Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
I’d stared at Cat’s response to my request to clear her schedule for far longer than I’d ever care to admit. No one treated me like this. Not in business, and certainly not in pleasure. So why the hell was this woman lingering in my mind and taking up space there?
I told myself it was because I needed a way to get to Jameston and protect my company through insider knowledge. And Cat was the most efficient way in.
But after our subtle exchange of texts, I found it harder than expected to refocus on a business mindset and deal with her that way.
“You look like you’ve been run over by a truck,” my brother Wyatt said as he walked into my office.
I looked up from the numbers on the screen that I hadn’t been paying attention to since I first pulled them up.
I sat back in my chair and watched as Wyatt sat down in a chair across from my desk. “And yet, after staring at numbers all morning, I still look better than you.”
I smiled confidently at his scrutinizing expression.
“Nah,” he shook his head. “Numbers are as thrilling as sex for you,” he said, leaning back and crossing an ankle over his knee. “Something is up. Are you still concerned about that joker, Jameston?”
“Perhaps,” I said, knowing it was a lie, too. “I need to get inside that man’s world.”
“And that planner is the only way in?”
“It’s not as if I can get the fucking janitor to figure out what the hell that bastard is up to?”
“I think you’re overreacting,” Wyatt said. “Seriously. You’re giving the man way too much credit because he was stupid enough to call you out to your face.”
I leaned my arm against the armrest of my chair, rested my chin on my fist, and studied my brother’s relaxed expression.
“Are we auditing all new hires from the past five years?” I asked him.
“I can go all the way back to when we took over after Dad died, if you’d like,” he said with a smile.
I exhaled, rose from my desk, and walked over to the windows. Of course, my view of the sea was partially blocked by Jameston’s fucking building, but I looked beyond it to the calm body of water shimmering under the rays of the afternoon sun.
“I’ve always compared our mother’s strength to the sea,” I said. “Her resilience in the face of our father’s abuse. The way she could become unpredictable in an instant whenever it came to defending her worth or protecting her sons. Just as the ocean can shift without warning, so could our mother.”
“I’m not following,” Wyatt answered me.
“A woman like our mother isn’t something you control. She’s something you learn to navigate,” I answered.
“Seriously, I’m lost. How does this have anything to do with Jameston or audits of new hires?”
I turned back to Wyatt and smiled. “Our father lived a miserable life because he didn’t respect the nature of the strong woman he was married to. She stopped loving our father soon after you were born,” I said to my youngest brother. “And that’s when his control over us and her became severe.”
“Did you see a fucking ghost in New York or something three days ago? Seriously, why are you talking about Mom and Dad suddenly?”
“Perhaps I did see a ghost,” I smiled at him. “I’m just trying to say that I know what I’m doing here. I know how to do this… how to get to Catalina Veléz,” I said.
His eyes widened. “Ah,” he said with a smile. “I take it the dinner you serenaded her with at your place didn’t go as planned, which is why you’ve started sharing your deep thoughts?”
“She’s demanded that I go through her channels to hire her for any future events,” I said, feeling defeated by this before but now challenged.
“Let me guess,” Wyatt grinned. “You made demands of her?”
“Why would you assume that?”
“Because it’s who you are,” he said. “If any of us is the living embodiment of our father, it’s you, hermano.”
“I’m going to forget you said that, fucker,” I said before continuing my thoughts about Catalina.
“I’m going to respect her wishes and hire her to plan an event on Eterna…
” I paused and looked at him. “I need to contact her crew and have her relocated to the Aegean Sea. Ms. Veléz will be hired to plan this event. But she won’t realize it’s been designed for her. ”
“Greece?” Wyatt smirked. “You plan to go through all that just to hire her and get her into your bed?”
“I need to understand what she responds to, what she values, and what holds her attention,” I said evenly.
“You’ve lost your damn mind. I don’t even think this is about Jameston anymore,” Wyatt said.
“If it wasn’t about protecting our company from that weasel, I wouldn’t be going through all of this just to get that woman hooked on me and working for me.”
“I truly don’t think this will impress her. I think you’re wasting both your time and money to prove some strange point to yourself.”
“And what point is that?” I snapped.
He smiled, “That no one rejects you and gets away with it.”
I turned back to the ocean. “Perhaps,” I answered. “But as I said earlier, our father made one critical mistake...” I turned back to Wyatt. “He tried to control something that required respect. I’m merely respecting the woman’s wishes.”
