Chapter 24
Caroline
Seven open-air canopies were arranged in a line on the beach, made from overlapping palm fronds. I selected one next to Harrison and said, “This place is beautiful.”
“For the price, it had better be,” he replied. “Rafael filled you in?”
The phrasing almost made me trip on the sand. “Um. About the meeting?”
He nodded and stretched out on the beach chair. “Alexander Dyson arrived an hour ago. He should be here any minute. Feel free to listen in.”
“I’m surprised you’re meeting with him,” I observed. “You two are competitors.”
“Everyone’s my competitor, Caroline,” he said simply.
Dyson came strolling up to the beach with a young, buxom personal assistant. He was old enough to be my grandfather, but the woman gave him a kiss on the cheek before walking out to dip her toes in the water.
Gross.
He and Harrison chatted about things that didn’t matter to me.
First it was sports, then they discussed their various properties on the many Caribbean islands.
Dyson was clearly trying to one-up Harrison, bragging about his compound on a private island east of Turks and Caicos.
It was hilarious to me that even billionaires had dick-measuring contests.
After a while, I had to resist the urge to tune them out. They weren’t discussing anything meaningful. Why had Rafael called this a business meeting?
But then, after talking about the meal the chef was going to prepare tonight, Dyson casually said, “You made quite a return on that beef commodity play.”
I tried to appear relaxed while listening in.
“Pure luck,” Harrison replied. “We rarely get into commodities trading, but we needed a stable market to park some assets while waiting for the end of the quarter. Now I’m stuck deciding whether to stick with the original plan and hold our assets three more months, or take profit.”
“A curious position indeed,” Dyson replied.
Harrison put his hands behind his back and sighed. “A good problem to have, I suppose.”
A silence stretched. But I knew what was happening and could barely contain my excitement.
“If you’re interested in offloading some of your position, I’m sure we could find a mutually-beneficial trade.”
“Ehh,” Harrison said. “Like I said, this wasn’t a high-profit play. We’re just looking for stability in the short-term.”
He was baiting the other man. A juicy worm shoved onto the end of a hook.
“That’s too bad,” Dyson said. “We could be convinced to part ways with some of our Intel shares.”
There it was. The heart of the discussion. The reason we were sitting on this beach.
“Tempting, but I’m sure your asking price is too high,” Harrison said. “I don’t want to discuss business, Dyson. Let’s just enjoy the perfect weather.”
Oh, he was good. I wanted to take notes but didn’t want to tip Dyson off that he was being played.
“I’m sure you’re right.” Dyson sat up on his chair and waved to his date, who hurriedly grabbed a bottle of suntan lotion from the bag and began applying it to his shoulders. “I was only going to offer fourteen percent.”
“Fourteen?” Harrison said, turning to stare at the other billionaire. “I don’t know, Alexander…”
“Fifteen,” Dyson said. “And that is as high as I’ll go. Shake my hand, and then we can return to enjoying this wonderful view.”
Harrison made a show of thinking about it, but I knew this was exactly what he wanted. “Fifteen, in exchange for our beef shares. And then no more business talk for the rest of the week.”
They shook hands. “I’ll have my lawyers draw up the paperwork. Assuming you can back-date the exchange a few weeks.”
“Of course,” Harrison replied.
I waited until we were alone on the way back to our huts before saying something to Harrison. “That was deftly done.”
He smiled. “I’m glad you appreciated it.”
“How long have you been planning that move?”
“Three months ago,” he admitted. “That’s the only reason we purchased such a large stake in beef commodities. To dangle it in front of Dyson at the right moment.”
“That puts your Intel holdings at what… thirty percent?”
He turned and grinned at me as we walked.
“What?” I asked.
“I acquired ten percent from Berkshire Hathaway on the flight this morning,” he revealed. “It won’t be public until tomorrow.”
“So that’s forty percent,” I said, not bothering to hide the awe in my voice. “That gives you the largest share of any individual holder.”
“And three additional seats on the Intel board,” he nodded. “The company is basically mine in all but name.”
I applauded quietly. “Well done.”
“I’m very good at what I do.” He paused in front of his hut, which looked identical to mine. “You could torpedo the deal if you wanted.”
“I could.”
“A shrewd businesswoman would threaten to tell Dyson about it in exchange for… well, anything you want.”
“I don’t believe in blackmail,” I replied.
“Such a dirty word. You’re merely leveraging your position to maximize your personal gain.”
“Call it whatever you want,” I replied while walking away, “it’s not who I am.”
“No,” he agreed. “It’s not who you are.”
I returned to my hut and changed into a flowing evening skirt and one of the new blouses I’d bought with my advance.
Then I headed toward the beachside pavilion for dinner.
Standing bars and four-person dining tables were spread out in a massive open-air tent, with wait staff offering drinks and plates of small pre-dinner bites.
All the other guests had arrived by then, two dozen of the richest, most influential people in the investment world and their assorted retinues.
Rafael was chatting with a tall woman who carried herself like a secret service agent. He smiled at me as I walked past to join Harrison, who was standing by himself facing the ocean.
“Finalize the deal yet?” I asked.
Harrison smiled. “Ten minutes ago.”
“Shall we celebrate?”
His smile deepened. “Caroline Fairfax. Are you finally loosening up around me?”
