9. Caleb
Chapter 9
Caleb
T he Merged offices take up two floors of prime real estate in a glittering skyscraper in the Financial District. Ironically, not too far from Quaintique-Linden.
“Mr. van den Linden.” A receptionist with a headset in her black dreadlocks jumps to her feet and rounds the sleek white counter, eating the distance between us while talking to the mic.
“Mr. Stone will be with you any minute. May I offer you a coffee?” she asks me, gesturing to a spacious corner with white leather sofas.
The Monday morning commotion buzzes in the background. Who would have thought I’d find myself in an office only a week after I forever exited the last one?
Before I can sit or ask her for a coffee, Xander saunters in.
“Roxy, I’ll take it from here. Thank you.” He winks at her and extends his hand to me. “I’m glad you called, Cal.”
“I’m still not sure four partners is a good idea,” I say as we round the corner.
“Let me introduce you, and you can form your opinion then.”
We walk down a hallway lined with glass-walled offices. The place reminds me of an ad agency or an architecture firm. It’s nothing like the stuffy equity firms I’ve been to before. Most of the cubicles and offices are empty, their future occupants not yet hired.
“I wish you’d have told me who they are so I can be better prepared.”
Merged is about to launch their operations officially, and there aren’t public records available yet.
At this point, it’s a true start-up before it even started, and the idea of being on the ground floor of something excites me even before I have all the details.
Details that I could have—and should have—dug up if I was operating at full capacity.
But my mind has been veering off. I haven’t slept well since Celeste left on Wednesday night. The image of her standing between my legs has been driving me crazy .
When did I grow a conscience? Since when do I refuse a woman?
I keep telling myself it’s because she is more trouble than I care for. My cock strongly disagrees. The boner her visit left behind needed several rounds of jerking off.
The result? Sore hand, partial physical relief, and my mind still questioning my sanity.
And the fucking hurt on her face. It was there for a blink before she put on her haughty mask and huffed.
When you beg me on your knees.
Fuck, I hope she will. Sooner rather than later. And the anticipation thrills me more than it should.
In the short span of a week, she’s impacted me more than I care to admit. What was I thinking, sending a car for her? I blame the boredom.
Shit, I need to stop thinking about her, otherwise I’ll walk into this meeting with a semi in my pants.
I miss the conversation between Xander and another woman before we enter what I assumed was a boardroom. It’s not. It’s a large corner office.
A CEO office, if my guess is right. And as soon as I see who’s in there, I stop, ready to leave.
“Meeting adjourned.” I scowl at Xander.
Cormac Quinn, my archenemy, smirks. “Really, van den Linden? Will you let some high school grudge I’ve never understood keep you from the best opportunity of your life?”
He’s leaning casually against the glass desk in his light blue suit, challenging me with his eyes.
“The value of the opportunity plummeted with you in the picture.”
“What am I missing?” Xander frowns, his gaze darting between me and Corm.
“That's what I wonder.” Another man whom I didn’t notice before stands up from a large sofa in the corner. He walks to where I still stand by the door. “I’m Declan Quinn, Corm’s brother. I’ve heard a lot of great things about you.”
Brother? I’d never have guessed. While Corm has fair hair and his tan is probably hard-earned, the other Quinn is darker, with black hair and eyes.
I shake Declan’s hand, glaring at Corm. “I’m assuming none of them came from that asshole.”
Corm raises his arms in exasperation. “For the record, the grudge your family holds against me is one-sided.”
“Fuck you, Quinn. My sister… Never mind. I’m leaving.”
But I don’t move, because at the mention of Saar, he flinches. And that’s as good as a confession. He hurt her.
“Wait a minute, this is about a woman?” Declan scoffs and gets on my shit list right below his brother.
“I’ve never done anything to Saar.” Corm approaches me.
The two other men in the room move—Xander toward me and Declan somewhere between us, getting ready to break up a fight.
“Really? Why don’t we ask her?” I fist my hands.
Corm stops. “Why don’t we? I’m not sure what you believe happened, but aside from ditching her on the dance floor, I always wondered where your overprotective act was coming from.”
This stops me in my tracks. I can’t fathom why he would lie about that, because he must assume I either know what happened or can easily ask Saar.
We’ve never gotten any details from her because we didn’t want her to suffer through a confession.
Regardless, I still don’t trust the man.
“Okay, kids, why don’t we shake hands and get down to business,” Declan says, returning to his seat in the corner.
“Cal, I think you’re the right fit for this opportunity. Let us show you how.” Corm gestures to the seating area where breakfast trays cover the table. Only then do I notice the smell of coffee in the air and relent. I’m tired as fuck.
There is no way I’m going to ever work with that asshole, but I can at least listen to their plans. It’s not like I have anything better to do at the moment.
I take a seat and let the first sip of coffee calm me while I glare at Corm.
“We’ll need you to sign an NDA first.” Declan pushes a stack of papers in front of me.
“I’m not signing anything without my lawyer.” I drop the contract beside me.
Declan shakes his head. “Seriously, Xander, why the fuck are we having this meeting?”
“Not to piss him off right at the gate,” Xander snarls.
“I trust him. We don’t need an NDA.” Corm leans back in the leather chair across from me.
“Me too,” Xander chimes in, popping a strawberry into his mouth and looking at Declan.
Declan glowers at me and then shakes his head yet again—because, I agree, this meeting went to shit before it started. “Okay, let him steal our ideas.”
“Merged will focus on streamlining mergers and acquisitions to ensure that both parties not only achieve financial success but also maintain or enhance their operational effectiveness post-merger,” Corm starts.
