Chapter 26
CHAPTER 26
HUDSON
I wake up right after the sun rises and stir in bed slowly, letting Juliette lay on the bed before standing up. She sleeps so peacefully, like a baby. Her body is angled ever so delicately, with the duvet partially covering her naked body. She is a testament to the wonderful work of God; her beauty, her grace, and her stunning body all keep me in a trance for a while. The curtain is drawn, but there are beams of light that escape through the sides and fill the house with partial light. I watch her by the light, enjoying the sight. After drinking in her exquisiteness to my satisfaction, I turn away, get dressed, and head downstairs to have a cup of coffee. I find Alison in the kitchen, nursing her cup of coffee.
“Hello,” I say to her as I join her. The in-house chef, Alejandro, whom Juliette said she spent yesterday with, asks how I like my coffee after I take my seat beside Alison by the counter.
“It’s a full house these days,” Alejandro says as he pours me my black coffee. “I like it. I never get to share my coffee with people.”
Alison throws him a look and he gets the hint: we’d rather be left alone to have a brief discussion. He nods, picks up his own mug and walks away. When we’re alone in the room, Alison speaks up. She leans into me and she whispers.
“I spoke with her last night,” she says.
And by her, I knew she meant Elizabeth. So, while I was fighting Juliette, Alison was hard at work.
“She’s agreed to meet.”
“That’s good work,” I tell her and sip my coffee.
“I didn’t do much work. She said you convinced her already. All I did was discuss the location of the meeting. She doesn’t want to meet in your office. There might be people watching.”
“I understand that. Where did you choose?” I ask Alison.
“I’ll send you the address. You’re meeting with her in about thirty minutes.”
“What!” I exclaim, standing up. “Why didn’t you lead with that, and why didn’t you contact me.”
“I did. I sent you a text yesterday and called you.” She gave me a knowing look but said nothing further. I can tell by the look in her eyes that she has so much more to say, but for fear of offending me, she holds her peace and focuses on drinking her coffee.
“Good work,” I tell her as I head back into the room to get dressed. Juliette is still fast asleep, and I don’t dare wake her. There isn’t time to ponder over what last night meant for the two of us. Whatever it means, I know Alison won’t approve of it. Good thing I’m not asking for her approval. After I finish dressing, I walk over to Juliette to kiss her on the forehead. She stirs and blinks her eyes awake.
“I have to go,” I tell her.
“Alright,” she says without a complaint. Before I leave, though, I kiss her briefly on the lips and then head out of the house. I open my phone to see the message Alison said she sent to me. It contains all the information about her meeting with Elizabeth. They met to talk late last night while I was making love to Juliette. Or perhaps fucking is the better term. A part of me though wants to stick to the former. The location she chose for the meeting is a restaurant on the outskirts of town. When I arrive, I follow her instructions and speak only to the waiter available this early.
“I’d like to speak to Venny,” I say.
The waiter nods. “Follow me.”
We walk through the restaurant's aisle and head to what seems like the back door, which opens to a secluded seating area. As we walk through, I half expect to find not just Elizabeth waiting for me but also Frank with a big silly grin on his face, mocking me for thinking I could turn his daughter against him. But there is no Frank, just Elizabeth sitting at a corner table and having a breakfast of bacon and eggs.
I sit opposite her. She focuses on her meal for a while before acknowledging me. The waiter stands with her, too.
“He’s waiting for you,” Elizabeth says finally. “He wants to know what you’d like for breakfast.”
“Just coffee, please,” I tell the waiter, who nods and turns away immediately.
“You don’t feel like eating?” Elizabeth asks me.
“No, it’s still quite early.”
“Don’t mind me. I eat a lot when I’m nervous.”
“What’s the anxiety for?” I ask her. “Never done anything like this before?”
“You mean to go against my father? A lot of times. I just have never done it with someone currently in a tug-of-war with my father—with someone he despises.”
“Your father hates me? I guess that’s my cue to say goodbye then? I can’t live in the same house as a man who hates me.”
