Alpha Billionaire Series
Loving the One I Should Hate Chapter 20

GRANT

"Are you ready for this?" I clapped Dylan on the back as we walked into the conference room. "Are you?" he asked.

Dylan had never shied away from arguing with me for the benefit of my well-being, or that of the companies. He was a rare friend. He had been in a weird mood lately. It felt like he was keeping something from me. I was beginning to doubt his loyalty to the company, to me.

As the meeting started, I didn't hide my enthusiasm. We were only a few months out from taking control of MiMa Play. An acquisition I had been pursuing for years. And now, I could almost taste it. It was so close. Their new owner was being sly. Every time I expected them to concede and just hand everything over, they would dance away, beyond my reach.

I didn't know who the new person was. I hadn't thought Wilson's wife had played an active role in the company. I had thought she had been gravely ill. I know his son was no longer with the company, but I didn't know why. Whoever was behind the helm now was competent. If they would only be willing to meet with me. Any response to communication I got from them was always minimal and almost cryptic in nature.

The chase was both thrilling and frustrating. In the end, I knew the company would be mine, but the games, until that happened, were unnecessary. It would be in everyone's best interest if they just worked with me to ensure a smooth transition. With someone as stubborn and smart as they were proving to be, I probably had a place here at Agon for them.

"I know we have a few months yet, but I want a complete package rebranding. We need to maintain the MiMa Play name for a few months for brand recognition, but I'm looking at something like..."

"Grant, may I jump in here? I think you want Agon Athletics presenting MiMa Plays' product," Jake in marketing suggested.

I clapped my hands and pointed at him, "Exactly, that's the kind of thing. That not only positions the product as belonging to Agon, but it also puts Agon in the driver's seat. After about a year of that we can phase the MiMa Play name out," I said.

"Sure, that will work in the American market. But neither Agon nor MiMa have name recognition in the European market. We'll need a completely different approach to branding. How do we make that not wasteful redundant work?" Debra, also from marketing, asked.

"We use European branding as our end goal. Look at the American combo branding as an evolutionary step toward the designs that we release in Europe. As Agon starts to present MiMa Play's products, the sub-brand phases out, and it moves more in colors and layouts to match the European brand. That will give us a tie-in, that will tether MiMa branding to us without the culture shock. If the goal is to leverage the benefits of the MiMa market share, we need to invite them in, and scare them away with a brutal takeover and erasure of the brand they trust," Dylan added.

He didn't seem particularly engaged in the meeting, yet his insights were dead on. So maybe his loyalties didn't need to be questioned. He still seemed off.

"Confirmation of the acquisition on MiMa isn't happening for a while yet. Do we want to jump the line on putting effort into developing a brand for a product line we might not end up with?" Dylan asked.

There it was. He wasn't completely on board. I didn't need him sowing seeds of doubt regarding the takeover.

"This is happening," I said, keeping my eyes on him. "And I don't want to waste any time waiting for branding to be developed. We already have contacts in Europe who want the products and are willing to become manufacturing partners. We are poised to push new products as soon as we get ownership of the assets. And that is going to happen, and then MiMa Play will no longer be a pain in my business."

I smiled; I had every confidence in Agon Athletics absorbing MiMa Play. I wasn't going to let Dylan's comments bother me or distract from the purpose of this meeting.

"I want initial concepts in six weeks. I expect to see how the American rebranding will evolve into the brand that is being created for the European market."

I spread my hands and opened my arms. "Are we good? Everyone knows what they need to do?"

I looked around the room, waiting for questions, concerns. I kept returning to the deep crease between Dylan's brows. He clearly had a concern, but every time I turned to him he shook his head and frowned, waving me off.

I didn't like it at all.

"No one else has any concerns, I guess that leaves us with just yours," I said directly to him.

He spread his hands and shook his head. "I've got nothing."

"Clearly you do." I crossed my arms and waited.

