“You are not telling your father.”
“He already knows you’re here.”
“Not that.”
Darius smiled.
“Mrs. Vale asking you to leave your father’s table?”
“Yes.”
“Absolutely not.”
Lenora stared.
He lasted three seconds.
“No promises.”
She laughed.
The first real laugh of the evening.
Then the elevator opened.
The private dining floor occupied what had once been the restaurant’s wine office, expanded years earlier into a boardroom, lounge, and twelve-seat dining room. One wall displayed photographs from Vesper & Vale’s history.
Thomas Vale shaking hands with a mayor.
Thomas with celebrities.
Thomas outside the first location in 1989.
Thomas at the opening of Miami.
Thomas receiving a hospitality award.
Isaiah Brooks appeared in four photographs.
Always near Thomas.
Never in the captions.
Lenora noticed immediately.
Of course she did.
Across the room, four attorneys, two NorthStar executives, Peter Vale, and Thomas Vale’s younger daughter Catherine stood around a walnut table.
Peter looked toward Lenora.
He was forty-six, dark-haired, expensive suit, visibly exhausted.
“Lenora.”
“Peter.”
He crossed the room.
They had met twice in the previous six months.
Both times with lawyers.
He still looked as though he did not know whether to shake her hand.
Lenora solved it by offering hers.
He took it.
“Thank you for coming.”
“I was asked.”
Peter smiled awkwardly.
“Right.”
Catherine approached.
Forty-two.
Less polished than Meredith.
More direct.
“Did my mother find you?”
Lenora glanced toward Darius.
He looked innocent.
“How do you know she was looking?”
Catherine sighed.
“She texted me that someone was sitting at Dad’s table.”
Lenora almost laughed.
Peter closed his eyes.
“Jesus.”
Catherine stared.
“Oh no.”
Darius excused himself before professionalism failed entirely.
Peter looked toward Lenora.
“What did she say?”
Lenora took off her coat.
“We can discuss your mother later.”
He looked relieved.
That was probably wise.
The man at the far end of the table stood.
Martin Fields, senior partner at Fields Becker, had served as outside counsel to Vesper Hospitality for nineteen years.
“Ms. Brooks.”
“Martin.”
He nodded toward a stack of folders.
“We’ve incorporated the final revisions.”
Lenora looked around.
“Where is Meredith?”
Peter frowned.
“She was supposed to be here five minutes ago.”
Lenora pulled out a chair.
“She'll come.”
She did.
Three minutes later.
Meredith entered without her handbag.
Something about leaving it downstairs made her look less armored.
She sat opposite Lenora.
Nobody mentioned table fourteen.
Not yet.
Martin began.
The proposed transaction sounded straightforward when reduced to one sentence.
NorthStar Hospitality Group wanted to acquire seventy percent of Vesper Hospitality, the company that owned Vesper & Vale in Manhattan, four other restaurants, a catering company, a licensing business, and the valuable long-term lease on the forty-third floor.
Sale price:
$64 million.
The Vale family wanted it.
Mostly.
Peter wanted to remain as chief executive with twenty percent rolled equity.
Catherine wanted cash.
Meredith wanted ten percent retained in the family trust and a board observer seat.
NorthStar wanted the brand.
The Manhattan flagship.
The licensing rights.
The wine cellar.
The staff relationships.