Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
Isabella
The nights pass in a sensual haze. The days take new shape. Reports come to me about the operations and financials of Bradley Hotels. I’m away from day-to-day operations now that I live in France. Even with access to a private plane I’m eight hours away. I can’t look over my father’s shoulder or manage Robin’s temper, but it turns out I don’t need to.
“Isa,” my father says, his voice pleading. “The hotel is a gem. A hidden gem. There’s this window in the private dining room overlooking the Rhine that is absolutely stunning.”
“I believe you, Dad. That’s not the point. We can visit the hotel all you want, but Bradley Hotels doesn’t need to acquire it. We already struggle with the municipal requirements on our properties in Munich and Frankfurt. Another hotel would mean more oversight.”
“The legal department can handle that,” he says, his tone dismissive.
And they can handle it. While hiring more lawyers specializing in international law, raising our baseline costs, and swallowing into the profit margin of a small hotel. “I’m sorry, but the numbers don’t add up.” I pause for a moment. “You could invest some of your own money.”
When Francisco demanded controlling interest in his contract, that meant he gets the final say in any major deals or decisions. He cedes management to me, which means I get the final decision. It’s almost like he purchased Bradley Hotels as a wedding gift for me.
I still deal with my father and Robin, but I have the final say.
My father pauses. The air over the phone feels heavy. “Is this coming from Francisco or you?” he finally asks.
I look out the beveled windowpanes. The angled glass sends through a profusion of color—endless green with pink and blue flowers. Fields of lavender beyond. My office is smaller than Frans’s. More delicate. Feminine. It has paintings on the ceiling like his, angels instead of demons. Wolf splits his time between us. Right now he’s snoring gently by the white marble fireplace. It would be easy to make Frans the villain in my father’s story. But it wouldn’t be true. “It’s coming from me,” I say, my voice gentle but firm. “It would be a bad move for the business. It might not be right away, but we’d be heading for another bailout, another loan. We’d end up laying people off, and how would that help the hotel? Better that we do what we do well. The company is financially stronger than ever now that we have Frans’s backing. We need to keep that momentum, not derail it.”
“He’s changing you.” My father’s voice sounds small. Petulant.
Maybe he is changing me. Or maybe I’m becoming more myself. I soothe my father’s ruffled feathers and end the call. Wolf rests his head on my knee, as if he knows that I’m troubled by the accusation. What if I’m becoming someone else here?
“Problem?” comes a low voice.
My husband stands at the door, his body leaning against the frame. Even though we work from home most days, he wears a suit every day. It fits him as comfortably as another person might wear worn jeans and a threadbare sweater.
“No problem,” I say, keeping my voice light. “There was a hotel in Bonn that my father fell in love with, but it doesn’t fit into our portfolio.”
“I saw the numbers this week. Very impressive.”
It’s ridiculous that I flush when he compliments my spreadsheets. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to do this work, you know. I have managers if you want to step back.”
“Oh no. I love the hotels. I mean, maybe someday I’ll stop working, once I—” My cheeks heat. Once I become pregnant. I don’t say the words, but he hears them anyway.
“Once you give me an heir?”
My nose scrunches. “Do you want a boy so badly?”
His expression softens. “A girl would be fine. If she was like you.”
When he says things like this I can almost forget that this was an arranged marriage. That this was a financial contract. I’m falling for my own husband. It’s a dangerous place to be, because he’s clearly holding back. “I’d like a boy, too. If he was like you.”
His expression closes. “Right. Someone to carry on the family name.”
He turns and departs as abruptly as he arrived. Wolf gives me a guilty look before he abandons me to trot after his master, leaving the room empty and painfully quiet.