50. Chapter 49
Leo
“Good morning, Mr. West.” Grace greets Cole with a flirty smile. “The Grecian sun seems to suit you.”
“Thank you, Miss Kelly, but I’m afraid it wasn’t all that relaxing.”
“Shame, you always seem so tense.”
“Stop making Mr. West uncomfortable, Grace.” I laugh while offering Cole my hand.
“She isn’t,” he says as he takes my hand. “She’s right; I am always tense.”
“Time you took a vacation then,” Grace says.
“Absolutely, Miss Kelly.”
“So formal, Mr. West.” She winks. “I’m just going to wait for Ria in the lobby.” She exits the boardroom, and the door clicks behind her.
“Sorry about her. We’ve been trying to find her filter for years, but I think it got destroyed.”
“My brother's wife is very similar; it makes family gatherings more entertaining. But she is definitely right. We are being too formal. I told you before to call me Cole.” I nod and he continues. “So I hope you don’t mind that we have this meeting with Ezra, but my diary is chaotic so it made sense to explain my decision once.”
“Absolutely; we’re all about efficiency.”
The boardroom door opens and a stunning petite woman with a short pixie cut comes into view. “Mr. West, I have Ezra St. Claire and his assistant waiting outside, and Mrs. Brent is in the lobby on her way up.”
Cole smiles warmly at his assistant and stands. “Exactly, thank you, Shannon. Please send them in and tell Mrs. Brent to come straight in with Miss Kelly.”
“Of course, Mr. West.” She nods and backs away, and I can’t help the grin that spreads across my face.
“Still not got used to that?”
“Still feels like a dream.” I rub at my brow.
“Good morning, gentlemen.” Dale bursts through the door with Ezra, and his assistant walks a few steps behind him, her head held low.
“Morning, Mr. Lucas, Mr. St. Claire. Thank you for joining us. Mrs. Brent is on her way up and then we can get this meeting started.” Cole shakes both of their hands.
“Brilliant. I also have something that I need to share with Mrs. Brent,” Ezra says, his tone menacing as he narrows his eyes at me, and Dale just smirks behind his son.
“Of course. Please take a seat, gentlemen.” Cole waves his arms to the empty seats and I sit opposite Ezra. “And I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?” Cole asks as he pulls out a chair for Ezra’s assistant.
“Oh, umm…” She looks across at Ezra and fidgets with her hands before she dips her head again. “It’s Anna, sir.”
“Very pleased to meet you, Anna. You weren’t at our initial meeting.”
“That’s right, sir. I’m new,” she says softly, still not lifting her head.
“Anna is very efficient and an excellent worker. I'm pleased she’s with us today. My last assistant moved on.” Ezra cuts her off and Anna fusses with her mousey brown hair just as the boardroom door swings open.
“So sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. West.” Ria breezes in, Grace hot on her heels. “Something urgent came up this morning that I had to take care of before today’s meeting.”
“No problem at all. Please take a seat. Shannon will bring in drinks shortly.”
Ria takes her seat next to me and interlocks our fingers underneath the table, and I squeeze tightly.
“Now that you are all here, I’d like to start by saying I have taken each of your proposals very seriously and have taken the time to look into each of your companies and how you both operate on both a financial and business level, also having spoken with your staff.”
“The staff?” Ezra and Dale say in unison.
“That’s correct. Your staff are your most valuable asset, so I needed to check that they were happy with how the company they work for treats them.
And let me tell you, the results were interesting to say the least.” Ezra shifts on his seat, and Anna continues to keep her head down.
But Dale just sits back in his chair, arms crossed, staring at Cole.
“Before you continue, I have something I want to say.” Ezra reaches inside his pocket and drags out his phone.
“Okay, but we need this to be swift, as I have another meeting in half an hour,” Cole says abruptly.
“It will be. I have evidence of these two being not exactly what they say they are.”
“Meaning?” Cole frowns and Ezra scoffs.
“Their wedding and marriage is a sham.” He holds out his phone for Cole to see and plays the video. “Do you really want someone who is willing to lie to your face running and looking after your investments?”
“I also have evidence of Mr. Brent threatening me in his own offices,” Dale throws in and places his phone on the table, leaning forward on his elbows. “He may give off this facade that he is carefree and a fun-loving guy, but deep down he has issues.”
“Issues?” I growl. That word has always been a trigger for me. From childhood, I’ve had people say that I have issues and that my ADHD is nothing but a label.
“Don’t worry about Leo acting out; he just has issues.”
That is what my parents would be told by countless teachers, and even now, the phrase triggers something inside me.
“The only issue I have is with you intimidating my wife.”
“I did no such thing.” He laughs, leaning back in his chair. “Do you have any proof?”
“I have her word and that is good enough for me.”
“Doesn’t get you very far though, does it?” I start to push my chair back, but Ria still has a hold of my hand and keeps me in place.
“Don’t,” she demands. “This is what he wants.”
“Is it, Miss Stone?” Dale says slyly.
“I’m Mrs. Brent, and yes, this is what you want.
” She stares Dale down. “You have taken over this meeting with childish playground arguments, and I don’t appreciate it and I’m certain Mr. West doesn’t.
We are all extremely busy people, so unless Mr. West feels this is important to his decision, I suggest we move on. ”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Cole nods at Ria before turning his sharp gaze on Dale and Ezra. “Dale, Ezra, did you not hear the part where I said I have looked at you both in depth and how you operate?”
“Yes?” Dale’s arrogant smile is wiped off his face and he pulls back.
