

  Monday and everyone was up bright and early. Children off to school and my parents off back to the farm in the helicopter. Melissa and Danny, were returning to France later today but there was to be a Board Meeting first, with a couple of items, both me.

  "So, three months married and on the Board of a multi-billion pound company, not bad work Mark?"

  I didn't like the insinuation and I had already alerted Victoria to what, especially her Father's reaction would likely be. Although they were no longer Directors they still exert considerable influence.

  "Can I make abundantly clear to you both, that this has nothing whatsoever to do with me? It was instigated and implemented by Victoria and I have reluctantly agreed to oversee Brompton Estates, at least until Victoria returns."

  "Never."

  "What's never?" I turned to look at Victoria, not a tough task.

  "I'm never returning. I've no interest. I hate the idea of coming back. After I've given birth I want to concentrate on the children and charities not Brompton Estates."

  This hadn't been planned and nor had I expected it. Danny & Melissa sat with pursed lips and considered Victoria's declaration.

  "I've refused to take a shareholding, nor will I take a salary, the work that I do for Brompton's will be pro-bona, at least for now, but I will require some help? You may not have heard, but Charles Goodwin-Doyle is to retire?"

  "When did..."

  I held up my hand at Danny. "He rang me last week and we had a meeting the following day, where I sounded him out at becoming Chairman of MSP and Brompton Estates. I can foresee no conflict of interests, we are both in allied businesses but not Public companies with outside shareholders to satisfy and as he's also a family friend of you & Melissa, I didn't want the opportunity to pass us by and so I'm delighted to say that he will start at MSP as of 1st January 2016 and if it's agreeable to you, he will also commence at Brompton Estates the same time?" As, Victoria and I had suspected, this had taken some of the wind out of their sails. A more respected Chairman would be hard to find and his proprietary could not be questioned.

  "We're obviously very surprised Mark, but equally delighted. Thank you for seizing the opportunity, as undoubtedly, once his departure in commonplace, he will be high demand."

  "Moving on, I had a call from an old school friend, also a banker, who has told me that, with early action, we can purchase a controlling interest in Kensington Estates?

  "Who...how..."

  Again I held up my hand, to silence Danny, it was quite enjoyable, having him waiting on my pronouncements. "They're carrying an inordinate amount of debt, primarily from the last recession? They had and have an awful lot of loans through one of the failed Irish banks? This has been absorbed by The National Asset Management Agency, whom were set up, as you know, by the Irish Government to take over the bad loans that had been dished out? Kensington, still have the majority of their assets managed by the bank and I've been approached about taking them on?"

  "How much?" Asked a pensive Victoria, for she had no prior knowledge.

  "Kensington owe NAMA, a little over £2.45 billion and the agreement has been for them to pay it down, but for whatever reason they haven't done any such thing, barely covering the interest. NAMA's patience is at an end and I was contacted about a potential deal? They want someone to absorb the debt but in doing so, the purchaser would effectively be getting a controlling interest in Kensington Estates."

  "And this is legal?" Asked Melissa.

  "Legality is not an issue. The laws allow for this deal to be made and NAMA's own company rules encourage these assets to be dissipated ASAP. This mandate would give Brompton's effective control over the estate, which comprises of prime property in South Kensington and some very valuable, commercial property close to Kensington, along with some development sites..."

  And it was now my turn to be interrupted, but as it was my wife, I relented.

  "The old army barracks!"

  "Precisely my darling, the same army barracks that they purchased ten years ago and that they are still struggling to obtain planning permission to develop. Giles spoke with the planning officer, who he has an excellent relationship with to ascertain what the issue was and it's simply an unacceptable scheme, too many units, not enough space, the old story. Now, I'm aware that it means dealing with the other main shareholder, the Corrigan family and what a bunch of crooks they are, but I have a plan for dea
ling with them..."

  "But Mickey Corrigan is a hardnosed bastard and he'll rather skin you alive then let you have his shares. Be very careful Mark because he won't want to sell, especially to Brompton's, I've butted heads with him before, so your plan will need to take that into account."

  "What do you think he'll want Mark?"

