Mr. Grayson: Billionaires’ Club Book 4 (Billionaires’ Club Series)

My phone was blowing up with details about this project, but I ignored the incoming calls. Instead, I got my construction engineer, Adam, on the phone and started relaying information to him as Breanne walked me through the different aspects of this project. I’d worked with the man on various projects after Brooks Architectural Firm became my responsibility. He was a master of his trade, and he would put this shit together as fast as I spouted off numbers to him.

I had no time to think, just to give information as I watched Breanne work magic with her adjustments to the joke of a project Danny had messed up on every level.

If I hadn’t had a taste of the woman’s fiery side, her vulnerable side, and learned about her true passion for designing, I would have called in for the head architects at Brooks to salvage this chaos.

Before taking ownership of Brooks Architectural Firm, acquiring businesses for Mitchell and Associates was my expertise. I lived and breathed to land million-dollar projects like it was nothing. It was all second nature to me. Never once, though, had I been put in a situation where it seemed my company had lied to entice a client. This was an entirely different level of dirty business, and it was why I had to have Breanne in the car with me. I had to see her reactions to what I’d learned an hour before Sphere unexpectedly moved up our appointment.

My conclusion? She had nothing to do with this shady shit. I felt for the woman, but I wasn’t going to let her cave under pressure. Breanne Stone was known for her creative skills, and she’d helped Stone Company make a solid name under her father’s guidance. Sadly, she sat in the business department for too long, and now, we had an underhanded snake trying to destroy both businesses’ reputations as they were merging.

Hell no. Not on my watch. No way would I allow anything to go sideways on this. This shit didn’t fly with me, nor was it excused. Danny was about to wish he could travel back in time to undo the shitshow he’d orchestrated.

The bottom line was that I wasn’t losing this client. Even though I witnessed my business partner, Breanne, deflated, I could also see that something had come alive in her just now. Once she got past her wild idea of comparing this to a 1912 disaster for a ship, she refocused, and I watched magic move through her fingertips as she started to create an even better blueprint of this hotel.

It was intriguing to watch her design, and what she was tweaking and creating was badass.

This three-story hotel would be built on the oceanfront, spanning for at least a block, and then it would follow regulations to allow for a private, exclusive pier.

This was something you’d find in some tropical resort location, not Malibu Beach. Honestly, I was shocked this had made it past city regulations, but it was easy to see it would bring fantastic revenue to the city and increase home values.

This would be the first of its kind if we could manage to keep this deal. If not, I’d find a way to salvage Breanne’s project, and we’d move this innovative design to a location in another state or some tropical area.

I was never one to leave a good deal sitting on the table, though. We would salvage this with Breanne’s work and my sales pitches. They’d be fools to walk away, even with our bid increase, and I would ensure they recognized that.

My phone kept blowing up, and Breanne’s phone started in next.

“Mr. Nazari,” I answered a call from one of the business owners of Sphere. “We’re almost to your site, and—”

“Mr. Grayson,” he interrupted me in a pissed off tone. “The deal is off. We just spoke with Danny, the man who is in charge.”

“Excuse me? Danny is merely a contracted architect. He’s hardly in charge, sir,” I said while Breanne’s face was black with anger after she ended her phone call.

“Then that is yet another lie that your company has communicated to us, Mr. Grayson.”

“Another lie?” My voice became firm. “Allow me to explain something, Mr. Nazari,” I said, hoping I’d keep this upset client on the phone. “We understand your grievance with Danny, and God only knows what else that man has said to you. Allow me a chance to rectify all of this. I assure you that you will not only approve of our alterations to your astounding project, but you will also accept our deepest apologies for any issues that may have forced you to believe that we have lied to you.” I rolled my eyes at the garbage coming out of my mouth.

Lied to them? What the fuck did that asshole do?

“What do you plan on doing to help restore our faith in your company?”

“I’m changing the meeting location.” I instantly went into another gear—time to bust ass, think, and save this shit. “We’ll be meeting at Esprit in Marina del Rey. I’ll send for a driver to pick up you and your team so we can meet. Suppose you are not impressed with us after we’ve clarified things and made accommodations to express our apologies for your inconveniences. In that case, I will arrange for Mitchell and Associates’ luxury jet to fly you home.”

