Sex, Blood, and Real Estate

  Old Mission Coven Vol. 3

  B.A. Stretke

  Superiorland Publishing

  Copyright © 2024 B.A. Stretke

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  ISBN-13: 9781234567890

  ISBN-10: 1477123456

  Cover design by: Art Painter

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309

  Printed in the United States of America

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  About The Author

  CHAPTER ONE

  "Holden Grey, himself, is coming by this afternoon to discuss the terms of the sale." Sam Cabot's assistant, Marc Wellman, announced and then added. "He may be bringing his son with him. I believe his name is Wyatt, but that's not a certainty." Sam turned from the window where he was standing and looked at his assistant.

  "Why is that important?" He asked and realized he was starting to snap at people, but really, that information was useless.

  "I just thought you would want to know who would be taking part in the meeting." Marc haltingly explained himself as he began backing towards the door. "He recently graduated from some prestigious business school, and his father is constantly bragging, although from what I hear, he is given little responsibility." Marc continued, clearly not understanding the fact that Sam did not give a fuck.

  Sam raised his hand to stop Marc from continuing with the life and times of Wyatt Grey. "Get the original and the prepared offer ready with the increases in case he presses for more. If it wasn't such a gorgeous piece of property and so convenient, I'd tell him to fuck off for all the absurd gyrations he's put us through."

  "Maybe he'll put his kid on the case, and if he's as inept as they say, things might move along nicely and in your favor." Marc offered with a supportive smile.

  “If only I could be so lucky.” Sam walked back over to his desk and sat down. Marc placed the folders he’d requested on the desk in front of him and then excused himself.

  The coven purchased this large office building last year and has since been refitting it as the home of Cabot Wines, among other endeavors. Sam's plan was to purchase the land next door and build a luxury hotel connected to Cabot Wines's offices.

  The winery was expanding with holdings now in California and Washington's Columbia Valley. They were no longer just a small winery on Old Mission Peninsula. They were cultivating an international presence; to do that, they needed a presence apart from the Old Mission Peninsula, which was coven property. They needed a location that was accessible to their clients and partners, a neutral location, and the office building in Eastport was just the ticket.

  Sam also wanted space for members to grow their own businesses, a place for shops, restaurants, bars, or other endeavors, and that's why he wanted the property next door. The building currently occupying the land could be remodeled and expanded to echo the design of the main building.

  His years working for the wolf pack at their luxury hotel taught him a lot about providing for your members. He wasn't interested in the hotel business, with the winery being his primary focus, but he wanted the coven to have its own space in Eastport. The town was growing, and the Cabot Coven needed to claim their share.

  Now, all he had to do was negotiate with Holden Grey and apparently his idiot son to secure that dream. He wasn't above an old-fashioned glamour to get what he wanted if things started to fall apart. He had been working with Grey and his people for several weeks now and had not yet met this son from the prodigious business school, and he wasn't looking forward to it.

  The guy sounded like a potential problem and if he could keep him out of negotiations he would. Sam had no time for grand standers looking to impress their dad he wanted that property and he wanted to get construction started.

  “I’d like to accompany you this afternoon.” Wyatt made the request of his father but wasn’t sure if he’d be allowed. His father liked to talk about Wyatt’s education, but he didn’t put much stock in Wyatts intellect. Like his stepmother, bless her soul, who was a trophy wife, Wyatt was a trophy son someone to look at and talk about but not someone you want guarding your back or your millions.

  “I’m taking Griffen with me he’s fully briefed on the property and the potential buyer. You can come next time.” Holden Grey didn’t take risks and he saw Wyatt as a risk.

  "I won't participate, I'll simply observe." Wyatt was desperate to work and to put his education to the test. He knew how to negotiate and how to make a sale, but his father was not convinced. His father stopped typing on his computer and looked up at Wyatt standing in the doorway of his grand office. It was obvious he was considering the request.

  "You can come, but do not, and I mean do not open your mouth."

  "Yes, sir." Wyatt turned and left, closing the door behind him. He returned to his cubicle, pulled up the information he'd studied regarding the deal, and started going over it one more time. Wyatt didn't have an office because his father told him he would have to work for it and earn an office and that nothing was going to be handed to him simply because he was Wyatt Grey.

  He might have thought it was a good move to build character and a positive work ethic, but considering the fact that Wyatt had been with the company for nearly a year, all it did was make him a laughingstock. Wyatt was deep in thought when Griffen came up behind him and leaned on the corner of his desk. Griffen was good at his job. There was no denying that, but there were others at this company who were also good and others who were just waiting for a chance to prove themselves. But the only person his father valued was Griffen.

  “I hear you’re coming to the meeting with Cabot.” He said sarcastically. “I don’t know why since you haven’t been working on it what could you possibly contribute.”