“Good. If Leo was standing up for his wife then I don’t see any problem with him doing that.
In all honesty, I would be amazed if he didn’t.
Also,”—Cole’s features darken and he says sharply—“don’t insult my intelligence by showing me a grainy video of two people who, yes, at the time were faking it.
” Ria flinches next to me, and I sit taller in my seat and straighten my tie.
“You knew?” Ria asks.
“Of course I knew. I knew you two weren’t involved before I sent you the original email. Like I said, I checked you all out.”
“Mr. West, we didn’t mean to insult you—”
He holds his hand up, cutting Ria off. “I know. I sent the email after your wedding as a joke at first. I was going to own up to it, but when I saw you both at your home and you, Leo, gave me that speech, I knew you loved her but she was still in the dark, so I decided to leave it and see what happened.”
“Oh my God, he helped push you two together. Sir, bravo.” Grace claps and Cole tips his head to her, grinning.
“Grace, stop.” Ria grabs her hands and Grace rolls her eyes.
“This is ridiculous,” Ezra huffs.
“No, Mr. St. Claire, what is ridiculous is you thinking that I would consider working with you after what I have unearthed,” Cole roars, and his usually calm exterior has changed to a mask of fury.
“It also came to my attention when I was looking into you both that the way the directors at Peak hold themselves does not align with the morals and ethos that the directors at West Wing Hotels do.”
“I beg your pardon?” Ezra stands now, and his assistant curls in on herself.
“Sit down, St. Claire,” he demands and Ezra sinks back into his seat.
“Anna, I think it’s best you leave. Shannon will look after you until we’re done,” he says softly, and Anna practically runs out of the room.
“I don’t think your assistant should be here for this.
” He buttons his suit jacket and takes a deep breath.
“Why is hers then?”
“I have a name, cock womble,” Grace spits and I inwardly laugh.
“You can’t talk to me like that. You have always just followed Ria around and never made anything of yourself. Just took her scraps,” Ezra spits at Grace.
“I’m sorry, but is your dick big enough to be talking to me like that?”
“That’s why. She isn’t scared or intimidated by you.
” Cole laughs and Grace salutes him. “As I was saying, I am extremely thorough and I will not go ahead with anything I haven’t double- and triple-checked.
Now Bright came out like I expected—no discrepancies.
Everything is aboveboard, all taxes are paid and up to date, and every member of staff I spoke to are extremely happy. ”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Ria states. “All of us have worked at all levels in the company to understand how it should be run. Nothing was handed to us.”
“And you can see that with how your employees respect you. But Peak was not the same story.” He turns to Ezra and Dale.
“On the face of it, Peak is a well-run company. All financials are present and taxes paid, but staff morale is low, and you have a higher than average staff turnover which was a huge issue for me, so I dug deeper and found a company called Sinclair Properties.”
Holy shit.
I look at Ria, and she is staring wide-eyed at me.
“You aren’t a director of this company, correct?” Cole asks Ezra who has slumped lower in his chair.
“No.”
“But you do have dealings with it, through transactions from Peak, am I right?” Ezra stays silent while Dale scowls across at me and Cole just shakes his head.
“Look, Mr. Lucas, Mr. St. Claire, we both know what I found. You’ve been money laundering for years, and I have two detectives out there who are about to take you into custody.
So I’m giving you the opportunity to come clean and apologize. ”
“I’m not apologizing for nothing.” Dale pushes his chair back and heads toward the door but is blocked by two detectives.
“I don’t think you’re going anywhere.” I rise from my chair, and I can’t fight the grin stretching across my face as I stare wickedly at Dale.
“Looks like gray may be your color, Mr. Lucas,” I quip, and he turns to lunge for me, but one of the detectives grabs his hand and slams him to the floor.
He pushes his knee into his back, and his face is bright red as he squirms underneath him.
“Mr. Lucas, you need to remain still. I’m arresting you on suspicion of money laundering and fraud.” He reaches behind and grabs his handcuffs and clips them on Dale’s wrists as he continues to read him his rights.
“You’ve not got any evidence.” He still tries to throw him off but he holds firm.
“Stop resisting, Mr. Lucas, unless you want to add resisting arrest to your long list of charges.”
“I guess I wasn’t as clear as I thought when I told you I didn’t give a fuck who you are.
” Staring down at Dale, still trying and failing miserably to get out from underneath the detective, I sneer.
“I told you I’d ruin you if you tried to intimidate my wife again, and your little email was just the push I needed to crush you.
Your tactics backfired. It made us look just that little bit deeper, and you weren’t as fucking clever as you thought. ”
“Fuck you,” he spits.
“Did they put you onto this?” Ezra grits out as he stands, trying to get into Cole’s face who just raises an eyebrow. “I knew that fucking dumb model was snooping. Just wait until I find her.”
“Don’t you dare call Trixie a dumb model,” Ria and Grace both say as they stand and round on Ezra.
“They told me nothing, and do not insult your fiancée,” Cole bites out.
“Fiancée?” he scoffs. “I wouldn’t marry her if she was the last woman on earth. I’m well rid—” He doesn’t get to finish his sentence as Grace rears back and punches him right in the nose. “What the fuck?” He holds his face, blood pouring into his hands. “I think you broke my nose,” he splutters.
“Well, none of these are going to do it due to professional courtesy or some shit, but I have no boundaries and have wanted to do that for fucking years. Boy, did it feel good.” She shakes out her hand. “I think you may have broken my hand, but it was worth it.”