Page 2 of Untamed Billionaire
Ten years ago, that would have been the case. Ten years ago, he’d started to be invited to some of the more elite social events. He’d made mistakes during the formal dinners and had been stumped during some critical moments. Recognizing his limitations, he’d hired someone to teach him manners and etiquette, ensuring that he’d never be embarrassed at these formal events. So far, he hadn’t messed up, but more than a few hostesses had tried. In Boston, many of the more elite socialites had tried to trick him, to embarrass him in front of his business competition, but Marco was nothing if not a good student. Plus, he didn’t just have a teacher to guide him through the sometimes-complicated meals. He was also an astute observer of humanity. He understood people, could read them better than most and guess their underlying motivation.
For instance, after only fifteen minutes in the presence of Charles Forsythe, Marco knew why the man was on the brink of financial ruin. He’d done his research on the leading families long before deciding to move his headquarters to the Charleston, South Carolina area. In addition to Charles hiding his severe financial setbacks, Steven Forsythe, the idiot older son who had taken on a senior role at the Forsythe investment company, had made some truly ridiculous investments which had caused additional financial stress. But the father wasn’t giving up on the son. Steven was still lauded as the heir apparent. Too bad the man was an absolute fool who had no idea how to invest the family money and was even worse when it came to investing his clients’ money. Marco knew that the family business was running on fumes now.
Chloe, on the other hand, was a financial prodigy. She had built up a very hefty sum through investments and, apparently, the other members of her family had no idea. He also knew that the pearls around her neck and on her ears were fake as were the diamonds around her mother’s neck. Chloe didn’t seem to care about the fake pearls, whereas Jocelyn Forsythe kept touching her necklace, obviously terrified that someone might realize that her jewels were paste.
Both women were thin, but Chloe’s slenderness was willowy while Jocelyn…she just looked gaunt. He glanced down at Chloe, noticed her lean towards him ever so slightly, then pulled back away as if she’d just realized what she was doing. Living in this household, Chloe Forsythe was most likely starving for both food and affection.
Marco suspected that she’d get neither while living in this house and he wondered why she remained living here when she could afford to live anywhere she wanted.
“Mr. Hudson!” Jocelyn Forsythe called out when everyone was mostly settled, “I am so honored that you were able to accept my invitation tonight.” Marco silently applauded himself for not reacting to that lie with even a twitch of his eyebrows. “It’s such a pleasure to have someone new join our humble company,” she continued. She laughed and the others around the table chuckled. “We tend to be such a closed group, so it’s wonderful to have some new blood in the room.”
Marco leaned slightly to the right so the waiter pouring the wine would have easier access to his glass. “Thank you for the invitation,” he replied. He didn’t bother to add how he was ‘honored’ to have been invited. Especially since he’d just confirmed that it was Chloe and not the mother who had issued the invitation. Jocelyn Forsythe had been surprised when he’d stepped through the door earlier tonight while the daughter’s expression had been…hungry. Hopeful! Yes, the daughter was definitely up to something.
Chloe, bless her tender heart, spoke up at that point. “Mr. Hudson is moving his company headquarters here from Boston. The warehouse storage facilities near the ports in Charleston are larger and less expensive than what he was dealing with in Boston.” She smiled politely at Marco.
He glanced at her, unaware of how his blue eyes caressed her before moving back to glance at the others sitting expectantly around the table. “Actually, I haven’t committed to moving here to Charleston. This is just one of the cities I’m exploring.”
The lovely smile on Chloe’s face faltered only slightly. But she rallied quickly, her smile brightening as she continued, “It would be a brilliant business move, don’t you all agree?” The last four words were spoken to the rest of the guests, who communally murmured appropriate responses.
The man across from Marco was Bill Jennings. He lifted his glass of wine in a toast. “To new blood!” he called out. Everyone lifted their wine glass up in a toast and Marco gritted his teeth. Bill Jennings owned more than ninety percent of the warehouse space nearest the harbors. Marco wasn’t fooled by the man’s narrowed gaze. The man was planning something. Marco could feel it in the man’s gaze, but he also knew that Jennings was pretty strapped financially as well. In fact, most of the people at this table were hiding financial stress. They hid it well though. He doubted that anyone sitting at this table could truly afford the thousands that had been paid for the designer cocktail dresses. And probably fifty percent of the glittering jewels gracing the necklines and ears of the ladies were fake, the real gems cashed in years, possibly decades ago, to finance their extravagant lifestyles.
