Crista McHugh - The Sweetest Seduction

“Yes, there’s that pesky problem of mixing business with pleasure.” He dipped his finger in the sauce one more time and swiped it on her swollen mouth. “In this case, I’m more than willing to make an exception, though.”

She let him kiss her one more time, wondering what rule he was willing to make an exception on. She got her answer when he ended the kiss and said in a gravelly voice, “I’d better stop before things get out of hand. I wouldn’t want you to think I was seducing you so you’d forget about what happened today.”

“I thought it was an apology.” She waited until hope lit up his eyes before giving him a slow, easy smile. “And in this case, I think I can find it in my heart to forgive this misunderstanding.”

“And for that, I’m extremely grateful.” He buried his face against her neck, placing a trail of kisses along her skin until he came to her ear. “Of course, I’d be even more grateful if you’d come home with me tonight so we can finish this in more comfortable surroundings.”

Her body was already saying, Yes, yes, yes, but she hesitated in order to weigh the consequences of her answer. The more time she spent in Adam’s arms, the more entangled her heart became. Would she still feel the same about him if she lost her restaurant? Or was she just setting herself up to be hurt in the end?

She searched his face, seeing less and less of the cold-hearted businessman who’d come into her restaurant last week with news that he wouldn’t be renewing her lease. Instead, she saw the man who made her heart race and her body yearn.

The man she was quickly falling for.

She ran her fingers along his cheek and took a deep breath. She’d have to trust him with the things she treasured the most and pray she chose wisely.

“Let’s go back to your place.

“It’s not like you to back down on a proposal, sir.” Bates handed Adam a folder. Inside, a single sheet of paper listed the cost analysis of his original plan versus his new idea. He’d have to shoulder the loss, but if that was what it would take to sell it to his investors, he’d do it.

Adam snapped the folder shut and continued down the hallway to the boardroom. Shadowy figures moved behind the frosted glass windows like unseen enemies. His pulse kicked up a notch. He was going into battle in a way he’d never done before. Usually, he went in trying to sell his investors on an idea he was passionate about. Now, he was asking them to go along with a new plan after he’d gotten them to sign on to the old one. He didn’t know if it would be better to act humble or continue with his usual air of confidence. Either way, he’d eventually have to admit he’d made a mistake, and that made the muscles along his back twitch.

Bates cleared his throat. “By the way, did you see that lovely feature La Arietta got in the London Times this weekend?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“You should read it, Mr. Kelly. Miss Kingsley had nothing but praise for Ms. Mantovani’s skill. I took the liberty of printing it out for you.” He pointed to the folder.

Adam grinned and thanked his lucky stars his father had hired Bates years ago. That article would be one more tool in his arsenal as he went into battle, and if it helped, Bates was in for one hell of a bonus.

His assistant stopped several steps short of the boardroom’s entrance. “I wish you luck, sir.”

“Thank you, Bates.” I’m going to need it.

Adam adjusted his tie, smoothed his jacket, and steeled his nerves. In a little over two weeks, he’d made a complete one-eighty about his decision on which restaurant would be best for the Magnificent Mile property. Now he needed to make sure the others saw it his way.

He opened the door and strode into the boardroom with his head held high. “Good afternoon, gentlemen. Thank you for coming today.”

“We’re glad to have a chance to speak with you,” Raymond Vilowski, a member of the Chicago City Council and a longtime business partner, replied, “especially after hearing the disturbing news Mr. Schlittler has been sharing with us.”

Adam glanced across the room and found himself staring to the cold blue eyes of Amadeus Schlittler.

Shit!

“Hello, Mr. Kelly,” the chef said with a ripple of his fingers. “I hope you don’t mind my presence today. After all, you’re here to discuss the location of my restaurant, the one you’ve convinced all these men to invest their money in, right?”

Adam’s jaw tightened, holding back every expletive he’d wanted to hurl at Schlittler over the last week. Instead, Adam held his gaze as he sat at the head of the table. “No, I don’t mind at all,” he said in an even voice.

“Marvelous.” Schlittler rose from his chair and circled the men at the table with slow, long steps like a sovereign deciding how to deal with a band of traitors he’d just captured. “As I was telling you, Mr. Kelly enticed me with the prospect of opening my latest restaurant on the top floor of his building on Michigan Avenue. Naturally, I expect only the best, and even though that property barely lived up to my expectations, he then tried to convince me to consider several....” He paused, rubbing his fingers together as though he’d just touched something covered with filth. “...less desirable locations.”

The men all turned to Adam, their eyes asking why. But it was Ray who finally gave them words. “I thought you had this all laid out, Adam. You said you’d be evicting the current tenant when the lease was up, making way for Chef Amadeus.”

“That was my original intention, but it seems the current tenant, Chef Lia Mantovani, has been making quite a name for herself lately.” He opened his folder and found the article Bates had so cleverly inserted for him. “Just this week, she got rave reviews from a food critic at the London Times.”

He handed the article to Ray first, followed by the feature in Food and Wine talking about how Lia was one of the hottest new chefs in America. He waited as the pieces of paper circulated the room. Schlittler pretended to buff his nails on his sweater while the men read them, his expression of annoyance speaking volumes even though he remained silent.

The articles had almost made it back to Adam when Ray spoke. “That’s all well and good, but she’s not the same caliber as Chef Amadeus.”