  "I don't as yet know Melissa, if we could get 60% for £2.45 then I would want the balance for considerably less and I may just have an idea that will enable me to deliver it, but that's not for today."

  "You'll never get it he'll chew you up and spit you out for your arrogance!"

  "We'll see Danny."

  The discussions, went on for a long-time, so long that the helicopter had returned from taking my parents home and that was only item one.

  "...If you can pull this off Mark, then I think it's only right that you take a shareholding in the company, but we would want it structured so that you took a shareholding in a new company, separated from our, pardon me, Victoria's long-standing business, if only to incentivise you to bring in more deals like this."

  I couldn't argue with this and so I nodded my agreement.

  "We'll get the lawyers to get one of the mothballed companies out and activated and put you with a..." He looked at Melissa, who mouthed 'thirty'. "...thirty percent shareholding."

  "...Christopher is finding everything challenging and your meeting and its outcome didn't come as a surprise, but for the immediate future our hands are tied. We can't force the issue without destabilising the Government. The reshuffle isn't due for at least a year and whilst your profiles are incredibly high, we need to ensure they stay that way. There is a position that looks as if it will open up for you...at the United Nations, as President of the twenty, twenty, project or whatever name they give it?"

  "Eradicating extreme poverty?"

  "Precisely, it's stalling and the target is everyone out of extreme poverty by 2020, defined by earning more than $1.25 a day?"

  "What would I need to do?"

  "Schmooze, charm, and get people to commit? All things that you and Victoria excel at. You'd need to get going fairly quickly, as the position is about to be vacated, but with your contacts and ours...well I think you'd have a good shot. You'd need to address the full General Assembly and get them on board if you’re accepted, but it's a position which is high-profile and will ensure that, when the time is right, so long as you do it well, will see you in the best possible position. Of course it's also only a year tenure and that is of paramount importance for we wouldn't want you tied to them for any longer."

  They had planned and schemed to present me with a fait accompli and I had to accept it, what else could I do?

  Chapter 12 - November

  "Can we go out for dinner tonight?"

  "When do I ever deny you?"

  Victoria snuggled in closer. "Never."

  "Where would you like to go?"

  "Sexy Fish?"

  "Okay, if I'm still alive after the Corrigan’s come in today, it's a date."

  "Do you think it'll be horrible?"

  "With their reputation it won't be pleasant."

  "I'll stay in my office."

  "Ah Lord fecking Stanley's fecking arrived!"

  Mock applause as I entered my own Boardroom, that’s the quality of the Corrigans.

  "Good morning. My apologises for my late arrival but my wife was being scanned this morning and I'm afraid she called a three line whip." I smiled as I shut the door behind me.

  "Typical, at the fecking hospital when you should have been here for the fecking bloodletting!"

  "I presume you must be Mickey Corrigan?" I walked around the end of the table and held out my hand, which appeared to be reluctantly accepted. His handshake was firm, but rough, the hands of a man used to manual labour. He was accompanied by his two sons whom I also shook hands with. Mickey, the family Patriarch, with Patrick the CEO and Conner the Financial Director a formidable bunch. I approached the final member of their party and proffered my hand which was more readily accepted as he introduced himself.

  "Adair Adam, legal counsel."

  "How do you do?"

  "He does very fecking well if his fecking bills are anything to go by!" As Mickey laughed uproariously at his own quip.

  Today was to be our first and I hoped, last meeting. We had completed the redemption of the NAMA loan, two days ago. We had been given thirty days to complete the deal but had to rush it through as we had been given the heads up that a story would break in this weekends The Sunday Times about a takeover. NAMA had carried out their legal duty and had given due notice to Kensington that the loans needed to be repaid. Kensington, presumably had thought, with good reason, as it had been done previously, that the loans would be rolled over for a further year but what they didn't know was about Brompton Estates involvement. We had duly paid the full amount and now owned 60% of a company which we wanted a 100% of. We had delivered the necessary paperwork informing them of our ownership and sat back waiting for the fireworks. They had telephoned, within an hour, demanding an immediate meeting but I needed to ensure that everything was firstly in place and so today was the first opportunity for all parties to meet. My own late arrival had been carefully managed to have hopefully allowed the initial indignity at coming to these offices, subside and also to allow me to conclude another deal which would have a significant impact on this one.

