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Jeremy sidled up next to me. “Family is important to Jake and me. Motor Zone has always been a family business, like Rossi.”
Oh, Jeremy. While he was a good schmoozer, small talk didn’t come naturally to him. Like now, he often steered the topic to work when it should have landed there organically. The excitement quickly drained from Luca, and Clara looked away, clearing her throat.
“That’s right. We should talk about why we’re all here.” Luca swept a hand toward the front of the room. “Why don’t we all sit down so Jeremy and Jake can do their thing?”
Clara took a seat between Luca and Sally, leaving no chance for me to sit beside her, and kept her eyes glued to her tablet. I felt like an asshole, getting frustrated over not having her attention when it wasn’t the time or place, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She looked good in another of her starched little dresses. Had me wondering if she always wore dresses to work.
Jeremy turned on the screen displaying his PowerPoint presentation. He loved making these. He’d made one when he was twelve and had wanted a higher allowance. He’d also used a PowerPoint to present to our father why he should have gone to Princeton instead of Columbia.
He’d gone to Columbia.
It was our father’s alma mater, and no matter how convincing Jeremy’s slides were, his college had always been a foregone conclusion.
A map of the US glowed on the screen, red dots scattered across the country.
Jeremy explained what he was showing us. “There are six hundred and six Rossi dealerships in the US. Of those, five hundred and sixty have on-site mechanics for repairs and service.”
He flipped to the next map, which was superimposed on top of the first.
“The black dots on this map are Motor Zones. Currently, we have six thousand seven hundred eighty-two open in the US.”
The following slide zoomed into the central US, where there were far more black dots than red.
“We noticed a dearth of dealerships in parts of the country where there are multiple Motor Zones, and it got us thinking, how can we both use that fact to our advantage?”
The next slide described a partnership between Motor Zone and Rossi. My gaze flicked to Clara, who had her head down, still tapping away on her tablet. In fact, she hadn’t looked up the entire time Jer had been presenting.
All the work he and his team had done, the least she could’ve done was look up.
Jeremy went on and laid out his plan. Motor Zones would become an official partner to Rossi, and we’d carry certain genuine Rossi parts and accessories. In areas where there were no Rossi dealerships for more than a hundred miles, our service bay would offer express services, like oil changes, brake servicing, and tire replacement. Our mechanics would receive the same training as Rossi mechanics, and we would have access to proprietary Rossi tools.
When he started going over the money, Clara finally looked up, her eyes narrowed. I blamed her wariness on Jeremy using Rossi earnings as part of his presentation. He wasn’t treading as lightly as I would have at an initial meeting, but then, he wouldn’t have been Jeremy if he had.
When he came to the end, he looked around the room with a slight smile. “That’s all I have for now. Does anyone have any questions?”
Clara wagged her stylus. “I do. I have some questions for Jake.”
Her eyes landed on me. There was nothing flirtatious or coy behind her gaze. This was business Clara, who didn’t blush or back down. Hard ass women didn’t do much for me, but this one…knowing there was a sweet, molten core beneath it all…
Yeah, she did a whole lot.
I rubbed my hands together. “I’m ready. Bring it.”
Chapter Eight
Clara
I had a list of questions I could have asked Jeremy Hayes. He would have given me a polished answer that told me nothing. If I wanted real and raw, Jake was where I had to turn.
Jake Hayes. Jake Hayes in a sleek, black suit.
What were the odds the man who wanted a considerable amount of money and assets from my family’s company would be the same man I’d met in a cowboy bar and had taken to bed?
If I were more cynical—and I was already loaded down with cynicism—I would have suspected this was all some elaborate set up. But no, Jake’s expression when he’d realized who I was couldn’t have been faked. He’d been just as surprised to see me.
He’d flinched then, but he didn’t now. I launched into my questions, and while he wasn’t as smooth as his brother, I liked hearing his unpracticed answers. Jeremy chimed in a time or two, but I made sure to direct everything to Jake.
I wasn’t interested in this partnership, and Luca was well aware of that. But my brother was less rigid and far more open to change. It was easier for him. He hadn’t devoted his entire adult life to learning the ropes to keep Rossi alive for future generations.
