Chapter 13
Elliot
Ilook at down at my watch and check the time for what feels like the millionth fucking time.
Forty-eight minutes.
I’ve been sitting in this boring monthly review meeting for a whole forty-eight damn minutes, and it feels like it’s never going to end.
Twelve, now eleven, minutes seems like the longest fucking time in the world.
A small groan slips through my mouth, and it’s almost missed by everyone sitting at the huge conference table with me—only one person catches it.
And of course it’s my aunt.
Ella Vincent Lane may only be five years older than me, but the woman surely knows how to make me cower. With just one look, I’m told to behave myself or she is going to rip me a new one for causing a disturbance. I sure as hell wouldn’t put it past her either.
So, I sink further into my chair and try to listen to one of the interns drone on about a new computer security system the IT department is looking into possibly implementing.
As the intern finishes up, I look over at my uncle and give him a questioning look.
The system sounds mediocre at best and not something a company the size of Lane Enterprises should be spending time and money on. We need a system strong beyond belief, not something a bunch of recent college graduates can create in a matter of three weeks.
Okay, so maybe they have more knowledge and experience than I give them credit for, but what they’re suggesting isn’t going to help anything.
I know it.
Hell, from the look on my uncle’s face, he knows it too.
Which is probably why he ends the meeting as soon as the intern is done with his presentation. Probably doesn’t want someone else to present other ridiculous ideas.
“Thank you all for an insightful meeting,” he starts, and I’m about to let out a snort at the word ‘insightful’, but I think Ella detects it before the sound even comes out of my mouth.
My lovely aunt sends a death glare my way, so I end up coughing to cover the noise.
“One of my assistants will send everyone the minutes from today. Please keep up the good work; please do not hesitate to reach out to either me or Ms. Vincent if anything is needed. You can go about your day.”
Everyone gives him their thanks and start making their way out, leaving Bennett and me at the conference table, and Ella talking to one of her assistants in the corner.
“Are these monthly meetings necessary? This could have been an email,” I grumble, getting up from my seat and stretching my legs.
That was fucking excruciating. Next month, I’m going to make sure I’m out of town, out of the country, something, so I won’t have to spend a whole hour in this boring as fuck room.
This is not how I want to be spending my time.
Maybe I’ll send my assistant, but I may like him too much to subject him to this torture.
Ella is the one to respond to me as she finishes up with the assistant and makes her way back to the table to gather her things.
“People lie in emails. Besides, it’s nice for the CEO to meet with his employees regularly, show them he actually cares about his company and isn’t running it into the ground. ”
It doesn’t go unnoticed how Bennett’s eyes rake over his wife as she speaks. It’s like he is so damn enamored with her, even he can’t believe it. It’s nice to see but also disgusting at the same time.
For as long as I’ve known my uncle, which is now twenty years, he has concentrated on two things: his family’s company and raising me and my siblings. When Ella came along, she and her sister were added to the list of people that matter to Bennett.
Seeing them happy is nice to see since, even though I’m thirty, these two are the closest thing I have to parents, minimal age gaps aside, so seeing them make fuck-me-eyes at each other nauseates me.
Trying to keep myself from puking all over the conference table, I get back to my grumbling.
“Can I at least be excluded from this monthly get together? I liked it better when I all had to do was come in whenever there was a board meeting.”
Board meetings happen once a quarter. I can deal with that.
Bennett is the one who answers me. “As long as you are Chief of Acquisitions, you are to attend every meeting unless you are traveling. That’s what we agreed on.”
I’m about to throw that agreement away.
“Besides, your name is on the building and on the letterhead. It would look weird if you weren’t here,” Ella adds.
I just narrow my eyes at her. “Samantha, Grayson, and Drake all share the same name, and they don’t have to be here for these damn meetings. Grayson even owns a company under the Lane umbrella.”
“They aren’t executive officers,” Ella throws back with a shrug of her shoulders.
