“That I would.” I smiled and nodded as Roma gazed at me with cold, devious eyes. I had to play my cards right here. I had to make sure that both David and Roma played along with the plan. I couldn’t afford to get either of them upset right now. I looked at Roma and gave her a small wink. “You’re pretty much the perfect girl,” I said as I licked my lips slowly and gave her leg a quick stroke.
“Hey, watch yourself, bro,” David said tightly. “I wouldn’t want to think you’re hitting on my girl.”
“Oh, don’t worry, bro,” I said with a laugh. “That’s the last thing that I’d do.” I cleared my throat and smiled widely. “Now, let’s make sure we’re prepared for the shareholders’ meeting.”
four
The shareholders’ meeting was packed full of people I didn’t know or care about. I wasn’t even sure why I’d come. Well, that was a lie. I’d come to see Bianca London again. I was curious to see how she was going to pull off her first shareholders’ meeting ever. And I wondered how she would react when she found out that Mattias Bradley wasn’t going to be there.
When I was younger, I’d been jealous of Mattias Bradley. I’d always wondered why my father had created a fake older son rather than tell everyone about the real older son that he had. I hadn’t understood that Mattias was created as a shield for the family, or, rather, specifically for David. Mattias was the public persona of the CEO and David was seen as the playboy of the company, a role he loved. Frankly, he played his part all too well and had made many stupid mistakes as the real CEO, mistakes that had allowed me to put myself in a position to take over the company and ruin him. It was ironic that my plan was to do exactly what he and Larry were worried about Bianca doing.
Personally, I didn’t care if Bianca took down the company or ruined the Bradley name. It meant nothing to me. My fortune was self-made. I’d been lucky to room with a Saudi Arabian prince my first year of college, and he had helped me invest my student loans in his father’s oil rigs in the UAE. I had had to get a job at a camping store to help pay my bills, but that had taught me survival skills. Skills that could come in handy if I was ever stranded anywhere. My mother had been disappointed that I’d “given away” my loan money, as she’d put it, and gotten a job. She’d been worried that I’d fail my classes and be forced to drop out, but I had proven her wrong. I got straight A’s my first year and ended up getting a three thousand percent return on my investment by the next summer. I had been extremely lucky, as I’d later found out that Khalid’s father had not needed my paltry loan at all; Khalid had been so grateful to me for my honest friendship that he’d wanted to help me out of poverty.
I’d taken the money I’d made and then invested in real estate. Khalid’s father loaned me a million dollars to purchase and renovate a small apartment building. By the time I graduated from college, I had paid Khalid’s father off completely and I was the owner of ten apartment complexes in the New England area and had seven employees. My fortune grew quickly after that. I had a knack for the stock market and knew when to buy and when to sell. I started investing in hotels around the world and by the time I was thirty I was a billionaire. Not that I cared about the money. I’d seen what money had done to too many people, how many lives it had ruined. I also noticed the change it had brought about in how people treated me, especially David. I was no longer the half brother he didn’t want to acknowledge. I was brought into his business circle slowly but surely. Not because he was trying to build a relationship with me, but rather because he was trying to build relationships off me. David wanted my good fortune and knack to rub off on him. Unfortunately he didn’t have my acumen. Our father had created Mattias to protect David and the Bradley fortune from dwindling away at the hands of fortune hunters—he hadn’t anticipated that David would be the one to lose it all by himself.
The moment Bianca London stepped into the meeting all eyes were on her. As I turned to look at her, I felt my stomach unfold in anticipation. I had to mask my surprise as I gazed at her. She looked completely different from her everyday appearance, made-up and perfectly styled. I smiled as I looked over her figure. She wasn’t wearing baggy clothes today. In fact, her expensive-looking suit accentuated her shape nicely. Looking at her face, I saw that her lips were a bright red, beckoning to be kissed. I wondered if her lipstick would leave traces of red on my cock if she were to go down on me. I shook my head in bemusement as I walked toward the bar. I wasn’t sure why I always had sexual thoughts about her. My ultimate goal was anything but sexual.