Loe raamatut: «Taming Her Tycoon»

Chapter 1

“I want Brooks and Johnson,” Lucius Knight told his lawyer and best friend, Adam Powell, as the two sparred in the boxing ring of their favorite gym on a Wednesday afternoon. It was one of Lucius’s favorite pastimes when he needed to blow off some steam, and today was one of those days.

“I know. I’ve been acquiring the shares like you asked, but why?” Adam inquired as he squared off against his six-foot-two friend.

Lucius put his gloves down and looked him in the eye. “Does it matter? I want it.”

“Yeah, it does,” Adam said. “I’ve never seen you so focused on a company before. Why is it so important to you?”

Lucius couldn’t tell Adam the real reason he was interested in Brooks and Johnson, an organic retail company, was its cofounder Naomi Brooks. Known for his playboy lifestyle, Lucius hadn’t been able to settle for anyone or anything, let alone a woman. But Naomi Brooks was different. He liked her story. She was a no-nonsense type of woman, a real do-gooder who not only believed in what she was selling—organic products that ranged from shampoos and conditioners to body lotion—but had also become successful in her own right. Who would have thought that the nerdy sophomore with the boyish figure and acne problems who followed him around during his senior year in high school would someday turn her basement business into a national success story?

Lucius understood that kind of determination.

Because he’d done the same thing. A reformed bad boy turned businessman, Lucius had experienced a chaotic relationship with his mother and had chosen to live with his grandmother in the Rose Park neighborhood of Long Beach.

Adjusting to the neighborhood and being a loner hadn’t been easy for Lucius. He’d rebelled and gotten into trouble often in school. Eventually, he’d met Adam, and a friendship that would last decades had been formed. Lucius had gone on to obtain an MBA before investing in his first business venture, an up-and-coming technology firm. The gamble paid off, and he’d made his first million before he was thirty. And thanks to his shrewd sense for recognizing opportunities, he’d formed Knight International and was now a wealthy tycoon with holdings across multiple industries.

“Hey, hey.” Adam waved a gloved hand in front of Lucius, jolting him from looking back down memory lane.

“You do that again and you’ll get knocked out,” Lucius joked, effectively ending their conversation about Brooks and Johnson.

“I doubt that.” Adam gave him a jab in the side. “Who do you think taught you how to fight?”

Lucius answered with a blow of his own to Adam’s middle. “You did. But as in the stories of old, sometimes the student becomes the teacher.”

Adam laughed heartily. “We’ll see about that.”

The two men continued to spar for another hour before they finally took a break. The gym along Santa Fe Avenue was starting to fill up with locals, which signaled it was time for Lucius to roll. Even though he still liked coming to the old neighborhood because it reminded him of days gone past, Lucius also knew the hundred he’d paid to the kid outside to watch his Bentley to ensure no one would scratch it wouldn’t last too much longer.

“How about a beer?” Adam said as they jumped down from the ring and walked toward the benches where their gym bags were.

Lucius smiled as he reached for a towel to wipe the perspiration from his forehead. “After a shower, you’re on.”

* * *

“Kelsey, whatever you’re cooking up smells wonderful,” Naomi Brooks said from her bar stool as she watched her business partner and best friend, Kelsey Johnson, stir a fragrant concoction on the stove of her four-bedroom home in Belmont Shore that afternoon.

Kelsey shrugged her shoulders, tossing her blond curls. “It just kind of came to me. I’ve been stirring this pot for an hour trying to get the consistency just right.”

“In your condition—” Naomi eyed Kelsey’s growing belly “—you don’t need the extra exertion. Plus, we have a development team that handles new creations for us.”

Kelsey turned from the stove to face Naomi. “I’m only six months pregnant, not completely fragile. And I kind of miss the days when it was just the two of us toiling away on our new business.”

