Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 105850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
This man.
Lord Grandstein had a screw loose if he wanted him to marry his daughter.
“And when you aren’t in the office, sir?” I asked, pulling up outside his high-rise building. “I feel uncomfortable putting Daniel and Melody in such a situation, so I would prefer to have reception and security turn them away.”
“Do you think reception can handle it?”
“You haven’t seen Penelope handle unruly visitors, have you?” I raised an eyebrow at him. “You don’t need security with her around.”
“Then do it that way.” He unclipped his belt, then paused and looked at me. “What time is my first meeting tomorrow?”
“Nine-thirty, sir. The leader of PR Team One and Harvey have finished the draft proposal for the announcement of the Adair Travel acquisition.”
He nodded and opened the car door. “Very well. Then I will see you at nine—there’s no need to pick me up tomorrow. Goodnight, Miss St. James. Drive home safe.”
“Goodnight, sir.”
He got out and bent down, glancing back at me for a moment as if he was going to say something. I was about to ask him if there was anything wrong when he straightened and pushed the door shut behind him, leaving me staring after him, slightly dumbfounded.
The secretary inside me wanted to call after him and see if he was all right, but the sane part of me wanted to get the hell out of here.
For once, I listened to the sane part of me.
It didn’t take me terribly long to get home compared to usual, and as soon as I arrived back to my apartment, I kicked off my shoes and headed for the shower. I paused only to text Harriet, Heidi’s twin sister, and ask her what she knew about the Grandstein family and their business before soaking myself under the powerful stream of hot water.
If I ever managed to get out of this job, this shower was what I’d miss the most.
At least I had some substantial savings thanks to my cheap as chips rent.
Not that chips were that cheap anymore, but still.
After scrubbing myself clean of today’s multitude of headaches and annoyances, I wrapped myself in a towelling robe, swept my hair up in a towel, and returned to my phone. It flashed up with a missed call from Harriet, so I instantly dialled her back and sat on the edge of my bed.
“Hey,” she answered after only one ring.
“Hey, sorry, I jumped in the shower right after texting you,” I replied.
“Don’t worry about it, I figured you’d just gotten home. Why do you ask about the Grandstein family?”
“Boss’ orders.” I was not telling a journalist that they’d proposed marriage to The Bastard. I’d definitely be fired.
Although… That was one way to escape him.
“Hmm,” Harri said. “My spidey-senses are tingling.”
“If your spidey-senses are that tingly, you can probably put two and two together,” I retorted. “Do you have any information on them?”
“I do. I’ve actually been looking into a small group of companies across the country who’ve done business with a shady investment company called Smith and Rogue, and Grandstein Corp is one of them.”
“Smith and Rogue? What a weird name for an investment company.”
“That’s what I thought at first, so I looked into it. It seems to be a shell company, and all signs point to it being a front for a tax avoidance scheme.”
Quelle surprise.
“They’ve only worked with lower-titled aristocrats, but that’s part of the reason it’s taking us so long to uncover the story. Some of the people affiliated with it are in politics,” she explained. “It’s easier to expose these things when it’s just celebs, but aristocrats and politicians is a whole other ball game.”
“Wow. That took a turn I wasn’t expecting,” I replied, walking over to my dressing table and yanking the towel off my head. “And Grandstein Corp are involved in it?”
“Yes. They’re one of the larger companies, so we’ve done the most research into them and their financials, and they’ve been working with them for six years now. The weird thing is there doesn’t seem to be any substantial investment into Grandstein Corp, even though they’re currently struggling financially. They’ve posted in the red for the last two quarters.”
I paused. “In other words, they’re in trouble, so why aren’t Smith and Rogue assisting?”
“Exactly. Grandstein Corp will probably post a minor profit for this last quarter because it was largely down to their supermarket expansion into Ireland, but it’s strange. The money flow into Smith and Rogue seems wonky.”
“Interesting.”
“Mm. Either way, I know Grandstein Corp is desperately seeking investors, so I’m not entirely surprised you called and asked about it. I wondered when they’d approach Black Ink.”
Yep. She’d put two-and-two together.
“Whatever you’re thinking, keep it to yourself,” I warned her.
“Yeah, yeah, I know the drill. Anyway, there’s some shady dealings around Lord Grandstein, so I’d stay as far away as possible.”