Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
I sat across from my brothers, waiting for Jim and Spencer to join us for this impromptu lunch I’d arranged after Wyatt landed this afternoon. I normally didn’t act so hastily in business matters, but this was no longer business. All of it was personal, and I didn’t like it.
“Well, if it isn’t Casanova himself,” Jake Mitchell said, walking up to the table I had secured at Jim’s favorite restaurant of refuge, Darcy’s in Downtown Los Angeles.
“What brings you two here?” I asked, a bit confused, as I stood to greet Jim’s younger brother, and his best friend, Collin Brooks.
“Jim said you sounded…worked up,” Collin replied, shaking my hand before pulling out a chair and dropping into it beside Wyatt, who was still on an overseas call. “Figured we shouldn’t miss whatever has you calling emergency meetings now.”
“That’s the nicest way to put it,” Colton said with a chuckle. “I’ve seen my brother go up against the best in this business and send them crawling out the door, but this?”
“A scrawny kid fresh out of college has you shaking in your Italian leather shoes?” Jake cut in, dropping into the seat beside me before he nudged my shoulder. “Are you seriously worried about some little piss ant who probably can’t even grow a beard—”
“No,” I cut them off. “It’s not worry. It’s being proactive.” I looked at Collin after he ordered drinks and a steak from the waiter, “Jim really called you two in just to cut through the tension of this meeting?”
Collin smirked, taking a sip of water. “I’m a neurosurgeon, for crying out loud. Do you really think I’d sit here babysitting a bunch of billionaire businessmen, using my infinite charm and brilliance to ease your stress?”
I glanced over at Jake, then back to Collin, “Seems you two always randomly pop in when shit is hitting the fan?”
“Nah,” Jake chuckled. “In fact, we’re both here because once you’re done with Papa-Jim, we need to talk to him about some shit that’s going on with his hospital board. They’re starting to get out of hand.”
“Two chief surgeons can’t handle that on their own, eh?” Wyatt said after ending his call and returning to his scotch.
“Not when we have more important things to worry about on the Neuro and Cardiac wards,” Jake answered.
“What the hell is the clown factory doing here?” I heard Spence say as he and Jim approached.
“Last I checked, Colton and Wyatt are part of Hawk Enterprise, along with this chump,” Jake said, nudging me.
I chuckled. “I believe he is referring to you, hermano,” I arched a challenging brow at him before standing to greet Jim and Spence, who were joining us at the more private table in the room.
“He’s referring to all of them,” Jim added, then looked toward the waiter. “I’ll have my usual drink.”
I leaned back in my chair, watching the waiter jot down Jim’s drink order like it was a sacred message.
“Still letting them drown it in sugar here?” I asked casually.
Jim’s eyes cut to mine, amused more than anything. “It’s called balance.”
A faint smirk pulled at the corner of my mouth. “At my hotel restaurants, we don’t mask the bourbon.”
Spencer huffed a quiet laugh, already sensing where this was going.
Jim lifted his glass slightly when it arrived, inspecting it. “Funny. I’ve never had a complaint.”
“No,” I said smoothly, reaching for my drink. “Most people wouldn’t know the difference.” I took a slow sip. “We build it clean. Barrel-forward. No excess. No garnish pretending it belongs there.”
Jim held my gaze this time, a challenge flickering beneath the surface. “Careful,” he said, his voice calm. “You’re starting to sound like you’re selling something.”
I didn’t even blink. “I don’t sell,” I replied. “I set the standard.”
We let the moment pass with humor, and once all the drinks were ordered, Jim and Spence turned to me. “What the hell is going on with Jameston?” Jim said, sitting across from me.
“This fucker isn’t just here to take over and build up businesses on the West Coast,” I answered. “The man is here to settle old debts, which is what I’m concerned about.”
“Concerned is a mild way of putting it,” Colton said. “Titus is planning to use Catalina Veléz to get inside details about what he’s planning.”
“The fuck?” Spencer said, taking a quick sip of his drink. “The event planner?”
I nodded. “Yeah, and I’m willing to break my own rules about hiring her for all of my events just to keep her close.”
“What exactly did the man do when he entered your office this morning?” Jim chuckled. “Did he hold you at gunpoint and claim he was seeking revenge the old-fashioned way?”
The men laughed, and I normally would have joined in, but not today.
“It seems this fool is recalling an event from our past that not only pertains to Howard Mitchell’s embarrassment of his father but also seemingly involves my father as well.”
Jake rolled his eyes. “And here I was pissed at the board for being up our asses and interfering with our surgery schedules.”
“It’s not just that,” Wyatt added. “I flew in from Madrid today because I plan to carefully review all our hiring agencies and make sure no one on any team at our company is working for that idiot and attempting to take us down from the inside.”
“Jesus Christ,” Spencer looked at Jim. “Do you think we need to do an audit at Mitchell and Associates?”
Jim took a slow sip of his drink, considering it for a moment before setting the glass down.
“It wouldn’t hurt,” he said evenly. “You’re thorough with that kind of thing,” he added to his VP, then looked back at me.
“We’ll clean house and make sure there aren’t any moles on our end.
But honestly, if these are the games Jameston wants to play, he won’t last long enough out here to regret it. ”
“Men like him don’t think like you and me, hermano,” I said to Jim. “When they have nothing to lose and everything to gain?”
