Alpha Billionaire Series
Loving the One I Should Hate Chapter 2

GRANT

The cool crisp morning air hinted at a warm spring day, even though the breeze still held onto vestiges of this past winter. The air off the lake would become hot soon enough. Chicago wasn't called the windy city for nothing. I stepped out of the car and secured my jacket from flapping in the wind. I strode past open-mouthed tourists staring up at my building. Well, it wasn't exactly my building, not yet. My offices were high up in Willis Tower, downtown Chicago's tallest skyscraper, and once the tallest building in the world. It had been twenty plus years since it held that title.

I resisted the urge to glance up and smirk. It was still an impressive building. I walked in like I owned the place. After all, one day, I could see myself actually owning the famous building. "Morning, Mr. Carpenter," one of the security staff nodded, acknowledging me.

I took the stairs two at a time, crossed under the art installation of a floating cloud and headed to the express elevators. With no stops until the thirty-third floor, the express elevator was the fastest way to the ninety-seventh floor. Agon Athletics had the entire floor. "Good morning, Mr. Carpenter," the new receptionist said with a smile.

I nodded. I needed to remember to have Mina talk with her. She needed to save that cheery disposition for visitors, and not waste my time. It was distracting.

I strode past executive offices and workstations. Mina said nothing as I passed her desk. She knew better than to say anything before handing me a cup of coffee.

My office was in the north-east corner. It would have been nice to have an uninterrupted view, but the building's construction got in the way. There was a large corner column obstructing my view. My desk was placed at an angle with the obstruction directly behind me. I could gaze out over the city and the lake in either direction. My office had been expanded so that I truly had a worthwhile view. High above other buildings, I could look out over the fine examples of architecture Chicago had to offer, and out to the blue of the lake all the way to the horizon.

"Morning Grant," Mina, my admin, stepped into the office, a steaming cup of coffee in her hands. She set the coffee down on my desk. "Are you ready for me, or do you want me to come back?"

I stood looking out over the lake. The morning sun shimmered on the water. I looked over my shoulder from where I stood in front of the window. Every morning I loved to take in the view. It was like a ritual to get my day started. I didn't think, I just admired. View, coffee, and then I was ready for my day.

I turned and picked up the coffee. Holding a finger up, I wanted her to stay. I took two long swallows. The coffee was hot, and I probably burned my throat. I had a lot to deal with today; I neither had the time for a leisurely cup of coffee, nor the inclination to linger. "Is that the new suit?" she asked. "You're going to be limited to cold soft foods if you keep drinking your coffee like that."

I set the cup down and cleared my throat. She was right, but I wasn't going to give her this one.

"What do you think?" I brush the lapels of the jacket.

She looked me up and down, a frown furrowed her brow and turned down the corners of her mouth. "I think you paid too much for it. It fits nicely, but for a bespoke suit, it looks an awful lot like good tailoring on a Tom Ford. And a Tom Ford would have cost you less. Are you ready?"

I nodded and, unbuttoning the jacket, sat in my chair. I picked up my pen as she handed me the rough agenda for my day.

"The owner of MiMa Play has called. He says he has a counter proposal."

I sat forward. "Really? What did he say?"

"He said he would only speak with you. He hung up before I could ply him for additional information. I suggest you give him a call first because whatever you determine in that call will impact your meeting with the product development group at ten." I jotted down a few thoughts on the agenda as Mina continued.

"Okay, let's get to it. Will you send Dylan in when he gets here?"

"Sure thing," she said as she closed the door behind her.

Mina was my can-do girl Friday. She made sure I was able to run my business smoothly. She also made a mean cup of coffee and restocked the Nexium tablet in my desk drawer for when I did stupid things like down a hot cup of coffee in two gulps.

A moment later she knocked and then strode back into my office. She held out a chilled bottle of San Pellegrino. "You're going to want this, whether you admit it or not."

"Thanks." I took the bottle from her. "Go ahead and put through the call to Wilson at MiMa Play. I'm eager to see what he has to say."

I chuckled as she left. She knew me well.

After a few minutes the intercom on my desk buzzed. "Mr. Wilson is on the line for you," Mina announced.

