Killian (Hope City #8) - Kris Michaels Page 0,66
Dad, I’m so excited! Call me!”
She hung up and glanced at the clock. She had twenty-three hours and forty-five minutes before Jewell was going to send the report to her superiors. A smile as wide as the Grand Canyon split her lips. The story of a lifetime, hand-delivered by her cousin.
Killian strode toward his office. He’d had problems with that particular cement vendor before, but he’d never have problems with them again. He canceled his orders and would pay them out. The vendor had promised he could deliver the amount of cement they needed, but it would seem the owner’s greed had led him to overpromise and underdeliver. The man had even tried to accuse him of under-ordering. As if.
He held his cell phone next to his ear as he listened to yet another call about the waterfront property. As with each call, the tone had changed little by little. This call bordered on a threat.
“The property in question will do you no good if you aren’t able to build on it. Sell it to us and we will make sure you’re able to enjoy the rest of your life.”
He hit up his brother, Xander, and held the phone to his ear as he walked through the maze of construction trenches. “Ganas.”
“Hey, Xander. Do you have a minute?”
“Just. What’s up?”
“Have you been getting messages about selling the waterfront land?”
“No, not lately, but that’s because I explained to the representative that it wasn’t my call, you ran the business, and you’re the one who would decide to sell or not. Sorry for throwing you under the bus, but they were becoming bothersome.”
Killian grunted. Well, that explained the acceleration of pressure. “No worries. I may have to call in our lawyers, they are starting to press and not in a good way.”
“Why? What in the world could be so important about nine hundred feet of waterfront property?”
“Other than the fact that this area is booming and that property, developed correctly and in conjunction with the other land that has recently sold in this area, could net hundreds of millions in profit for the developer… nothing.”
Xander sighed. “I’ll admit I get caught up in my own business and forget that this company is making a slow and silent killing. You amaze me, little brother.”
“Well, I’ve decided I’m going to need to hire some full-time employees for the development company. One to answer phones, that’s for sure, and I want someone to help me with the grind of day-to-day things now that I have a life outside the business.”
“Thank God. Dimitri and I have discussed getting you help at length, but you’ve always said you’d scream if it became too much.”
Killian chuckled. “Consider this me screaming.”
“Perfect. There are offices in my building for sale. I’ll contact the owner and get them situated. We’ll come up with job descriptions and put out an announcement to start looking for someone to help.”
“Whoa. First, no offices in some high-rise downtown. Whoever we hire will work here. The most we’d have to do is buy another office trailer and get it wired with internet and power. I want to remain close to the actual developments.”
“When will you ever stop playing in the dirt?” Xander’s exasperation tinged his question.
“Never. I love building and seeing the architect’s vision come to life, but we do need better management of the company.”
“What about Ryker?” Xander asked.
“If he’d retire, I’d put him to work tomorrow and teach him everything he needed to know. If I could slough some of the management off on him, I could breathe easier.”
“It will happen. We just need to bridge the gap between then and now.”
“And we’ll do that my way.” Killian stopped outside the office trailer and turned around, gazing over the array of projects underway, the hum of activity slowly ending for the day.
“Agreed. I must go now; I have a conference call in two minutes.”
“Lawyers are always late,” Killian chided his brother.
“Entertainment lawyers who are courting new clients are not. Take care.”
“You, too.” He hung up and drew a deep breath. Growth was good. A smile spread across his face, especially when it would free up time for him to be with Bekki.
The site was settling for the night. Because the vendor had shorted them today, the guys were calling it an early night, which they deserved because they’d been pushing hard and were ahead of schedule. He told Garret to leave with his men. They’d touch base first thing in the morning and iron