The Love Of Money - Episode 185
30-07-25 (04:22)
"It sure is,' I muttered into my coffee cup
Camille said something in French to Erin, who
responded, and both of them burst into a chorus of
giggles, which abruptly died when Chloe said
something to them in equally good French. All of us
looked at Chloe, but she merely stared at her phone
and sipped on her coffee as if she hadri't said anything.
Camille and Erin looked at each other as if they'd been
caught with their hand in the cookie Jar, and then Erin
snorted and giggled again, causing Camille to do the
same.
"Okay" I said, putting my mug down with an air of
authority, "I refuse to let this become a thing."
Erin batted her eyelashes at me and adopted an air of
innocence. "Why, Mr. Upton, what are you talking
about?"
"Just learn the language, Chloe said without looking up
from her phone. 'Surprise then when they least expect
it."
"Erin and Natashya both speak Russian. You want me
to learn all her languages?"
Erin leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek, and I
could feel the slight residue of her dark lipstick on my
skin. "You should've hired the dummy. Fewer languages
to learn."
I had a good morning with the ladies. Erin had
mentioned that Camille would start while was gone, so
Chloe and she had ample time to get to know the chef.
Both confirmed that she made sorne of the best meals
they had ever tasted. Considering her resume and how
much I paid her, I wasn't surprised.
Camille was a twenty-nine-year-old chef who had
previously worked in a high-end restaurant in
Stockholm when she'd been poached by my assistant.
As the accent suggested, she was a French native with
a degree from some culinary school I'd never heard of.
I learned that she was engaged, and her fiance was a
creative director for a Swedish advertising company
who was currently looking for work in New York. Part
of her package Included an apartment in the same
building and moving expenses for her and her fiance.
Camille was so beautiful that I was certain Erin had
plans for the woman, so when I found out she was
engaged, I glanced at Erin in surprise and saw her
watching me as if she expected my shock. I hoped she
understood my confusion, but didn't get anything in
response. Who knows... maybe Camille was supposed
to be a chef and nothing more. To be honest, I could do
without the
embrace. She was wearing heels, which made her
nearly eye-level with me as we faced each other only
inches apart. Her ice-blue Irises darted from my eyes to
my lips, and then she leaned in for a kiss. It wasn't the
heated kiss of a succubus from hell that I was used to
from her. It was sensual but warm and sweet like
honey drizzled over bread. Her lips gently caressed
mine, and the tip of her tongue lapped lazily at our
meeting point. Her contented hum was so quiet that I
could feel it more than hear it.
When she parted, her gaze still held a warmth I wasn't
used to seeing from her. "I'm so glad you're okay,
Marcus,' she whispered.
I had briefly toyed with the idea that Helen might have
had something to do with my kidnapping, but this
greeting dragged my suspicions into a dark alley and
shot them in the head. I doubted Helen could fake this
level of sincerity and felt an overwhelming sense of
relief.
"Me too,' I replied, cupping her cheek and kissing her
again.
"Are you busy tonight?" She asked. "There's something
I'd like to show you."
That could only mean one thing - sex.
"Helen, as much as want to, Erin and Danni woke me
up last night and nearly killed me. I don't know if I can"
"It'll be worth it," she purred, giving me a half-smile.
"Trust me."
I swallowed and decided that Helen had definitely
earned this. Also, even though I was already exhausted,
I could feel my libido sniffing around curiously at the
implications behind Helen's words. Despite my better
judgment, I nodded. "Okay."
Her smile widened, and she kissed me again. "Good.
Now, let's get the boring stuff out of the way, shall
we?"
We spent the next eight hours eating well and
reviewing some of the finer details of VistaVision. It
had subsidiaries, employees numbering in the tens of
thousands, and spanned multiple Industries. The
company was known primarily for its entertainment
sector, making movies and television. It had literature
and toy lines, and a couple of resorts had spun off the
brand-including one that had completely taken over a
couple of Islands in the Caribbean.
Each subsidiary had its own CEO who answered to
Chandler, and those subsidiaries included industries like
internet hosting,
telecommunications, video games, clothing, paper
products, and several others. Apparently, VistaVision
even owned one of the larger porn companies through
a series of other subsidiaries.
"Wait? Porn?" I asked. "You're telling me that I own a
porn company?"
"You own a significant portion of a pom company,
Chandler corrected. "It mostly hosts other content, but
it's also engaged in production in the last two years. It's
quite the revenue-earner."
"Did I read this right?" Erin said as she flipped through
her copy of Chandler's notes for the meeting. "They
have their own R&D?"
"Er... yes."
Erin looked at me, and I immediately got the message
that we needed to check it out. I couldn't blame her. I
was curious to see what kind of research and
development they did at a porn company.
Chandler explained the intricacies of the company's by-
laws regarding voting on the board. Arıyone with less
than a one percent stake in the company didn't get
voting power. When voting on a decision, the winner
had the largest percentage of those voting. Voters had
to be present in person or on a phone call for their
shares to count. The winner was the one with the
highest percentage of votes represented. I held forty
percent of the company and was by far the largest
shareholder.
He went on to explain that while most of the board
wanted Kelly, Hiro Tanaka was amenable to keeping
Chandler on as CEO in exchange for some building
contracts through his company. He owned seven
percent of the company and got us to the needed forty-
nine percent when you counted Chandler's two percent
stake. As a cherry on top, Chandler reassured me that
Wayne Prudem, who owned another five percent of
the company, would also throw In with Chandler and
Marcus, as he was a long-time friend of the interim
CEO.
The opposing members of the board included a short list
of people, some of whom I had never heard of, but
others caught my attention.
"Nina Haley... that's..."
"Your aunt," Chandler finished. "She's essentially leading
the charge for Maddox." Don't forget to leave a Comment 