Naomi nodded. She remembered those days, too. How could she forget? She and Kelsey had had the bright idea of starting an organic-products business eight years ago due to the sensitive skin and allergies they had in common. Naomi had suffered terribly in high school with bad acne. It had just been a notion, but soon they were in the kitchen testing out their ideas. Their parents had thought they were crazy. They’d just received their four-year liberal arts degrees and now their daughters wanted to start a new business with no experience?

They’d shown them.

Naomi and Kelsey had researched the hell out of the organic industry and slowly started building their brand. They initially sold candles, shower gels and bubble baths from Kelsey’s apartment. Word of mouth about their little business began to spread in the local community, especially when they began attending farmer’s markets. Soon, they were expanding to include shampoos and conditioners. And once their business hit a stride, they could no longer make their products out of Kelsey’s apartment. There had been some serious discussion about the next steps for their growing business. They’d also decided that selling online rather than going retail was the best way to promote and market their products.

It worked.

Their online presence had quadrupled their sales, causing the need for an office and a manufacturer who could distribute their growing product line. Once they’d topped several hundred million in revenue, they’d moved forward with an IPO and gone public, putting 49 percent of their shares on the open market but retaining 51 percent. It was important that they maintained majority interest in their company.

Naomi glanced at Kelsey. It was hard to believe just how far they’d come. “It was just the two of us for a long time,” she finally commented wistfully. But times had changed. Especially when Kelsey had two miscarriages and had a difficult pregnancy with her first child, Bella. Since then, Kelsey had opted to work from home, only coming into the office when needed.

“I know.” Kelsey stirred the concoction in the pot. “But having this second baby is making me reevaluate things and think about what’s more important.”

Naomi frowned. She didn’t like where this conversation was going. “What do you mean?”

Kelsey sighed heavily. “I’m thinking about whether I want to stay in the business.”

Naomi jumped off her bar stool and walked over to Kelsey at the stove. “Why? I don’t understand? Where is this coming from? Is Owen putting pressure on you to quit?”

Kelsey stepped away. “He would rather I focus on our growing family and he has encouraged me to sell. He thinks the stress of pregnancy and working full-time has taken a toll on my body. And he’s right, to a degree, but I’m torn. Brooks and Johnson means a lot to me, but...” Her voice trailed off.

“But what?”

“I don’t know. It’s just not the same anymore like when we first started out. Some of the joy has gone out of it.”

“Because we’re successful?” Naomi inquired. “It’s what we’ve always wanted, what we worked so hard for.” She turned away and walked over to the sink and grabbed both sides with her hands. “Or at least I thought so.”

Several seconds later, she felt Kelsey’s hands on her shoulders. “Don’t be mad, okay? I’m just being honest and telling you how I feel. Just like I did when I first met you and saw you needed a little help in the beauty department.”

Naomi chuckled and turned around to stare at Kelsey. At five foot four, Kelsey’s petite figure was still recognizable even though she was expecting, due to a regime of vegan food, yoga and Pilates. “Don’t sugarcoat it now. I believe you called me a hot mess.”

Both women laughed.

“Well, you were,” Kelsey responded with a grin. “You had acne and you wore your hair in a ponytail, and the clothes...” She snorted. “You were straight out of the ’90s. You wore those baggy jeans and plaid shirts. It was no wonder you couldn’t get a date.”

Naomi rolled her eyes.

“Now look at you.” Kelsey eyed Naomi’s figure up and down. “Your skin is clear and bright from using the proper facial products. And you finally listened to me telling you relaxers were killing your good hair, so it looks healthy now.”

Naomi fingered the soft spiral curls that reached her shoulders and complemented her long face. She’d fought Kelsey in the beginning about going natural, but the look suited her. Though it had taken some practice and a good stylist to learn how to work her natural curls into coil and twist styles, she’d mastered it. “Yeah well, I’ll give you that one.”

“And?” Kelsey countered. “Look at your clothes? We finally found your style—bohemian chic.”