“We have our own private jet.”

Not like ours, chump, but okay.

“Very well, then. Allow me to gain your trust by insisting that we buy your property site in good faith that we will deliver on our designs.”

“We’re not selling our beachfront property. We will be moving forward with another architectural firm.”

“Is this other firm willing to purchase that property and then sign the deed over to you?”

Breanne looked at me as if I were more insane than comparing this to the Titanic. I smiled to reassure her I knew what I was doing to salvage this part of the deal.

“I’m sorry, but did you say you would sign over the deed?”

“Paid in full. All yours. Now, you’re just fronting the investment and capital on our project to give you the grandest hotel on the Malibu shoreline.”

“So, you’re willing to front the money for our property?”

“Correct. Paid in full, as I just stated.”

Silence on the line made me glance at Breanne’s panicked expression.

“We’ll wait for your driver,” he finally came back. “We are pressed for time, Mr. Grayson.”

“Is there another arrangement or business dealing you are required to be at, or can I make this right by providing at least two days of relaxation after we agree on this project?”

Silence again. I needed these guys to myself until this was a signed deal. Just the mention of his interest in another firm told me I couldn’t let him jet-set off to meet with someone else.

“What the hell are you doing? It’s over. Danny’s going home,” Breanne whispered.

“The fuck he is,” I mouthed as I winked to help settle her down.

I put the call on speakerphone. It was time to find out the name of the Uber driver for the chickenshit who’d fucked us in the ass and bounced.

“Give us a moment,” Mr. Nazari said.

“Take your time,” I answered while taking down the license plate of the Uber behind us.

While our friends, who currently hated us, deliberated on the other end of the phone, I began doing a data lookup on the Uber driver behind us.

This Danny character was about to see a different side of me—Breanne was about to see a different side of me too.

The poor woman would probably never come to a healthy assessment of who I really was, and maybe that was for the best. I was her partner, and she needed to understand I knew how to run global empires and business deals…shit like that.

I wasn’t just a devil in a suit. I was a bastard in a suit.

For that reason alone, I handled business dealings as if I were playing cards with kids. It was second nature to me. We would get this deal, and the price of the property I just agreed to purchase would be inflated and placed in the final bid. First, it was time I used my methods of persuasion to finesse Sphere with words, money, lavish lifestyles, and the temptations that I knew greedy elites loved. They wouldn’t be going anywhere when I was finished with them.

Even Jim would be outraged that we were losing this company. There was a lot on the table with them in future dealings. Mitchell and Associates were waiting patiently to invest in Sphere, and the new vice president, Spencer Monroe, was also awaiting my call to inform him that we’d sealed this first deal, and Mitchell had the green light to invest.

We wanted more from Sphere on the architectural side, and Mitchell wanted in on their holdings, shares, and the potential of new money coming to Southern California.

Sphere wasn’t going anywhere so long as I was on the phone with them. I would charm them, and they would be the happiest sons of bitches on the planet when they signed on the dotted fucking line.

“There will be five of us,” Nazari said when he finally came back on the line. “How many days of apology do you plan on giving us to relax?”

“As long as you desire. If you have significant others, bring them along too.”

“Don’t get too far ahead of yourself. We’ll await the driver. This better be worth our time, Mr. Grayson.”

“I assure you it will be. Where am I to send the driver to pick you up?”

After I worked out the details of picking up the five brothers from Sphere’s headquarters in Laguna Beach, I dialed the number I’d found for the Uber that was no longer following us.

“Henry, change of plans. Take us to Esprit, please,” I said to my driver.

“Sure thing, Mr. Grayson. We’ll be there in about an hour. We have to reroute—”

“Doesn’t matter,” I interjected. “I need that time to pull some things together anyway.”

“What the hell is going on?” Breanne asked with a growl I never imagined her to have in her voice.

I held a finger up when Sam, Danny’s Uber transport, answered. “Sam?”

“Yes, who’s this?”

“Mr. Grayson, the superior of the man you’re currently driving.”

