Chapter 3
brIGGS
Iwaited for her answer. The silence stretched as one emotion after another played across her face. Offense. Surprise. Horror.
I found it to be an interesting reaction to a legitimate business question.
Dash shifted beside me. I could feel his irritation without looking at him. Cleo’s jaw had gone tight. Callum crossed his arms.
They were all pissed, which made absolutely no sense.
This was business. A multi-million-dollar deal that would significantly expand our wedding division.
Adrian had briefed me on the cousins’ involvement.
They were designers with an established west coast presence.
That made sense. They brought intellectual property and existing market share to the table.
They were family. They were people we knew.
But this woman? Mandy Carter? I’d read through the contracts twice with a fine-toothed comb like I did every document that crossed my desk. My thoroughness kept our company out of contract disputes. I was the reason we didn’t get our asses handed to us in court.
Mandy’s role was murky at best. She wasn’t a Blackwell.
She didn’t own any patents or trademarks that I could see.
The business structure showed her as some kind of partner, but the exact nature of that partnership wasn’t clear in the documentation.
From what I had seen, she referred people.
We had an entire marketing team that handled that kind of thing.
I was curious what her role would be. So I asked. That’s what lawyers do. We ask questions. We clarify. We eliminate ambiguity before millions of dollars change hands.
But everyone was looking at me like I’d committed some cardinal sin.
Classic mistake. They were making this personal when it should be purely professional. I’d seen it a hundred times in negotiations. Someone’s college roommate gets brought into a deal, or a friend of a friend, and suddenly you’ve got dead weight at the table because no one wants to hurt feelings.
The Blackwell name meant something. Our reputation was built on excellence. We didn’t do charity partnerships. And I had never been afraid to hurt feelings. I wasn’t an asshole that bullied anyone or intentionally offended people.
Okay, maybe I was a bit of an asshole, but it came with the territory. I wasn’t mean. I was just good at my job.
Ms. Carter’s mouth opened, then closed. Her cheeks had flushed a deep pink that went nicely with that pink blouse.
She was attractive. Natural. The tailored suit showed she understood professional presentation, at least. And I would recognize Armani anywhere.
One of our biggest competitors. Ours was better, but Armani was pretty good.
I waited. Silence was an effective tool and I knew how to use it.
While I waited, I noticed the little things. Thick dark brown hair. Green eyes that gave her a slightly exotic look. But my eyes were drawn to her mouth that had moved into a tight smile. She had on a clear, shiny gloss. No lipstick to highlight that pretty pout.
“That was rude,” Cleo finally said.
I shrugged. “I disagree. We’re about to enter a significant partnership.
Understanding each party’s contribution is basic due diligence.
” I looked at Mandy again. “Cleo and Callum have an established design portfolio that aligns with Blackwell’s aesthetic.
The bridal collection is strong. The tuxedo line has real potential.
What I’m less clear on is how a wedding planner functions as a partner in a lifestyle brand. ”
“Your brother seemed to understand just fine,” Callum said. “Adrian.”
“Good,” I said. “Now help me understand too. I’m not dismissing what you do. I’m questioning the structure of the deal. I’m questioning why you’re here right now.”
“With respect,” Callum said with zero respect, “you’re out of line.
This deal was structured with all three of us as equal partners.
That’s not new information. It’s in the documents.
Adrian is very aware of our business arrangement.
Maybe we’ll come back when he’s available.
You don’t seem to understand what this deal is about. ”
“I reviewed the documents,” I said, finally pulling my gaze from her.
She had yet to say a word, which confirmed my suspicion.
She was dead weight. My cousins were allowing personal relationships and loyalty to interfere with good business decisions.
“I have questions about the documents. That’s what this meeting is about. ”
“This meeting is supposed to be to sign the papers,” Cleo snapped. “It’s not a negotiation. You are so far out of line I don’t think you can even see the line from where you’re standing on your very high, clearly self-installed pedestal.”
