Chapter Twenty-Five
Chase
Over the next few days, I couldn't stop thinking about what Hannah told me. She needed an investor. Finding one wasn’t easy. That was why I was playing with a dangerous idea. Still, as long as I didn't act on it, everything was going to be fine.
Then, on Wednesday, I gave in and called my brothers into the meeting room. They were my sounding boards. They were going to tell me if this was completely crazy and I should back down. In fact, I was hoping they'd tell me that, because there was no stopping me otherwise.
I’d sent them an email, asking them to join me at eight o’clock. Most employees didn’t come until nine. I didn’t want to attract attention.
Knox, Finn, and Wyatt arrived first.
"Dude, you've got to include more details in your emails," Wyatt said. "Want me to have a heart attack or something?"
Griffin and Duncan came in then.
"What's this about?" Griffin asked.
"Yeah, why are you making us work overtime?" Knox asked.
"You better have a good reason," Wyatt grumbled.
“I do,” I replied.
“Fuck,” Duncan exclaimed. “What’s the issue? It can’t be related to the SEC. Cyrus is on top of that.”
The SEC was requesting documents in their investigation, but I wasn’t involved in that at all. Cyrus had insisted on taking the lead.
"There isn't any crisis. There's no issue," I said.
"Then what the hell are we doing here?" Knox asked.
"I need your opinion on something, and I figured I'd ask you before everyone got here."
"Why not just go out for a drink?" Wyatt asked. He was visibly more relaxed now.
"It didn’t occur to me," I admitted. "I’ve had something on my mind for a few days, and I wanted to run it by you."
Finn grinned. "Are Mom and Dad up to some shit again?"
"It's not about them," I replied. "So, you all know Hannah is in financial trouble."
"Yeah. That's why she took the job," Duncan said, frowning.
"Exactly. Anyway, she's looking for an investor."
“A silent partner, maybe?" Griffin asked.
I smirked at him. "You already gave it some thought."
"You know how it is, man. You hear a problem, you search for solutions. That's how I trained my brain, and I can't stop it, not even when I want to," he admitted.
"That is what she's looking for, but it's not easy.”
“A big hotel chain could be interested. The location is great,” Griffin went on.
Duncan shook his head. "They would just tear it down and build something much bigger."
"Exactly," I said. "She likes the building as it is. The whole place is an homage to her grandmother's memory."
Duncan looked up. "That's not going to buy her any favors with any investors. No one likes sentimental projects."
"I know.”
“So what's your idea?" Finn asked.
Knox was suspiciously silent. I suspected that he knew where I was going with this, but I appreciated that he wasn’t butting in.
"I want to set up a shell company and invest in her hotel. But I’ve got to be smart about it so she doesn’t realize I’m behind it."
Griffin's eyes bulged. Finn blinked.
"Can you believe this guy?" Wyatt asked.
Duncan laughed. "Come on, man. You've got to be joking, right?"
Knox said nothing.
"It's not illegal," I said.
"That’s not the point. Hannah would hate it,” Griffin said.
Wyatt looked at Duncan. "Please get this idea out of his head. Look at him, he's got his ‘I'm going to do it no matter what you say' look on.”
Knox and Finn were still not saying anything.
"I’ve been thinking about it for a few days, and, honestly, I brought you all in hoping you would talk me out of it."
Griffin shook his head. "Yeah, because we're so good at that."
"Griffin is right. This would be a mistake," Wyatt said. "Why don't you ask her if she'd want you to invest?"
"Because she’d say no," I replied.
Finn sat up straighter in his chair. "How would you even do it?"
"What? Set up a shell company?"
"No, that's clear to me. But how would you present it to her without her catching on that it's actually you?"
I cleared my throat. "I’ll figure that out when it comes to it.”
Griffin shook his head. "No, I think it's the other way around. You should start figuring things out now, okay? Frankly, I can't see a scenario where this doesn't turn around and bite you in the ass."
