5. Travis
TRAVIS
A fter concluding the conference call with my Board of Directors, I said, “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. I’m looking forward to meeting face-to-face next month.”
Next month? More like a couple of weeks.
Next month made it sound like there was time to prepare for this.
Not that I needed the time. This was something I’d been working on for months, almost a year.
The expansion was necessary if I wanted the company to grow, which was my ultimate goal.
Knight Shipping Services would be the biggest shipping company in the world.
Bigger than anything Dad was ever able to build.
I closed my eyes, leaning back in my chair, willing myself to be careful. I didn’t want to think about it that way. Though not so deep down inside, that was exactly what I wanted more than anything—to bury him and his piddling company. To be bigger than anything my old man ever dreamed of.
One of the things about running my own personal empire was the hours it chewed up.
By the time the call ended, it was well past nine o’clock.
That was the only time my assistant could make work.
I looked around my home office, taking in the mementos of my journey so far.
Photos of my first ships, the trips I had taken to new ports where my shipments would be delivered.
I had seen the world and learned a hell of a lot about it in those early days, but nowhere near as much as I had learned about the process of doing business in it.
Those were lessons I’d started earlier, during my days in China.
Working some shitty grunt job at a desk across from Spencer’s, the two rich boys earning their stripes.
And it had backfired spectacularly in my father’s face.
I reflected on that as I left the room, moving slowly through the quiet house.
Sofia must have gone to bed while I was on that call.
I would have to check on her once I went upstairs to bed.
At the moment, I was too keyed up to think about it.
Instead, I went to the kitchen, pulling a bottle of chardonnay from the wine refrigerator.
The bulk of my collection sat in a climate-controlled room at the far end of the house, but I liked to keep a few bottles handy for everyday use.
I was halfway through uncorking when a sound at the back door made me spin on my heel with the corkscrew held up like a weapon. What the hell did I expect to do with it? The door opened, and in came Penny, who stopped short with her eyes wide when she spotted me holding the corkscrew aloft.
“I was just throwing a bag in the trash can outside,” she explained, almost guilty.
At the moment, the only thing she was guilty of was uncoiling a curious sense of hunger in my gut. It was the most unexpected thing. Sure, I had checked her out before now, admiring her firm body in the rare moments when her old lady clothes revealed a little of what was underneath.
But right now? There was no question. She wore a pair of thin, soft shorts and a matching tank top with spaghetti straps that barely covered her waist. A pair of perky tits were on display now, tipped with pert nipples.
The hair she usually pulled back or wore in pigtails was now loose, swinging around her face when she turned around to make sure she had locked the door behind her.
All right, so her clothes were printed with tiny hearts, but I could overlook that in light of what mattered more—long, slim legs and a tiny waist that flared into full hips.
I was no better than a lecherous old man drooling over the sweet young thing who crossed his path.
She was only eight years younger, but it felt like a lifetime in experience.
Somehow, reminding myself of that did nothing to cool my sudden interest. “Cecilia could’ve gotten that in the morning,” I reminded her, referring to the housekeeper who came in four days a week.
“I know, but I figured why leave it lying around when I can take it out myself? Now, it’s one less thing for her to do.” She stood with one hand gripping the other elbow, looking awkward, unsure of herself. “Did everything go well with your call?”
“Fine. Full steam ahead. I hope you’re ready to visit Manhattan in a couple of weeks.
” It only made sense to take Sofia with me.
I hated the idea of being away without her for five days, and with Spencer’s cousin, Colton Black, reaching out to invite us to a family dinner while we were in town, it would be a nice excuse to carve out time outside of boardrooms and offices.
“I’m still a little overwhelmed,” she admitted, standing on the other side of the room.
No shit. Rather than say it out loud, I pulled a second wine glass from the cabinet. “Have a drink with me. You’ve officially worked for me one month, and you’re still here.”
She eyed the bottle and the glass I provided. “Are you sure it’s appropriate?”
“A glass of wine, not a cask. I promise I won’t tell anyone you had a drink after Sofia was in bed.