Naomi was wearing a bat-wing sweater with distressed jeans, fringed boots and clunky jewelry adorning her ears, neck and wrists. She was finally learning to show off her killer size-four figure. “I can’t thank you enough,” Naomi replied, “for taking in such a socially inept, fashionless woman as myself, but that still doesn’t change the fact that you’re ready to bail on our business after all we’ve endured.”

Kelsey stirred the mixture on the stove one more time before turning off the burner. She was quiet for several long moments before responding. “You know I love you, Naomi, but my priorities have changed. I have to put my family first. But listen, I’ll give this some more thought before making any decisions.”

Naomi gave her a bear hug. “Thank you. That’s all I could ask. But while you’re figuring things out I’ll be doing the same. Perhaps I can buy your shares.”

“Naomi, that would be a steep sum and a lot of responsibility. Can you afford it and are you really ready to take on all the responsibility?”

“I don’t know, but I have to find out,” Naomi replied. Because although Kelsey posed some good questions to give Naomi pause, she had to do something. Otherwise, the future of Brooks and Johnson, a company they both started, was in jeopardy.

* * *

After showering at the gym, Lucius and Adam headed to a local gentlemen’s club they liked to frequent. The service was top-notch and the scantily clad women that delivered them their drinks more than made up for the overpriced menu.

“Ah.” Lucius sipped on his scotch neat and leaned back in the lounge chair to face Adam. “I needed this after that workout.”

“Yeah.” Adam nodded. “Seems like you had some steam to let off today. What gives?”

Lucius shrugged. “It’s nothing.” He wasn’t altogether keen on talking about the real reason for his bad mood.

His mother, Jocelyn Turner.

“Bull,” Adam stated. “I know when you have something on your mind.”

Lucius frowned at Adam. He could always read Lucius even though outsiders never could. Lucius strove to always have a poker face in his business dealings. Most people never knew what was going on in his mind, and he liked it that way. It kept people off-kilter and gave him the element of surprise, which he needed when deciding whether to take over or dismantle a company.

But Adam knew him too well.

“It’s Jocelyn,” he replied. “She’s coming to town.” His grandmother Ruby had told him his jet-setting socialite mother would be stopping in for one of her semiannual trips.

“Oh.” Adam nodded his head thoughtfully. “That explains it. How long is she staying?”

“Don’t know. Don’t care.”

Why should he? Jocelyn Turner had never cared about him. He’d had countless nannies before she’d finally sent him to a junior boarding school at the age of nine, and he’d acted out accordingly, so she’d handed him over to his grandmother. And bless her heart, his grandma done right by him. She’d brought Lucius to live with her in Long Beach and tried to instill good values in him, but Lucius had always known he was an afterthought.

His mother didn’t want him, and his father? Hell, he didn’t even know who he was, and Jocelyn refused to tell him no matter how many times he asked or pleaded. Lucius had begun to suspect that his father was a married man. So what did that make his mother?

At a young age, he’d learned to harden his heart and toughen up. It was a lesson that had served him well in life and in business. Of course, it also happened to get him in a lot of trouble as a teenager. His grandmother had been called constantly because he was getting in fights or being suspended from school. Lucius had gotten something of a reputation in high school as a bad boy because he rebelled against authority. Meeting Adam had changed his life and shown him he wasn’t as alone as he’d felt in the world.

“I don’t think that’s true,” Adam interrupted Lucius’s musings. “It’s because you care. Every time your mother visits, you get riled up.”

Lucius took a long drink of his scotch. “That’s not true.”

“Do you remember the last time she was here? You were so out of sorts that it nearly cost us that Corinth deal because you insulted the man right when he’d agreed to not fight you on the takeover.”

“Yeah, well, he deserved it,” Lucius commented, even though he knew Adam was right. His hotheadedness was one of his flaws. “Speaking of takeovers, let’s talk about Brooks and Johnson.”

“Ah, are you ready to tell me why you’re so interested in the company?”

