Page 52 of Wicked (Wicked Billionaires #2)
DANTE
I wear my navy suit and a black tie, and Raven wears another Renaissance era gown from the wardrobe racks. She looks like royalty, but deep down, I know how filthy she can be.
I called my family members yesterday, and I pitched the basic theme park idea. They all sounded intrigued. In an hour, we will pitch it to them in person, even if I’m slightly on edge.
I’m on edge because after calling my family yesterday, Thomas called out of the blue from New York. It was an emergency, and I’d never seen anything like it.
After, I’d pulled an all nighter with a dozen lawyers in NYC and with my management team. Corporate raiders had targeted my fashion company and others in the US.
They are trying to shake out hotshot designers and poach top talent. They are offering some of the best I have massive fees if they leave and work for them overseas.
I have money on the sidelines to give as bonuses, and we act fast to ensure my best are happy and do not leave. It is aggressive and ruthless, and we’re being hit hard.
Encouraging my very best designers to break contracts is brutal. The legal contracts alone are complex, with some designers getting percentages of sales. Some of our senior designers, the best in the world, make millions per year.
I have always invested heavily in every designer I sign to our company. They are like family to me.
I take the attack on my fashion company personally. It’s ruthless, unrelenting, and it’s hard to wage war from afar. I manage my large team, push back, and contain.
The emergency calls and Zooms last all night, and I personally talk to every designer that was approached and offered massive packages and deals.
After endless Zoom calls to our top staff, I was able to fend off the attack.
I only lost three designers, but I had to agree to give a dozen a million a year in bonuses and higher fees. I have also parked another fifty million aside to sweeten the deals. I’m already known for being generous, but I’ll do whatever it takes.
After several more hours, we find what company had launched the all-out war. A war that could have crushed my entire company in time.
I instruct my company brokers, bankers, and personal traders to short their company stocks the next day and we will hit them hard.
It’s important I fight fire with fire and protect what is mine. Even if it will cost me three hundred million more, I need to ensure, on the street, and in the world of fashion, people know …
If you come for me, expect to get bloodied. When it comes to protecting what is mine, I am ruthless.
I am the Lion.
As Raven and I carry the wooden table and chairs into the large chamber the next day, I pull myself into the now. It’s castle saving time.
My business problems in NYC are mine, and if I cannot handle the rough and tumble in the corporate realm, I have no business being there.
So far, I have avoided pitching the theme park to my overly stuffy mother and father. My uncle, aunt, sister, cousin, and grandmother are plenty to deal with for now.
Once I know we’re in the zone and we’ve tested it some, my parents would be contacted with a similar pitch, if, and only if…
The entire family are in.
To convince my conservative parents, who are as old money as many in the Hamptons, I need numbers.
I also need the backing of every family member I can gather.
As Raven, Tito, and I greet my aunt, uncle, my fashion designer cousin, my grandmother, and my equestrian hotshot sister, Bianca, we pool around the table.
After small talk in the chamber with coffees and pastries, it’s time for business.
As they take seats and face the screen, I prepare my pitch.
My cutting-edge laptop will present a PowerPoint that Raven and I have put together. It is full of images and, of all things, Italian.
It’s focused on the castle and the areas we think will draw tourists in to generate revenue and respectfully build Italy as a brand.
We are doing it with a classy tone and style. We are not scrounging for dollars. Everything will also be done at an impeccable level.
After thanking everyone for coming, I explain I know the elders have equal shares in the castle, along with my parents. I then make it clear, I’m aware the financial pressure on everyone is exhausting.
Next, I explain Raven came up with a brilliant idea to save the castle, and I propose we implement it.
My eyes roam their faces as chins are rubbed, and people prepare to consider.
I explain we will show them a montage of the feel, style, and tone of the contained theme park we propose.
A theme park to bring in revenue, to celebrate Tuscany, and Italy, while not being a hotel.
No accommodations, and everything but… accommodation.
After pausing to let that sink in, I push on.
I’ve pitched to sophisticated investors, fund heads, and global banks for years. Also, designers and the world’s best modelling agents.
I talk to my relatives slowly, and I explain my aim is to get one to two hundred people in the gates daily, and that after a while, we turn a profit.
The theme park would include a grand Italian banquet, an unforgettable sit-down lunch.
A large section of the castle would be focused on Italian fashion.
Another large section on Italian history.
Another section would focus on Italian wines and wine making.
And Tuscan adventures on horse and in Italian sports cars.
Wine tasting, vineyard visits and some of the world’s best roads would play part of that.
“By showcasing some of the most famous wine country in the world,” I say, “we should be able to own the market.”
In time, it should, and I pause for effect.
“As we celebrate all things Italian, it will be the best in the country and likely Europe. It will also be something for Mom, Dad, the kids. Our Italian traditions, and our Italian designs, for an example, Prada, Ferrari, Gucci, Dior, Fiat, Lamborghini, are known around the world. Our Italian culture has contributed to the world like no other, and it has made a richer and more dynamic planet. We are considered more sophisticated than many in the world, and we are humble.”
I pause as people laugh and clap, getting my bad joke.
I wrap up my pitch and I step back as the three-minute presentation with old Italian music begins.
Several minutes later, it comes to an end, and my passionate relatives cheer and clap yelling, “Bravo” and “Viva Italia.”
I pace in front of them, and I explain each one of them have unique gifts and interests we can use. I step closer, and I look them in the eyes, one by one.
“And each one of you, can teach, hold lectures, or give stand-alone speeches to global visitors in areas you already love. You will find more fans and fanatics like yourselves. Of Italian cuisine, of Italian fashion, of Italian wines, and of Italian history. You will finally be able to give your rare knowledge to the world, and do it from here, home, and you will even help the local villages. Yes, we will benefit, yes, Italy will benefit, but every small business owner within a hundred miles will, too. That is the kicker. Everybody wins!”
As I step back, Raven winks at me. I put my hands in my trouser pockets and give them a moment. “Well, what do you say?” I ask.
“Bravo! A wonderful idea. Where do we start?” my uncle says, standing and pulling a bottle of rare wine from his old leather bag.
“Tomorrow,” I say, eyeing Raven.
As my aunt stands, she finishes her coffee and helps pour the wine in the glasses. People cheer and smile, and it looks like we’re good to go.
Amongst the chaos, my sister promises horses for the tours, and my fashion designing cousin promises to teach Italian fashion history and fashion designing in the castle.
As my passionate Italian relatives cheer, toast and drink, I speak loud above the chaos. “Grazie, now let’s give it a month to see if it works.”
“Wise,” our grandmother says, cutting in. “And if your mother and father are not in, we will buy them out!”
After excited discussions and hugs, we wrap the successful gathering up, and my family heads off in their cars. We have done well.
Raven and I head upstairs, and we open another old wine to celebrate. Raven then sits, and she focuses on the last chapter of her book.
As I leave with Tito to make some last-minute calculations, I feel like we’re on fire.
I’m exhausted from no sleep, but it is what it is. I’ve received more emails from NYC that are alarming, but I will get onto them in the coming days.
Inside and out, I plot the areas of the estate and castle to be converted for use, and I think of the woman in the castle.
I like her work focus and drive, and I’ve not met many like her. She is hot. Industrious and wicked.
The perfect woman.