  “I’m observing.” That had Griffen laughing hysterically.

  “Observing.” He cackled. “That’s hilarious. I must go tell Bill and Amy.” He left Wyatt’s cubicle, and it wasn’t more than a few minutes until he heard a chorus of laughter from the other side of the office.

  Wyatt wasn't sure how much longer he was willing to play this his father's way. If he didn't do something soon, his confidence and self-worth would suffer. He thought of applying elsewhere, but his father had too many contacts in the area. If he were going to get another job, he would have to leave the state.

  Sam met with his uncle Master Emmanuel at the Chateau just after lunch. He brought the paperwork for the purchase of the building and the adjoining lot for him to look over. He liked having business located in town and no longer at the Chateau. The man valued his privacy.

  "It's overpriced, but you know that." He said as he flipped through the pages while Sam stretched out on the plush, tufted sofa. Taylor, the Master's beloved, entered and offered Sam a taste of his new blend. Taylor was a young wolf shifter who gave the Master a new lease on life and put a smile on his face daily. Emmanuel loved him dearly, and their bond was beautiful. Sam didn't think about it too deeply because jealousy of their bond was something he felt often.

  "That's quite good, Taylor." Sam praised, and Taylor smiled excitedly.

  “He’s put together several new blends that are amazing.” Emmanuel came up to stand beside him and slipped his arm around his waist. “I love your enthusiasm sweetheart.” He said and kissed him deeply. The love they had for one another was heart stopping and Sam ached to have a relationship like that for himself.

  "Get some sample bottles together, and we'll do a tasting event downtown and see how the regulars like it," Sam suggested. "We haven't had a tasting event since last fall it might be time."

  "I'll be glad when you have the Convention Center built and operational. The space in the current building is okay, but it still screams office rather than event center." Taylor commented, and Sam agreed.

  "If I can get the Greys to agree to our terms, we might have the new Convention center operational by late summer." Sam told him and then added. "I have another meeting with them later this afternoon and hopefully I'll walk away with an agreement."

  "If not, use a little of your mojo, and they'll come around," Taylor said with a wink.

  "I'll give them a little more time, but if things sour, then yes, I will use my mojo." He laughed.

  "Nothing wrong with a little persuasion," Emmanuel stated, pulling Taylor in for another kiss, and Sam decided it was time for him to go.

  The meeting went off as expected; Grey took the offer and adjusted the cost and the timelines, both of which Sam was adamantly opposed to. They went back and forth for a while with Grey's assistant, Griffen Humbolt, attempting to work out a deal adjusting the timelines but not touching the payments and fees.

  In the end, they were closer to an agreement, but they were not yet there.
Marc recorded the meeting and deftly provided Sam with the facts and figures required.

  “Let us study these figures and have our legal teams review our options.” Holden Grey stated and stood up. Sam could feel the man’s frustration and seemed to be blaming his assistant for not getting the job done. Griffen started the meeting with a sense of belief and a certainty that he would reach an agreement, and Sam was hopeful that he was correct. But Holden Grey was not bending on the items that mattered so negotiations naturally stalled.

  "Marc will show you out." Sam stood and left the room through a back entrance that led to his office. The costs they would incur over and above the price of the property were not acceptable. Sam decided to give it time and wait for Grey's next move. He walked over to his window and looked out at the building and property in question. It would complete the Cabot business compound, and he would have it one way or another.

  "They have left the building." Marc stepped in and announced, and Sam turned away from the window. "I was surprised that Grey did not allow his man more latitude in making deals. No matter what the guy suggested, Grey shook his head."

  "He's dragging his feet and testing to see how desperate I am for the property. It was a ploy and nothing more than a complete waste of my time."

  CHAPTER TWO

  Wyatt was told five minutes before leaving that he was not accompanying them to the meeting with Cabot. He should have been prepared to be cut, but for some reason, he thought his father was being genuine this time. He says yes just to get him to go away and stop bothering him and then cuts him out with no time to argue.

  “You should have been there Wyatt.” Griffen told him. “Samuel Cabot is what you would call, drop dead gorgeous, and I believe that’s the reason your dad kept you out of negotiations. He didn’t want you sitting there drooling over the guy and embarrassing us.” He laughed and a few others in the vicinity joined but Griffen’s jokes were getting less funny by the day.

  “Did you get a deal?” Wyatt asked the one thing that Griffen would not want to talk about.

  "Cabot is on the ropes, and he knows it. He wants that property and will meet our demands." Griffen tried to puff out his chest, but Wyatt knew it ended like the other three meetings, with his father refusing to accept anything less and Cabot refusing to accept anything more. Griffen could try to color it any way that he wished, but in the end, there was no deal, and that was the fact of the matter.

