Big Daddy Sinatra: There Was a Ruthless Man(40)
Beatrice was expecting it too. But now that it was clearly not going to happen, she was on the hook. “Right this way,” she said, and began escorting Jenay to the backside of the inn.
Paige fell against the countertop when they left. She was floored. She immediately pulled out her cell phone, and waited for her friend to answer.
“You will not believe,” she said into her phone, “what Big Daddy has hoisted upon us now.”
It was nightfall before the meetings ended for the day. Negotiations were going nowhere, and Abe and Ethan was leaving it all up to him. But as soon as he plopped down in his chauffeur-driven Town car to make the journey back to the hotel, he pulled out his cell phone. Jenay was on his mind. But when she answered his call, she didn’t sound as upbeat as he had hoped.
“Hey,” he said.
“How’s New York?” she asked.
“Tense. How about there?”
Jenay hesitated. But then spoke the truth. “Tense,” she responded.
Charles didn’t expect to hear that. He had warned Beatrice he didn’t want any bullshit. “You’re in Jericho?”
“I’m here. I’m at the Inn.”
“What are you doing?”
“Right now I’m in the hotel’s restaurant looking over the financial records. The bookkeeper---”
“Megan?” Charles asked.
“Yes. She’s been very nice. She pulled the records for me.”
“Good. What about Beatrice? How has she been?”
Jenay didn’t mix words. “Not so nice.”
Charles was cautious. He had to make sure Jenay wasn’t just being too sensitive. “She’s treating you disrespectfully?” he asked.
“Oh, she smiles and is as friendly, conversation-wise, as she can be. But she still wants to control everything. Contrary to what you may think, Charlie, she’s not ready to hand over the reins of power to anybody yet. Especially not me. Maybe not even you.”
“That’ll change, don’t worry. So what do you think about the place?”
“What I’ve been able to see of it, it’s quite wonderful.”
“What do you mean what you’ve been able to see?”
“I wanted to see the guestrooms. First off. That would let me know just how well run this place really is. But that didn’t happen.”
Charles frowned. “Why the hell not?”
“We’re booked solid. According to Beatrice. No rooms to show.”
Charles knew better than that. And now he was fuming. “Other than that, you’re okay?”
“I’m okay,” Jenay said less convincing than she realized. “Adjusting, that’s all.”
Charles felt like a prick. Like a monumental fuck-up. How could he allow her to go into that lion’s den alone? He knew there would be some resistance. There usually were whenever he made changes to his business command structures. But he’d let Beatrice have the run of that place far too long. She wasn’t ready for the change.
“I’ll let you get back to work,” he said. “You take care of yourself.”
“You too,” Jenay responded, and the call ended.
Charles was about to phone Beatrice Moynihan and read her the riot act, but that wouldn’t solve his immediate concern. Jenay and her happiness, and her adjustment in his world, concerned him more. He made another phone call, alright, but this time to Abe.
“I’ve got to get back to Maine,” he said over the phone.
“But you’re our lead negotiator,” Abe reminded him. “You can’t just leave!”
“You’ll have to take the lead, Abe. Something’s come up and I’ve got to go.”
“What came up?”
Charles frowned. Abe knew him better than that. “Don’t you worry about what. You handle negotiations. You, not Ethan. Keep me posted by phone.”
“Yes, sir,” Abe responded. He didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter.
And Charles ended the call. He leaned back and exhaled. He had already decided that he was more than determined to try and make it work with Jenay. Businesswise and especially personally. And no devil in hell, and none in Jericho either, was going to sabotage his determination.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The VIP suite was a luxurious suite and Jenay was in the garden tub, soaking and sipping wine at the end of her busy day, and trying her best to keep it upbeat. Beatrice Moynihan was going to be a problem. A major one if she didn’t figure out how she was going to handle the situation. Her relaxed style worked today. She, at least, didn’t get in any knockdown, drag-outs with her or that so-called “girlfriend” of Charles’s. But what about tomorrow? It couldn’t wait until Charles returned. She had to deal with this now. People were funny. You give them an inch, they actually did want to take a mile. And she wasn’t about to be that kind of manager.