Famous Five

Chapter 20

"You want a what now?" I ask her again as I swallow a piece of my omelet.

"I want a corgi." Ana responds.

"Why?"

"Cause they're so adorable. Look," she shows me a picture of a small, tan dog on her phone.

"Baby, we don't have room for a dog. Besides they're messy."

"We? Oh no, he'll be staying with me in my apartment downstairs so you don't have to worry about him. I'll take care of his mess. He's going to be potty trained so well, he'll go on command."

"Downstairs? But you spend most of your time up here with me."

"True, but I've always wanted a dog. Mom and dad had always told me no cause I lived under their roof but now that I'm out on my own, I can finally get one. You're not going to tell me no, are you?"

I pause and think about how I can tell her no without actually saying the word no. "Okay, but why not one that can protect you like a German shepherd? Or a golden retriever."

"No, I want this one. It's so cute." She pushes her phone back in my face again, this time with a picture of a black and white one.

"Where will you get this dog?"

"I've already contacted a breeder in Portland. I can't wait to go see him!"

"Portland? How in the world are you getting there and whose going with you?"

She sets down her phone and turns her body completely towards me. "Christian, you're not my father. I'll be fine, driving on my own. I'm leaving tomorrow morning."

"You're not going by yourself. I'll come with."

"No, you have your huge acquisition of Fell Corp tomorrow that you've been working on for the past three weeks."

"I'll get one of the other guys to do it."

"Nonsense. You know the file better than any of the other guys. You're staying here and not coming with me."

"I'm not letting my girlfriend drive to Portland by herself." I finish my breakfast and stand up to slide on my jacket. She cranes her neck to look up at me. "Either I go with you or you let Taylor come with."

"Fine," she stands up and I smile down at her. I won. "I'll let Taylor know he's going on a road trip with me." She smiles and kisses my cheek.

"You rather have Taylor go than me?"

"Only in this circumstance because you have a big meeting tomorrow. Now have a good day at work. I'll see you later."

"Now I know why you requested these next three days off." I murmur and she gives me another heart melting smile.

"Love you honey." She yells as she disappears into the bedroom. I can't believe she's getting a dog.

The next morning after kissing her and sending her off with Taylor, I made my way to the office for my big meeting with Fell Corp. Gideon was waiting for me at the elevator doors.

"Morning Christian." Gideon gave me a curt nod before sipping on his latte.

"Morning…why are you gracing me with your presence this morning?" I ask while walking towards my office.

"To tell you that the owner of Fell Corp is in boardroom one." I stop and turn to face him.

"And?"

"He said something about how he doesn't want to sell his astounding tech company to us anymore."

I frown. What the fuck? "Gideon, what in the hell are you talking about?"

"That's all he told me when I ran into in the hall."

I growl and march towards the boardroom hall.

I stop before storming into the room. I need to calm down and go in with a level head. I can lose this acquisition if I don't keep calm. I open the door and step in to find Mr. Fell. Except, he's not alone like I expected.

"Ah Mr. Grey." The elder gentlemen stood up, pushing his chair all the way back to allow his potbelly enough room so he can stand up to greet me.

But I wasn't interested in the owner, I was more interested in the man known as Grant Castle. Also known as the mogul who's taking the business world by the storm. Three years ago, he sold his startup company for 5.4 billion dollars and now is acquiring firms left and right to add to his new empire. He's never gotten in it with F5 however, till now.

"Mr. Fell." I shook the older man's hand and offered him a warm smile.

"Mr. Grey, have you had the chance to meet Grant Castle?"

"No, I don't believe I have. Mr. Castle, so nice to finally meet you." I extended my hand first to show dominance and Castle took my hand.

"Likewise Mr. Grey. I believe Mr. Fell has some bad news for you today." He cut to the chase. I shift my eyes over to Fell.

"Ah yes, I'm terribly sorry Mr. Grey. I know we were supposed to finalize our deal but I had received some information and I have decided I don't want to sell my company." I shift my eyes back to Castle, who is smugly smiling.

"Mr. Fell, maybe we should talk about it before you make a final decision."

"Oh I've already made a decision Mr. Grey." Fell looks to Castle.

"Is that why Mr. Castle is here? To tell me that he's the new owner of Fell Corp?"

"Goodness no," Castle chuckles. "I didn't buy Fell Corp. He's merging it with the already successful company of Jensen Tech."

"Which you happen to own." I inquiry.

"Well yes but I don't run or completely own Fell Corp. Mr. Fell can appoint anyone he pleases to run the company when he retires. I'm just simply here to keep his company alive."

"The paperwork has already been done Mr. Grey. I just came here to tell you in person, out of respect."

"Right, well I appreciate it Mr. Fell. I'm sorry things didn't work out."

"Me either, hopefully this doesn't ruin our friendship."

"Not at all Mr. Fell."

He nods and shakes my hand before leaving. Castle grabs his phone off the table and stuffs it into his suit jacket before buttoning it.

"I hope this isn't the last time we see each other Mr. Grey."

I stare him down. "Me either." I try not to sneer as I said the words and watched as he leaves. As soon as they both are gone, Gideon enters the boardroom.

"The hell was Grant Castle doing here?" he asks, pointing in the direction they left.

"Stealing our company." I mutter, squeezing my hand into a fist and hitting the table, hard.