” It wasn’t like I poured the entire glass, either, before sliding it across the counter.
“Go ahead. Drink with me to the expansion of Knight Shipping. By the time this expansion is complete, we’ll have ships sailing the entire globe. No one will touch us.”
Especially not my father. I left that to myself, raising my glass when she picked up hers. They clinked together softly before she took a sip of the crisp wine. “That’s nice,” she announced, going back for more.
“It should be. It cost five hundred dollars.”
“For a bottle?” Her mouth fell open but quickly snapped shut when she caught herself. “Sorry. This is an entirely different world for me, but I guess you already know that.”
“I got the idea,” I settled for replying.
“I mean, we can’t all have ships sailing the entire globe,” she continued with a twinkle in her eye. That was one thing I could appreciate about her. She had a sense of humor aided by her intelligence.
Would I have been able to stand here and have a glass of wine with any of the other girls who came parading through these doors, determined to take care of my daughter? It was unthinkable. To tell the truth, I had normally avoided them as much as possible.
So why was I standing here now, watching her sip from her glass, studying every move she made?
“Can I ask you something? And if I do, will you be honest?” There was a challenge in her question.
Instead of turning me off, it intrigued me.
“That depends,” I replied, making her snicker.
She had to be curious. The fact that she hadn’t yet voiced any questions spoke to her discretion and maturity—something sadly lacking in the other girls I’d hired who were roughly her age.
Chronically online, sleuthing, thinking they could crack the code when one of my assistant’s daily tasks involved keeping my Wikipedia page free of personal information and checking all Google alerts for mentions of my name.
I had a child’s privacy to consider, not to mention my own.
“I’m not asking for your ATM pin,” she said, rolling her eyes. This was a rare glimpse of the woman behind the ever-present sunny attitude. I was interested in finding out more, glad our paths had crossed the way they did tonight.
“Go ahead,” I allowed, pouring myself more wine. Something told me I would need it.
“Why do you have to be the biggest and best? I know it sounds dumb to you,” she clarified with a sigh when I chuckled.
“But I mean, look around. You already have so much. Five-hundred-dollar bottles of wine, a housekeeper, a guy who takes care of the grounds and the pool. A live-in nanny. A private jet, which we’re going to take to Manhattan in a couple of weeks.
What happens when you’re the biggest, and there’s no one left to beat? ”
It was the last question that gave me pause. An uncomfortable uncertainty wrapped itself around me like a cloak. Or a shroud.
“I said too much,” she decided, setting down the glass and backing away from the counter with her hands raised. “Sorry. Forget I asked.”
“Stop right where you are.” The sharpness of my tone froze her in place and even surprised me, but I went on, “I’ll tell you what you want to know if you don’t run away like a scared rabbit.”
She arched an eyebrow but didn’t say a word as she returned, this time taking a seat at the counter, wearing an inquisitive expression.
Fuck, she couldn’t look at me that way. It wasn’t fair. That frank, honest gaze, the blue eyes that reminded me of the Pacific at sunrise. It made me want to tell her everything, to let her see me, and that was unacceptable. No matter how good it felt at that moment.
“You want honesty? I’ll give you honesty.
” Setting the glass down, I looked her straight in the eye.
She didn’t blink, either to prove a point or because she was truly enraptured.
“When I was twenty-one, fresh out of college, my father decided it was time for me to get serious about my future. I needed to learn the ropes of the business. An internship, if you will. He sent me to work in China,” I continued with a wry smirk.
“Out of sight, out of mind. That was where I met my best friend, Spencer Collins. It was his father’s company I was working for.
That should have been the first red flag. ”
To her credit, she listened intently, almost frowning as she absorbed my words. “Why not your dad’s company?” she asked.
“Exactly. Why not his company?” I agreed, chuckling.
“I found out soon enough. Turns out, Hayworth Knight Partners did a lot of work with Spencer’s father.
They had been friends for years, since prep school.
They had a long shared history of deals in the beginning.
They had considered merging, practically creating a monopoly on the industry.
They had the resources, they had the balls. ”