Love Me (The Elites of Cheshire shore #2)

1. Rome

CHAPTER ONE

rome

“ G et my brothers in my office now,” I grunt to Sav, my assistant. Now, more than ever, I need the two human beings I trust most. The man I’ve been trying for months to get an appointment with finally messaged me. He will be in our conference room in twenty minutes. Twenty. Fucking. Minutes, to make sure my brothers and I can be the charming humans our parents raised us to be so that we can finally submit our proposal to take over the only port in Cheshire Shore. It’s the only thing that stands between us and the goal my grandfather set up all those years ago. Brian Deeter has done everything in his power for the past two years to avoid any form of sale. But now is my time.

My angry strides eat up the distance to my corner office. The corner office I’d worked hard for but will become pointless unless I can get Deeter to sign his name on the dotted line.

“Sure thing, Rome.”

The moment I’m in my office, I throw my jacket on the couch and run my fingers through my closely cropped hair. I recently cut it, and I’m starting to regret not having the strands to pull on. I should be analyzing the reason for his abrupt meeting: Why now? Why here? And how the fuck did he get my personal number to send me the message? But no—I’m too busy prepping my whole speech on why Ven Industries is the future of Deeter’s company. Nothing else matters right now like this meeting.

“You rang?” Luca, my middle brother, smiles at me, swinging my office door open. His tie askew, the shadow darkening his cheeks of a two-day-old growth, and the slightly wild look in his eye tells me he’s just woken up from one of his little office naps.

“Did you sleep here?”

“Yep.” He lets the P pop. Fucking great. Out of the three of us, Luca is the most carefree. I guess it must be the charm of middle-child syndrome. His pressures are minimal, allowing him to just skate through life and enjoy the benefits of it. Don’t get me wrong, Luca is committed, otherwise he wouldn’t have been burning the candle at both ends last night. But he really does love to embody the “work smarter, not harder” ethic. Luca crosses my office, pressing the button on my coffee machine to warm it up while we wait for the last member of our trio to arrive. He’s the most straitlaced out of us all, and Mom’s clear favorite. Not that I care. I love my brothers—equally. We’re the three points to a perfectly symmetrical triangle and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I’m all for being in the office early—” Speak of the devil, my youngest brother Dante strolls in seconds later. “But that’s hard to do when I’m also prepping for my trip to Europe to, you know, get the new port you so desperately needed.”

Ignoring my brother’s sarcasm, I stare down at the buzzing cars on the busy Cheshire Shore highway below. Am I ambitious for wanting two Ven Industries ports to create the quickest, most seamless form of shipping? Fuck no. But Dante is the true hero of this plan, he’s the one who came up with the European port. And he did the research on the country he’s submitting the plans to. The only reason he’s taking his crappy mood out on me is because I’ve interrupted him. Boo-fucking-hoo. I glance at them over my shoulder, my mind already planning how we’re going to handle this.

I lean against the window, taking a few deep breaths, calming my already overactive mind while my brothers continue to spout nonsense. “Cut the shit.” I turn to my brothers, we need to get serious before our meeting. To the outside world, I’m Rome Venuccio, the oldest son of Eduardo Venuccio, everything given and nothing earned. It’s a cross I bear due to my last name, but one I carry willingly. I work fucking hard for everything I have, and I will stop at nothing to get exactly what my brothers and I have planned for Ven Industries.

Under my brothers and I, Ven Industries has expanded from just a shipping company, to an end-to-end package delivery enterprise. The only problem? The one thing that continues to stand in the way of us achieving the ultimate success is Brian Deeter. His family run port has been the greatest thorn in the Ven Industries side for too long. Today, that’s about to change.

“Brian is going to be here any minute now?—”

“Fuck, really?” Luca scoffs as Dante relaxes against the door, casually tucking his hands into his pocket. “Who did you stick your dick into to make that happen?”

My lips thin as I run my tongue along the backs of my teeth. As if I would joke about something so important. “Really,” I deadpan, glaring at Luca.

“Man, you’ve been trying for years to get a meeting with the guy, how did you get him to come here?” Luca runs his fingers along his tie, fixing it into place, suddenly a lot more concerned about his half-asleep appearance.

“Not important.” I gather all the necessary documentation from my desk. I’ve been prepared for this since the first time I emailed his assistant to pencil in a meeting, and he “respectfully declined.” Ven Industries isn’t just a global enterprise in the Founding Five Group—it’s our fucking blood. Deeter Group’s rejection hasn’t deterred me though. If anything, it’s made me work harder, finding every single bit of information I can about the man, blackmail included. Nothing is off limits. So far, I haven’t even turned up a parking ticket; the man’s cleaner than a bleached white shirt. From all the research, the only thing I’ve turned up is that he wants to keep his company family run. Lucky for us, family values is something we have in spades. That’s the reason I need my brothers with me today, not that they generally wouldn’t be included in important meetings—but today specifically I need to show Deeter that we’re just as much a family company as he thinks we are.