Dylan stood and leaned on the table. "Thank you everyone for your time. We all know what our next step is, so we are done for now."

The team looked at each other with some confusion, but they took the hint. Dylan wanted them gone before he was willing to speak with me. He followed them to the conference room door and flipped the lock as the last person left. "What the hell is that all about?" I asked.

"Sit down, Grant. You aren't going to like this."

I leveled a glare at Dylan and slowly sat back down. He crossed the room and took his seat again. He templed his fingers and tapped them against his chin.

"How to best put this?"

I didn't have time for his dramatics. "Spit it out already," I demanded.

"Is taking down MiMa Play really your goal here?"

"No, my goal is to integrate their product line and launch into the international market. The shift from MiMa Play toy branding to serious athletic equipment branding is perfect for us and will finally let Agon expand internationally where we have fallen short before." "You need to be very clear about that because you're coming across as having some kind of vendetta against MiMa Play. I know they've not made it easy, not wanting to be acquired and all. But you sounded almost maniacally with glee. If you asked me, I would say your goal is to destroy MiMa Play."

Damn, he made me sound like some kind of malicious villain. I had been pursuing the little company for a few years now. So, what if I got a little ruthless in my methods? The goal was to acquire their product line, if they were decimated in the process, so be it. I shrugged. "Tell me this, is crushing that little company worth destroying the woman you love?"

"There is no woman," I growled. Mandy had disappeared like a puff of vapor mist, there and exciting one second, gone the next. What did she have to do with my attempted takeover of MiMa Play? "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"No woman? Well, we both know that's complete bullshit. I don't know what happened between you to end things, but I do know you were serious. I've never seen you extend a vacation before. You're the kind who ends vacations early to get back to work, not the other way round."

I huffed. Dylan was a little closer to the mark than I liked. No one needed to know what happened between Mandy and me. It was personal, no one needed to know how close I came to making a complete fool of myself over her.

"Fine, her name was Mandy, and she ghosted me. But what the hell does she have to do with MiMa Play?" I asked.

"Didn't Mandy spend a lot of her time working?"

"Yeah." How did he know? "She was working remotely. Her father died recently, and she had to take care of his business. She was fending off pending takeovers if she couldn't get their financial situation stabilized. Why?" I crossed my arms. "Did you ever offer her any suggestions on how to deal with certain situations?"

"Obviously. But we didn't talk business much," I smirked at the memory, we didn't talk business much at all, there were so many better things to do with our time.

"I've heard you mention that you think the guy temporarily running MiMa is some kind of genius, sometimes he's a step ahead of you, and others you think he's a complete moron, missing the very obvious."

"Yeah? Dylan, where are you leading me with all of this?"

"Mandy Wilson, Grant. I'm leading you to Mandy Wilson. She's the one running MiMa Play right now. She's brilliant and one step ahead of you because she's following the advice you gave her. She's using your own techniques against you. And she's a business moron "Never call Mandy a moron," I growled, cutting Dylan off.

He laughed, "And you try to tell me there is nothing between you? Grant, it's okay to have been in deep with her, but what I didn't get is how did you miss all the signs of who she is?"

"I didn't know Ralph Wilson had a daughter. He has a son. She never mentioned having a brother."

"But her father died recently, and her mother has been sick. Didn't she ever mention what her company did? Didn't you ever tell her who you were?"

"Of course, she knew who I was. I wasn't in hiding. She knew my name."

"But did she know you run Agon Athletics? Because if you didn't make the connection between her and MiMa Play, I would as hell bet that she didn't connect you to Agon."

"Shit." I ran my hands through my hair. I hadn't made the connections. Her father died. Ralph Wilson died. But people die all the time, and Wilson is a common name. "How the hell do you know all of this? You haven't met her. Have you?"

If Dylan knew where Mandy was, I needed that information immediately.

"It turns out Mandy is best friends with my cousin. You met her over the summer while she was staying at the lake with the Wilsons. You remember Vivica?"