A Merger by Marriage (Las Vegas Nights 2)

Attending his uncle’s memorial service today must have really upset him. She had no other explanation for why he’d shared with her his concerns regarding Stone Properties. They’d known each other for six years and as much as he made her pulse dance, he’d always just treated her like a business acquaintance. Was it any wonder his behavior tonight had thrown her off balance? Did he regret telling her about his worries for his family’s company? It just wasn’t like him to be so...forthcoming.

She smirked as she imagined him kicking himself the entire way back to Titanium.

It was a spectacular property. He’d spent his first two years in Vegas rebuilding the hotel and casino. It was larger than both Fontaine Chic and Richesse combined, with a huge convention facility and an eighteen-hole golf course in the back. Admiring the hotel’s style, she’d used the same design company to bring to life her vision for Fontaine Chic.

What would happen to Stone Properties if JT left? As hurt as Tiberius had been that his father believed Preston’s lies and disinherited him, Tiberius’s biggest concern had always been for the company beneath Preston’s stewardship. He would be worried that JT was quitting.

“Not my problem,” she muttered, but already the wheels were turning in her mind.

Tiberius would have wanted her to help JT. Despite all the years they’d been estranged, right before his death, Tiberius had started reaching out to his nephew.

And Violet was confident she could keep her head screwed on straight and her hormones in check long enough to figure out a way to help JT save Stone Properties. With the decision made, Violet headed to her suite for a hot shower and a good night’s sleep.

Two

Violet stared at the shelves of law books that covered the walls of the lawyer’s office, her eyes gritty and dry. In contrast, her mother sat beside her, weeping softly. In the weeks since Tiberius’s death, Lucille had gone through a dozen boxes of tissues.

A part of Violet was ashamed that she’d moved swiftly through the five stages of grief while her mother had gone straight to stage four—depression—and stayed there.

“That takes us to the Lucky Heart,” John Malcolm, Tiberius’s lawyer continued. “As you probably know, the casino is deep in debt.”

Violet nodded, absently squeezing her mother’s hand in comfort, relieved that Tiberius had invested his personal fortune wisely and set aside enough for Lucille to never have to worry about money. “I don’t understand why. The entire time I worked there, it always operated in the black. Nor has business fallen off in the last five years. Tiberius was too savvy to let that happen. So where did the debt come from?”

“He was mortgaging the Lucky Heart in order to buy stock.”

“Stock?” That didn’t sound like Tiberius at all. “Why would he do that? He didn’t trust Wall Street. Said it was a sucker’s bet.”

“He was buying private stock.”

Even more curious. A rhythmic ache had manifested in Violet’s temples. She rubbed to ease the pain. “So can we sell the stock and get the Lucky Hear

t out of debt?”

“Unfortunately, you’re not going to be able to do that.”

“Why not?” Making bad business decisions was something Tiberius had never done. “What sort of stock was he buying?”

“Stone Properties stock.”

Violet leaned forward. Had she heard the gray-haired lawyer correctly? “Why would he do that?”

John’s solemn blue eyes were the gatekeepers of a thousand clients’ secrets. “He had his reasons.”

Her thoughts rushed through a dozen scenarios as to why Tiberius had kept something this huge from her. Then she contemplated her conversation with JT a few days earlier. “How much stock did he have?”

“In the three months before his death he’d managed to get eighteen percent.”

Violet’s curiosity spiked. Did his purchase of Stone Properties stock have anything to do with why he’d been reestablishing his relationship with JT? Together they would’ve controlled forty-eight percent of Stone Properties, not enough to take over and force Preston out, but if they could secure another three percent...

Is that what Tiberius had been up to?

“Did he leave the stock to JT?”

John Malcolm looked surprised. “No. He left it to you.”

Any normal person who’d just inherited eighteen percent of a multi-billion dollar company might be dancing around the lawyer’s office or at the very least grinning. Violet had no desire to celebrate. The price tag for her windfall was too high. She’d lost the man who’d been her father in heart and soul if not by blood or marriage.

“Why me and not my mom?”