Chapter 22
Gen
There’s a moment of silence as Rafe shows Anton, Max and David out. By unspoken agreement, we’re waiting for him before we discuss this bombshell.
I glance down and tap my pen against the fat list of legal considerations David left with us. He’s certainly thorough. There are things here it wouldn’t have occurred to me to include, and the suggested waiver for staff and members alike is frankly terrifying at first glance.
They’re an impressive team, no doubt about it. I’m not sure why such big guns are bothering with something as small as a little Alchemy pop-up. It’s below their pay grade, surely.
Especially Anton.
He came here for you, a little voice says in my head. Even though he didn’t do or say anything inappropriate. Even though he didn’t flirt with me in the slightest. Something tells me he wouldn’t bother himself with a project this minor if he didn’t have an ulterior motive.
That same instinct tells me he’s playing a long game.
How does that saying go?
Long term greedy.
Damn it, he’s hot when he’s in tycoon mode. Nothing impresses me more than intelligence and competence, and he has both in spades. He’s earned the gravitas that oozes from every pore. He’s achieved his experience the hard way, and we can learn from that.
We’re all highly qualified professionals, but Alchemy is still very small scale. Yes, the guys have made a small fortune from their hedge fund, Cerulean, in which I’m a happy investor, but this is a chance to play with the big boys.
It’s far harder to turn that down than to reject a mere opportunity to boost the coffers over the summer.
I liked David and Max, too. David seems very serious, Max very charming. They’re both strikingly attractive. David’s simply beautiful—tall and Black with a closely shaved head, eyes so dark you can’t see his pupils, and possibly the best posture I’ve seen on a man.
Max is hot in that quintessentially English way where he’s utterly charming but quite obviously filthy as fuck just below the surface.
He should be too pretty, with his Matt Bomer-esque looks and perfectly coiffed fair hair, but there’s something predatory in those thoroughbred features that gives him an edge.
At face value, they look like the perfect Alchemy members.
I scribble down a note to take a look at their applications later.
It would definitely help on the execution front if they have hands-on experience, to use an unfortunate turn of phrase.
And I suspect the female members would thank me for letting these two into the mix.
Rafe strolls back in, hands in his pockets. ‘Well?’ he says.
I take a breath. ‘It’s fraught with potential disasters, but this is a lot more than just a pop-up. He’s basically offering to flex our business model for us and see how much opportunity it has for expansion.’
Rafe nods. ‘Agreed.’ He sits.
‘It’s hard to argue with such an attractive offer,’ Zach says. ‘The financial downside is completely ring-fenced. As Gen says, the reputational and execution issues are by far the biggest concerns.’
‘I’m always up for trying these things,’ Cal says, ‘but come on. Our members have suggested this multiple times. We’ve tossed it around too, but the timing’s never right ‘cause it’s a lot of work.
We know our limits. Let’s test this baby out while someone else is offering to do all the hard work and pay us for the privilege. It’d be crazy not to.’
‘I agree with Cal,’ Rafe says, ‘but it comes down to you, Gen. You’ll be doing most of the heavy lifting at the beginning, though I’m sure Cal will be very hands on if we take the party out to Cannes.’
He grins, and it’s infectious, because this is a bloody dream of an opportunity, and I don’t think any of us needs a push to spend some time down on the C?te d’Azur this summer.
‘I’m up for it,’ I say more blithely than I feel. I try to push my misgivings deep down into my belly. ‘Yeah, it’ll be a lot of work, but it’s a gift-horse, right?’
‘Fucking yes,’ Cal says dramatically, letting his head fall heavily back against the sofa and punching the air.
Maddy laughs. ‘Ten quid on Cal having booked his Cannes Airbnb before the day is up.’
‘On it,’ he says, grabbing his phone and pretending to get to his feet.
The guys peel off shortly after we allow ourselves a brief but exuberant conversation around how Alchemy Cannes will look. Or perhaps it should be Alchimie. Either way, our business brains are engaged and our imaginations activated.
Maddy hangs back. We’ve made a collective decision to give her more exposure to the leadership side. She’s smart and hungry and commercial, and Zach won’t leave it long before making her an official part of the family, I’m sure.
She was quiet in the meeting, observing and taking notes. But now she jumps up and down and grabs my arm. ‘Holy fuck!’ she yells. ‘I’m dying.’
‘Course you are,’ I say. My mouth twitches. ‘Excited for the TikTok opportunities, are you?’
‘Exactly.’ She grins. ‘And for my chances of persuading Zach to spend August in France. Heaven. This is going to be amazing for the club, I can feel it.’
‘It’ll be brilliant,’ I agree. ‘It really is a gift.’
She steers me further away from the open double doors leading to the office space. ‘Okay. Anton Wolff is so fucking hot that I nearly screamed. Old, but hot.’
‘You’ve seen him before, in the club,’ I point out.
‘I know, but watching him run a meeting made him even sexier. What a total daddy. And he looked at you the whole. Fucking. Time.’
‘He did not,’ I protest, though I’ll admit I caught him staring at me several times during the meeting. The looks weren’t predatory, nor were they amused or sleazy. Those I could have handled. They were more… serious. Hungry. Wistful, even.
The kinds of looks that get right under the surface and squeeze your heart. And other body parts.
The man moves me. It’s undeniable. His mere presence has me hot and bothered. And on days like today, when he’s not fucking people in front of me or generally behaving like a dick with no brain attached, he’s really bloody impressive.
Maddy’s right. He’s the real deal. He’s a power player. A proper grown up who feeds my competence kink—and every other kink—like nobody’s business.
‘He really did,’ Maddy says now. ‘Honestly, the whole time. I was literally swooning. All three of them were hot, Gen, but he is a beautiful man, and he’s clearly interested. Would you not give him a chance? Do you really think he’s that dodgy?’
‘I don’t think he’s dodgy,’ I say, which is not exactly the truth, but I cannot allow myself to judge people based on their sexual appetites. Not when I run a sex club. ‘I just don’t think—I think he’d hurt me. He’s too much. I mean, who could let a man like that close and not get torn apart?’
She makes a sad face, visibly deflating. ‘I get it. He’s pretty special. But maybe you’ll get to spend some time with him in France—you might see a different side to him?’
Her hopeful suggestion sends a shiver down my spine, because it reminds me of Anton’s parting words.
That, if we do go ahead with this deal, as COO of Alchemy, I’m the best person to go venue-hunting with him in Cannes.
Now that would be a disaster waiting to happen.