“They play dirty,” Colton finished for me. “And if none of us are careful, he’ll plant people in our companies to do something criminal that puts us behind bars, and not them.”
“You East Coasters really know how to bring the strippers to the party, don’t you?” Collin chimed in. “Fuck. I can see it now. Instead of Jim making the evening news for rescuing dead Christmas trees, he’ll be making the news for some fraudulent business deal.”
“That’s never going to happen,” I insisted. “Which is why I wanted to meet with you both. I think this has become more personal than business. And when ruthless assholes are out for revenge? Well, they’ll stop at nothing.”
“Do you think it’s wise to beef up our security detail?” Jim questioned me, most likely because of my tone and facial expression.
“It wouldn’t come to that if we were dealing with normal people, but I’m not sure we are,” I answered. “Maybe it’s a good idea, at least until I can get Cat on our team and working with us.”
“And the odds that my brother is going to make that game plan work are zero to none,” Colton said with a laugh.
“Why?” Spencer answered. “Because he insulted her at the event Jameston hosted for his tenants… and at his own yacht event?”
“I will tell you all why my plan will work,” I began. “Because she’s hungry for money and wants my business as badly as I need her to do this for me,” I explained, then looked at Jim. “Your wife is close with her?”
“She’s pretty good friends with all of our wives,” Jim answered. “But if you need someone to encourage her to help us, it’ll be Spencer’s wife who can get the job done.”
Spencer chuckled. “And Nat will never let you live it down that she closed a deal that you couldn’t.”
I smirked, yet something deep inside me yearned to coax Ms. Catalina Veléz into this. Why not make this an enjoyable business partnership while I used her to bury that bastard?
“Will she know you’re using her to get inside information?” Wyatt asked.
“I’m not sure I can trust her with what I know about the man she’s leasing office space from,” I said. “So, who knows. Maybe I’ll just pursue her as if I want something more than just a business arrangement?”
“Holy fuck,” Jake said, nearly choking on his scotch. “Are you sure you want to play a woman like that? Like her?”
“Please,” I rolled my eyes. “What are we going to do, break up if she finds out? We’re not in a relationship, so the only thing she loses is an employment contract with me.”
“And what if she happens to fall for you?” Jim asked. “How will you handle her discovering that you were using her and then discarding her after you finish off the man she leases from?”
“I think we’ve all taken this scenario too far,” Collin said. “How about this? I guarantee your Spanish ass can get her to work for you, yes. However, a relationship? Fucking her? Her? No. I highly doubt there will be any broken hearts in this story.”
“True,” Colton added with a laugh. “She really does seem turned off by my brother’s mere presence.”
I narrowed my eyes at the men around me. They’d just turned this into a challenge. And if these men were convinced that Catalina Veléz intended to be the first woman who only wanted a business relationship with me, I intended to prove them all wrong.
Sure, maybe she didn’t like me now, but that’s because I challenged her and she’d only met the business side of me. However, she hadn’t yet met the side of me that I’ve kept hidden from her until tonight.
“My bet is that Titus gets his teddy-bear heart shattered in this little game he is trying to play,” Spencer added with a smile.
“Trust me,” I grinned back. “I’m not one to cry over a woman. Heartbreak is something I will not experience.”
“I think you’re playing with fire,” Jim added.
“I’m not playing at all. I’m ensuring my business is safe, my name remains clean, and my empire untouched. A fiery woman like she has shown herself to be? Well, I’m sure heartbreak is something Cat Veléz won’t ever experience either.”
“Here’s to watching this hot-shit fuckery unfold,” Collin said, raising a glass at the table.
“I hope this isn’t the woman fate has sent your way and that you don’t ruin it by starting shit off like a CEO jackass,” Jake said, raising his glass.
“I will say,” Wyatt started, “it would be nice to watch my brother learn what love can do to a man.”
“This isn’t love,” I reminded all of them. “It’s business.” I looked at Spence. “Didn’t you do the same thing? Faked a marriage or some stupid shit?”
Spencer clinked his glass to mine. “Yep,” he chuckled. “Fortunately, though, I didn’t lie to her.”
I rolled my eyes. “Just because you all have found your perfect other halves in interesting ways, does not mean I am headed down the same road. I have no time for emotions of any kind to run my life.”
While all the men laughed at the table, I chose to ignore them. There were bigger problems at hand than the fact that I was having this conversation around married men who also would’ve done this before they’d met their wives and were apparently changed overnight.
Shit like that didn’t happen in my world. I wasn’t looking for it, and I didn’t want it. I enjoyed having any woman I wanted, whenever I wanted, and then moving on to the next. Settling down with any woman I dated was not something I saw myself doing.
Talking about falling in love? Having a life partner? God help me, that wasn’t who I was. I ran a global empire, and it didn’t get built by having a wife at home, pissed off because I was never there with her.
Who could settle down with one woman, anyway? I mean, obviously, I was sitting around men who did, but what kind of boring life was that for a man who had everything?
I needed to get these thoughts out of my head and focus.
I’d already instructed my staff to prepare dinner at the house and arranged for the helicopter to bring Catalina to me, which meant it was time for me to leave. I wanted to make sure everything was exactly as I’d envisioned before she arrived at my most sacred space… my home.