6. Cole

"I don"t thinkI can go along with this plan of yours, Cole." Jacob Levy paused to retrieve his putter from the bag before lining up his last putt of our round of golf at the club adjacent to the hotel. "Your grandmother and I go way back. She"s the one who convinced your grandfather to take me on as his in-house counsel when I decided to leave my firm and hang my own shingle. Do you know how rare it was for hotel brands to do that back then?"

"I am aware of your history with my grandmother, yes." Normally, I would indulge this burst of backstory. Even ask follow-up questions, like I actually gave a shit about his history with Nora. Patience was a virtue when it came to business negotiations, and nostalgia could easily be manipulated to get exactly what you wanted from a reluctant deal partner.

But we"d nearly finished our round of golf, and after the unexpected morning I"d had with Sunny, I was ready to end this second unscheduled event.

"Does your wife know about your affair with our towel boy Cody?" I asked just as Jacob took his swing.

Jacob choked the shot, sending tufts of grass farther than the ball, which only rolled a couple of inches.

"How did you...?" He broke off, most likely to avoid incriminating himself.

"That"s all right. You don"t have to confirm the story. We"ve got it all on camera in the supply closet, in the employee parking lot, and also in the sauna—which probably isn"t a great idea for someone of your advanced years. Steam room pounding is hard on the ticker, even if you"re the bottom."

Jacob"s face flushed red, and I was fairly sure it had nothing to do with the blazing late-afternoon sun.

"You and your wife go way back, too, don"t you?" I asked, coldly twisting the knife. "You"ve been together, what? Thirty-five? Thirty-eight years?"

"Thirty-nine," Jacob muttered. "Only nine of which she actually put out. We live in separate bedrooms. She"s aware I have needs."

"Sure, sure. You have needs and an understanding. I get that." I nodded along as I calmly took my own shot, sinking the ball into the last hole without much effort.

I"d won the game, but instead of cheering, I made my true final point. "Thing is, Cody"s barely legal. Not even half the age of that way back you go with my grandmother. Your wife may understand, but I"m not so sure how the rest of the board will feel about it—or the Vegas community at large."

I furrowed my brow, another thought occurring to me. "Or your wife, actually. She might not be nearly as accepting of your twenty-year-old side-piece after she"s humiliated when this gets out."

Jacob still had a couple of shots left to get the ball in the last hole, but he no longer seemed interested in taking them. His Adam"s apple bobbed. But he said nothing.

He might be retired, but he was still a good lawyer.

He knew when to go silent to avoid further incriminating himself.

And when to fall in line with a plan, even if it meant betraying an old friend.

I put away my putter and shouldered my bag for the walk back to Benton Corporate. No need to subject myself to an awkward golf cart ride with Jacob. My work here was done, and I"d already won the game.

Both of them.

"I trust you"re smart enough to know there will be consequences if Nora is somehow tipped off about this conversation," I said before I turned to leave. "So, let"s make sure that doesn"t come to pass."

Again, the older man didn"t answer, but he didn"t have to say anything. I was more than sure he understood as I walked away.

"You have my vote," Jacob called out through what sounded like gritted teeth. "But good luck getting any of the other board members to fall in line. Your grandmother is a good woman, who doesn"t deserve what you"re doing behind her back, and you"re a shameless bastard who doesn"t deserve your grandfather"s legacy. He"d be rolling over in his grave right now if he saw what you were trying to do to his wife.""

I stopped, clenching my hands at my sides as the old anger roiled inside of me.

But no, I still had thirteen other board members to "convince" to go along with my plan to oust Nora from her seat. Jacob, with his penchant for getting sausage by young guys who barely made minimum wage, had been low-hanging fruit. A black file kept on hand just in case I"d need it someday.

He"d been right about one thing. The other board members wouldn"t be nearly as simple to black file. I had a lot of people to get through, and making the retired lawyer eat his words wasn"t worth my time.

Besides, it was easy to understand his upset. He didn"t know the reasons behind my latest chess move. Of course, this looked to him like a dastardly move out of the blue.

So, I decided not to retaliate. At least not yet. But I also didn"t bother to explain myself to him.

I just gave him a cold nod and said, "I"m glad we"re on the same page. I"m sure the other board members will also come around to my point of view.""

And by "come around" I meant Lobo was currently gathering dirt as we spoke.

The rest of the board members, save for Max, would be taken down one by one, whether Jacob liked it or not.

"See you at the March board meeting," I called out as I resumed walking.

My phone vibrated as I made my way back to the clubhouse to stow the golf gear I only used for "business meetings" at the front desk.

