Chapter 8
Austin Wylie called Eugenia four times on Friday morning, and she finally decided to take the call.
He didn’t wait for her to turn down his offer, he was calling her to improve it, which showed how anxious he was to invest in her business.
“I want to make you the best offer I can. Natasha is driving me crazy. She wants part ownership in your business. Name your terms and let’s see if we can make a deal.
” His Texas drawl was more pronounced than ever.
“I’m sure you’ve guessed that your last offer was not acceptable.
” She decided to follow Patrick’s advice, and go for broke, literally.
“I’m prepared to give you ten percent of my business for a thirty-million-dollar investment from you,” she said, with her stomach in a knot.
There was a long pause and he came back at her.
“Twenty percent of the business for twenty million, and that’s my best and final offer.
” She wasn’t sure it was, but she had gotten him exactly where she wanted him, with Patrick’s help.
She was giving up twenty percent of her business for the twenty million dollars she needed to stay afloat for a very healthy amount of time.
He was going to save her from losing the company she had worked so hard for.
She almost screamed with delight, and then she followed the rest of Patrick’s advice.
“In addition,” she said, “I want to be able to pay you back at any time, without a penalty. And because I run a very high-end business with demanding, very elite clients, some of whom have very important positions, I need a morals clause in the contract to protect the business. I’m sure we’ll never have to implement it, but I can’t take the chance.
” There was silence for an agonizingly long moment, while he digested it, and then his voice boomed into the phone.
“Done, you’ve got it, whatever you want, Eugenie.
I’ll have my lawyers draw up the papers.
It’s Natasha’s birthday next week and I want to give her this as a surprise.
You’ve got yourself a new partner, and you’ll have the money in your account next week.
Consider this call my handshake on the deal.
You won’t regret it. Natasha is a great gal and she’s got great fashion sense.
She’s taught me a lot about what women want to wear.
” Eugenia shuddered at the thought, but with Eugenia owning eighty percent of her business, Natasha would have no influence and little chance to interfere.
And she was getting the impression that Natasha was more interested in taking her clothes off than putting them on.
She almost felt sorry for Austin Wylie and his na?veté about his wife.
She called Patrick as soon as she hung up with Austin.
“We did it! You did it!” she chortled into the phone.
“We got exactly what we wanted. He called me four times and I finally picked up. I followed your template to the letter. He got twenty percent of the business, and I get twenty million dollars, which is exactly what I need to get off the rocks and get afloat again.”
“Well done!” Patrick congratulated her and took no credit for the result. He was a very modest man and happy to help her. She needed it, and it had been easy for him to advise her. “Did you tell him about the no-penalty payback and the morals clause?”
“Of course. He hesitated for a fraction of a second on the last one, and then he said whatever I want and it was done. I’ll have the papers and the money by next week.”
“Make sure your lawyer looks at them closely. I still don’t trust him.”
“Hopefully, I’ll be able to pay him back soon. I’m so relieved, Patrick.”
“So am I, for you. You’ll see, things will turn around now, you can relax.”
“I was almost out of time.” Daphne had certainly given a lucky dinner party for her, the investor she needed and a man she was crazy about for the first time in years. It was a double-header.
“How did it go with Gloria last night? Did she calm down?”
“They left,” Eugenia said quietly. She had won with Austin Wylie, but not with her daughter.
“I don’t know if it was Gloria’s idea or Geoff’s, but they walked in on us during dinner, with their backpacks on, basically told us all to go to hell, and said ‘See ya at the wedding,’ no thank-you, no goodbye.
Sometimes one’s children can be so disappointing.
And the worst thing is she’s going to pay the price for it if she marries him.
I’m not. And she’s determined to do it. It’s them against the world. ”
“It’s her decision,” he said gently. “You did everything you could. You can pull the plug on the wedding, but she’d probably marry him anyway. You can’t stop someone when they’re as determined as you say she is. You just have to grit your teeth and get through it.”
“We will.”
“See you tonight, and congratulations again on the Wylie deal. I don’t like the guy, but you need the money, and he showed up at the right time. And you’ll be protected with the conditions you asked for,” thanks to him.
“He sure did. See you tonight,” she confirmed.
Patrick arrived punctually at the house in his blazer and jeans, and with four bottles of fancy French wine.
The chef was grilling steaks on the barbecue, and Patrick had brought Chateau Margaux.
They opened it immediately to let it breathe, while they drank martinis on the porch.
They were all happy to see him, and Phillip was pleased to see that his friend and his mother-in-law got along so well.
He had noticed it on the boat too. He could tell that there was a warm connection between them, and he was happy for them both.
Phillip was very fond of his mother-in-law.
Daphne had come to dinner and was being a good sport, but Eugenia could see that she was more and more uncomfortable. The twins were weighing on her heavily, and she couldn’t wait to have it over with. The end was hard. There was no position where she was comfortable anymore.
“I feel like I’ve been possessed by aliens,” she said to Sofia at dinner, and she laughed.
“You have. It won’t be long now. If you sneeze, they’ll fall out.”
“I wish,” Daphne said, anxious about the delivery ahead of her.
No one mentioned Geoff and Gloria at dinner, but Eugenia was upset by the way they’d left the night before.
It was such a cowardly way to deal with it, to just run away, and all Gloria cared about was her wedding, not who she was marrying, and they all agreed he wasn’t a good guy.
Gloria was totally under his influence, and believed everything he said.
Eugenia was sure that he was lying about Natasha and had more than willingly slept with her.
No one had had to twist his arm. And she didn’t believe for a minute that she had held him hostage.
When the others went to bed, Patrick stayed for a little while to talk to Eugenia.
They sat in the porch swing, swaying gently back and forth, and he kissed her in the moonlight, with the crickets chirping and the fireflies dancing, and a falling star overhead.
It wasn’t as romantic as being on his yacht, but it was warm and comfortable, and he had enjoyed talking to her children.
He wanted to introduce her to his son, but Quinn was on a ranch in Montana where he went every year, riding and fishing with a group of friends.
“He’s not a sailor like his father, he’s a mountain man,” Patrick said, and kissed her again.
“I’m sorry I can’t have you on the boat tomorrow for your last day.
I’m hoping to sell two of my buildings and the buyer is coming to discuss the deal with me.
He’s flying back to L.A. tomorrow night, so I can’t put him off. ”
“I don’t expect you to,” she said with her head on his shoulder, enjoying the moment.
“You’ve already been wonderful to us. And you helped me make that deal today.
We’ll be fine here. The house worked out well for us.
These vacations always go so quickly. Normally, we wouldn’t all be together again until Christmas, but this time we have the wedding in a few weeks.
And I have a feeling it’s going to be a mess.
I’ve only met Geoff’s parents once and they’re as pompous as he is, possibly worse.
I’m not a big fan of threadbare aristocracy, they have a lot more to prove.
We’re not off to a great start,” she said, and then looked at him. “Will you come to the wedding?”
“Do you want me there?”
“Weddings are usually a terrible bore if you don’t know the people, but I suspect there will be fireworks at this one, so it will be more interesting,” she said, and he laughed.
“I’m happy to be there to support you,” he said.
“I’ll send you an invitation. I’d love you to come as my date.”
“I’d be honored,” he said, and pulled her a little closer on the swing. “Let’s have dinner in the city this week.”
“I’d love it,” she said. They kissed for a while, enjoying the end of the evening together, and then he left.