"I can," Knox said, talking for the first time. "I mean, there are plenty of investors who put money in all sorts of businesses, including hotels. Is it unlikely that one would invest in a small hotel? Yes. But it's not unheard of. Small boutique hotels are all the rage these days, and there are actual companies investing in mom-and-pop shops all over the country. I researched it once. I can look into this."
"Don't," Duncan said. "Don't feed into his madness."
"Go on," I told Knox. He’d dabbled in real estate investment over the years, and I trusted his insights.
“Usually they’re not silent investors. They buy a minority package but do want some decision power."
"I don't care about any of that," I said.
"Yeah, but no one just goes around offering money without asking for anything in return. It would look suspicious," Finn stated.
Duncan stood up. "You wanted our opinion. I think you shouldn’t do it. If you go ahead, I don't want to hear details from anyone. This is beneath you, and it will bite you in the ass," he remarked before storming out of the meeting room.
"Well, he made his opinion clear," I said.
Griffin and Wyatt exchanged a glance. Finn was asking Knox about ways to legally set it up, so I assumed he was starting to warm up to the idea.
"Look," Griffin started, "we shouldn't encourage this, but obviously if you want to go forward with it, we can set things up."
"I have a question," Knox said. "Did you at least ask her about this?"
“I offered my help before, and she shut it down. If I offer again, then she’ll be suspicious that an investor turned up out of the blue offering exactly what she needs."
"He does have a good point," Wyatt said. He crossed his arms over his chest, scrutinizing me. I recognized the look. Now that he'd heard all the pros and cons, he was weighing them, and I was half expecting him to tell me again that this was madness. But then he completely surprised me.
"You care about her a lot," he stated.
"Yes."
"Man, you’re slow," Griffin told him. "I could've told you that when he asked if he should hire a detective to look into her issues." Then he turned to me. “She accepted your job offer. Why are you so convinced she won’t take you on as an investor?”
"Because this is different. She's been through a lot with her ex-husband.”
"Then you should reconsider this. I mean, what if she finds out?" Wyatt asked. Always the most cerebral among us, except Duncan, perhaps.
"I’ll deal with that when the time comes. My hope is that if she does eventually find out, she’ll accept it just because... well, it's already done."
Griffin clapped his hands once, then pointed two fingers at me. "Brother, that's not how life works."
"I'm taking my chances," I said. Sometime during this entire conversation, I’d made up my mind.
Knox stood up. "I'm your man. I can deal with all the paperwork, and I've just finished a few projects, so I've got a bit of time."
"Thanks, really appreciate it."
"You owe me. I'm not sure when I’ll cash in, but it's going to be soon.”
“I'm here for whatever you need," I assured him.
Finn and Wyatt looked at Griffin and then at me. "We’re in too. Should we tell Duncan?" Finn asked.
"No.” I respected his decision. “It goes without saying, obviously, that the money is going to come from my accounts, not Sterling Investments.”
Griffin rolled his eyes.
Wyatt shook his head. "Yeah, because that was exactly what we were all worried about. We can all chip in."
"No," I said categorically. "This is my life and my decision. It will be my investment."
"Fair enough," Wyatt said. He looked at Knox. "Shoot things my way too. I've got some time."
"Right. What are the first steps?" I asked Finn, but Knox intervened.
"No, you’re going to know as little as possible."
My eyebrows rose to my hairline. "What? Why?"
“Because then it's going to be easier to keep it from her. Whereas if you know all the details or are involved in the day-to-day things, it'll be easier to slip or to look guilty.”
"You’re right. I didn’t think about that. She found a platform that pairs businesses with investors. I’ll forward you the information.”
“Great,” Knox replied.
“Are we done here?” Finn asked.
“Yes.”
"So you asked us in here to change your mind and then basically told us you're going to get your way either way," Wyatt concluded.
"It's just the Sterling way," Finn said. “We should've realized it from the beginning and not given him a hard time.”
I frowned. "I actually thought you might come up with ways to change my mind, but I'm glad you didn't."
The truth was my brothers were right. I'd already decided before they even stopped inside my office. Hannah needed the money, and I had it in spades. There was no reason for me not to do this. I wanted her to be happy and to have peace of mind. I’d do everything in my power to achieve that.