“Perfect. It looks like a really great opportunity to bring even more money to the island.”
“Oh, it really is,” he grins. “In fact, I think the residents of Coconut Beach are going to be absolutely blown away when they realize that a billionaire and businessman of your caliber is going to be moving to town.”
“Well, I’m not moving there, Mr. Johnson. I’m just investing. But of course I will visit. In fact, I have—” I pause before I say girlfriend, because technically I’m not sure what Katherine andI are. “I have a very special friend that I’d love to take with me. Maybe we’ll stay in the penthouse suite.”
“That sounds great,” he says, looking away again. “Well, if we get to signing this paperwork—” he grins eagerly as he leans forward. I nod, though there’s something that doesn’t feel quite right. I look at my attorney, and he opens a brown folder.
“We’re going to start off by going through the terms and conditions of this deal, and if everything suits you both, then we will continue to the final documents,” he says quietly as he hands us both copies. I take my stack of papers and grab a pen.
There’s a banging on the door, and we all pause. The banging doesn’t stop and I jump up.
“Sorry, Mr. Johnson, I don’t know what’s going on.” I look over to one of the legal assistants. “Can you see who that is, please?”
“Yes, Mr. Heathcliff,” he says quickly, hurrying to the door. He opens it and goes to step outside, but immediately a loud voice sounds.
“I need to speak to Jack.” I recognize Katherine’s voice, and I frown slightly.
“I’m sorry, but he’s in an important meeting right now.”
“I know. That’s why I need to speak to him. Jack, it’s me. It’s Katherine.” She pokes her head into the room. “I need to talk to you. Now!”
I stand up. “I’m sorry, gentlemen. Will you excuse me?”
I hurry outside, and I stare at Katherine. She looks flustered.
“Is everything okay?” I pause as I make sure she’s okay. “Shit. Is this in relation to the call? The meeting you wanted to have with me?”
She nods quickly and I look down at her stomach. “You’re not—” I ask her, and she frowns for a second.
“No, I’m not pregnant,” she rolls her eyes. “Really?”
“I am sorry, but you sound upset. You look nervous. You look worried.”
“I told you before that the office is for work talk only.” She looks annoyed as she crosses her arms. “Is the deal done already?”
“Sorry, I don’t understand your question.” I frown at her.
“You didn’t finish signing all the paperwork yet, did you?”
“No, why?””
“You missed some stuff in the Coconut Beach paperwork. That’s why I was trying to call you. I wanted to go over it with you.” She sounds accusatory. “I’ve been trying to discuss this with you for weeks.” Her voice is high and frustrated. “Why would you give me a project and not discuss it with me before going through with the deal?”
“I just?—”
“You just didn’t care about what I had to say. It was all just for nothing. Is that it?” She presses her lips together and her face is a deathly white. “You never really respected what I had to say.”
“Of course I did.”
“So then why are you buying a hotel without letting me tell you about the findings of my research?” She’s angrier than I’ve ever seen her in my life.
“What is going on Katherine?” I study her face. “What have I missed?”
“I think some of the files were falsified,” she says succinctly. “I know that’s a really controversial statement, especially when you’re about to buy the hotel, but I think the numbers are wrong.”
“What do you mean you think the numbers are wrong?” I step back, and frown. “What numbers?”
“He said his revenue was in the millions last year, but I looked online, and I don’t think it’s true.”