“Wait, if you got a meeting with him, why are you giving us such short notice?” Dante straightens. I check my Patek Philippe watch—the present my dad gave me when I officially assumed the role of CEO of Ven Industries. Only a few more minutes. “Unless…”

“Just get you’re shit together. Make yourself presentable, and remember everything we’ve spoken about.”

A shit-eating grin pulls at the corners of Dante’s lips. “You didn’t get a meeting with him at all, did you? He called the shots. He just told you he’s coming, didn’t he?”

I scowl at him, but his grin just widens.

“Well, that complicates things,” Luca drawls as he presses the button for another coffee. “He’s still the one holding all the cards, and we’re still going to be on our knees begging him to be our friend.”

“Trust me, we don’t want him to be our friend.” I snort. With the documents I need tucked under my arm, I cross my office, reaching for the door that leads to the interconnecting conference room, my brothers behind me, more presentable than they were a few minutes ago. They know this is a big deal—for the company, for us. I open the door and find Sav already leading Brian in through the other door. It’s showtime.

“Rome.” Deeter extends his hand, which I take, giving it the formal two-pump shake.

“Brian.” I smile at the guy, determined to not let him see me sweat. I don’t know what has changed his mind to call this meeting, but I’m sure as shit not going to let the opportunity slip past my fingers. “These are my brothers, Luca and Dante.” I introduce them and they quickly step up and shake the older man’s hand.

“I’m so glad you’ve brought your family in.” His purplish, ruddy cheeks pull tight, elevating the grooves in his weathered face.

“Of course, my brothers and I run Ven Industries together, we pride ourselves on this company being a blend of corporate and family. Please sit.”

Deeter shakes his head as he pulls his seat out. “That’s no easy thing to do. Most corporate companies lose the essence of what it means to be run by a family, and with three single men at the helm, it seems more like a selling point than a reality. I admire that you’re trying to make that part of your ethos.”

My eyes dart to my brothers before they land back on Deeter. Fuck…this guy’s big problem with us is that we’re all…single? Seriously?

“Yes,” I clear my throat, “I’m just really glad that you’ve finally been able to make time to have this sit-down.” I slide the folder between us. “As you can see, Ven Industries?—”

Deeter lifts a hand in the air, halting me. I close my mouth, grinding my back teeth, only stopping myself from popping them out with an insane amount of self-control. Is this guy for real? He came here and he doesn’t even want to talk shop? Sav interrupts with a soft knock at the door, before she enters with a tray filled with freshly baked pastries she’d brought from the French patisserie down the block. Brian’s favorite place.

“I’ve been watching you three, you know.” He casually reaches for a bear claw after Sav leaves the room. Good, we want you to feel threatened by us. “The three horsemen of the shipping world, it’s impressive.” Crumbs flake from the corner of his lips as he speaks.

“Thank you.” I take the compliment and add, “Our parents are very proud.” He wants family, I’m going to give him matching-fucking-pajamas-on-Christmas family.

“Yeah, Mom often has lunch with us either in the office or we take her to a restaurant.” Luca senses where I’m going with the conversation and effortlessly continues with it. That’s why I couldn’t do this if it wasn’t for my brothers—we’re on the same wavelength; we know each other’s thoughts without having to vocalize it. Effortless.

The grin on Deeter’s lips pulls tighter, obviously that was the answer he wanted to hear. “Before I can even look at the offer written on that paperwork, I need to know you boys aren’t just telling this old man exactly what he wants to hear.” The folder remains untouched on the conference table. He hasn’t even bothered to look at the numbers, the carefully constructed proposal, the hard fucking work I’d put into it. Did this asshole just make us scramble so that he could come to our offices and tell us to suck his dick with our proposal and leave? We’re Italian, family is our lifeblood— it’s on the tip of my tongue to say. But something tells me that words for this man don’t mean shit.

“Why don’t you and your family come to our family dinner?” Dante interjects, his head turns to me before flicking his gaze back to Brian. My brows pull together in shock, the only tell I’m picking up exactly what he’s putting down. I love the way my brothers think.

Deeter smiled through narrow eyes. “That would be lovely.” He pushes his chair out and takes another bear claw. “Send me through the details,” he says, before he abruptly turns and leaves. Our proposal still sitting cold on the table. Fucking great.