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But no one in the region took him seriously as long as he was still connected to it; they saw him as the rebel farm boy he used to be.
With FantaSea doing big business, he wanted to expand, diversify, take his business to the next level, and to do so he needed investors.vIf he didn't have the respect and backing of local investors because of his heritage, what hope did he have with the overseas moneymen?
Throw in the constant rumours about his reputation, labelling him as a playboy who couldn't possibly be serious about business while playing the field, and he faced an uphill battle.
Not that it daunted him. He'd fought his way to the top by sheer determination, earning a business degree online at night while slogging on the farm during the day. He’d worked damn hard to ensure a thriving sugar cane plantation while running the biggest, hippest hotel in Noosa.
He'd continue to fight now, to show the investors he wasn't some cocky upstart who'd lucked into the hotel business.
But having to part with a piece of his history, a piece of his soul, to prove himself, cut deep.
There had to be something else he could do…
He sat bolt upright, a ludicrous idea shimmering at the edge of his consciousness. He ignored it. It didn't bear thinking about, not worth entertaining for a second.
Yet the more he tried to condemn the idea through logic, the harder it gnawed at him, demanding to be recognised as a valid solution to his problem.
He slammed his silver ballpoint onto the desk, stood, and strode to the window, planting his palms on the sill and dropping his head forward until it hit the glass with a dull thud.
Questo è pazzia.
‘This is crazy.’ Pa had used the phrase often and it now echoed in his head, making him feel the same way he had when he'd been caught sneaking a smoke at ten, stealing a kiss from a worker's wife at twelve, and losing his virginity to a farmhand's sister at fourteen.
Hell, he’d never contemplate something this crazy if Pa was alive. The old man had been his conscience in more ways than one. But Pa wasn't around anymore and he owed it to his father, and to himself, to make the Mancini name one to be reckoned with, to bring recognition for a lifetime's hard work.
Contraccambio. Quid pro quo.
Britt wanted something from him, he wanted something in return.
But would she go for his proposal?
A simple business proposition, something she understood only too well if she'd travelled all this way for the sake of a promotion.
Yet what he had in mind…outlandish…crazy…illogical.
The businessman in him couldn't fault his proposition, whereas the carefree guy who'd fallen for a red-haired vixen the second he first laid eyes on her all those years ago knew executing his plan wouldn't be simple at all.
Chapter Five
Britt gritted her teeth and rapped at Nick's door.
She'd been summoned.
Of all the nerve…if her promotion didn’t mean everything to her she would've told him exactly where he could shove his summons.
But the promotion was all that mattered, and she was determined to keep a smile on her face and a lid on her curiosity no matter how much she wanted to know how Nick the bad boy had become Nick the billionaire.
The way he'd toyed with her, how he’d dropped the information he was now a hotelier, rankled too, as if it had been a game to him.
Screw him.
And his four world-class hotels.
At least she'd come to this meeting prepared. After he'd dropped his bombshell in the hotel bar, she'd hightailed it back to her room and done a quick online search on the FantaSea chain.
What she'd discovered had blown her away.
Nick's hotels were luxury all the way, five-star elegance and beyond. Their breathtaking bedrooms were a signature feature, but all the reviews agreed these classy hotels delivered on their promise—a fantasy experience all the way.