A team of five servants stepped into the room, silently setting a salad plate in front of each guest. The light hum of polite conversation resumed and, thankfully, it wasn’t focused on Marco any longer.
“That was easy enough,” Chloe whispered, leaning closer. Marco caught a whiff of her perfume and his body tightened in reaction. The scent was flowery and wonderful and made him think about…well, thoughts he shouldn’t be thinking at the dinner table!
“Easy?” he whispered back. He didn’t drink the wine. It was nasty stuff! There was a bitter smell to the wine that reminded him of the ipecac he’d accidentally tasted one day. He’d been painfully hungry, still living in a corner of an abandoned warehouse and the bottle had been sitting there. At the time, he’d thought it was cough medicine. Big mistake!
“Yes, their acceptance of you at tonight’s dinner wasn’t nearly as contentious as I’d expected.” She took a sip of her water, carefully setting the glass back on the table. “I thought Mother would make a point of being harsher.”
Marco chuckled. “Your mother knows that I might be of some value to her.”
Chloe smiled, shaking her head. “I don’t think she likes you so it doesn’t matter what value you might provide. That means that she’ll reserve her comments for later.” She reached out and laid her hand very close to his, then quickly pulled it away. “Don’t worry. I’ll run interference.”
With those words of warning, she turned away, speaking to the guest on the other side of her.
Marco knew that he should turn and speak with the woman on his left, but that elderly matron was talking to the man on her left, so he was free to watch and observe. Bill Jennings was laughing at the conversation on his side of the table, but there was a strain in the expression on his wife’s features as she watched him. Was Martha Jennings aware of the mistress that Bill had stashed away two blocks from his office building?
No, it wasn’t the affair, although Marco had no doubt that Martha was aware of the woman. There was something else. Something that she was hiding. Was Martha having an affair? He almost laughed when she pulled her arm away when the man on her right accidentally brushed his arm against her hand. The revulsion was clear. Definitely not an affair. It wasn’t that Martha didn’t want the man that had briefly touched her, Marco speculated. She didn’t want anyone touching her.
Interesting, he thought.
He finished off the salad that a servant had placed in front of him, still starving and ready for the next course. It would probably be soup, he thought with irritation. Normally, he avoided dinner parties like this. But he’d needed to speak with Jennings about warehouse space. Marco needed more than two hundred thousand square feet of space for the upcoming shipments that were arriving in two months and he’d need more if he decided to move his headquarters here to the city.
“Don’t you like the wine?” the woman on his right asked.
Marco looked at the elderly woman and started to reply, but she waved her hand. “I know that it’s an acquired taste, Mr. Hudson,” she whispered, her grey eyes glaring into his darker ones. “But if you’re going to do business here in Charleston, you really should shift away from cheap beer and learn to enjoy the beauty of the various vintages of wine.” With that, she lifted her glass and guzzled the remainder of her wine. A moment later, she lifted the glass to her shoulder so that the waiter standing behind her could refill the glass.
“You’re absolutely right, Ms. Tournet,” he said to the woman. By the surprised look in her eyes, she hadn’t thought that he knew who she was. “I actually just bought a vineyard in Italy. The Icanti family’s son isn’t interested in running the business any longer. And since I fell in love with their wine when I was in Italy last year, I decided to buy it myself and bring the various wines to the United States.”
The woman’s mouth fell open when Marco named the famous Italian wine family. The Icanti vineyards produced some of the best, most sought after wines in the world. Their top brands were some of the most expensive as well.
“I thought that Laird Callum MacGregor was fighting for ownership of the Icanti label!” she gasped. “How did you…?”
Marco didn’t openly laugh at the use of “Laird” added to his friend, Callum’s, name.
“Callum is one of my best friends. We grew up together,” he explained, noting that the others at the table had gone quiet. Callum’s name had that effect on people. Now that his friend had acknowledged his Scottish ancestry, members of the elite here in the United States were clamoring to claim his as a friend.
“You know Laird MacGregor?” This was from Steven Forsythe. And the man wasn’t drinking wine. He was downing the bourbon in his cut-crystal glass like it was water. Already, his words had started to slur together. Since they’d only “enjoyed” the salad course, it was going to be a long night for Steven if he kept drinking like that.
