A Merger by Marriage (Las Vegas Nights 2)

“So, why don’t you tell me what’s going on. Why you’re suddenly buying up stock.”

“I want to get control of Stone Properties.”

“Seriously?” Curiosity flared in Brent’s gray eyes. “And how are you planning to do that?”

“For the last six months, Tiberius had been quietly buying shares.”

“That clever son of a bitch,” Brent exclaimed in admiration. “So, you two were going to team up?”

JT shook his head. “I had no idea what he was planning. You know Tiberius.”

“Kept his cards close to his chest. And who could blame him after what your dad did to him. How much of the company had he managed to get?”

“Eighteen percent.”

“And with the thirty you came into on your last birthday, you are three percent short of control.”

“It’s a little more complicated than that,” JT explained, thinking of Violet and her damned skinny-dipping. “Turns out, Tiberius didn’t leave me the shares.”

“Really?” Brent got up to refresh their drink.

“Thanks to my dad, my uncle and I weren’t on the best of terms, but in the last month or so we’d started to reconnect.” JT considered all the tales his father had told him about Tiberius and wished he’d been smarter about where he’d put his loyalty.

Brent frowned. “So who owns his shares?”

“Tiberius’s unofficially adopted daughter.” JT held up his left hand and showed off his grandfather’s ring. “Last night we got married.”

The number of times JT had successfully surprised his quick-witted cousin could be counted on one hand. Today marked the fifth one.

“You’re married to...oh, what’s her name?” Brent snapped his fingers as he searched his memory.

“Violet Fontaine.”

“Tiberius took in her and her mother, didn’t he?” Uncertainty fogged Brent’s gaze. “But I thought her last name was Allen?”

“Turns out she’s Ross Fontaine’s illegitimate daughter. After he died, Violet’s grandfather—Henry Fontaine, head of Fontaine Resorts and Hotels—came to Vegas to find her and make amends for his son’s neglect. She’s in line to succeed the old man as head of the company.”

“And you married her instead of buying the stock?” Brent asked, sounding very much as if he thought JT wasn’t thinking clearly. “If you’re short on cash, you could have come to me.”

A year ago Brent had sold the company he’d started and had not yet found a place to invest the four billion he’d made.

“The terms of Tiberius’s will don’t allow her to part with the stock in any way until my dad dies.”

“Good old Tiberius.” Brent grinned in admiration. “And until you married her, she couldn’t vote because she’s not family.”

JT knew he could count on his cousin to grasp the entire problem. “That sums it up.”

Brent blew out a worried breath. “When your dad finds out about this, things are going to get nasty.”

“That’s why I need to meet with as much family as I can before he finds out.”

With regret tugging his dark eyebrows together, Brent said, “I wish I could help you out.”

“Me, too.”

His cousin was one hell of a businessman. His father had taught him well. Again JT felt the twinge of envy. Why did bad things happen to good people while manipulative bastards like JT’s father sailed through life unscathed?

“Where are you off to next?” Brent asked.