"Mr. Wilson," I said as I picked up the phone and spun my chair around so that I could look out over the city. "I understand you have a counteroffer for me."

"I can't see how a partnership is going to work out. I know you would rather own MiMa outright," Ralph Wilson, the owner of MiMa Play, a small family-owned business that specialised in kids' sized sporting equipment, was teasing me.

Of course, I would rather absorb MiMa and integrate their product lines with Agon Athletics' products. But Ralph Wilson had emphatically told me to f**k off more than once. He was the kind of man who wouldn't use foul language, but his meaning was loud and clear. He wasn't interested in selling, wasn't interested in entering into a partnership.

He had a limited vision of what his little business could do. I could clearly see the potential of MiMa's products as they would fit into the Agon family.

"I'm listening," I said.

"I have nowhere else to turn. It's killing me to do this, but would you consider floating me a personal loan?"

"I'm not a bank. Mortgage your house." I was reaching to end the call.

"I'll put MiMa up as collateral. It won't happen, my daughter is about to graduate, and she'll help to pay you off, but if everything goes sideways, you'll have MiMa. That's what you want, isn't it?"

"You're intriguing me Mr. Wilson. What exactly did you have in mind?"

I spun back around to my desk so that I could take notes. Pulling a pad of paper from my desk, I wrote 'Wilson MiMa collateral, it's mine!' across the top.

Ralph Wilson began listing the terms for the loan as he saw them. Dylan walked in and took a seat across from me. I held up the pad with the note for him to read. His brows went up.

If Mina was my administrative genius, Dylan was my right-hand in all business things. He started off as a friend and turned out to be a knowledgeable business advisor. He caught the details when I focused on the big picture. He's the one who noticed a cog in the machine was about to fail before anyone else. He made sure the machine continued to work while I was at the helm steering the vision into the future.

I nodded at Dylan while I listened to Mr. Wilson. As far as I was concerned, he was begging me to pay to watch him get his business bankrupt. Who was I to say no?

"I'll have my assistant type up these terms as you have proposed. As soon as you sign them, I can have a check for you in a matter of hours."

The call ended and I didn't bother to stop the shit-eating grin on my face.

"MiMa?" Dylan asked.

"He basically handed everything to me."

"What was that about six months?" he asked.

"Ralph Wilson has requested a loan that is essentially the buyout price. If he doesn't or can't pay me back within a six-month window, ownership of MiMa Play will revert to me."

"What does he need the loan for?" Dylan asked. He was always trying to be my consciousness, like some damned cricket on my shoulder.

"Not a fucking clue. I don't really care either. I'm getting my hands on MiMa and their products, that's what matters."

"Seems a little cutthroat, even for you," Dylan said. He gave me that look, one eyebrow up, judgement written all over his face. "You don't typically go after the little fish. They are too emotionally attached to their assets."

"You aren't wrong. But he came to me. If you recall..."

"You've been courting MiMa for some kind of relationship for a while now. How is that not preying on the little guy? You're going to destroy this man's livelihood with the broad sweep of your hand. Have you ever read the history behind them?"

I shook my head. Dylan wasn't going to understand. He was too focused on the failure of a family-owned business and what that could mean to the Wilson family.

"It's not about the business, it's about the products. I don't want to waste resources developing product lines that will let us stroll into a world-wide market. MiMa has those products. Mr. Wilson is wasting his company's potential."

"You should really read the 'About Us' page on their website someday. Ralph Wilson got into the business because of his kids. MiMa really is a family business in the truest sense of the concept. Even the name."

I waved him off. "MiMa Play, it sounds like something a toddler would say. It's not a serious sports brand. It's not..."

"It's not the God of competition?"

"Exactly," I clapped my hands together. "Are you going to keep arguing with me, or are you going to be helpful? I have to plug this into our plan for the next six months. Product development will be thrilled."

"I thought you said this doesn't come to fruition for six months?" Dylan asked as he stood to leave. "Should you really be making concrete plans before you know? Contingency plans, sure, but what if Ralph Wilson pays you back?"

"I seriously doubt he will be paying me back. Agon Athletics will absorb MiMa Play. Just watch, you'll see. In six months, I want to be running when the baton gets handed off."