“To me finally moving on,” Athena said as she clinked her glass with Carla’s before she took a long sip of her wine.
“Holy shit, that waiter was right,” Carla said. “What wine did he say this was again?”
“Savannah Red,” Athena said as she took a sip of her own wine. “This is good.”
“I know. I should start serving this at my restaurant,” Carla said before she took another sip of her wine. “Maybe I might just get that one star to match this Rubio…” Her voice trailed off when Athena put up a finger.
“Will you just shut up about this silly competition?” she asked.
“Fine, I’m sorry.” Carla took a bite of her food and for a long minute she was quiet.
“It’s okay. You can say it,” Athena said before she took a bite of her food.
“Say what?” Carla was taking another bite.
“That pasta and Rubio’s special chicken cordon bleu is deliciously perfect,” Athena said and Carla shrugged.
“It’s not bad,” she said.
Athena smiled. She knew that there was no way her best friend was going to admit that her competition was as good as she was, let alone better.
“So, my best friend is fucking Russian billionaire Evgeni Markovic. What are the odds?” Carla asked.
“It’s more than just sleeping together really,” Athena said.
“Really? Your feelings for him are that strong?” Carla asked and Athena shook her head.
“I’m scared because I don’t know him that well but I just don’t know…I just don’t know.”
“Don’t over think it. Just go with the flow,” Carla said and Athena nodded, smiling. “What?”
“He told me some things about him and then he told me he was falling for me,” she said.
“Why do you always end up with the whirlwind romance stories?” she smiled and Athena shook her head.
“I guess that the universe just sees me as a whirlwind romance kind of person,” she said. She took another bite of her food and saw a man walking towards them. He seemed to be in his fifties or perhaps older and he was walking right towards their table, smiling at her. There were two more men walking behind him wearing dark glasses and black suits. It was as if he was some kind of celebrity or important person she should have known about because those two men seemed to be his bodyguards or something of the sort.
“This guy walking towards us,” Athena started.
“Which guy are you talking about?” Carla asked and Athena gestured behind her. Carla turned around just as the man approached their table.
“Can we help you?” she asked when the three men got to where they were.
“I’m sorry,” the old man started with a smile. “I was just walking out and then I noticed you and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I know you from somewhere.”
Athena shook her head.
“I’m sorry…but you don’t look familiar,” she said politely. She could not help but notice the strange accent in his voice. It was like suddenly her life had become a magnet for men with strange accents.
“I know but….I’m not saying that we have met or anything but…wait a minute.” He reached into his pocket and the two ladies watched as he typed something on his screen. “I knew I had seen you somewhere. This is you, right?” he held his phone in front of Athena. It was an article about the benefit at the Aquarium.
She smiled. She didn’t think the benefit’s success had actually warranted an article that mentioned her in person. She was actually embarrassed with herself for not knowing about the article earlier.
“Athena Davis, from GoCreative? Right?” the old man asked again and Athena nodded.
“Guilty as charged,” she said and the man sighed.
“What are the odds that I would come all the way from Ireland just to bump into the one person I need?” he asked and Athena raised an eyebrow over the other.
“Excuse me?” she asked.
“I am a businessman and I am supposed to be holding a cocktail party for a new partnership deal I just closed in a few days but I just don’t have a good events coordinator I can entrust this thing to.” He looked at her. “And my assistant did her homework and told me that GoCreative is one of the best, if not the leading party planning company in Virginia. But she also mentioned that I would need to work with an Athena Davis.”
Athena smiled.
“I don’t know what to say,” she said in a soft voice.
“Are you kidding?” Carla asked looking at Athena. “The man came from Ireland to find you. Plan his damn party.”
Athena smiled and the man nodded.
“Wise woman. I would listen to her if I were you,” he said with a smile.
“My best friend, Carla, who also happened to cater the benefit at the Aquarium,” Athena said.
“I just hit the jackpot then,” the man said. “Please ladies, make this Irish man happy.”
Carla looked at Athena and then at the man.
“I go where she goes,” she said.
“Then you are the defining word here, Miss Davis. Tell me you will plan my party,” the man said. “I will make it worth your while.”
“I am not a free agent, like Carla. You still have to go through GoCreative,” Athena said.
“Then I will come to GoCreative and specifically ask for you,” the man was persistent. “And if you agree to plan my party, then I will even throw in an extra ten grand for you personally and of course another ten grand for your friend.”
“Whoa,” Carla said in a whisper.
“Sir, you don’t have to…” Athena started before the man shook his head.
“If it’s not enough, I can always give you more. I just want the perfect party.”
“No, it’s not that…it’s already too much,” Athena said as she looked at Carla.
“Please, Miss Davis, I need someone like you…no, I need you,” the man said and Athena shrugged.
“Well, alright then,” she said smiling. “Mr…ahem…”
“Cromwell,” the man said as he handed her his card. “Isaac Cromwell.”
