The Broken One (Corisi Billionaires, #1)(41)

“I don’t know if I can trust her.”

“Then proceed with caution.”

Judy nodded. “What about Win? I don’t want him to go away to school.”

Marc drove without speaking for a few minutes, then he said, “Judy, all you can do is be a friend to him. That starts with not encouraging him to sneak out of his house to be with you.”

“Yeah.”

“You can’t do anything about his situation with his parents, but I promise you—he won’t be nine forever either. Neither will you. Before you know it, you’ll both be all grown up and driving your own children crazy.”

“No way,” Judy said with a laugh. “Me and Win? Never.”

Marc frowned back at her. “I didn’t mean together. Don’t even think about boys. You are not allowed to date until you’re at least thirty.”

That was fine with her. Most boys were annoying anyway. Judy looked down at her phone again. I do miss Grace. I’m ready to “proceed with caution.” Before she made the call, though, Judy said, “You’re going to be a great dad, Marc.”

“I hope so,” he said, his attention back to the road. “I sure hope so.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE



* * *



SEBASTIAN

A week later I called for a morning meeting with Mauricio and Christof. They sat at the table in our boardroom as I paced back and forth in front of it.

“What’s on your mind?” Christof asked with concern.

“Wait, I know this one. She lives in Durham and her name rhymes with . . . weather.” Mauricio leaned back in his chair, looking confident and smug.

I stopped pacing and frowned. “This isn’t about her.”

Mauricio slid a twenty-dollar bill across the table to Christof and shot me a sheepish grin. “Hey, it was a good guess.”

Christof accepted the money with an equally guilty smile. “I still think it might be, but since he said it wasn’t, I’ll take this.”

“Are we done?” I snapped.

Mauricio leaned closer to Christof. “Double or nothing he cracks and confesses the truth before this meeting is over.”

“Deal,” Christof said, then slapped a hand down on the table. “How can we help you, Sebastian?”

I inhaled a deep, calming breath. Brothers were a double-edged sword when it came to being helpful. “I’ve hit a snag with Bhatt Markets.”

The smiles fell away. Mauricio straightened in his chair. “What kind of snag? Everyone I’ve spoken to thinks we’ll win the votes we need. Our lawyers don’t see a problem with getting the permits. Christof ran a scenario of how long it should take to shut Bhatt down. Less than a year. Am I right, Christof?”

“That’s how I see it going. Their liquid cash is low. They’ve sold off enough of their private investments to make them ripe for bankruptcy,” Christof interjected. “The more I looked into it, the more impressed I became with your ability to sniff out an easy kill, Sebastian.”

“I met with Rakesh Bhatt.”

Mauricio shrugged.

“Does he have cash stashed we’ve overlooked?” Christof asked.

I shook my head and pocketed my hands. “No, they’re in an even worse situation than I knew about. Their father is battling cancer and losing.”

“Hey, maybe we’ll get a quick sale instead. Even better,” Mauricio said.

His words cut through me even though I’d said something similar countless times over the past few years. Weakness was something I’d had no patience for, had shown no mercy toward—but this time I was asking myself why. “Normally I would agree, but when I was talking to him I thought . . . what would I do if Dad were sick? How much would I be willing to give up to get him the best care?”

“Are you thinking we should lowball them now?” Christof asked.

I’ve taught them well—too well.

“No, I’m—I don’t think—Mauricio, you need to take the lead on this one. Or we should pull out. I don’t want this blood on my hands.”

“Wait. What?” Mauricio stood and walked over to me. “Did you just suggest that we not acquire a store chain because you feel bad about doing it?”

“We’ve already invested a significant amount of cash into making it happen,” Christof warned as he also joined me at the head of the table.

I rubbed a hand over my forehead. “I realize that, Christof. We could recoup some from taxes if we donate the land to the town.”

Looking genuinely concerned, Mauricio leaned in. Normally, I would have been offended that he was checking my breath for alcohol, but I didn’t sound like myself. “So which outcome are you looking for today? That I agree to take over or that we walk away from this?”

“I don’t fucking know,” I growled. “All I know is I haven’t been able to sleep since I met with Rakesh Bhatt. I went into the meeting with no expectation of caring what he said. I did, though. I care that his family story sounds so much like ours. His family came from India. His parents’ goal was to make a better life for their children, and they achieved that. Now the father is ill, and the children are trying to save him as well as his legacy. I don’t want to be the man who made neither possible for them.”