“Why do I get a weird sense that you’re comparing this woman’s fiery, bold spirit to our mother’s?”
“Because that’s exactly what I’m doing, and by knowing where our father fucked it up, I’m altering course with this woman and this type of strong personality.”
Wyatt looked at me as though I had opened a book and was explaining devil worship to him.
“You realize you’re playing with fire, right? Especially now that you’re comparing her to our mother…”
“No. I’m adjusting my approach with the woman by understanding what will work to get closer to her.”
I could see Wyatt’s confusion, but I was done explaining it to him.
I picked up my cell phone, pulled Spencer Monroe up in my contacts, and clicked his name to dial out.
“Hawk, how can I help?”
“Unless you know what charms Catalina Veléz, I believe the only one who can help me is your wife,” I answered with a chuckle.
“Jesus Christ, man,” Spencer said with a hint of humor. “Now you want to fuck my wife to try to get into a—”
“Easy, hermano. That’s the last place my mind is right now,” I smiled. “I need a favor. I need Nat to send over anything she knows about Catalina Veléz.”
“As in what? Her favorite places to eat? Hobbies? I’m unsure what angle you’re trying to take after the woman turned you down.”
“The woman did not turn me down,” I said, more defensively than I’d intended.
“Okay, let’s pretend she didn’t and cleared her schedule for you next weekend…”
He paused, and I frowned.
“How do you know about that?” I questioned.
“I was at the event she was coordinating when your desperate ass made a fool of yourself. How else would I know?”
“She told you this?”
“Yes.”
“While she was working her event?”
“Yes.”
“While she should’ve remained professional, she chose to socialize with friends while working?”
“Yes, those friends being the ones who hired her to plan and orchestrate the event,” he answered. “Is that a problem, or is it just your bruised ego speaking to me now?”
Interesting.
“It’s not a problem at all,” I answered. “I do appreciate that I took up space in her mind when she should have been focused on work.”
“She was insulting your cocky ass if that helps?”
I chuckled. “Nevertheless, I was in her mind and in discussions with friends.”
“Most would see that as rejection,” he answered.
“I’m not most people, Spence,” I answered him. “Listen, truly, please have Nat send me anything she knows Cat personally likes and appreciates. I’m planning an event in her honor.”
“Oh God,” he said. “You know, I would usually protect my wife from your bullshit; however, I do love watching the woman wring men out by their balls once she feels she needs to protect her friends from an asshole.”
“Perhaps I’ll call Nat myself,” I said, “so I can assure her that her friend does not need protection from me.”
“She’s in meetings until tonight when we all meet up for dinner after work,” Spencer answered. “You’re welcome to join us?”
“Who will be there tonight?” I questioned.
“Sebastian, Jim, and Jake, I think.”
My lips twisted, wondering if this was the best idea.
Ah, fuck it. Hosting a yacht event exclusively for the planner I wanted to hire and having her plan it herself was most likely not the best idea, but it was the only way I knew I could secure her for a weekend.
I knew how this would look to everyone, but this was truly strategic, not a personal response to the woman who rejected me. It was the only way I knew to get a foot in the door with her privately. We had started off on the wrong foot, and I wanted to correct that.
My first approach had failed. This time… I would shift the dynamic.
By the time I walked into the secluded dining area, the men were already settled in with drinks in hand and a conversation that sounded relaxed but, knowing this group, was probably worth millions.
My longtime friend, Sebastian Aster, sat at the head of the table, looking relaxed in a way that suggested he owned far more than the space we were in.
He must’ve made another huge acquisition deal for his old man.
Jim Mitchell sat beside him, shockingly already halfway through his drink, and Spencer Monroe sat next to Jim, looking entertained.
“What happened? You’re late,” Spencer said as I took the seat across from him.
“I’m here,” I replied, reaching for the glass already waiting at my place.
“That doesn’t answer the question,” Seb muttered.
“It doesn’t need to,” I answered, taking a sip of my bourbon.
A quiet chuckle moved around the table before my attention shifted.
Natalia Monroe hadn’t said a word yet, and she didn’t need to. She sat beside Spencer, one arm resting lightly against the table, her expression calm and observant. Far more aware than most people realized.
And right now, she was watching me too closely.
I met her gaze without hesitation. “Spencer tells me I was the subject of conversation at the recent event you both attended,” I said.