“Thank you, Mr. Vilowski.” Schlittler gave Adam an “I-told-you-so” smirk.

“Perhaps not yet, but she is local talent.” A few of the men nodded, and Adam saw the table slowly turning in his favor. “That got me to thinking—why should we destroy what she’s built in less than a year to make way for an outsider? Chicago’s always had a proud Italian heritage, and she’s taking it to the next level.”

“Adam brings up a good point, Ray,” Thomas Blakely said from the opposite side of the table. As one of his father’s oldest friends, Tom had more than once served as the voice of reason when the Kelly family was deciding where to place their money. “In an economy where small businesses are suffering, there’s more pressure from the voting public to have the government’s support and nurture local businesses.”

Ray shifted in his chair. “But as Adam pointed out when he got us to sign on to this venture, the appeal of Chef Amadeus’s restaurant would help all the businesses in the building.”

“Perhaps, but you’re up for re-election next year, right? How do you think your opponents would use the fact that you were willing to force a local girl out of business in favor of a foreigner?” Tom propped his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together loosely while he waited for Ray to respond to his question.

Ray took on the challenge and leaned forward, mirroring Tom’s stance. “I’m not the only person at this table, though.”

“Ray’s correct,” Adam said, hoping to swing the momentum of the conversation back in his direction. “All of you have agreed to invest money into Mr. Schlittler’s restaurant, and if he decides to pull out at the last minute, I wouldn’t hold any of you responsible for the previously signed contracts.”

“But why are you making him move?” Ray asked. “Why not relocate La Arietta? Then you can have the best of both worlds.”

“If I make La Arietta move, that would be a considerable expense, both for Chef Lia and for us. Not to mention, it would require her to close the restaurant for the time it took her to move everything.” Adam leaned back in his chair, hoping the move would encourage the others to see this as a closed argument. “I’ve spent the last two days showing Mr. Schlittler every upscale commercial property I own, including the one in Lincoln Park, and he refuses to consider any of them.”

Now all the heads turned to the chef, who rolled his eyes. “Apparently you have a different definition for upscale here in Chicago. I am Beverly Hills. I am Fifth Avenue. I am not Lincoln Park.”

“You’re also Las Vegas Strip last I checked, so don’t go throwing around all the locations of your other restaurants in an effort to impress us.” Adam drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “You want to be where the money is, and I’m more than willing to put you there.”

“Just not willing to let me have the location you promised me.”

“What it sounds like to me is that Adam made a bunch of promises that he’s now trying to back out of.” Ray pushed back from the table. “If that’s the case, I need to remind you that we all signed that agreement to encourage Chef Amadeus to open his restaurant in the Michigan Avenue building.”

Adam nodded. “I understand, Ray, but I also wanted to let you know what I’ve discovered in this process and ask all of you to consider my new proposal.”

“The time for this information you’re presenting should have been before you promised Chef Amadeus that location, not after.” Ray stood and looked to the other men. “I don’t know anything about this Chef Lia what’s-her-name and frankly, I don’t care. When we have someone of Chef Amadeus’s caliber available, my money’s going with him.”

He turned to Adam. “I’ll give you until Friday to decide what you really want.”

“Finally, someone who speaks sense.” Schlittler walked around the table and looped his arm around Ray’s. “Let’s go and talk about some of the menu items I’m creating for my Chicago restaurant. The others will follow.”

They walked out of the boardroom, leaving Adam and the three other investors in silence. “Do you all feel the same way?” he asked.

Tom pressed his fingers against the tip of his nose as he looked up at the ceiling. The other two men stared at their laps. After a minute, Tom said, “You’ve brought up a few things to think about, Adam.”

“I know, but I didn’t want to keep plowing into this headfirst once I unearthed this information.”

“About Chef Lia?”

“And about Chef Schlittler.” Now that the arrogant prick was gone, Adam could at least speak openly about him. “As you can see, he’s very demanding and difficult to work with. As big a name as he is, I’m beginning to wonder if he’ll also become a big problem.”

“Meaning?” one of the other men asked.

“I’ll e-mail you the list of demands he’s already given us as far as the Michigan Avenue property is concerned. I foresee more demands like this in the future, meaning we’d have to continue to finance them. Men like Amadeus Schlittler don’t come cheaply.”

The other men nodded.

“It seems Ray has already set a deadline for us,” Tom said, “so I’m willing to wait until then to see if we can come up with the best solution.”

“And as I said before, I won’t hold you to your contracts if I decide it’s in the best interests of the company not to give Schlittler the Michigan Avenue property.” Adam stood and shook the hands of the other men. “Thank you again for coming. I’ll get you that information later today, and I encourage you to see the gem that we already have in place.”

The other men left, but Tom remained in his chair. Age may have lined his face and turned his hair white, but it had only sharpened the intelligence in the older man’s eyes. “I have the sneaking suspicion you’re leaving something out, Adam.”

Adam fetched the papers and put them in his folder, ignoring the trickle of unease that slid down his spine. “I told you everything that’s pertinent from a business perspective.”

“But you left out the personal perspective.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Come now, Adam, I’ve been friends with your parents since before you were a twinkle in their eyes, and Maureen was telling me all about how she introduced you to Lia a few weekends ago up at the lake house.”