“Don’t be silly. That will only rub him the wrong way. You’ve poked him enough, and you’ve shown him you’re no longer scared of him. Don’t overplay your hand,” says Elizabeth.
“I got under his skin last night, didn’t I?” I ask and watch her stuff her mouth full of toast.
“Don’t get cocky, It’s not a good look on you. Last night, after I returned to the apartment and talked to my father, two things he said jumped at me. One, he said he regrets getting his foot into this deal at all. Two, he is so certain he mustn’t let you win now. You’ll just become him, and the first thing you’ll do should you accumulate the bargaining power is kick him out. So, he’ll be a fool to let you go. You’ll act like you’ve always been acting, like you two are in good graces, and don’t secretly wish death on each other.”
“So, I achieved nothing in essence.”
“Whatever you intended the outburst to achieve turns out to be a big mess. But I’ll tell you: you opened my eyes to a new way of seeing things. It feels like I’ve been blind for ages but with this new insight, now, I see things differently.”
“Will you help me defeat your father?” I ask her. I see no reason to mince words here. We both know her meeting with me at all is a grave sin, so why play another game with her? I was tired of games. I needed a win, and if Elizabeth will be the vessel through which I get that win, then so be it.
“Of course not,” she says with a hiss.
“So, is this a waste of time for me?”
“You could leave,” Elizabeth says and continues to eat. I don’t leave. I watch her instead. The waiter returns with a mug of coffee for me, and I nod at him. This is the chance to enjoy another cup of coffee. The one I started back home; I couldn’t enjoy because I needed to be here.
“What is this place?” I ask her. “Do they need a new supplier for their sea products?”
“Don’t you worry about them. They’re doing just fine. Your assistant mentioned something I find hard to believe,” says Elizabeth, rolling a piece of sausage to eat.
“Alison isn’t one for exaggeration. Whatever she tells you, take it at face value.”
“Not this. I need confirmation. She says you have a floating source of cash. A huge floating source of cash.”
“That is true.”
“It’s impossible. No one in their right mind will fund you,” she says, still munching
“That was why we didn’t go for someone in their right mind. We’re not presenting you with a case based on hope. We’re presenting you with one that you can evaluate and make informed decisions. I’m not looking for you to hope. I’m asking you to act.”
“Well, I’ll need to know who the investor is. To be sure they have the deep pockets to back you.”
“You know that’s not possible.”
“You want me to build my castles in the skies. I need a foundation to build on here, Hudson. I’m taking a big risk being here with you. I need an act of faith from you.”
“We’ve provided you with that. You know how it is, and we’ll be able to stand against your father. Anything beyond that will be a fool’s act.”
“Sometimes you have to act a fool to catch a prey.”
“I’m hunting a predator. One who shows no manner of mercy. There is no room for errors.”
“We can’t make a deal if I don’t know who your investor is,” she insists.
I watch her for a while, just learning about her and judging her by the way she eats. While binge eating, she takes her time, letting a considerable time pass between her bites. She has no intention of forcing herself to throw up. It looks like a calculated move from her, not just an uncontrolled gobbling down of food.
“My mother stress eats like you,” I tell her.
Elizabeth looks up and chuckles like I had just told a joke. “What now? You’ll find a way to convince me to work for you because your mother has an eating disorder that might be similar to mine?”
“Eating disorder? Who said anything about eating disorders? I’m just telling you about my mother,” I say and continue, ignoring her haughtiness. “Her stress eating started when my father was alive.”
“He must have been a terrible human then.”
Is she trying to make me angry? She knows my father wasn’t a terrible human being. I cross my legs and say nothing. She knows what to do if she wants this conversation to go on.
“I’m sorry, that was a low blow,” Elizabeth apologizes.
“You’re better than that,” I say, continuing my story. “Whenever my father failed to come home for the night or if he had one of those nights when he had the jitters so much and complained about how things just weren’t working out, my mother would sit in a corner and eat herself to a stupor. It wasn’t a good sight, so I have seen terrible things also. I’ve seen what a lack of control, lack of input can do to a person.”