“Have you seen the numbers they’ve been bringing in?” Lucius commented. “They’ve grown steadily over the last three years, and their revenue is impressive and can double now that they’ve been public for a few months. And I’ve learned that one of the principals might be open to selling. So we should strike while the iron is hot.”

“Kelsey Johnson or Naomi Brooks?” Adam inquired. “Why would either of them sell?”

Lucius rubbed his chin. “Didn’t the dossier on Kelsey Johnson say she’s pregnant with child number two? She could be thinking of downsizing and focusing on her family. That could be our in.”

Adam leaned back in his chair. “I would think business is the last thing on her mind.”

“We need to convince her that now is the right time to sell.”

“And what about Brooks?”

“Let me handle her,” Lucius said. He was eager to reconnect with his high school classmate and see how the once nerdy kid he remembered had turned the tables and become a successful entrepreneur. He’d also seen a picture of her recently, and she’d blossomed into a fine-looking woman. A woman he wouldn’t mind getting to know better.

* * *

“You should be aware that Lucius Knight has been silently buying up Brooks and Johnson’s stock since the IPO,” Bill Andrews, Naomi’s vice president, told her the next morning after they went over some company business.

Naomi was leaving for Anaheim later that afternoon because she wanted to get a jump on traffic leaving Long Beach. She would check in to the hotel, pick up her registration packet and get settled before the trade show and conference started tomorrow. But first, she’d come into the office to take care of a few items. She hadn’t expected Bill to tell her that corporate raider Lucius Knight, her former high school crush, was interested in her company.

“Since when?” Naomi asked, staring up from her MacBook.

“A couple of months ago,” Bill responded. “At first I dismissed it, but then Knight International recently picked up another 5 percent, making his total stake in the company 30 percent.”

Naomi closed her MacBook. “That’s not good.”

“No, it isn’t,” Bill said. “Every time Lucius Knight sets his sights on a company, he either dismantles them or they wind up as part of his portfolio.”

“But why would he be interested in us?” Naomi asked. “We’re a far cry from his other holdings.” She too had done her research on the man. Ever since college, she’d kept her eye on her former crush—Knight International had a mix of industries in its portfolio, but they were mainly centered on technology.

Bill shrugged. “He could be looking to diversify. And given the success of Brooks and Johnson, he could get in on the ground floor. I received a call from his attorney Adam Powell—he’d like a meeting with you.”

“A meeting?” Naomi hated that her voice hitched and the question came out more like a squeak.

“How would you like to handle it?”

“Ignore it,” Naomi responded. “I’m not interested in talking to Lucius about my company or anything else.”

Bill stared at her.

“What?” she snapped. She knew Lucius was a large shareholder, but she didn’t care. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because I haven’t seen you this passionate before unless perhaps we’re talking about a new product or launch.”

“Well...well, I just don’t like the thought of Knight thinking he can railroad me or my company. I’m no one’s pushover.”

“Never thought you were, Naomi,” Bill replied. “What you and Kelsey were able to accomplish is phenomenal.”

Naomi’s burst of anger fizzled, and she smiled back at Bill. “I’m sorry if I was a little abrupt,” she said. “I just get angry at the thought of someone trying to take something I worked so hard to build.”

“We won’t let that happen, Naomi. But he’s a major shareholder now.”

“I’m aware, Bill.” She began packing her computer and some work files into her leather briefcase. When she was done, she snapped it shut and reached for her purse inside a drawer. “However, I trust that you’ll keep the hounds at bay at least while I’m at the conference. When I get back, we’ll address this.” She started toward the door.

“Absolutely, boss.”

“I’ll see you when I get back.” Seconds later she was headed toward the elevator lobby.

She stabbed at the down button as she waited for the elevator.

Lucius Knight wanted her company? Her baby? Hell, no. There was no way she was going to let the man—no matter how good-looking—weasel his way in and take over everything she’d built. She would show him and every other local who’d discounted her in high school and thought she was less than just how strong she’d truly become.