Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 152931 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 765(@200wpm)___ 612(@250wpm)___ 510(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152931 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 765(@200wpm)___ 612(@250wpm)___ 510(@300wpm)
“Okay, well, I’ll confess that it was only after a bottle or two of wine that Ferico and I began blending the unusual flavors together,” Thane replied, still not entirely sure how he felt about his chef revealing their trade secrets.
Arik again chuckled and turned, heading into a small conference room. “Some of my best ideas come at the end of a bottle of wine.”
Just like the rest of the resort, everything flowed in the theme of over-the-top luxury. There was a table that sat no more than six people, the chairs looking like scaled down versions on La-Z-Boy recliners, a monitor extended downward from the ceiling to hang just above the edge, and a small food and drink cart was parked nearby.
Arik grabbed a cookie off the tray, passing on the sliced fruit, and took a hearty bite before grabbing a water bottle and heading around the table to his seat. “Have a cookie. Kellus watches my diet so closely; he worries about my health. I take my treat days when I travel alone.”
Thane did take a bottle of water and began to mentally tick off the number of times Arik mentioned Kellus Hardin. The last time they’d spoken over the phone, Arik had used Kellus’s name eight times in a twenty-minute conversation. Arik was a man utterly in love and let anyone who might listen know. The guy seemed insanely proud that Kellus wanted to take such good care of him. For Thane, it seemed a bit smothering, but he never said a word. Instead, he let Arik have his moment.
“So, I want in.”
That declaration startled Thane as he put his leather case on the table, taking the seat directly across from Arik. He wasn’t expecting to hear those words so early in their meeting. He would have thought the man would need a little more convincing. He looked over at Arik, hoping to hide the shock even as he began to realize something wasn’t exactly right with the statement. “In on what?”
Arik’s eyes lit up like he’d just gotten an extra free dozen cherry iced box cookies from the famous Collin Street Bakery in Texas. “On manufacturing the oils and balsamic vinegars. I’ve taken the liberty of drawing up a possible proposal. I’ve delved into manufacturing, gotten my toes wet. I could add value to the process. Of course, I have no idea how far you’ve gotten.”
“Not very. I have estimates out, that’s all.”
Arik tossed an envelope across the table. It landed with a thud a few inches in front of Thane. He picked up the package and peeked inside at the stack of stapled pages. What had kept him from jumping right into producing the oils was the load of capital required to start a project like that. He’d invested a chunk of change into Castelli’s, and more recently, he’d covered all of Julian Cullen’s medical bills after Julian, a man he’d regularly spent time with, had been found badly beaten and abused, and those expenses had been extensive. Then factor in this new project, and he wasn’t sure it was the time to drop so much cash on something as avant-garde as infused oils and vinegars.
Absently, Thane pulled the pages free of the envelope and thumbed through the contents. He noted several sections outlined in the document, from start-up through delivery. Arik had done his work, and this information proved he was dead serious in his desire to invest and be involved. “Thank you. I’ll look this over.”
“Thank you for allowing me to insert myself in your business. I figured since we’ll already be partners, you might consider extending that relationship,” Arik said, reaching for a remote control nearby. The monitor at the end of the table lit up, showing Tristan Wilder with his head bent, working on something at his desk. The screen’s position and size made it feel as though he were sitting in a chair with them rather than hundreds of miles away.
“Hey. Give me a second,” Tristan said, before looking up, giving a cheeky grin. “You’re late.”
Again, for the second time in a matter of minutes, Thane was thrown off balance. Arik’s words caught up with him, and he cut his gaze between Arik and Tristan. “You’ve agreed?”
“Tristan and I want to hear from your mouth exactly what you’re thinking,” Arik started.
“Not all the legal crap you sent over,” Tristan continued for Arik who nodded his confirmation.
“But we also don’t want you to be long-winded. Just touch on the highlights.” Arik finished off the thought, proving what was being said about the two—that they worked well together, exactly on the same page.
Thane took a deep breath and began to mentally scale down his prepared presentation while pulling his portfolio from his leather case. “For me, this is more of an emotional venture. I don’t see it raking in large profits. It’ll be costly to start and maintain, but I believe it’s necessary to those it helps protect,” Thane began, looking down at his notes. He had so much written there, nothing easily pared down, so he went off-script and decided to drive the points home with the facts. “Tristan and I have a mutual acquaintance named Julian Cullen…”