Page 19 of Bren

“We know; we got a notification, and you’re right, they are worse than wankers,” Ellie informs her. “We need information, though, and this was the easiest way to get it.”

“Ugh, well, if you need me to get you out of there, hit the red button and I’ll come running,” Deb orders, talking about a button I’d had installed under the conference table when I’d had enough of a meeting and the person I was meeting with wasn’t taking a hint. I pressed it, and Deb would appear to let me know that I had another appointment waiting. So far, it had worked just fine.

“Will do, Deb. And thanks,” I held up my cup of coffee to her. “Come on, El, let’s go do our thing.” Pivoting on my heel, I continued to the conference room, waiting for Ellie to catch up before abruptly opening the doors, catching the two men by surprise. One of them was straightening from a dresser that we had in the corner; it held spare stationery. I’m not sure what they thought they’d find by snooping around the conference room.

“Gentlemen,” I say, walking towards my seat and putting my coffee down. “Can I help you find something? Do you need some additional stationery to what my assistant laid out for you?” I query with a raised brow.

“Just a pen,” the culprit answers a little smugly, holding up a pen. My eyebrows raise, and I pointedly look at the pen holder with at least ten pens in it that Deb had put out with the pads and Post-it notes.

“Well then,” I say a little sarcastically, “if you’ve found the pen that you want, would you like to take a seat, and we can get this meeting started? I see you’ve helped yourself to beverages, so there’s no need to delay.” Turning towards the older man, I say, “I’m assuming you are Mr. Helmsworth? Would you like to introduce us to your colleague?”

“Ah yes, of course,” he blusters slightly at having been caught on the back foot. “This is my son, Christian Helmsworth, and the young lady with you?”

Nodding in acknowledgement at Christian Helmsworth as he takes a seat next to his father, I introduce Ellie, “This is my business partner, Ellie. I’d have thought you’d know that, though, considering you are here to offer to buy our company.”

Immediately, I can see that we’ve surprised them; I’m sure they thought we were empty-headed bimbos. How wrong they were. I didn’t have time for bullshit, so I continue, “I’m sorry you’vewasted your time, Mr. Helmsworth. As I informed you in my email, we have no intention of selling our company.”

“Now, hang on, you don’t even know what we’re offering,” Christian remarks.

“Exactly,” his father nods his head. “I’m sure when you see what we’re offering you’ll see that it’s best for you both. I mean, you could spend it on whatever your heart desires. I’m sure the two of you have things you want to do, like travel, buy shoes, and bags.”

Biting my lip to stop laughing, especially when Ellie starts to cough next to me. They don’t seem to realise that I’m a millionaire. I hit my first million at twenty, thanks to Bella, and Ellie isn’t far behind me. I’d worked my butt off to make sure that we never did without. None of us flaunted it, though. It wasn’t who we were.

I sit back in my chair. “Why don’t you lay it all out for me, Mr. Helmsworth,” I invite casually, crossing my legs and wanting to roll my eyes when Christian’s gaze fixes on the bit of thigh I am showing when my skirt rides up my legs at the movement.‘What an arsehat.’

Ellie snickers quietly next to me as if she knows exactly what I’m thinking.

Taking me at my word, Mr. Helmsworth starts his sales pitch, telling me all the things he would do to improve profitability. I’m bored three minutes in; none of what he’s saying would work, or it would but only if he cut staff wages in half or fired staff and worked those left to the bone. He’d also add chemicals to our beauty products. He should have stopped there, especially when I protested that the licence would need to be changed if they did that.

Waving his hand, “Oh, I don’t bother with that; there are ways around the licence.” My eyebrows rise; we’d known he paid people off, but he’d literally just admitted it to us with those words. I tried to keep my face neutral, but Christian must have seen something on it because he interrupts his father to say, “Of course we’ll reapply for the correct licence. Don’t worry.”

His father, realising his blunder, immediately blusters, “Of course we will, that’s what I meant. Anyway, that’s neither here nor there. This is how much we’d like to offer you for your company,” scribbling something on a piece of paper, he pushes it towards me. Uncrossing my legs, I sit forward in my seat, reaching for the paper and pull it towards me to have a look. I want to laugh because our company will be worth double that in six months’ time when our production is at full capacity. Showing it to Ellie, who looks at me with wide bulging eyes, “Seriously,” she whispers in disgust at the offer.

Picking up a pen, I write,‘No thank you,’fold the paper in half and push it back towards them. They obviously thought we were in a negotiation because they eagerly pulled the folded paper to them, opening it up, both their eyes widening when they read what we’ve written.

“Seriously,” Christian demands in an aggravated tone. “There are a lot of zeros in our offer. You won’t get another offer like this one.”

“Oh, I know,” I reply. “It’s a lot less than my company is worth, so no, I won’t get another offer like that. I’ve told you several times that we’re not interested in selling. I’ll not be saying it again. If we need to, we can get the lawyers involved to get you to understand what the words NOT INTERESTED mean.” Pushing my chair back, I stand and lean forward, my palms planted firmly on the table so I’m looming slightly over them. “Let’s be honest, shall we? We know you don’t want the company; youwant the land it sits on.” Standing back up, I wave at Ellie, “You see, we’ve done our homework on you, and this is what you do. You buy up companies on prime land, run the companies you buy into the ground, then you turn around and get planning for that land and put up hundreds of houses.”

The shock on their faces is laughable. Ellie pulls our paperwork from the investigation on them out of her bag and tosses it down the table to them. Standing next to me, she speaks for the first time, “Now, as my business partner has stated several times, we’re not interested in selling. And that land you tried to buy next door isn’t for sale any longer. I think it’s best you gentlemen left, don’t you?”

They’re angry, but the father can’t keep his mouth shut. He doesn’t like that we’ve got the best of him. It’s not him I’m worried about, though; it’s his son. The old man is all bluster, but the son has a whole other vibe about him. He reminds me of a snake, lying in wait to strike at the right moment.

“You’ll be sorry you didn’t take my offer,” Mr. Helmsworth grinds out angrily, slamming his briefcase shut.

“That sounds suspiciously like a threat, Mr. Helmsworth,” I rejoin. “You don’t want to be threatening us, that I can promise you.”

“It’s not a threat, it’s a promise, Ms. Crow. You’ll be sorry. I’ll have this property if it’s the last thing I do.”

“Come on, Dad, it’s time to go,” Christian takes hold of his father’s arm, pulling him towards the door and pushing him out. Turning towards us, he smiles a cold smile, eyes filled with rage, “Ladies, you should have taken the offer.”

I can’t help but shiver at the quiet venom in his voice, glad to see the back of him as he leaves the conference room.

“He’s evil, Bren,” Ellie says shakily from next to me.

“I know,” I agree. “Make sure you wear your tracker at all times, El. I have a feeling that’s not the last we’ll see of them. We’ll have to let Dad know.”

“I’ve always got it on,” Ellie says, fingering her silver chain with the small crow. “Have you got yours?” she asks.

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