Decoding the Billionaire

by Meg MacRose

  His driver dropped him back at the impressive and forbidding entrance of his Hudson Pty flagship building. As he stood in his own entranceway, Alex mentally compared the masculine and overbearing reception to the understated elegance of DN Inc. Yes, he thought again, DN Inc had created their own brand image.

  Helen, his long-suffering Executive Assistant, looked up at him and smiled. “So, a good meeting then, Alex?” She enquired with a smile that seemed to know what his earlier agenda with Elizabeth had been. Helen had worked with Alex since he’d first started up his meagre business as Hudson Pty. Helen had always been grateful for being given a chance that most school dropouts didn’t get. She’d been sixteen and school hadn’t been her thing; besides she’d gotten in with the wrong crowd. At the time, Alex couldn’t afford someone more experienced, and Helen had shown from her first interview that she was a born organiser. She understood him well and would be difficult to replace if she ever decided to leave. Not that she had a boyfriend that he knew of, though she kept her personal life very private.

  “Hmmm, very good,” he replied with a twinkle in his eye. His plan to woo Elly was still in progress, but he was confident that he would be successful. When did he not get what he wanted? As he entered his own office, he called over his shoulder to Helen.

  “Buzz Simon to come down when he’s available. Oh, and please send Zoe the normal note and bracelet.”

  He gave Helen no further specific details. She had a set of embossed cards in her drawer that she used precisely for this type of occasion, when Alex decided he was finished with his latest conquest. A quality hand-signed card attached to an expensive bracelet. He’d lost count of how many bracelets he’d asked Helen to buy, but Helen would never criticize him over it. It’s not like had a love life to write home about. At least, not one she’d shared with him.

  Helen’s eyes bore into his back with unspoken questions. His relationships normally lasted a little longer than the few weeks that he had been with Zoe. But if he was going to pursue Elly then Zoe could become a distraction.

  There was one unread email from Eddie. He’d requested the private investigator that did work sometimes for Hudson to send through a dossier on Elly. As he scanned through the report, it didn’t quite have what he wanted to know. It contained scant personal information and nothing about relationships. Her academic credentials were a long list, which he noted included numerous post-graduate studies, her own lecture series and other conferences where she was the keynote speaker. The bulk of the report centred on her business, and from the looks of the growth in their annual profit and steady increase in staff, the business model that Nina and Elly had going was highly successful. As he scanned the report with interest, he could also see that they had bought their terraced office and built up substantial equity in their investment. There was a map on the last page that showed the office location, a couple of other investment properties that DN owned, as well as Elly’s and Nina’s own separate residences. Alex noticed that Elly only lived walking distance from her office, but Nina was further across the city, in a trendy riverside suburb.

  The picture of Elly that was attached to the report was very familiar to the woman he had met with that morning. She was dressed in a tailored though conservative suit that totally flattered her figure, and he had found that he could not stop but stare. The face of the girl from twelve years ago was still there, but her sense of naivety and fragility had gone. She really was a stunner, he thought, as his breath caught in his throat. Beautiful, intelligent and although she had been quiet in her office this morning, he remembered her tendency for frank talking, which was often laced with wit and humour. Maybe Dan was right, maybe he had met his match with Elly. He’d been too young and ambitious before to appreciate her many qualities. But then, he had been focused on making it in a cut-throat corporate world.

  A tap at the door nudged Alex from his dreamy thoughts. Simon entered with an inquisitive expression.

  “So how did it go? Tell me, did the amazing Alex Hudson manage to pull some strings and get DN Incorporated on board to look into our systems?”

  Circumstances had ensured that Simon and Alex had never mingled as children; even as adults, despite working together, the brothers hadn’t formed a particularly close relationship. But they respected each other professionally. Biologically they shared the same father and had inherited from him the same dark hair and chiselled looks. But that was where their similarities stopped. They had not received the same financial support or opportunities. Alex had been brought up in poverty, a boy who fought his way through government schools and lived in run-down damp flats. Simon had never known anything except the best. His billionaire father had provided the means for private skiing tuition on the Swiss Alps in Winter or in the summer sun in the Bahamas on the family yacht as they basked in the sun. It had been a pleasant surprise to Alex when Simon first approached him, interested in getting some career advice away from the dictates of their father.

