Mr. Mitchell Billionaires' Club Book 2 - Raylin Marks Page 0,2

his company’s future success, and he still wouldn’t have taken the deal.

We still had another week and more time, we would get the deal. I wouldn’t sit here all night and worry over today’s events. I learned a long time ago that I was running this business that I’d inherited from my father; this machine wasn’t running me. That’s what I always told myself anyway.

I weaved my pen through my fingers, reading the last of the man’s prerequisites on his term sheet for Mitchell and Associates. This guy was a stubborn ass. I had to get together with Alex so we could find a way to close this deal. Our London employees had families too. They had to eat. All of that rested on my shoulders with every transaction we did.

A highlight of this particular trip to London was that my brother was here to bring more insight to our new program on behalf of Saint John’s Hospital. Thank God he was not only a world-renowned heart surgeon, but Jacob was also a man who could charm a room full of snakes if need be. Jake was a genius with his words, and sometimes I wished he would have taken on the family business with me after Dad died. Then again, this was me at the end of a long-ass day, thinking selfishly. The world needed more heart surgeons like my brother and probably fewer corporate dicks like myself.

Jake had successfully pleased every investor in the room with his presentation to start up an online university, performing live surgeries and instructing students while doing so. With this first part of our plan moving forward, Jake was on track to have a new, innovative way to bring medical students and interns from the UK into his surgical room, looking over his shoulders while his brains and hands went to work on his patients for heart transplants. The Heart Institute was finally getting past the permits phase with the city, and once that was operational, Jake would be able to bring in more interns to work under the finest doctors who were ready to come to us.

“Mr. Mitchell?” my assistant called over the intercom.

“Yes, Becky?” I answered, pressing the button on my desk phone.

“I’m leaving for the day. Before I go, I just wanted to let you know that Adam is a bit concerned about today’s staff meeting.”

“Excuse me?” I said, picking up the receiver. “What did he have to say?”

“Well, you walked out of the room with a frown on your face during the acquisition questioning for Middle Group.”

I rubbed my forehead and sighed. “I’ll make sure to have another staff meeting with the acquisitions team tomorrow before I take off to work remotely. Have a good evening, and I’ll see you on the next visit.”

“Thanks, Mr. Mitchell. I look forward to it. Cheers.”

Shit. Every expression that crossed my face was analyzed, even as I did mundane things like walk to my office. If I smiled, then someone took offense to that and found a way to link that expression to me having to fire someone. If I frown, everyone thinks things are going to hell, and they’re going to be out of a job the next day. I’d dealt with plenty of that shit and had to quell rumors before they burned the place down.

This didn’t just happen at our London headquarters; it occurred in the Los Angeles one as well. It was all part of the lovely job of being a CEO.

I picked up my cell and dialed out to the company’s president, and my best friend, Alex.

“Hey,” Alex answered, already at our usual dining joint. “Is your sorry ass still at the office?”

“Yeah,” I answered. “Adam in acquisitions is concerned over a goddamn look I had on my face when I left the meeting this afternoon. I was taking off for the estate so I could work from there. I thought it would be nice to have some sort of reprieve after three days of living in this hotel and office. It looks like we’re in early tomorrow for a six o’clock meeting.”

“Good God, man,” Alex responded. “Jake is taking off, and his flight is in an hour. I’ll let him know. You want me to send out the message to the team about the meeting?”

“I’ll handle it. My laptop is open.”

“All right. Are you showing up tonight, or are we closing out the tab early?”

“I’ll swing by for a bite and a drink. I’m sure the ladies