Chapter 8
As Athena rode in the elevator to Isaac Cromwell’s Virginia office, she still felt like everything was a dream that she had to wake up from. She turned around and looked at her reflection in the mirror and sighed. She had chosen to wear a cream colored elbow sleeved midi dress, green suede pointy toed shoes and a red long sleeved jacket. She had straightened out her curls and held her hair in a loose bun leaving a few strands to frame her face. She was not sure that she was wearing the right outfit. Somehow, she felt she was a little too sexy but then again, she was seeing Evgeni later and she wanted to blow his mind. And the dress she had on was one that screamed sexy professional without being trashy.
When the elevator doors opened, she walked out and came face to face with a small blond haired woman.
“Miss Davis?” she asked and Athena nodded with a smile. “Mr. Cromwell is expecting you. Right this way.”
Athena followed her down the hall until they got to a door to a corner office. The woman opened the door for her and she walked in. Isaac who was on the phone, waved her in and she walked to one of the chairs in front of his desk.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said when he hung up. “I am very happy to see you again.”
“You gave me no choice,” Athena said with a smile. “Or as Carla would say, you gave me ten thousand reasons.”
“I would have offered more but you wouldn’t let me,” Isaac said and she shook her head.
“I used to work for one of the leading Fortune 500 companies in the country and one thing I know is that when someone is offering a lot of money, then he probably has a lot to hide or a lot to lose,” she said. “So, which one is it?”
“I have a lot to lose if my new partners are not impressed,” Isaac said.
“Do you mind my asking who your new partners are?” Athena asked.
“A Bhutanese Sultan has taken interest in one of my
ventures and considering he is royalty…I need the very best. And you Miss Davis, are the very best,” he said.
“Please, just call me Athena,” she said with a smile. “Miss Athena makes me feel like I should be next in line for some crown or something.”
“Fine, Athena
but you also don’t get to call me sir, I’m not a knight or anything,” he said.
“Alright, Mr. Cromwell,” she said.
“Please, Mr. Cromwell is so damn weird.”
“Weird? Really?” she asked.
“Well, yeah. No one has called me that in years and if you can tell by my years, they have been very many years indeed,” he said and she smiled. “I know I just insulted myself there but just so you know, I am the only one allowed to do that.”
“Well, I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Maybe I wouldn’t mind it, if it was just you though,” he pointed out. “A beautiful woman like you would definitely make me feel like a young man again,” he added with a smile and she shook her head.
“Much obliged, sir…I mean, Isaac but I am not exactly single.” Isaac leaned forward and smiled even more widely.
“What do you mean by not exactly single? I mean, you either are or you aren’t.”
“I just started seeing him the other day. It’s a relatively new thing.”
Isaac leaned back and rubbed his chin.
“So you are still in bliss. That moment in paradise before you define the relationship,” he said and she forced a smile. This conversation was getting weird.
“Yeah I guess,” she said as she pulled a notepad from her bag.
“He must be a very lucky man, this guy you are seeing,” he said as he looked at her and she shrugged.
“Well, enough about me,” she started in a bid to change the topic. “Why don’t you tell me about this cocktail party you're having. What do you have in mind as far as the theme is concerned?”
Isaac took a long deep breath.
“Well, for starters, he is royalty so I will need something big, pompous if I may use that word,” he started. ‘But this merger is also cultural. I still have to remain Irish in my theme.”
Athena looked up and smiled.
“So, a lot of booze.”
“Definitely,” Isaac said laughing. “Gin, whiskey, scotch…you name it.”
“Well, I have just the man for that job,” she said. “So consider the drinks sorted.”
“But you can also throw in a few bottles of wine for the ladies. And some champagne of course, we are celebrating after all.”
“Noted.” Athena scribbled in her notepad. “And do you have a venue in mind?”
Isaac rubbed his chin again and sighed.
“I was thinking I would leave that to you. As well as the menu.”
“That’s great. I will send you an invoice with everything itemized but meanwhile have a look at this,” she said as she handed him her company’s prospectus. “It will give you an idea of what to expect as well as the price range you will be in. I mean as far as the guest list is concerned and everything.”
“Well, this all seems fair but I also have this for you and your friend,” Isaac said as he pulled the top drawer of his desk.
“What is this?” she asked as he placed a yellow postal bag on the desk.
“Twenty thousand dollars. For you and your friend as promised,” he said.
Athena’s eyes grew wide. She quickly opened the paper and looked inside.
“Holy shit,” she thought to herself as she looked at the crisp hundred dollar bill bundles in the envelope.
“Is everything alright?” he asked and she looked up still shocked.
“You were giving the money in cash? I thought it would be a check and….I didn’t even think you were serious about it,” she said and he shook his head.
“I have to write this off as petty cash,” he said. “Otherwise my CFO will have my ass.”
“What do you mean, petty cash?” she asked. There was no way twenty grand would ever pass for petty cash in her books. Not even when she was at Jameson & Klein.
“Athena, I made a promise to you and I am going to keep it. So why don’t you just take the money and make sure Carla gets it too,” Isaac said. “People who work with me tend to be happy.”
