A Billionaire's Mistake

69|Operation

Lincoln

Jett leans back in his chair, folding his hands across his stomach. "Why do you think I took on this operation? Even though Dad is gone, Franco knows we both live. Until he gets whatever money he believes he's owed from the cocaine incident decades ago with Dad, he isn't going to stop, and I refuse to give him a fucking penny. I will kill that man myself for taking Dad away from us and burn his entire operation to the ground, but his threats have become more...plausible as of late."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"The hotel," he starts. All the hairs on my neck stand on end. "Franco wants it now that Dad is gone, and he'll do whatever it takes to get it. Including killing off the people it belongs to."

My blood runs cold. "Don't tell me he—"

"Has threatened to kill Mom? He has, and it isn't going to happen. I'm still working on a plan to take him down, but until then, I need you to sell the company Lincoln. It's why I've been so desperate. Why do you think I left New Jersey to move to New York in the first place? I had a business plan to improve the company so someone would be interested in purchasing, but Sienna seemed to help you create one that worked. Now it's booming, and we can make a profit off it. A profit where the hotel won't be a pawn anymore, and whoever buys it won't be connected to our family, therefore pulling us out from under Franco's thumb. But we need to convince Mom to sell, and it's not going to be easy."

My eyes widen. "She doesn't know?"

"About this? Are you insane? Could you imagine how mortified she'd be to get wrapped in a scandal like this?"

Jesus Christ. There is nothing that could have prepared me for this information. My father has lived a double life since before I was even born. Is that why he went on so many business trips? He wasn't striking deals during golf in the Caribbean. He was here, running an operation to try and stop the crime in New York.

I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts. "Why ask me to take over Nash Enterprises, then? And, even if we do sell, do you honestly think that's going to get Franco to back off? If anything, it'd make him furious."

Jett gets that bone-chilling grin. "Exactly. I want to coax him out of hiding. I want to make him so pissed to the point he becomes sloppy and careless to seek revenge. All it'll take is one wrong move before I find him. And I will."

This entire time my brother has kept this running for our father. He's trying to help others. He wasn't trying to take the company away from me. He was trying to save me and our family. And what does that say of me? I was quick to judge him. I assumed he became a dick after our father died because he was grieving and it changed him. I never thought to pry and peel back the layers. I never tried to help him like he's trying to help me.

"And, at the time, Dad needed Nash Enterprises for tax purposes. You know, a cover-up. I've started a few businesses of my own since his passing. Businesses Franco knows nothing of. So we can sell Nash Enterprises and take away whatever threats he thinks he has on us."

"A few businesses? What kind of businesses, Jett?"

Our stare holds for a beat too long before he says, "Dad's hands weren't always clean and neither are mine. I tried to get my portion of the company shares since you refused to sell, but Mom claimed I had to marry in order to obtain them, which I'm still trying to find a way around. For now, I found another temporary route running these businesses for income until we sell the company and split the profit. Then, I'll have the money I need to buy out who I need to, destroy Franco's operation from within, and shred him to pieces."