  "I keep telling these fecking monkeys, that the minimum, the absolute fecking minimum, we’ll take is three billion. What do you say to that Lord fecking Stanley, eh.”

  On the Brompton side of the table was sat Giles and our own legal counsel Cosmo Gosney. The meeting had already been going two hours and if the previous rants had been anything similar to those I'd experienced in the last five minutes, I could well understand why Cosmo looked so frazzled.

  "Mister Corrigan, by your own Memorandum of Articles, the very basis of the formation of your company, in there, it quite clearly states in Article eleven sub-section six and I quote 'in the event..."

  I poured myself some water and looked at the men opposite. Mickey was, as I had previously established, sixty three, a bull of a man but now running to fat. Patrick was more urbane but that wouldn't have been difficult to achieve. At forty three he had been controlling one of the other family businesses before being promoted to the main event. Conner at thirty nine is a carbon copy of his Father, albeit slimmer. The old saying came to mind as I looked at all three, 'you can dress a pig in a suit, but he's still a pig', fitted these gentlemen exactly.

  "...By the majority shareholder." Cosmo rested.

  Mickey slammed his enormous hand down hard on the table, so hard that I felt sure it would be bruised, the table, not his hand.

  "Fecking legal wanker, shut the feck up with your fecking articles this and fecking articles that, before I ram them up ya arse! I want to hear from the fecking engine driver and not his fecking toe-rag!"

  "Oily-rag I think ya mean Dah."

  Was Connors contribution before his Father gave him a look and I felt it was highly likely that would be Connors last contribution to the day’s proceedings.

  "Gentlemen, perhaps to satisfy your Father, the oily-rag might speak? As I understand it and I'm sure you'll correct me if I'm wrong, you, as in Kensington Estates, are unhappy? Firstly, because of the way in which we acquired our majority shareholding, in what you wrongly perceive to be your company. It hasn't been your company, since the day you gave a fixed and floating charge over the assets to the bank. It was the bank that approached me and not me that approached the bank, a small point but one worth bearing in mind for what will follow. Secondly, your valuation of our company, is far higher than NAMA's valuation and more importantly far higher than my valuation? If we take your audited accounts, strip out the debt, we're not left with very much, but you dismiss our offer as being inadequate and resort to shouting at my colleagues to try and scare us into making an offer that, with good reason, we would never make. You're
sitting there having decided that if we don't meet your valuation, then you intend to make it difficult for us to not only acquire your 40% but also to achieve a consensus in going forward? Looking at your faces, I can see that I've read the situation and your belligerence correctly." Giles and Cosmo, nodded in agreement as the Corrigan sons deferred to Mickey who nodded, curtly.

  "Kensington Estates, have no funds for development, it's only income is from two rather fine shopping centres in affluent parts of London, which produce rental income of...” I had to check my notes as I didn’t want to quote a wrong figure which would be pounced on.

  “…A little over a hundred million pounds a year, giving an adequate return on investment but insufficient to cover even the interest payments on the loan, is that correct?"

  "You know it fecking well is get on with it you fecking nob!"

  I stared at Mickey, neither intimidated nor scared.

  "Gentleman, Brompton Estates has very, very deep pockets. The purchase of NAMA's shareholding came from free cash flow and not from bank loans. We are also extremely patient and you will wait...forever, for us to pay your inflated valuation. But we don't wish to wait."

  This bought a smile to Mickey's face, perhaps he thought that I was about to capitulate.

  "You have the two shopping centres, you have the barracks, but you also have a crisis of cash flow issues, so acute that you can barely finance the loan and nor could you afford for the debt to be restructured. You have shouted, prevaricated, blustered and played poker with billions of pounds, but you've played very badly. Trying to trick these..." I offered an open palm towards Giles and Cosmo. "...Astute gentlemen into believing, that you were holding a full-house when all you actually have is a busted flush." I paused and sipped my water and looked down at some notes that even Giles and Cosmo hadn't seen, but I was in no rush to fill the pause and right on cue Patrick filled it for me.