Chapter 12
Miles
“Your uncle was looking for you,” Isla said as I walked into my office.
“I’m sure he was. What did you tell him?”
“That you were across town for an appointment.” She glanced at my finger.
Isla was not only my secretary; she was my right-hand person. She kept me organized. She was valuable to me, considering she worked for me for the last six years. She knew some of my secrets, and I trusted her with my life. Besides, she was in with my plan because she would move up when I took over as CEO.
“So, how did it go?” she asked.
“As good as any courthouse marriage.”
“I can’t wait to meet her.”
“You will in time. I need those reports. I know that’s why my uncle wants to see me.”
“They’re right there on your desk.” She pointed.
“Thanks, Isla.” I smiled, took off my ring, grabbed the reports, and headed down to see my uncle.
Stepping inside, he looked up from his computer. The sight of him sitting in that chair made me sick.
“I was looking for you,” my Uncle Ben said as he leaned back in his chair.
“I know. I was out of the office.”
“Where were you?” he asked.
“I had an appointment. Here are the reports you wanted.” I set them on his desk.
“Thanks. I had a meeting this morning with Walsh Industries.” He picked up the bottled water from his desk.
“What?” I narrowed my eyes. “We were supposed to meet with them first thing Monday morning.”
“Yeah, well, Yuri called and said he couldn’t make it on Monday, so we met this morning. If you would have been here, you would have known.”
Fuck.
“And?” I cocked my head.
“It’s a traditional Series A deal, Miles. The company is pulling in three million a year. I looked over the comps, and I think this particular company can be valued at ten times ARR.”
“That could be so, but their customer concentration is too high. I pulled the reports, and they’ve lost a lot of customers over the last two years,” I said. “If we were to take twenty-five percent control of the company, maybe.”
“He won’t agree to that,” he said.
“Schedule another meeting for next week so I can talk to him.”
“No need. I already told him we’d invest with one percent controlling interest.”
“Are you out of your mind?” I shouted.
“Don’t forget who’s in charge here.” He stood up from his chair and grabbed his suit coat. “I have to go pick up your aunt. We’ll see you tomorrow night at dinner.”
I sighed as I walked out.
My phone rang as I was sitting in my office. Glancing at it, my brows furrowed when I saw it was Stella.
“Hello.” I put it on speaker.
“Hi. It’s me.”
“I know who it is, Stella. What’s up?”
“I was wondering what time you’re going to be home.”
“Why?” I asked.
“I’m cooking dinner.”
She was playing the wife role, and it didn’t sit well with me.
“Honestly, I have no idea what time I’ll be home. I have a lot of work to do.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll see you when I see you. Bye, Miles.” She hung up.
“I heard that,” Isla said, standing in the doorway. “Maybe she wanted to do something nice, and you just dismissed it.”
I cocked my head at her.
“She doesn’t need to cook me dinner. I can get my own. Shut my door.”
She rolled her eyes and pulled the door shut.
Sighing, I picked up my phone and texted Stella.
“I can be home by seven o’clock.”
“Okay. Dinner will be ready at seven.”
* * *
Iclimbed into the back of the Escalade, and Sean drove me home. It was seven-thirty when I stepped off the elevator and into the penthouse. Setting my briefcase down, I walked into the kitchen.
“You’re late.” Stella smiled, holding a glass of wine.
“It was a busy day. I’ll go change, and we can sit down to dinner. Unless you already ate.”
“No. It’s in the warming oven.” She smiled.
After changing out of my suit and into more comfortable clothes, I poured myself a bourbon and took it over to the table.
“I made chicken marsala, risotto, and grilled asparagus.” Stella smiled, setting my plate before me.
“This looks wonderful. Thank you. You didn’t have to cook me dinner.” I picked up my fork.
“I know, but I wanted to. Besides, I thought we could get to know each other better. I am your wife and barely know anything about you, Miles.”
I stared at her from across the table. She looked beautiful like she always did.
“What do you want to know?” I asked.
“Anything you’re willing to share.”
“Well, I’m a workaholic. Bradshaw Capital is the reason I get up in the morning.”
“I already knew that.” A smirk crossed her lips. “I saw the piano upstairs. I assume you play?”
“I do. This is delicious, Stella.”
“Thanks. Who taught you?”
“Actually, my father did. He played. Every night, when he got home from work, he poured himself a drink and played the piano for a while. He said it relieved the stress of the day. I would sit next to him when I was a kid, and he’d play a few songs. It was really the only time I got to spend with him. Running Bradshaw Capital was his priority. I used to play soccer, and he never once attended my games.”
“Why?” Stella’s brows furrowed.
“When I asked if he would be there, he told me he didn’t have the time because he was building my future.”
“And your mother?”
“She came to a few over the years, but not many. She’d be on her phone the entire time. She and my father were Bradshaw Capital”s power couple. That company was everything to them.”
“I don’t understand why she put your uncle in charge. That company is rightfully yours,” Stella said, picking up her wine glass.
“My mother was a narcissist. She never apologized for anything, and she was never wrong. Everything was about her. One day, when I was fourteen, we got into a huge fight. I asked her why she even had me, and she said she had no choice. My father wanted a child who would carry on the family legacy they were building. After I was born, she had her tubes tied so she couldn’t have more children. She told my father she gave him a son, and that was enough. From the time I could walk and talk, I attended the best prep schools in New York. It was all about the show and what made her and my father look good. As I said, they were Bradshaw Capital’s power couple, and I was expected to uphold their image. Out of defiance, I got into a lot of trouble as a kid and was almost expelled from school. But once my parents made a huge donation, the things I did went away. While I was at Harvard, my father passed away, and my mother took his seat in the company, making my uncle her right-hand man. After I graduated, I went to work for the company. I worked hard, and I would party when I left the office. Levi and I would go to clubs, drink, and pick up different women. I was featured on Page Six daily, and my mother said I was making a fool of myself and tarnishing the Bradshaw name.”
“I’m sorry, Miles.”
“I eventually cleaned up my act. She wanted me to settle down and give her a grandchild. That was the one thing she couldn’t control, and she didn’t like it. Hence, the reason she temporarily put my uncle in her position and stated that if I married and stayed married for at least a year, the company would go to me. Even from the grave, she’s still trying to control me.”
“It worked, didn’t it?” Stella said, sipping her wine.
“She knew how important that company is to me. Enough about me. Tell me about your parents?”