The Love Of Money - S01 E185

Story 3 months ago

The Love Of Money - S01 E185

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 185

"It sure is,' I muttered into my coffee cup

Camille said something in French to Erin, who responded, and both of them burst into a chorus of giggles, which abruptly died when Chloe said something to them in equally good French. All of us looked at Chloe, but she merely stared at her phone and sipped on her coffee as if she hadri't said anything. Camille and Erin looked at each other as if they'd been caught with their hand in the cookie Jar, and then Erin snorted and giggled again, causing Camille to do the same.

"Okay" I said, putting my mug down with an air of authority, "I refuse to let this become a thing."

Erin batted her eyelashes at me and adopted an air of innocence. "Why, Mr. Upton, what are you talking about?"

"Just learn the language, Chloe said without looking up from her phone. 'Surprise then when they least expect it."

"Erin and Natashya both speak Russian. You want me to learn all her languages?"

Erin leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek, and I could feel the slight residue of her dark lipstick on my skin. "You should've hired the dummy. Fewer languages to learn."

I had a good morning with the ladies. Erin had mentioned that Camille would start while was gone, so Chloe and she had ample time to get to know the chef. Both confirmed that she made sorne of the best meals they had ever tasted. Considering her resume and how much I paid her, I wasn't surprised.

Camille was a twenty-nine-year-old chef who had previously worked in a high-end restaurant in Stockholm when she'd been poached by my assistant. As the accent suggested, she was a French native with a degree from some culinary school I'd never heard of. I learned that she was engaged, and her fiance was a creative director for a Swedish advertising company who was currently looking for work in New York. Part of her package Included an apartment in the same building and moving expenses for her and her fiance.

Camille was so beautiful that I was certain Erin had plans for the woman, so when I found out she was engaged, I glanced at Erin in surprise and saw her watching me as if she expected my shock. I hoped she understood my confusion, but didn't get anything in response. Who knows... maybe Camille was supposed to be a chef and nothing more. To be honest, I could do without the

embrace. She was wearing heels, which made her nearly eye-level with me as we faced each other only inches apart. Her ice-blue Irises darted from my eyes to my lips, and then she leaned in for a kiss. It wasn't the heated kiss of a succubus from hell that I was used to from her. It was sensual but warm and sweet like honey drizzled over bread. Her lips gently caressed mine, and the tip of her tongue lapped lazily at our meeting point. Her contented hum was so quiet that I could feel it more than hear it.

When she parted, her gaze still held a warmth I wasn't used to seeing from her. "I'm so glad you're okay, Marcus,' she whispered.

I had briefly toyed with the idea that Helen might have had something to do with my kidnapping, but this greeting dragged my suspicions into a dark alley and shot them in the head. I doubted Helen could fake this level of sincerity and felt an overwhelming sense of relief.

"Me too,' I replied, cupping her cheek and kissing her again.

"Are you busy tonight?" She asked. "There's something I'd like to show you."

That could only mean one thing - sex.

"Helen, as much as want to, Erin and Danni woke me up last night and nearly killed me. I don't know if I can"

"It'll be worth it," she purred, giving me a half-smile. "Trust me."

I swallowed and decided that Helen had definitely earned this. Also, even though I was already exhausted, I could feel my libido sniffing around curiously at the implications behind Helen's words. Despite my better judgment, I nodded. "Okay."

Her smile widened, and she kissed me again. "Good. Now, let's get the boring stuff out of the way, shall we?"

We spent the next eight hours eating well and reviewing some of the finer details of VistaVision. It had subsidiaries, employees numbering in the tens of thousands, and spanned multiple Industries. The company was known primarily for its entertainment sector, making movies and television. It had literature and toy lines, and a couple of resorts had spun off the brand-including one that had completely taken over a couple of Islands in the Caribbean.

Each subsidiary had its own CEO who answered to Chandler, and those subsidiaries included industries like internet hosting,

telecommunications, video games, clothing, paper products, and several others. Apparently, VistaVision even owned one of the larger porn companies through a series of other subsidiaries.

"Wait? Porn?" I asked. "You're telling me that I own a porn company?"

"You own a significant portion of a pom company, Chandler corrected. "It mostly hosts other content, but it's also engaged in production in the last two years. It's quite the revenue-earner."

"Did I read this right?" Erin said as she flipped through her copy of Chandler's notes for the meeting. "They have their own R&D?"

"Er... yes."

Erin looked at me, and I immediately got the message that we needed to check it out. I couldn't blame her. I was curious to see what kind of research and development they did at a porn company.

Chandler explained the intricacies of the company's by-laws regarding voting on the board. Arıyone with less than a one percent stake in the company didn't get voting power. When voting on a decision, the winner had the largest percentage of those voting. Voters had to be present in person or on a phone call for their shares to count. The winner was the one with the highest percentage of votes represented. I held forty percent of the company and was by far the largest shareholder.

He went on to explain that while most of the board wanted Kelly, Hiro Tanaka was amenable to keeping Chandler on as CEO in exchange for some building contracts through his company. He owned seven percent of the company and got us to the needed forty-nine percent when you counted Chandler's two percent stake. As a cherry on top, Chandler reassured me that Wayne Prudem, who owned another five percent of the company, would also throw In with Chandler and Marcus, as he was a long-time friend of the interim CEO.

The opposing members of the board included a short list of people, some of whom I had never heard of, but others caught my attention.

"Nina Haley... that's..."

"Your aunt," Chandler finished. "She's essentially leading the charge for Maddox."