Chapter 52
Grant
True to Danielle’s word, she came through.
On the sweltering tarmac, Grant waited for Danielle and Luigi to disembark the plane. He was wearing his new suit, and he felt pretty sharp. He had left Brandy back in Europe—he didn’t need everyone in New Cardiff to know he was dealing with Danielle. Jack really would think he was a sociopath.
Danielle tried to hug him when she saw him, but he rebuffed her. She gave him an appraising look then motioned to his wrist. “Where is the famous watch?” she asked.
“Still in the shop,” he said and turned to walk to the waiting vehicle.
In the car, Grant went over his notes on the Ethiopian mining company they were meeting with.
“How do you know these people?” Grant asked Danielle.
“I went to finishing school with the daughter of the owner. This is his home,” Danielle said as the car pulled up in front of a large house.
Actually, it was more of a palace, Grant thought.
The servant opened the door when they approached, and Grant resisted the urge to gape. He had thought his father’s house was opulent, but it had nothing on this palace. The interior was decorated with colorful tapestries, lush plants, decadent flower arrangements, and an abundance of gold leaf. It was excessive. Grant forced himself to adopt a bored, jaded demeanor as he followed the servant to a seating area. Another servant brought tea to the table.
“You have to drink some,” Danielle told him. “It’s rude not to.”
Her friend from finishing school came in, and the two women hugged and kissed. Then an older man and a younger man appeared. Danielle made introductions, and a few hours later, Grant had the promises of a contract.
When they were back in the hotel, he asked Danielle, “Is this actually going to mean anything?”
“I’ve talked to my friend. She says to be patient,” Danielle replied and turned to head toward her room.
Grant grabbed her by the arm.
“Make sure you understand that you will have nothing from me until I have a firm deal,” Grant told her and went to his room before she could respond.
After the door shut behind him, he whispered, “What am I doing?” He had to land a large contract. He needed to top that Raytheon deal and prove to everyone that he was the best. Then Kate would have no excuse not to be with him.
He stayed up all night, crouched in a corner, watching the door and the window. He remembered stories from the Special Forces guys he’d hung around with. They had told him all sorts of crazy tales about rescuing people who had been kidnapped from hotels in this part of the world.
The next morning, he was completely on edge, but he forced himself to project assuredness. Grant and Danielle returned to the palace. There was a large table set up with several men in suits milling round. After introductions, Holbrook Enterprises entered into a formal agreement with the mining company to begin negotiating contracts.
“You have to stay on them,” Danielle said to him in the car. “They will try to squeeze you for everything. This area of the world is corrupt for a reason—it’s in their culture. You have to be tough. Don’t give an inch.”
During the next couple of months before Ginny and Eric’s wedding, Grant flew back and forth to East Africa for a set of grueling negotiations. He hated to admit it, but Danielle was actually helpful during the process. He had always wondered how his father had been sucked in by her, but being in her presence, he could see how his father had let Danielle win him over. She was effective and forceful and almost reminded Grant of Kate. He blanched. That was a sick thought that he was going to choose to ignore.
To add on to the stress, Grant had to field calls from his father about his actions in Ethiopia.
During one such call, his father yelled, “What are you doing, Grant? You’re going to ruin the company! The Chinese are going to come after us. You need to pull out of the deal.”
“Do not fold,” Danielle hissed in his ear after he hung up the phone. “If you fold, you show weakness. I will not tolerate weakness.” She was worming her way into his head. Her voice was in his thoughts.
“I don’t want you to be like your father,” she continued. “He’s weak and a liar.”
“You’re the liar,” Grant countered, “and you murdered your children. Walter hates you and for good reason.”
“I highly doubt that,” she said, “He is still infatuated with me. That’s why he picked you to be his heir and not one of his other children.”
Grant felt his stomach sink.
“Oh, you didn’t know about his other bastard children?” Danielle said. “I bet he hasn’t mentioned his older half-brother, either, has he?”
Grant was still reeling from the information. He had living half-siblings. “Where are they?” he asked.
Danielle looked at him triumphantly.
“We’ll talk about it when we have our mother-son bonding time.”
One night, he lay awake, wondering if this deal was going to come crashing down around him.
“I need a backup plan,” he muttered and opened up his laptop. He looked up one of the Norwegian soldiers he had fought with in Afghanistan. He remembered the man saying that his father worked at a shipping company. A short bit of Googling later, and Grant realized that the soldier’s father actually owned this shipping company. He messaged him and crossed his fingers.
He prayed that the Norwegian soldier would help him out, because Grant could barely contain his stress with the Ethiopian mining deal in constant danger of spinning out of control.
“Almost there,” Danielle said. “They are prepared to sign on Friday.”
“I sure hope so,” Grant replied, leaning back in the car seat. He was going to develop an ulcer.
He also had to fend off his father, who wanted to be present for the signing as well. If Walter saw Danielle, he might just skip the ceremony and shoot Grant in the face instead.
Finally, that Friday morning, the deal was signed. Grant drank tea with the other higher-ups of the mining company. He could barely believe it was over as he and Danielle drove to the airport.
On the tarmac before they climbed up into their respective private planes, Danielle hugged him and said, “I held up my end of the bargain. Now it’s your turn.”
Before she climbed the stairs into her plane, Danielle kissed him on the cheek. It felt like a death sentence.