Trish Wylie – One Night with the Rebel Billionaire (страница 6)
He looked up at her. ‘Now you’re defending him? Thought you didn’t like him.’
‘I don’t.’ She fought the need to pout.
‘Well, calling him an idiot wasn’t one of your better moves. What did he say to that?’
‘I didn’t call him an idiot. He
Jake chuckled. ‘Yeah, I’ll bet he was.’ He checked his heavy wristwatch and closed the file before pushing his chair back. ‘You know he’s got a genius level IQ? One fifty or sixty; something close to the highest level they measure it at. Bugged the hell out of me when I was a kid; made me feel real dumb in comparison.’
‘You’re kidding me, right?’
‘Nope.’ He lifted his jacket off the back of his chair and pushed his arms into the dark sleeves. ‘Dad reckoned it was part of his restlessness. No matter how many grades he skipped he was still bored. He didn’t want to be groomed as a child prodigy, so he rebelled. I think Dad blamed himself for never being able to keep his mind actively interested in anything long enough to stay out of trouble.’
When Jake chuckled at her expression a realization hit her. So Roane dropped her face into her hands, her voice muffled. ‘Oh, God.’
‘What did you do?’
She peeked over the tips of her fingers, opening them a little so Jake could hear her. ‘He quoted Voltaire and Kerouac at me.’
‘And you said?’
Dropping her hands, she sighed heavily. ‘I asked if they were quote of the day.’
Jake snorted with laughter, then saw her woeful expression and controlled it, his dark eyes still sparkling with amusement as he reached for a hand to draw her out of her chair. ‘I can’t believe he’s here less than twenty-four hours and you’ve already had a fight with him. You’re s’posed to be the friendlier one of the two of us. I have more to argue about with him than you do and
Yeah, but he didn’t have the same issues with Adam she did. Not that she could tell him that.
‘Just promise you’ll be nice until he signs the papers. Then you can say whatever you want to him. I know I intend to.’
She let Jake guide her to the door. ‘Do I have to?’
‘You do. For me. If I didn’t have you to be nice to guests and clients while I’m up to my eyes in work I’d have to go out and find myself a wife, wouldn’t I?’
Roane rolled her eyes. ‘Poor you.’
‘Exactly.’ He held open the door and stepped back to let her through. ‘You’re as near to an actual Bryant as be damned, Ro, and you know it. That makes it your
When he nodded wisely Roane chuckled, lightly punching his upper arm as he fell into step beside her in the corridor. ‘I hate you.’
Jake swatted the back of her head with his file. ‘No, you don’t. You love me. You know you do. I’m adorable.’
Her smile faded when they rounded a corner and found Adam standing by the doors to the boardroom, his hands pushed deep into the pockets of his dark trousers.
His dark gaze crashed into hers. Immediately she felt a flush rising in her cheeks. Damn him. She really didn’t like him one little bit. Regardless of the new information she now had to explain a very small portion of his behaviour.
Feeding the façade, she turned on her heel and stood on tiptoes to press a kiss to Jake’s cheek, smiling at the surprise in his eyes. ‘I do love you. But you owe me for this one. Big time.’
Jake blinked at her. ‘O-kay.’
With a deep breath she turned and walked towards Adam, her chin held high despite the sparkling of silent amusement in his stunning eyes. ‘I’ll be back after the meeting. Jake tells me you’re staying at the penthouse.’
‘Will you be acting as tour guide?’ He smiled lazily, his deep voice lowering. ‘Or making sure I don’t skip town again?’
Roane blinked innocently, unable to resist baiting him with a small pout. ‘Babysitter possibly?’
Adam’s gaze rose to watch the people filtering into the boardroom. Then he took a step closer, invading her personal space to within inches and surrounding her with his enticing scent while he lowered his head.