“I didn’t think you were so desperate you’d go low to garner sympathy,” Elizabeth says with a hiss. “Yes, you had a rough childhood. Newsflash: it doesn’t make you special. We all had demons as children.”
“But your demons haven’t left you,” I tell her. “You still go to bed with them. They whisper sweet words into your ears, and you listen. You listen, and you’re helpless when it comes to them. It’s why you have so much food before you now.”
Finally, I get her to look away from the food. She’s watching me with such hate.
Way to go, Hudson, make an enemy of her.
I am not her father, yet I have my way of pulling rancor out of people. Unlike her father, I make it useful. I can transform it quickly to respect.
“I told you I know people like you. My mom kept eating, not because she was sad, scared, or worried for my father. All of those things were present, of course, and sometimes I’d hear her cry at night because that’s when she could allow herself to cry—whenever I wasn’t there. But none of those things made her eat. When it came to my father, she was absolutely useless. There was nothing she could do to help my father. That part of his life was out of her control, and the harder she tried to fight for control, the further it drifted away from her. So, she did the one thing that made sense to her. She ate, and she found comfort in it. This was something she could make happen. However, beyond that, she was useless, and the more she had to confront her uselessness, the more she hated it and the more she ate. It was a vicious cycle, and she never lived past it until after my father died, and she wasn’t confronted with it anymore.”
“So, you think I’m like your mother?” she scoffs.
“No, I don’t think. I know. I’ve watched you for a long time, and I know hate seethes in you. Your father has turned his attention to people who have shown themselves useless while you, who work tirelessly to keep the company running, is treated like a maggot. That is the only reason you’d consider this meeting. You want to be more than just mere Elizabeth. You want to fight for your position, no matter what it takes, even if it means partnering with the enemy.
“You don’t know me,” she hisses.
“No, I don’t. But I know you don’t want me to walk away with your golden chance.”
I stand up to dare her and start to walk towards the door. I’m close to the door, my hand on the knob, and I fear that she has called my bluff, and now, I’ll leave with achieving nothing. I can already see Alison on me, looking for a way to make it Juliette’s fault. My hand brushes the door just as she calls me back.
I turn around to regard her.
“You should sit,” Elizabeth says. “We have a lot to talk about.”
Walking back to the table, I feel victorious. This won’t be a total waste of time after all. I sit down and face Elizabeth who sets her meal aside, ready for business.
“I’ve gone through your public records. They’re quite impressive, I have to confess. You spent a lot of time building a clientele base that stayed with you even in this hard time. How did you go about that?”
This is the part of my business that has always shocked people. They can’t seem to understand how my clientele base hasn’t dwindled with all the uncertainties surrounding the future of my company.
“Delivery,” I say to Elizabeth, taking a good drink from my mug. “My customers know that even if the heavens were to fall, they’d get their delivery. We take that seriously, and we do not affect the quality of our products. It’s basic. I went five years without making a profit for this very reason.”
For five years, my books remained in the negative region. Five years of funding with my money.
“I see why you can’t let my father have it. You’ve sacrificed too much.”
“If your father made a market value offer, maybe, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. There is only one reason your father can’t buy me out yet. He doesn’t have the funds.”
“That’s a bit presumptuous,” she retorts.
“Oh, please. Let’s not fool ourselves here. There’ve been words. Your father is in trouble. No one knows what kind it is, but this ongoing battle doesn’t help his case. That’s why you’re here. You want this gone.”
“It’s only part of why I’m here,” she says. “You’re right. All of this should be mine. I have worked to earn it, but my father won’t let me have it. I’ll help you win this war if you’ll help me win mine.”
“I can’t give you your father’s company. I wouldn’t even dare to.”
“But you can make him see reason.”
“How do you suggest I do that?”