  Alex knew now that Simon’s upbringing hadn’t been easy either, their father wasn’t a nice person. He was a man who was prone to aggression and ran his own agenda. Despite this, as a child Alex had been consumed by jealousy of Simon and his family. The tabloid photos that he’d spotted now and again in the newspaper always showed the perfect wealthy family engaged in exciting activities. His own drive to be successful, was founded in a need to show his father that he could do it without him. Not only do it without him but do it better than him.

  In contrast, Simon had told him that he’d always felt inferior to his street smart and successful older half-brother, who had not been constrained by an aggressive and competitive father who had mapped out his life. Simon had already proved himself as very capable when he approached Alex about working at Hudson.

  Alex gave a short nod that affirmed Simon’s question. Simon sunk down onto the office settee with decorous ease as if he owned it himself. Simon, like his sister Julia, oozed upper class breeding and gentility. There was nothing common in any of Simon’s moves.

  “I am so amazed. How on earth did you manage that? My own contacts at DN suggested that there was absolutely no capacity for months, if then.” Simon was visibly surprised, and Alex enjoyed seeing the look of admiration in his brother’s dark brown eyes. He didn’t know why, but moments like this when his half-siblings looked up at him made him feel good.

  “So, who are we working with? Do you know? I’ll send my briefs over to them straight away.” Simon’s soft posh London accent was laced with genuine excitement.

  “Elly and Ivan.” Alex kept his voice even, as he didn’t want to give away his own excitement. Although his excitement was driven by the prospect of Elly in his office in very close proximity.

  “Oh, and Nina will be organising schedules and things. She’ll catch up with you at some point today.”

  Simon’s eyebrows shot up in a perfect arch.

  “Wow. I’m impressed. You’ve worked some magic here. Ivan is the quintessential techie. Some of our staff were in his class at university. From what I’ve heard, he really knows his stuff, though he’s not much of a people person. And Elly? I’m dead set curious now. First, how on earth did she get your attention for you to be chasing her? And, second, how on earth did you manage to get Elly to not only work for us but to drop anything else that she was working on?”

  Simon’s finger pointed up in mid-air. “There’s a story here, and I for one am very intrigued.”

  Alex nodded, as he basked in his brother’s interest, careful that he didn’t give anything away. Simon’s smile beamed as he stood back up. “Way to go, brother. I’ll call Nina now and get things started.”

  “We shouldn’t be celebrating just yet. Let’s see what DN can uncover.” Alex wanted to move the conversation on away from Elly. Besides, if there was an issue, it could very quickly escalate into something unpleasant.

  Simon turned back in the doorway “you know, she is phenomenal. A few months ago, I went and listened to one of her
lectures. She is, and has been for a long time, at the forefront of technological interrogation, analysis and security. You know, stuff she spoke about years ago is just becoming understood and accepted in mainstream theory now.”

  Alex shook his head.

  “I don’t’ even think I know what those words mean” he said half-jokingly to his brother. “But yeah, she seems to know her stuff. Can you get one of our consultant contracts finalised and sent through to them by afternoon?”

  Alex was proud to hear of Elizabeth, or Elly, being spoken about in this way. Good on her. Elizabeth of twelve years ago had the brains, but he would not have expected her to have the gumption to enter the corporate world, and even less to be a leader in a male dominated industry. He was very pleased that she’d surpassed any expectations he had. He liked that in a person.

  “I’m glad that you’ve brought DN in. This acquisition is important, and apart from not having the capacity in my own department to look closer into the irregularities, I am very concerned that it is an inside job, which would make an internal audit difficult. We have developed a great culture in my department, and I wouldn’t want that destabilised while we are trying to find out what is happening.”