“Clearly,” Athena said as she put the envelope back on the desk.
“Well, do you have something for me to sign? You know, something that makes this official?” he asked and she nodded. She handed him a folder containing the contract and smiled.
“I can leave that for your lawyers, maybe they want to look it over or something and then we can have a talk later?” she asked and he shook his head.
“No need for lawyers. You seem like a nice person,” he said as he reached for a pen. “I know there is no way you would screw me with some weird clauses, right?”
Athena shook her head. This man was surprising her by the minute.
“It basically just outlines the date of the said event and there is an agreement that you have to pay the company a percentage just for commitment’s sake,” she explained. Her jaw almost dropped as she looked at him signing the contract and then open his check book. He scribbled an amount and then tore the leaf from the book before handing it to her. “This is so much more than the company would expect.”
“Well, the contract stipulates that I should have a down payment of at least fifty per cent,” he started. “Judging by the prospectus you just gave me and the guest list I have in mind, there is a possibility that we might be spending upwards of eighty grand. So I guess this covers it, right?”
Athena looked at the check and shrugged. Her boss was going to be extremely happy and she knew a healthy commission was coming her way.
“Yeah,” she said. “This covers it.”
*****
Evgeni had just walked into his office when his assistant called him.
“Your three o’clock is here, Mr. Markovic,” she said over the intercom.
“I thought I was free for the afternoon,” he frowned.
“It’s a walk in, sir and he says that you will want to see him.”
Evgeni shook his head.
“Who is here?” he asked.
“He says his name is Isaac Cromwell,” his assistant said.
Evgeni felt the room suddenly grow cold. He took a long deep breath and then sighed.
“Send him in,” he finally said. He looked up, his heart pounding as he waited to see that old fool he had been longing to rid himself of. When the door finally opened, he didn’t bother to stand up.
“Evgeni,” Isaac said as he walked into his office and shut the door behind him. “You are truly your father’s son seated behind that desk.”
Evgeni shook his head. That was the last thing he needed to hear. That he was his father’s. Surely he was but in genes only. Definitely not personality or work ethic. He looked up at Isaac and gestured at the seats in front of his desk.
“I understand you want in on Markovic Oil,” he said and Isaac smiled.
“Straight to the chase. There is no beating around the bush with you, is there?” he asked and Evgeni shrugged.
“I will not pretend that I want you here when I don’t. So just say what brought you here already.”
“Well, it’s quite simple really. Plus you already said it,” Isaac started. “Markovic Oil.”
Evgeni forced a laugh.
“I mean, my merchandise has been getting to various parts of the world on Markovic Freight but now that you want out, I need a fallback plan. And Markovic Oil is it.”
Evgeni ran his fingers though his thick hair and shook his head. He was getting more frustrated by the second. Isaac Cromwell was not the kind of person he would have chosen for good company.
“What do you want from me, Cromwell?” he asked as he looked at Isaac. “Why don’t you just say what brought you here and then for God’s sake, leave.”
“You know very well that I just can’t leave. Not before we
sort out the issue at hand,” Isaac said in an uncomfortably calm voice. “You want out of the Cromwell business and I want to make sure that I will not lose out on my income.”
“I am giving you four hundred million dollars,” Evgeni pointed out and Isaac forced out a laugh.
“I don’t want money. I want a stake in Markovic Oil.”
“You want controlling interest in Markovic Oil,” Evgeni corrected him.
“That is what I said,” he shrugged. “It’s the same bloody thing.”
Evgeni shook his head.
“Controlling interest means that you own it. And I will not let you have something I built legitimately from the ground up.” He sighed. “Just take the money and let my freight company be. That is all I ask.”
“Four hundred million dollars,” Isaac said under his breath. “That is more than what Markovic Oil is worth,” he added and Evgeni raised an eyebrow. “You think I didn’t do my homework?”
“What are you talking about?” Evgeni asked.
“I had someone do an appraisal of Markovic Oil and according to him, that Middle Eastern glory hole is worth almost half of what you are offering.” Isaac smiled at him. “Now why would you offer me double what the company is worth?”
“Because I want a clean business. I want a clean import export business without having to worry every single time a friend from the SEC gives me a call and most of the time it is just to invite me to his place for Sunday potluck. And Cromwell, that shit sucks!” He exhaled loudly. “This is more than just about money, Cromwell. I am worried about my legacy.”
“So, what kind of legacy are you trying to leave here, Markovic? A broke one?” Isaac asked and Evgeni shook his head.
“An honest one. That is what I am trying to do. Create an honest lifestyle that my kids can be proud of.”
“What do you mean proud? Your father left a great fucking legacy. Aren’t you proud of his?” Isaac asked and Evgeni shook his head.
“No, because I have been cleaning up his mess for most of my adult life.” He sighed. “That is not something I want for my kids.”
“Your kids?” Isaac asked. “Is there something I should know?”
Evgeni shook his head.
“I just think about the future, that’s all.”
I'll Be There: BWWM Romance (Brothers From Money Book 5) Page 23