“Oh, yes,” he answered. “Would you like to speak with him?”

“I’d rather not,” I said. “I’d like to let you know that we lost you driving behind us, and your passenger is unaware of our new destination.” I inhaled. “Listen, it’s the poor man’s birthday, and we’ve got a surprise for him. So, whatever or wherever he’s told you to take him, go ahead and cancel that. We’ll be at Esprit in Marina del Rey awaiting you. I’ll ensure your tip is healthy for the last-minute change of plans.”

“Not a problem, sir. So, not a word?”

“Not a word. I’m sure he won’t even ask, but if he does, inform him that Mr. Grayson has quite the surprise for him. If he becomes obnoxious, please call me back, and then I will speak with him.”

“He’s staring at a computer and a phone, sir.” The driver’s voice lowered.

“Good, he won’t have a clue, then. Thank you and see you there.”

I hung up and opened my texts. “Can you keep Danny on the phone and busy? He’s not getting out of this as easily as he thinks,” I said to Breanne.

“Yes, but I have no idea what the heck is going on.”

“We’re salvaging what Danny did after he called Sphere and chased them off for one reason or another,” I said. “Just keep him busy with emails or texts. I need his eyes off the road. Fight with him or something.” I grinned at her.

I needed to text Jake, one of my best friends, to get this ball rolling and fast.

Alex: I need a favor, Jakey. What company did you use to print that name on your yacht?

Come on, Jake. Fuck.

I was texting him during work hours, and since he was a cardiovascular doctor, that meant he could be in surgery, with a patient, or busy as hell.

Thank God, I thought when the three dots popped up on my phone.

Jake: I can’t remember. I have them in my contacts. Why do you need their number?

Alex: Business. Send it over to me

Jake forwarded the number to me, and I dialed out. Time to name a fucking yacht I hadn’t seen since Jim and I bought the thing, and it arrived last week. Jim said it was great when he and Avery took it out for the weekend, but they didn’t bother to name it. So, here I was, and naming a four-hundred-foot superyacht wasn’t something I would typically do—I wasn’t that freaking creative.

“This is Falcon,” a woman said.

“Falcon,” I answered. “You come highly recommended by Dr. Jacob Mitchell. He’s a good friend of mine, and I need your talents. Can you be in Marina del Rey in five minutes to get a name on a yacht?”

“I’m out here printing a yacht name now. What slip?”

“The one I need you on is too large for a slip. Can you reach the A location? There will be an individual in a small boat who will bring you to my yacht. You can name the price, and I’ll have you covered before I arrive. I need this done and finished in thirty minutes.”

“Fuckin’ executives,” I heard her sigh.

“Are you willing to do the job or not? I won’t listen to your insults if I’m letting you name whatever price you wish.”

“Sorry. Fine. One thousand dollars, and I’ll have it done in thirty.”

“The man in the boat will cover your generous deal. Thank you.”

I hung up with Falcon and heard Breanne going off on Danny over the phone. I was handling a lot of business and fast, so I was grateful they were both busy. Now, it was time to call the main man.

“Jim,” I said when the CEO of Mitchell and Associates—and my best friend—answered my call.

“I heard we’re losing Sphere,” he said, unamused.

“Unless you hear it from me, don’t believe it. I’d suggest you stay away from the gossip that’s coming from Stone Company.”

Jim laughed. “What’s up, and how are you salvaging it?”

“Since you’re somehow up to speed, I need you to call in our catering team—the one that we used for conducting business on Jake’s yacht.”

“What are you doing? I thought you were—”

“Can you please have your secretary handle this for me? I’m saving a goddamn project for you, so your VP, Monroe, won’t have an aneurysm if we lose Sphere altogether.”

“What happened?” Jim asked.

“I’ll tell you later tonight. Now, I need shit pulled together fast. I need that yacht up and running as if we’d planned for a week trip on the coast. Can we make that happen?”

“I’m on it,” Jim said. “Alex, don’t fuck us over.”

“Have I ever?”

“No,” Jim chuckled. “I’ll handle all of it.”

“Thanks. Oh, call the marina as well. I have Jake’s yacht lady who needs to be picked up. I’m naming the damn boat.”