I want to throw her a rebuttal, but she’s right.
My siblings have seats on the board, something we all inherited when we turned eighteen, but my brothers aren’t Enterprises employees like I am.
Samantha is in some way but her position at this moment doesn’t have the same power as mine or the same requirements.
Grayson works with Lane Enterprises, not for them.
They’re all out living their lives, traveling the world, while I have an office to report to every single day. Oh, how the tables have fucking turned.
This is what I signed up for and agreed to, though.
This is what I wanted to do because it gave me freedom while I repaired relationships.
And if I’m being honest, I actually like what I do, even if I grumble left and right about attending meetings. I like the negotiations and being able to pull off deals many people would be jealous of. I fucking love getting my hands on something someone else wants. That gets my adrenaline going.
“We could make the meetings a weekly thing if you want to continue complaining,” Bennett says, throwing me a look I saw plenty of times from Henry when I was a teenager. Keep complaining and see what happens.
A part of me wants to call his bluff, but I concede. He hates these meetings as much as I do.
“Fine. I’ll shut up.” I hold up my hands in defeat. “But I still think Sam and Grayson should at least attend some of these meetings.”
I suggest it not because I want my siblings to suffer with me, but because at some point we all are going to work for this company whether we like it or not. They should now about the everyday operations, especially since one of is slated to tak–
No. I’m not even going to think that into existence.
“We’ll see,” Bennett says, his voice telling me that his thought process probably went in the same direction as mine, but he doesn’t let it settle and changes the subject. “Other than your disgruntled feelings in regard to our monthly meeting, are there any updates you want to give?”
Right away, my shoulders stiffen as I look from my uncle to Ella. There is definitely an update, but it has nothing to do with a property or business, and I’m not sure he wants me to speak about it with Ella here.
It’s not like she doesn’t know things, but I don’t know if he wants her to know this.
Ella rolls her eyes. “You do realize he tells some everything, right? And that I know his best friend is head of the mafia family that runs Chicago.”
My hands go up in defense. “I didn’t say anything,” I say and then look at my uncle.
“I talked to Leo and Santos yesterday. They are still working out logistics, but they are planning to have their product within the city limits in the next two months or so. They are doing everything they can to stay within the agreement with Dante.”
About three years ago, during my trip to Vegas, Leo, Santos, and I had a meeting about their cartel moving product over the Canadian border and through Chicago, but nothing came from it.
Sometime last year, after Leo took over the seat as kingpin, they reached out once more, but this time, they wanted to be able to operate within the city limits.
My uncle has made our family an influential part of Chicago, but there are things even we don’t want or can’t stick our asses in.
Letting a cartel move in falls to the Rossetti Family, the Italian mob that has control of the city’s underground dealings, run by Dante Rossetti, Bennett’s only friend since high school.
It took some convincing, but Dante agreed to let the Muertos step into his territory on a few conditions, and, of course, with the promise of more than a handful of payouts.
The meeting was a while back, and it’s just now being put in motion. I’m not truly involved in the dealings, but Leo, Santos, and Dante agreed to inform me and Bennett of the details.
Because the more we know, the better so we can lend a helping hand when needed.
“Let me know when you have all the details. That way, I can make sure the commissioner or the mayor don’t get wind of it.”
I nod. It’s all about keeping those with the potential to take you down close.
“Will do.” I look at the time on my watch and remember Grayson asked me to stop by the arena after the boring as fuck meeting. “I have to get going, but I will stop by the manor sometime this week.”
Both Ella and Bennett nod in my direction, and I make my way out of the stuffy ass conference room toward the parking garage. I need to get to the hockey arena across town to meet with my brother.
I didn’t think those were words I was ever going to think in my adult life, yet here they are.
I fucking love it.
* * *
Thirty minutes after leaving the Lane Enterprises building, I’m pulling into the Dark Knight’s arena parking lot. After showing the guard my pass and finding a spot to park, I take a second to look at the place.