  Alex’s face sobered. He also had genuine concern that it was an inside job.

  “I think we should keep this to ourselves. The fewer the people who know, the better.” Simon leaned forward as he spoke. Alex had to agree. He had no idea where to start any investigation as he prided himself on the quality and loyalty of his employees. Many he had interviewed himself when Hudson Pty was in its first years of operation.

  As Simon sauntered out of the room, Alex glanced back at the photo still displayed on his computer screen. Right now, the pursuance of Elly was a much more desirable activity than the review of urgent legal documents. He scrunched up a piece of paper and threw it with more force that it warranted so it hit the rubbish bin with a thud. Alex was known to live for the thrill of the chase and the challenge of turning poorly performing businesses into lucrative ones. But right now, the challenge associated with corporate takeovers paled to marvelling over Elly’s transformation from a reserved shy girl on holiday, to a sexy siren at the Phoenix, and then the professional businesswoman. He had a feeling that he was going to need a good strategy to convince Elly that they should reunite. He smiled at the thought of his slow removal of her conservative business suit from her body.

  Twelve years ago, they had both been too young for any ongoing relationship. They’d had a six-week holiday fling, and yeah had it been good. Very good. Okay, so he’d not ended it very well, but he’d been ambitious, and his Hudson Empire had still been in its infancy. Their unscheduled rendezvous at the Phoenix was meant to be. They could have a lot of fun together.

  Despite the opportunity to contact Elly again, Alex was concerned. Could the puppet master of any data leaks be his own father? It was a genuine concern as there was no love lost between him and his father, which was made worse when Simon and Julia came to work for him and not his father. His father was a ruthless businessman and was known for cutting corners and coercion.

  As a child, Alex used to scour with an insatiable thirst the business pages of the newspaper to read up on his father. He knew that Theodore had a keen business mind, was considered ruthless in business discussions and had prospered in the Global Financial Crisis that had brought the world’s banks to its knees.

  Only, his father hadn’t seen any potential in him. As a teen, Alex had been convinced that his father would recognise his own ambition and capabilities. Alex had approached him asking for an after-school job in one of his companies. He’d hoped to earn some extra money and prove himself to his father. In his mind, he had already decided that surely his father would see his aptitude and enthusiasm and welcome his son’s first step up on the corporate ladder. Only, his father’s reaction had been a jolt of reality. Theodore had literally slammed the door shut in his face, told Alex to not come back, and that he didn’t consider him his son. His father had let him know in no-uncertain terms that he saw Alex and his mother as an embarrassment.

  As he exited out of his father’s office block, Alex had hurt his foot as he kicked the pavement in frustration and anger. The shock of pain in his foot had been enough to force him to sit in the gutter. His natural inclination was to think, strategize, and plan. That’s why he thought if he could just prove himself to his father, he’d have done well. Then and there, he made a promise to himself to not rely on anyone else. Alex started to etch out his own plans with the ultimate goal to be bigger and better than his father. As a sixteen-year-old, he did well at school, but wanted more. He picked up a job after school that delivered internal mail at a large conglomerate not far from his mother’s small inner city flat that they shared. By the time he’d entered university, he’d left home and already set up three of his own online shops in niche markets. Online had suited him as it meant that his customers didn’t know he was just a teenager who juggled studies, part-time work and his side hustles.

  He’d met Dan and Nick at university. All three of them were students who were driven to be successful in their own right. Sure, they’d studied for their exams and submitted every assignment on time. But unlike other students there, they had all used the university resources to extend their own entrepreneurial interests outside studying. As he’d progressed through his university degree, he’d applied what he learned about accounting, marketing and business strategies to his own enterprises. And he worked hard, too. By the time he started his Masters’ degree, his online businesses had taken off, and he had no real need to still deliver mail.