  “Father is impressed with Rowan’s work and is contemplating letting him join the negotiations. I think Rowan would add a fresh perspective don’t you.” He got in a jab at Griffen’s ego.

  "Mr. Grey would never trust such sensitive work to someone like Rowan. Like you, he has no experience and little talent." Griffen went in for an attack.

  "He's shown great promise with the work he did on the conflict with the church and the parks department. He got everything father asked for out of that deal, and he called the man a genius." Wyatt wasn't certain what took place with that job, but he was having fun goading Griffen.

  Griffen was about to mount a comeback which he probably thought was funny but was cut off when his secretary handed him a message. He looked at it, smiled and handed it to Wyatt. “This grunt work is more your forte.” He said with a sneer. “Do it right and maybe daddy will let you serve coffee and donuts at the next meeting.” He laughed as he walked away.

  “Yeah, he was definitely going to find a new job.” He looked down at the message it was from Marc Wellman personal assistant to Samuel Cabot, and they were asking for a complete copy of the inspection and appraisal completed two years ago when the property had first gone up for sale.

  Some of the information was there in their records but there were permits and such that were filed with the city and was too late to get that information from city hall. He would go in the morning and drop it off at the Cabot offices. It wasn’t difficult, just time consuming and effectively lowered him to the status of messenger.

  He closed his cubicle for the night and left. His plan was to job search, and hopefully, he could find something soon before he lost it on Griffen and his father. He had a few contacts from school, and he was going to use them. He headed home to his place downtown.

  He lived alone and spent as little time as possible at his father's estate in the country. He was locked into parties and Sunday brunch once a month; otherwise, he never went near the place. It was a cold atmosphere with just his father and stepmother living there with a few staff.

  The house was huge and cavernous and cold, damn cold. He moved out right after he graduated high school, and his father seemed to be glad that he did. They weren't close or supportive, but they were family, and as long as you didn’t need anything, life was okay.

  Sam had dinner alone in his apartment at the Chateau. He needed time to think and decide his next move with Holden Grey. The man wanted an exorbitant amount of money and time to hand over the building and property and it did not work with Sam's timeline to start construction in the summer. Things take time and if Grey continued to be difficult then the prospect of a glamour was becoming real.

  His uncle really didn't like tampering with a human's free will, especially in a business setting, but his options were running out. The legal department requested more documentation regarding the upgrades claimed in the recent offer, which might tilt power in their direction if the claims could not be verified.

  They could easily pay any price that Grey requested, but Sam would not be used and made a fool of by a greedy profiteer. He walked out onto his balcony and looked out over the vast fields, drinking in the fresh night air and clearing his head. As the night refreshed him, he came to the decision that the negotiations had gone on long enough, and it was time to end things.

  "Uncle, I'd like to meet and discuss the Grey purchase." Emmanuel would know that Sam was coming to get permission to push the business to completion. That's what late-night discussions were for.

  "I'm in the south cellar; I'll wait for you." He answered without question.

  "Thank you." He closed the call and headed for the south cellar. The south wine cellar held the Master's private collection, and he often went down there to turn bottles, taste test, and brainstorm new ideas. He was sitting at one of the long tables with two glasses of wine when Sam entered.

  "Sit and have a taste of our finest." He said, and Sam did just that.

  "It's beautiful," Sam told him and took another taste. "This is very old stock."

  "Yes, only two bottles remain, and I'm saving one of them for your bonding ceremony." He smiled, and Sam laughed.

  "You could be waiting for a very long time, Uncle." Sam would love to find his beloved, but it didn't look promising as people all around him found their forever while Fate kept skipping him.

  "That's what I thought too, and just when I was about to give up hope of ever finding my love, my beautiful Taylor walked into my life, so don't scoff because your love could be around any corner. If you recall, mine was sitting in the vineyard waiting for me." He smiled, and whenever he spoke of Taylor, his mood lightened. He truly adored that young man. It was apparent in everything he said and did and shown in his eyes every time he looked at him.

  "I doubt I'll ever find someone as perfect as your Taylor," Sam responded thoughtfully.

  "Perfection is in the eye of the beholder and when you see your intended, he will be the answer to everything and the source of all you desire." Wow, that sounded amazing, but Sam did not let himself get too caught up in the dream since his time could be many years away, and he had more pressing issues at the moment.

  They talked about a variety of things for a while and then Sam got down to business. He needed Emmanuel’s permission to go after Holden Grey supernaturally. Glamours were not performed lightly, and all ramifications of such action had to be taken into consideration.

  "You're a very careful man, Sam, so I know that if you are being pushed to this extreme, there is a valid reason for it, and I know you have weighed every option." Sam appreciated his uncle's trust. "You have my permission to do whatever you believe necessary to secure the property in question, and I look forward to seeing your plans for that new property." With that, Sam had all the approval he needed to make it happen.