Page 49 of Falling for Raine

“What idea?”

He went quiet on the line. “Where did I lose you, sir?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose and willed myself to concentrate. “Sorry. Possibly at the beginning. What did you say?”

“Blower wants to keep Deverley Manor, and Lloyd’s hasn’t told him he’s delusional.”

I scoffed. “He’s an officer of the company Mint and Cooperton, not a Cooperton. That’s borderline insane. What’s he thinking?”

“He’s asserting that he’s owed ten million pounds by the trust, and in lieu of payment, he’ll graciously take the property.”

“That sodding, bloody prick,” I grumbled. “Is there any record to support his claim?”

“Blower says he’ll provide it shortly. Assuming it can be confirmed, I have a source that says Lloyd’s will grant the title to him in order to speed things along. They don’t care about property,” Sanjay explained.

“Really? Eleven fucking million pounds, and they don’t care?” I raked my fingers through my hair and paced the length of the windows, the view long forgotten. “No chance. Blower doesn’t think anyone is going to hand over that kind of money or asset. There’s got to be a third firm in the mix.”

“But who? We’ve gone round and round on this for a year.”

“Don’t know, but I know that arse. Blower is talking to someone else. He’s got us on a merry hunt while he’s flirting with a new competitor. Bloody bastard,” I growled. “Find out who it is. Get Julia and her new assistant on the job, and put together a team. Do whatever you must. I want information now.”

“Yes, sir.”

I flopped into my chair and popped an antacid into my mouth, sucked in a deep breath, and counted to a hundred backward before ringing Julia’s line.

She answered immediately. “We’re on it, sir. I just hung up with Sanjay.”

“All right. Good. Carry on and report back.”

“Of course. By the way,The Timesleft another message this morning and?—”

“I’ll talk to them.”

“Oh, I thought you wanted to wait for the deal to close,” she hedged.

“We’ll try a different tactic. Promote our brand and make Mint and Cooperton a side note that we’re patiently and confidently ready to close. A little press might be a good thing.”

“I’ll ring them now.”

I got on with my day in the usual grind of meetings and conference calls, but I welcomed the distraction of an appointment with my tailor later that afternoon just to step away from my desk.

Buzz buzz

I glanced at the new message on my cell.

FYI- The rocks were amazing. You missed out.

I flipped through the accompanying selfies of Raine in front of Stonehenge.Something tells me those rocks aren’t going anywhere. I’ll have another chance.

Good point. What are you doing now? Don’t tell me. I’ll guess.Thinking emoji.Working?

No.

Jacking off at your desk?

No. And rude.

Ten laughing emojis.I give up.