Chapter Fourteen
Melanie Brunswick’s stilettos echoed in the halls as she made her way confidently to the conference room where she was to meet Ann, Ian, and their clients. They had both texted her earlier that morning, informing her that she should bring her ‘A’ game if they were going to get anywhere with the sharks that they would be speaking to.
Don’t worry about me, Melanie had texted back. I’ve got everything covered.
She held a leather-bound briefcase in one hand and her cell phone in the other, swiping through her notifications, as she turned the corner into the room, where she found several of her clients already waiting for her. Her siblings were there too, chatting the clients up; sharing fake laughter and forced smiles as they listened to one of the gray-haired men wax poetic about grandchildren in whom they had absolutely no interest.
When they saw Melanie, they politely excused themselves and embraced her.
“Thank God you’re here,” Ann whispered in her ear. “I thought he’d never stop talking.”
She kissed her sister’s cheek. “It can’t be that bad,” Melanie chuckled, placing her hands on her hips.
“You know how much we dislike children,” Ian huffed.
“Is that why I have no nieces or nephews?” Melanie teased, shoving her brother’s shoulder lightly as she walked around to introduce herself, personally, to each one of their clients.
Once again, most of the men in the room were north of fifty, with gray hair and wrinkles under their eyes. A few of the women were on the younger side, but not much nearer her own age. She greeted each of them with a genuine smile and made sure to ask each a personal question. She listened intently to what they had to say, and then moved on to the next.
When she returned to her siblings, they looked impressed.
“How do you know so much about them?” Ian whispered as they took their seats at the head of the table.
“I do my research,” Melanie retorted. “You should try it sometime.”
“Ooh, somebody’s feeling fresh today, huh?” Ann teased, elbowing her under the table. “Speaking of, I love the suit. And the shoes. Where did you get them?”
“I’ve been saving them for a special occasion,” Melanie informed her, though that was a lie. Aiden had surprised her with them earlier that morning, telling her that she needed a ‘power’ suit; something to let everybody in that room know that she meant business.
“Don’t forget,” he’d whispered in her ear as she made up her face in the mirror, his arms binding around her waist; “You are in charge. You hold all the power in that room. You command respect and they will give it to you.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek and she nudged him away, half-heartedly.
“You’ll ruin my make-up,” she said, “and then I’ll have to start all over again.”
“You look even more beautiful without it,” he husked in her ear, pressing himself hard against her back.
Melanie had rolled her eyes and kicked him out of the bathroom while he just laughed and blew kisses at her. She could feel her heart begin to flutter and her cheeks flush at the mere thought of Aiden’s bare bottom as he sauntered away from her, returning to bed.
Melanie bit her lip and cleared her throat, reaching into her briefcase for the files that she had brought along. She placed them on the table and spread them out for her siblings, to look over as she went through her part of the presentation. For the first time in a long while, she would be working with others on a project. Together. She hadn’t done this since her freshman year in college, where she decided that she did not work well in groups.
Still, she was feeling rather confident about this particular presentation. Her back was ramrod straight as she handed out the charts she’d had printed, starting her speech as she walked around the room, making sure to share eye contact with several of the investors. She shook hands and made personal connections, oozing charisma as she went—just as her father had done, once upon a time.
Even Ian and Ann looked impressed. The former almost missed his cue to take over, but recovered smoothly, flashing that million-dollar smile as he went over the profit margins that they were predicting to rise within months of them acquiring this company. Murmurs went through their audience; the gray-haired men and women were visibly impressed as they discussed the forms that Ian handed out to them. When it came time for Ann to get up and speak, they already seemed to be sold on the idea. A few murmurs of agreement went through the room, fueling Ann’s energy as she ended the presentation.
When they were done, each of the investors nodded their head in agreement. Ann and Ian shared another look, and then smiled brightly and genuinely at Melanie, who grinned back and pulled out the final forms that needed to be signed in order to solidify this deal between them and their investors.
One by one, each of them walked up and signed their initials on the forms, then shook each of the three Brunswick children’s hands, before returning to their seats with satisfied smirks on their faces. If Ian or Ann thought this peculiar, neither said anything. They were too focused on the money signs they could see floating above their heads.
Finally, it came time for each of the siblings to sign. Melanie made sure that her brother and sister went before her, smiling as each of them scribbled their names hastily, as if a large sum of money would appear out of thin air, the moment they sketched out the last K in their surname. No money appeared, obviously, but that didn’t stop either of her two siblings from celebrating with tight hugs and pats on their own backs. Melanie watched them with a grin.