“What?” Jim laughed.

“Hope you and Avery like it.”

“You better hope Addy likes it. She thinks it is her boat.”

“Let’s hope the client likes it. It ran well, though, right?”

“Avery and I couldn’t have been more impressed.”

“Great. Talk to you later.”

Ding!

My phone alerted a new text just when I thought all was settled and I could finally talk to Breanne. I wanted to try and catch her up with the whirlwind of changed events, major ass-kissing in our future, and Danny being my only target for all of this as I worked to save this deal.

I checked the phone.

Falcon: I need the name for this badass boat.

I smiled at her changed tone and swiftly accepted my phone’s prompt to add her name to my contacts. Funny how money made magic happen with moods and loyalty. I hated seeing shit this way, but in my line of work and with the people I dealt with, it was money and luxuries that kept the large and small fish taking my bait.

Alex: Give me a second to think. Shit. What do people name yachts?

Falcon: You can always use the first name Jake used for his yacht. Sex Sea?

I smirked at the picture that came through with this chick’s contact info, showing a young, hot blonde. It was a pity that I was on a mission for business, not pleasure. I could use a drink and a lady in bed after this day. Think, Alex.

I looked over at Breanne. Her Titanic history lesson made my mind jump to using the luxurious yacht to keep these men as clients in the first place. She studied the drawings, and her auburn hair hid her face from me. Just as well. I had no business going there with my new partner. I couldn’t even allow my mind to go back to the gala when I observed her in such a desperate state, not knowing who I was. I didn’t want to think about the kiss that was so damn difficult to resist after seeing her plump lips and emerald eyes begging me for it.

Shit. Stop! I ordered myself. I had to come up with a name, or I would be stuck with the name Jake used to name his yacht when he was drunk.

Stone? Bree? Sea Stone? Stone Sea? Stoned…? What in the hell do I name a goddamn superyacht?

Alex: Made in Stone?

Falcon: Heavy, but it needs to be creative. Like Lady Stone?

Lady Maiden…Iron Maiden? Maiden…fuck! Stone Maiden?

Alex: What about Maiden Stone?

Falcon: Sweet. That’s what’s up.

Alex: Thanks. Handle it quickly, please

Fantastic. I’d officially named the business and family yacht after Breanne. She had no idea we were about to do a sales pitch and wine and dine a deal on it, and I had to hope all of this looked and felt natural to our clients.

I couldn’t have them questioning my last-minute idea, wondering why I’d bring them out on a multi-million-dollar yacht. I needed to land the deal, fire Danny after making him look like the jackass he was, and then explain all of this to Breanne.

I had to prep her that more was on the line than her vision of this one hotel. There was a reason I was about to go full-blown businessman on this woman, and I wasn’t sure she’d enjoy this side of me. It seemed slimy, greedy, and disgusting, but I had to inform her that you met fire with fire when it came to these sorts of people.

These weren’t victims. These people took you as their victim if you let them.

I’d met with worse, though. If I could survive my childhood—living with the most wretched man alive until my grandfather rescued me—then no man could intimidate me. And no man ever did. Not anymore. Breanne might have her Satan in a suit opinion of me return after everything was said and done today, and maybe she’d be right.

Strangely enough, though, I didn’t want her to see me as a just another dick in a suit. Who knew, maybe she’d like that I’d named Mitchell and Associates’ superyacht after her? That might help keep that lovely smile of hers present while she boarded a yacht instead of sitting at a table in a conference room with Sphere.

Why was I thinking about any of these things? I needed to leave the nightmares of my past in the past and stop worrying about Breanne’s feelings about me. It was time to get her on the same page with me in business, and that was it. I needed her game tight, not falling apart after Danny screwed multiple deals with Sphere. This sorry idiot was about to wish he’d never tried to end this without talking to Breanne first. What a colossal asshole.

I had a good feeling that a deep dive into Stone would uncover the fact that this jerk was the reason the company was upside down financially, and we were scrambling to climb out of this hole fast. I was calling bullshit on Danny. Too many strange events had happened in too short a time.

Sphere was our answer, and my game to seal this deal was just getting started.