Speak of the devil.Nora Benton appeared on my caller ID when I pulled the device out to see who was trying to contact me.

"Hello, Nora." I answered the phone without much thought to the fact that I"d been actively planning her business demise since meeting with Sunny that morning.

"Ah, Coley dear, I"m positively beaming with joy over this engagement news!And would you look at that, less than two months later! How in the world did you manage it, grandson of mine?"

I took a moment to feel insulted that she sounded happier than she had when I was voted in as the new CEO of Benton Worldwide before asking, "Does it matter?"

"No, it does not!" Nora assured me, her tone absent of shame or care. "I"m just over the moon that you and Sunny are betrothed. Not a single shamrock do I mind about the journey you took to get there. Oh, I can already picture the lovely great-grandbabies in my future! Glo would be dancing on clouds if she could see this blessed moment!"

I clenched my jaw. "I"m happy your blackmail scheme brings you such joy."

"Sooo much joy!" Nora either didn"t hear my sarcasm or didn"t care."The only thing I"m upset about is neither of you darlings giving me a ring to tell me the delightful news yourself. Imagine how embarrassed I felt when Rick, of all people, called round to congratulate me!"

"Who"s Rick?"

"The showrunner of the Benton Girls, silly. Oh dear..." Nora"s voice took on a worried note. "Have you taken no interest in Sunny"s life outside the bedroom at all? That won"t do. Women are quite sensitive these days—built different, as they say, on all the social media and whatnot. You have to at least act like you care about the whole individual. By the way, how"s your chemistry in bed, darling?"

"None of your business," I answered.

Apparently, my grandmother failed to hear that reply the same as my sarcasm.

"You cannot just pump it in a few times and be done, y"know. That was fine back in your grandfather"s day, when a Benton"s only job was to be rich while us girls did all the work to achieve our own pleasure. But these modern women want it all, don"t they? A relationship, communication, and a fella who knows how to get the job done in bed. You are making sure to get the job done, right, Coley?""

"I can"t decide what I despise more. You calling me Coley, or that you"re actually trying to give me sex advice. I"m thirty-seven years old."

"Yet, so boring!" Nora lamented. "I honestly don"t know how you ended up this way after such a promising start with the almost-going-to-jail and all that. You"d think that old bad-boy energy would come out every once in a while between all the memos and stock reports. It really is so sad. But anyway, I can"t wait to congratulate Sunny myself at the CEO of the Year awards tomorrow."

I squinted. "I wasn"t planning on taking her to that."

"Whyever not?"

"I don"t take dates to business events. You are aware of this."

"Sure, I know you don"t take dates to business events. But, of course, you"ll make an exception for Sunny, her being your fiancée and all. Otherwise, how would I or any of the other attendees know this engagement you forced Sunny to quit her job over isn"t just for show? I mean, Max is in town, and even he"ll be attending, but your own fiancée won"t?"

"Max is in town?" I stopped walking, sensing the implicit threat. "Why?"

"Oh, you know Max. Why he does anything, no one knows," Nora answered with a light laugh. "Anyway, dearie, should I call Levy Sons to arrange that stock paperwork while Maxie"s in town? Or shall I use this time to start planning an engagement party, where you officially announce you"re marrying the granddaughter of my departed best friend? I have the last Sunday of March available."

That was the weekend before the board meeting. Nora"s threat was becoming much less implicit.

"Fine, Sunny and I will see you at tomorrow"s CEO of the Year event," I agreed.

Then I hung up without giving Nora a chance to say a smug goodbye. It was already hard enough hearing her plan parties and give me advice, as if I"d actually lost our chess game.

Goddamnit. Appearing to comply with Nora"s marriage ultimatum had seemed like a good idea this morning when it occurred to me I could use the supposed engagement to buy myself time as I went about the tough business of ousting my grandmother from the board. However, this game was already becoming more complicated than I'd expected.

I"d reached the Benton Golf Club"s outer doors, but instead of going inside, I called my assistant, Agnes.

"Yes, Mr. Benton?"

"Put in a call to Jacob Levy."

"Senior again?" she asked. "Would you like to arrange a follow-up round of golf?"

"No, Junior this time."

Jacob Levy Jr. was my personal lawyer, just as his father had served as my grandfather"s personal lawyer for years. "Tell him I need to talk to him today—about some personal paperwork for Sunny Johnson."

"Oh."

We both knew what personal paperwork was code for, but Agnes was too much of a professional to ask why I"d gone from officially firing Sunny that morning to arranging a strict NDA contract for her.

"Right away, Mr. Benton," Agnes said. "Anything else?"

After a moment of consideration, I answered, "Yes. I"ll also need her address…."