“I understand you think you have a solid business plan, but I’d rather ask the questions now than six months into a partnership that isn’t structured correctly,” I said.
I thought I was diplomatic. Mandy looked like she was trying to decide which piece of flesh she wanted to tear from my body first. “I’ve seen deals fall apart because nobody wanted to have an uncomfortable conversation at the table.
I’m having the uncomfortable conversation at the table. ”
“How noble of you,” Mandy said.
Her first words. Her voice was slightly husky. I didn’t know if that was from anger or if she was a smoker. Whatever the reason, I liked it. She looked all soft and pretty on the outside, but that voice gave her an edge.
“I wouldn’t call it noble,” I said. “Just doing my job.”
“Just because you’ve never heard of me doesn’t mean I bring nothing to the table. It means you didn’t do your homework. I would suggest you do better in any future endeavors. Now, you’ve made things awkward.”
The room temperature dropped approximately three degrees.
“I don’t feel awkward,” I said with a shrug.
“In every conversation I had with Adrian,” she continued, “he was enthusiastic. Engaged. He understood exactly what I bring to this partnership and why it matters. He reached out to me, not the other way around.” A small pause.
“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that his younger brother isn’t operating with the same level of information. Or professionalism.”
There it was.
I’d been insulted in conference rooms before but there was something about the way she delivered it that landed differently. Calm. Certain. Like she wasn’t trying to wound me, just stating something she considered factually accurate.
Under all that pink was an ice queen.
A pretty little savage.
His younger brother. A step down from Adrian. The big boss. The man in charge.
“I’m not operating without information,” I said with a lot more calm than I felt. “I’m operating without your specific information. There’s a difference.”
“Then let me fill in the gap.” The smile she flashed hinted at the savageness she cloaked in a designer suit.
“The lifestyle brand works because it’s a complete offering.
Cleo’s designs are extraordinary, but a dress doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
A wedding isn’t a thing you can purchase like a Blackwell garment.
A wedding is an experience. Every element of that experience communicates something.
The florals, the table settings, the flow of the event are all directed by me.
To put it bluntly, it’s my world. Blackwell Couture can choose to live in it or walk away. ”
Holy shit. I opened my mouth to reply when she held up her hand to stop me.
“Without me, you have a very beautiful dress and some pretty little extras. That’s not the experience.
That’s retail. Anyone can do that. I am the only one that can do what I do.
Again, this is my party. You can accept the invitation or not.
Blackwell is not the only fashion house looking to get into the game. ”
It was a good answer delivered with the confidence of someone who knew she held just as many cards as I did.
I hadn’t been expecting that. Alarm bells began clanging in my mind.
Had I miscalculated? When I walked into a room, I was the one with the moves.
I had the money and the name. But this little spitfire suddenly seemed like one hell of an opponent.
I was formulating a response when she kept going.
“I recently planned the Delaney-Hamlin wedding. Before that, the Whitmore wedding in San Francisco, and the Callahan-Wallace reception in Malibu.” She said all three with the easy shorthand of someone citing well-known clients.
“If you have questions about who I am and what I bring to the table, you can start there.”
I looked at her. “I don’t know any of those people.”
Dash slapped his palm to his forehead beside me and I turned to look at him.
“Briggs.” His voice had the careful quality of someone defusing something. “Kyle Hamlin is literally the highest-paid actor in Hollywood right now. The other ones include a Grammy-winning musician. The Whitmore wedding was on the cover of three magazines.”
“I don’t read those magazines,” I said.
“Nobody’s asking you to read them. I’m asking you to exist in the same world as other humans.” He shook his head. “I say this with love. You need to come up for air more often.”
I glanced back at Mandy, who had listened to this exchange with a bored expression.
“Can we please sit down and have this meeting?” Cleo said with disgust. “The paperwork is done. This is redundant. Briggs, honestly.”
“By all means,” I said and gestured to the table as a whole.
Everyone took their seats again.
I sat at the head of the table. “Now, I asked a valid question and I would like to address that and avoid the information that isn’t applicable to this deal.”