That grin widened when she heard a tap on the door and turned to see her beloved standing in the open doorway, a matching grin on his face as he stepped inside. “Am I interrupting something?” he asked, raising one eyebrow, cockily.
Immediately, Ian let go of Ann and took one step toward the other man. “What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded.
“Nothing much,” Aiden retorted. “I just came to meet with my beautiful business partner.”
“Business…” Ann and Ian turned toward Melanie, who was still grinning at her lover.
“You invited him here?” Ian spat. “And what does he mean by ‘business partner’?”
“Exactly what he said,” Melanie retorted, picking up the forms and stacking them neatly. “Mr. Carmichael and I are in business together. He’s taken me under his wing and I’ve never been happier.”
“I’ll bet,” Ann huffed. “You should have told us that you were getting him involved with this, Mellie. This is supposed to be a family investment and he,” she pointed at Aiden, “is certainly not our family.”
“Not yet, anyway,” she heard Aiden murmur under his breath and it sent butterflies flapping in her chest. Melanie hid her smile with a cough and handed them the documents they had just signed.
“Dad thought he was as good as family,” she thought. “After all, he does more to protect me than either of you ever has.”
“That is not true!” Ann insisted, snatching the documents.
“True or not,” Melanie continued, “he and I are co-owners of each and every one of these companies.”
“Co-owner?” Ian hissed, stepping in front of Ann, who was now hurriedly scanning the documents in her hands. “Since when?”
“Since about…two hours ago,” Melanie said, checking the watch on her left wrist. “By the way,” she turned to address their clients, “Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you again for meeting with us on such short notice this morning to sign our contracts. It really means a lot and Mr. Carmichael and I are thrilled to be working with all of you.” The investors voiced their thanks and Melanie smiled, turning back to her siblings, who looked dumbfounded.
“Excuse me?” Ann exclaimed. “You met with them this morning? Why weren’t we informed?”
“It wasn’t necessary,” Aiden interjected. “The partnership is only between Melanie and me. You aren’t part of it.”
“Oh yeah?” Ian said. “Then what’s this we just signed?”
“Can’t you read, Ian?” Melanie asked. “You and Annie just purchased the naming rights; but you have no claim to these companies, their workers, or anything else, for that matter.”
“You…what…you cheated us!” Ann fumed. “Mellie, how could you?!”
“Well, firstly,” Melanie replied, “my name isn’t ‘Mellie’; it’s Melanie. Secondly, you could consider this an investment.”
“An investment?” Ian boomed. “You’ve just ruined us!”
“Not exactly,” Aiden said, stepping up next to Melanie and placing his hand on the small of her back, almost protectively. “Not if you’re interested in our proposal.”
“I’m not interested in anything you have to say to me,” Ian growled.
“What proposal?” Ann asked, surprising them all.
Melanie grinned. “Well, we’ll need somebody to run the companies for us. You two are intelligent and obviously know business pretty well. As long as you promise not to streamline or steal from our companies, we would like to offer each of you a CEO position, to start immediately. You would be paid a handsome salary to start and you could sit in on board meetings and help to make the big decisions. Ann, you’d still get to be as bossy as you want.”
“Screw you,” Ann huffed, but Melanie could tell that she was considering it.
Ian, on the other hand…
“There is no way in hell that I’m working for him.” He glared at Aiden, who didn’t seem the least bit perturbed.
“That’s up to you,” Melanie conceded, “but the offer will remain on the table, if you ever change your mind. I really would like to have all of us working together on this.”
Instead of replying, either positively or negatively, Ian turned on his heel and stormed toward the door. He only stopped when he realized that Ann wasn’t following him.
“Annie?” he asked. She furrowed her brow and crinkled her nose at the despised name, before turning to her younger sister.
“How much does this position pay?” she asked.
“It really depends on our profit margins for the first year,” Aiden said, “but as long as you’re willing to put in the necessary work, I think it’s guaranteed that you’ll start with a six figure salary.”
“I’m in,” Ann said, much to Ian’s dismay. She turned to her brother and shrugged. “Sorry.”
He huffed and walked out, slamming the door shut behind him.
Ann sighed and turned to the other two, a grimace on her lips. “He’ll come around,” she promised. “You’ll see. He’s not that foolish.”
Melanie wasn’t too sure about that.
*****