I accepted a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. “I was put on mandatory sabbatical this week, so I’m not really concerned with keeping up a professional appearance.”
His eyes flared with blue anger. “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner? Is it because of the biography?”
“I missed a deadline. Your biography is now my top priority.”
“I wondered why you changed your mind about coming down here.” He shook his head. “I can fix this for you. I’ll make two calls after dinner, and you’ll be back to work by the time we get home.”
“No!” I blurted out. “You don’t have to do that. I can take care of myself.”
“So you’ve told me several times in the past week.”
“It’s my fault,” I said. “I started slacking at work. Let me fix it myself.”
He frowned at me, then eventually nodded. “I have to admit, I’m selfishly happy that my biography is now your primary focus.”
“I thought you would be.” I gestured around the pavilion with my champagne flute. “And I’m selfishly happy that I get to enjoy the perks of writing the biography of the great Harrison Blackstone.”
“I know you’re being sarcastic, but I’m taking that as a genuine compliment.”
I laughed, then glanced over my shoulder.
“She works for one of the Koch brothers,” Harrison explained.
“What?”
“The woman talking to Rafael. The one you keep glancing at. She’s a bodyguard.”
“I wasn’t looking at her.”
“Of course you weren’t.”
Harrison didn’t miss much, did he? To change the subject, I clinked my glass against his. “To your new stake in Intel. Does Dyson know yet?”
“He has no idea,” he replied, sipping his drink. “He should find out in the next day or two. I’m looking forward to his reaction.”
“Want me to include it in the book?”
“You can include whatever you want. I was serious when I said you have full creative license, and don’t need my approval. That’s why I hired you, Caroline.”
“It will make a good anecdote to show how savvy you are,” I mused.
Harrison smiled widely. “It will, won’t it?”
We shared a private laugh together.
“So,” I said, “are you ready to talk about your parents?”
His mouth tightened. “Not particularly, no.”
“I upheld my end of the bargain by coming down here,” I argued. “Now it’s your turn.”
“I said I would tell you. But I never said when.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s a shitty technicality, and you know it.”
One of Harrison’s guests, someone with orders of magnitude more wealth than I could dream of earning in my life, came over and began chatting with him.
Annoyed that he was still holding out on me, I slipped away, finding a private table by myself where I could gaze out at the waves on the beach—and where I could observe everyone in the pavilion.
The rich men were easy to pick out. Not because they were gaudy and displaying their wealth—most of them were underdressed in simple swim trunks and linen shirts, trying to downplay their wealth, something that had become the fashion thanks to young tech bros who wore plain white T-shirts.
No, they were obvious thanks to the women attached to their arms. Plastic surgery, skimpy dresses, and designer bags prominently displayed on arms—these women flaunted their trinkets of wealth rather than downplaying them.
Who brought a Louis Vuitton bag to a beach party, honestly?
I glanced at Rafael. He was still chatting with the female bodyguard. He leaned in and whispered something, and she laughed like it was the funniest joke in the world.
I tried not to feel jealousy, although I couldn’t help but clench my jaw a little tighter.
Many women walked up to Harrison. I was close enough to hear them thank him for the invitation, that if he needed anything, he only has to ask. He smiled politely to each of them without actually engaging, even when one of them touched him on the arm.
He was always in control, it seemed.
As soon as the female bodyguard walked over to the bar, Rafael made his way toward me. “You look like you need a refill.”
“I’m fine for now. Already kind of on the edge of a buzz.”
“I’m still buzzing, myself.”
I gave him a sideways glance. “Are you, now?”
“You have that effect on me.”
“Could have fooled me, based on the way you were chatting with that muscle mommy.”
Rafael snorted. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone use that term in real life. Alicia and I were talking about our jobs.”
“I’m sure you were.”
One of his dark eyebrows rose an inch. “I didn’t take you for the jealous type.”
“I’m not.”
“She was telling me how she’s always in the bodyguard mindset, even when she’s off the clock,” Rafael explained. “I joked that it’s impossible for us to ever really be off the clock when our bosses are billionaires.”
“I’m sure you two have a lot in common.”
“She’s not interested in me, Caroline.”
“What makes you say that?”
“The fact that I don’t have a vagina. She’s a lesbian.”
I gave a start, then glanced over at the bar. The bodyguard in question was leaning across the bar, practically batting her eyelashes at the busty bartender.
“Well don’t I feel silly,” I said.
“Like I said. I didn’t take you for the jealous type.”
“Sorry,” I said. “It’s been a weird couple of days. Did I tell you I was put on mandatory sabbatical because I missed a deadline?”
“Oh. So that’s why you came down here with us.” He put a comforting hand on my arm. “Sorry to hear that, Caroline. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“You already helped an hour ago,” I whispered.
“Let me know if you need any more help, then.”
“I thought we agreed that three times was the perfect amount?”
Rafael shrugged and downed the rest of his drink. “What can I say? I’m on vacation.”
Suddenly, his eyes widened as he gazed out at the water. “Mother fucker.”
“What is it?” I asked.
A yacht was drifting around the cape, turning toward our private little beach cove. The more of it came into view, the larger it appeared—three, four, five decks of luxury. The name, written on the side in flowing gold script, was: Eau La La.
“A surprise visitor?” I asked. “One of Harrison’s competitors?”
“Worse,” Rafael said. “One of his partners. That’s Lucien’s yacht.”