  Dan had passed on a snippet of information that Theodore’s biggest rival did a grad intake and were keen on students who demonstrated fresh new ways of thinking. Alex managed to get himself an interview and prepared for it like nothing before. He was careful to wait until the interview before he acknowledged that Theodore was his father. Ged Masters had offered him a role straight away, and between the two of them, they had taken the Masters Enterprises to new heights. He was aware that Ged had initially employed him to rile Theodore. But Alex had put in the hours, made the right connections, was visible at all the functions, and had the business savviness to take calculated risks which had paid off. Alex progressed quickly up the Masters’ corporate ladder and within two years had made it to Executive level, with his eye fixed on a bigger plan to outdo Theodore Hudson. He stayed with Masters until his 28th birthday, then it was time that he stepped out by himself. Ged, though disappointed to lose him, showed his vote of confidence and bankrolled Alex on his first few multi-million-pound ventures. It was the third venture, with the Katsifaras’, that had taken him to Greece twelve years ago.

  One of the ironies of setting up in business against his own father, and with his father’s rivals investment, was that despite their wealthy home life and access to huge amounts of money tied up in family trusts, his half-brother Simon and Simon’s sister Julia had both sought employment with Alex. It turned out their father didn’t have time for any of his own children.

  Chapter 4

  “Okay, so tell me … what the?” Nina stood perched next to Elly’s desk, her hand on her hip. Nina meant business.

  “What’s with it between you and Alex? I need details, girl. Did you meet him on Saturday night at your sister’s party? Did you go home with him?” Nina’s barrage of questions continued before Elly managed to get a response in.

  “I knew I shouldn’t have wasted a night with that loser Joe when I could’ve gone to the Phoenix.” Her sigh was tinged with regret. “So, spill the beans.” Nina grabbed a chair from a nearby desk and sat close to Elly.

  “There’s obviously something happening here. It’s not a normal occurrence that on a Sunday morning I get a call from the CEO of Hudson demanding a meeting first thing on Monday morning with you present. So, what’s the deal?”

  Elly shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not sure really that there’s any deal. But yes, Alex
was at the Phoenix on Saturday night with some friends, and …”

  “And he saw you in your oh-so sexy dress and couldn’t resist you?” Nina went all dreamy as she cut off Elly’s answer.

  “No.” Elly gave a short laugh. “Much the other way. I was about to go home, I’d had enough, and I saw him and his friends on the other side of the room. I recognised him, and it’s probably because I’d drunk far too many cocktails, but I went over to him …”.

  “You didn’t? You did, didn’t you? Oh my, we seriously need to get you out clubbing in sexy garb more often! In all the years that we’ve been friends, best friends at that, I’ve never seen you to be the provocateur, the instigator! You seriously rock!”

  “Actually Nina, it wasn’t like that. Alex is … well, he’s the guy I fell for big time in Greece just before you moved into my Dad’s flat. You know … he’s the one you helped me get over and move on from.” Elly almost laughed as Nina literally almost fell off her chair.

  “Don’t ask me what prompted me to go over to him. But I was feeling good about myself. The dress you chose was perfect, I fitted right in at the Phoenix. And you know how much I hate nightclubs. And, I hadn’t slipped over in those ghastly stilettos all night! I think the cocktails just gave me an edge of confidence. Anyway, I went over to say hi to him.” Elly gave a small shrug of her slender shoulders. What more could she say? She’d questioned herself a million times to try and determine her motives for her actions on Saturday night.

  “To be honest, I think I wanted to show him … I don’t really know what. Maybe to let him know what I was capable of becoming. What he’d missed out on by dismissing me so easily for someone else. I wanted to prove that I was still worthy.” Her frank explanation prompted Nina to give her a big hug.

  “Oh darling. You are so worthy. Look what we have created here at DN. Without you, we wouldn’t have this. You are so much the brains of our operation. But, I gotta say, you go girl! That took guts. And wow, what a way to go, you sure did get his attention. He was most insistent on the phone yesterday for DN to accept his company as customers, offered us a lot of money to do so too. And I mean a lot! Though, I do have to tell you, it was on the proviso that you lead the team. I couldn’t not accept.”