Elizabeth shifts in her chair and takes a new position, which tells me this conversation just got serious. Her face takes on a serious disposition, her voice mellow and soft.
“This must never leave this room in any manner. I’ll work actively to sabotage every effort you make, and you must know that you are my enemy until the day all of this comes to fruition. If it doesn’t, you continue to be my enemy, and this meeting never happened.”
“I understand that.”
“No, you don’t. What my father said about the SEC last night was no bluff. You’ve made him desperate, and he’ll be pulling levers he has never pulled before, and I must be truthful with you; not all will be legal. He will fight dirty, and from now on, and from this moment, it is he who can get his hands filled with mud while showing the rest of the world that he is clean and who will come out on top. This isn’t a matter of strategy. There isn’t one. This is a matter of gut and grueling power. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”
“Yes, I do,” I tell her.
I’m no fool. I expected this; in fact, I had been waiting for it and wondered when Frank would start to play dirty. The games and back-and-forth on the court were tiring and getting nowhere. Frank had tried his other popular method, cutting me off from funds, but that isn’t going as well as he planned because I have found my way around it. Now, things will get down and dirty, and yes, I am ready for it.
“Good. So, listen. Ten years ago, my father made an arms deal with a Middle Eastern prince.”
“Your father is a gun runner,” I cut in, not entirely surprised, but it still shocks me. There are stories about Frank dabbling into the criminal underworld, but I have always disregarded those stories.
“Yes, amongst many other things, but this isn’t about the guns. At least not directly. It is about the money. When he made the deal, he had most of his cash tied up in other businesses that he couldn’t liquidate, or he’d be breaking a thousand federal laws. He could have had his lackey in the SEC look the other way, but if there was anything my father was good at, it was never being moderate. His friends can’t help him because they’ll be exposed if they do. So, the deal came at the right time. Unfortunately for him, the United States isn’t supposed to run guns to the Middle East, and he had to make use of a third party. All went smoothly, and the partial payment for the weapons was made. He transferred the weapons over, and the rest of the money was sent. But his third party is a Russian company, which, unfortunately, he can’t receive his money from. This is why he wants your company. You are a cash-based company that moves goods in large quantities over the sea. The sea is large, a lot can go unnoticed there. If he gets your company, he can move his money in by cash and use the company to wash it all. Buying it also means he gets direct access to your fleet of ships and boats, and he can make his arms deals without fear of exposure or the possibility of what happened with the prince reoccurring.”
“He’ll get paid in cash and move his money through the seas. He runs the risk of losing a large chunk of his money to pirates.”
“He’s made large donations to the sea marshals constantly for the last eight months. He’ll be well protected. Besides, you have your way of dealing with pirates.”
“I move seafood. He’ll be moving cash.”
“True, but you should know my father won’t have any problem handling the pirates.”
“All he wants my company for is to commit crimes.”
“Partially. He wants you to stay onboard because he needs you to grow the company and use it as a cover for the gun running.”
This is interesting. Quite interesting.
“How much of your father’s money is stuck in Russia?” I ask her.
“Just a little less than your company is actually valued at.”
“That’s why he won’t pay the market value. That’s bad market for him.”
“Yes. And the longer the cash stays in Russia, the harder it is to get it out.”
“So, Phillipa, none of this was ever about her?” I ask her.
Elizabeth chuckles. “No, the world doesn’t revolve around my sister for my father, apparently. For him, cash is king. Cash will always be king.”
“And what about you? How does any of this benefit you? How does your father's loss benefit you?”
“Worry less about that,” Elizabeth says and returns to her meal.
I watch Elizabeth for a while and it becomes clear to me. She will usurp her father. She’s been making her move, gathering people under her wing.
“Are you sure you want to do that?”
“He is my father. What is he going to do? Destroy me?”
I shrug. “He won’t take the backstabbing lightly.”
“I don’t expect him to. You hold up your end of your deal, I am counting on you.”
I sit back and smile. “I’ll run your father into the ground.”