‘Nice to see there’s as much fire in your relationship with Jake as there is in ours.’ He turned his head closer to her ear so she felt the movement of his lips against her hair. ‘Let me know when you’re ready to upgrade…’
Roane took a deep breath, ignoring her dancing pulse while she turned her face towards his. ‘I’m not so sure it would be an
When a smile threatened the corners of his tempting mouth she took another breath, reminding herself that she’d told Jake she would be nice to his brute of a brother. ‘Have fun at your board meeting.’
When she impulsively patted his arm, Adam’s chin dropped, disbelief lifting his brows and furrowing his forehead when he looked back up at her. It was a very, very small victory, but somehow it was enough for Roane.
His eyes narrowed when she smiled a little brighter, but then Jake interrupted, ‘You ready, Adam?’
‘Yeah.’ He glanced down at Roane. ‘Later.’
Roane scrunched up her nose with feigned glee. ‘Can’t wait.’
Adam had to grit his teeth through the majority of the board meeting. They’d dumbed it down for him. Assuming he wouldn’t have a clue about anything they were talking about was a serious mistake on their part. But he remained silent throughout.
Let them think what they wanted.
‘So you see the problem.’ Jake waited for the room to clear before he turned towards him.
‘I do.’
Adam looked at his sibling with new-found respect. The kid knew his stuff. He’d led the meeting with a firm hand and was savvy about every aspect of the company’s businesses. Where someone had to open a file to quote figures, Jake was able to correct their mistakes off the top of his head. He gave credit where credit was due for good work, was able to hand out recrimination with a glare. There was no doubt who was the captain of the good ship Bryant. Good for him. Just a shame so many members of his crew were useless.
‘And you hire this lot or are they inherited?’
‘Some are inherited.’
Adam bet he could name them without Jake’s help. ‘So cut the dead weight.’
‘It’s not that simple.’
‘Never is.’
‘Some of them are shareholders.’
Well that explained that, then. Losing the majority hold on shares was Jake’s biggest threat. It was the reason Adam was there. He doubted Jake would have bothered looking for him otherwise. Especially if he knew the truth.
Jake stared calmly at him while Adam moved his head from shoulder to shoulder to ease imaginary tension in his neck. ‘What do you want to do, Adam?’
‘Are you going to give me options?’ Adam stopped what he was doing and looked his brother in the eye. ‘See me here with a nice little corner office, do you?’
‘No.’
‘Good. I’ve never spent a day of my life in an office, and I’m not starting now.’ It would be suffocating.
‘You’ll sell to me, then.’
‘Maybe.’ He laid his palms against the gleaming table and pushed his chair back, stretching his long legs out in front of him. ‘Where are you getting the money?’
When Jake studied him with suspicion Adam thought he’d overplayed the nonchalance card. So he leaned forwards, bending his knees so he had a place to rest his forearms. ‘It’d take time to liquidate enough assets and you’d need permission from the board for that—which you’re not going to get if anyone stands to make any money with a takeover bid. So where would it come from?’
Jake pursed his lips.
So Adam pushed off his knees into an upright position, ‘You either want me to have the full picture or you don’t.’
‘What difference does it make?’ Jake’s voice remained calm. ‘You don’t need to know where I get it any more than I need to know what you do with it.’
Fair point. Except he did want to know. If his little brother wasn’t going to tell him, then he’d find out on his own.
Adam glanced around the large room, taking in the changes since the days he’d been dragged along for the obligatory heir-to-the-kingdom tours. Instead of heavy oak and opressive panelling there were shining modern surfaces and spotlights immitating stars in a jet-black ceiling. He’d bet his father hadn’t initiated the changes, which made him wonder just how long Jake had held the reins. And how much of the conglomerate’s current problems were actually his doing…
‘Four years.’
Adam looked at Jake.
Who leaned back in his chair and formed a tent with his fingers. ‘I’ve been running it four years. That’s what you were wondering.’
Adam hid his surprise at the unexpected spark of insight. ‘You were young.’
‘I didn’t have much of a choice, did I?’