“So like any other M&A firm.” I take another sip of the coffee, which is probably a very particular blend of robusta and arabica because it’s really smooth on my tongue. At least something about this visit scores.
“Yes, and no. With our combined experience and connections, we have an advantage of selecting the right opportunities,” Declan says. “It’s about the right people steering the ship. Besides, we’ll have our own venture capital arm to foster startups that can be later merged with established firms.” He goes on to describe the type of businesses they’ve already scouted and pre-approved.
The more he talks, the more I’m drawn in. This would be the exact kind of challenge I’d enjoy—take something new or nonfunctional and groom it to its full potential, but never stay bogged down by the day-to-day once the transformation is over.
I wish Corm hadn’t extended his trust. Fuck, his involvement curbs my excitement. Declan talks about high-level financial projections, and I can see how they might need more capital. But I can also see the returns would be more than healthy.
“You may wonder where you’d fit in.” Corm pins me with his challenging gaze.
“I’m not wondering anything. I don’t sleep with the enemy.”
Unfortunately, a particular enemy with emerald eyes comes to my mind, and I might need to adjust in my seat, but fidgeting is not the way to conduct negotiations. I’m not showing Corm any discomfort.
Corm sighs. “In case you were wondering… I’m the CEO of Merged. Xander is the Chief Strategy Officer. He focuses on scouting opportunities. Declan, the financial wiz, is our CFO. What we’re missing is someone to run the operation, to focus on the integration of the companies. Someone who can do what you’ve done with Linden hotels.”
I’m not going to lie, it’s flattering that someone noticed my contribution to what is generally perceived as Finn’s company. I can’t deny that this opportunity is intriguing.
“How much is your stake?” I turn to Corm. There are more questions I want to ask, but I’m not giving them the satisfaction of assuming they won this round.
“For now, I have sixty percent, Xander and Declan have twenty each. You would buy in and get twenty percent from me.”
I snort. “Well, gentlemen,”—I put the coffee mug down—“and Cormac, thank you for the breakfast. I wish you all the best in your endeavors.”
I stand up and walk away, shutting the door behind me. Taking my time to return to the elevator banks, I try to soak up the atmosphere in this yet nonexistent firm. Fuck, I wish the leaders were different.
After getting downstairs, I grab a coffee in the corner shop in the lobby. Yeah, I need all the help I can get to shake off the lost sleep.
Pulling out my phone, I dial my sister.
“Hey, Cal, how are you?”
“Don’t pretend you didn’t trick me into visiting Celeste and blindsiding us both,” I growl.
“Did it work?” She’s too chipper for my current mood.
“That remains to be seen. But I’m not calling about your annoying friend.”
By now, I’m well aware that the only annoying thing about my black swan is that she isn’t mine. A fact I’ll ignore for the foreseeable future.
Just because I want something doesn’t mean I should have it. Fried food, sex in the middle of Times Square, Celeste Delacroix.
“What do you need?”
“What’s the story between you and Cormac Quinn? What happened all those years ago?”
My question is met with silence. I exit the coffee shop and stop in the lobby at the glass wall overlooking the street.
Saar doesn’t speak, and I almost regret asking her. What’s the point in stirring up painful memories?
“I don’t care about him. I practically forgot he exists.”
That’s an evasion if I’ve ever heard one. “Saar, I ran into him, and I got a distinct feeling that perhaps the history between the two of you differs from what I always assumed.”
“What did he say to you?”
“Tell me what happened back then. Too much time has passed, I’m sure you can explain.”
“I’m not having this conversation over the phone. Besides, why do you care after all this time? It doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Fuck, Saar. I’ll always put you first, but Finn almost lost Paris over this feud last year—”
“I fixed that.”
“What? You knew about what went down?”
My brother forbade Paris to work with Quinn, which didn’t go down well with his now-wife. Saar wasn’t even in town at that time. Was she?
My sister doesn’t answer. Fuck this shit. I feel like I’m in high school again.
“Look, Saar, I might have a business opportunity with him and—”
“Is it a good opportunity?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
“If it’s something you want to pursue, don’t stop on my account. I’m not having Christmas dinner with Quinn anytime soon, but you don’t have to protect me from him either.”
“Are you sure? ”
“Yes.”
“Good, but you’ll tell me the complete story when we see each other next time.”
“Maybe. Cal?”
“Hmm?”
“Will you help Celeste?”
“And perish trying?”
“Cal, please.”
Of course she’d ask this, just subtly feeding into my guilt over potentially working with a man who hurt her.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you.”
“Take care of yourself, sis.”
These women will be the death of me. I down the coffee and basketball shoot the cup into the trash. Before I reach the revolving doors, Xander catches up with me.
“What the fuck, man? What did he do to your sister?”
“Why didn’t you tell me you’re working with the Quinns?” I hiss.
Xander looks around. “Because we’re keeping everything under wraps before we announce the company.”
“Look, I appreciate— ”
“Cal, I can see you want to be part of it. What would it take to get you on board?”
“Twenty-five percent.” Fuck. Did I just make a counteroffer on the spot like this?
“Okay, I’ll take it back and call you later. Anything else?”
“Send the financial projections, the NDA, and everything else to Dominic Cressard, he’s my lawyer.”
Xander nods. “You won’t regret it.”
“I haven’t committed to anything yet.”
“Sure. Sure. Do you want to grab lunch?”
“No, I have to go and see my fiancée.”
His surprised expression is the sweet cherry on top of the particularly foul cake this day has been so far.