New York Love and Sushi

By Penelope Greene

Michael lives a laid back life in Florida, until one day he receives a phone call. His estranged brother, CEO of a Fortune 500 Company needs his help, which means entering a life of power and money in New York. With help from his brother's ever loyal PA, he sets about heading the business in his brother's stead. All he has to do is sit in an office all day, and leave considerable richer after a few days. Along the way he meets Anna, a nice distraction at first, but when he starts to feel more for her, things get complicated. Will Michael help his brother in the hope of a reconciliation, or will he risk everything for a chance at real love?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penelope Greene
• Release date: Jul 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005496975

Penelope Greene

Penelope Greene lives in Birmingham, England with her dog, Mair. She works part time as a shop assistant and spends the other half of her time writing. It has been a passion of hers since she was younger but only started taking it seriously when Ebooks started to take off."I always thought being a published writer would be an unfulfilled dream but with self-publishing that dream has come true not just for me but for many thousands of others!"Penelope is working on a series of books that will explore what people are willing to look past for love. Her debut Novel, Lies is available now on the Kindle, Nook and many more.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

Richard Stone, America's youngest CEO, sits at the head of his boardroom table, looking down at his Board Members.  Every chair is imperceptibly lower than his own; an authority trick his father had passed to him. Shortly after this, the old man died, and the company was passed to Richard. This hadn't gone over well with some of the older Board Members, probably because of Richard's movie-star good looks, and his affinity with the opposite sex. They had tried a hostile take-over but to no avail. He soon proved himself as efficient and ruthless as his predecessor had been, maybe more so.    Today, he was being told, by some of his braver Board Members, that a decision he'd made a long time ago, might be ‘distasteful’ to execute. He stood to lose several millions, not the end of the world to a company worth billions, but that wasn’t the point.

‘I will not be pushed around by a bunch of hippies,’ he interrupted George, the longest serving member of the board in the middle of a tedious re-cap of the farm's history.

‘Sir, if I may, this move will be very unpopular; you have to think of your shareholders,’ a mousey woman countered in almost a whisper.

‘I make my shareholders tons of money and, will continue to do so when this project goes ahead. I have already delayed this several times, if I cancel the contractors again-’

‘The environmental implications alone-’

Not one to tolerate being interrupted, Richard slammed a clenched fist down on the table, making everyone jump.

‘Screw the environment,’ he paused, took a deep breath, and visibly calmed, ‘you can all get behind me or leave, I’m serious. There are plenty of people out there, ready to take me down I don’t need any in my own God damn company!

Every person at the table looked down at the papers in front of them, not daring to make a sound.

‘That’s what I thought,’ Richard said in response to their silence, standing from the table.

‘This goes public on Monday so brace yourselves.'

With that he walked out of the room followed by Monica, his ever loyal PA, who had remained silent throughout, studiously taking notes. ◆◆◆ As was his tradition on the last Friday of the month, Richard would be driving to his lake house in Connecticut. Monica had one of the drivers bring his Lamborghini to the front of the building.

‘See you Monday Sir,’ Monica said, handing him his briefcase.

‘Have a nice weekend Monica,’ he grinned knowing that she was harbouring a desperate desire, to be invited to his lakeside retreat. 

Once there she would no doubt, finally admit that she was madly in-love with him. As if he didn’t already know, her infatuation with him was sickening. In any case, screwing the help had been more his father's thing. Richard wouldn't be caught dead with someone on his pay-roll. Shame though, she was absolutely stunning.

He walked out of the office without looking back, or granting Monica the wish she so craved.

Walking through the sea of desks, between him and the elevators, he acknowledged no-one, his head held high, another trick of his father’s.  Fear was better than respect, which was why Stone Construction remained the number one building company in America.

He was out of the office building, and pulling out into traffic within twenty minutes, allowing himself to relax a little now he was on his way to his sanctuary. No more thoughts of a family of hicks getting the better of him. No more Board Members to contend with, for a few days at least.

Richard loved driving, especially this car, one of only ten made, it drove like a dream. 

As he exited the free-way onto more rural roads, his thoughts turned to which 'old friend' to call to make the weekend that little bit more special. Someone who knew his fetishes, and were paid well for their discretion.

Richard was just under an hour from his lake house when it happened. He didn’t really have chance to process the car coming altogether too close to him, forcing him off the road at speed.

The car flipped several times, and, even with his seat belt on, he was thrown around like a rag-doll.

Cars all around came to a sudden halt, some bumping into each other, their drivers straining to get a good look at the accident unfolding before them.

One of them called the emergency services. Some got out of their cars, rushing over, some even took pictures on their phone.

CHAPTER TWO

Michael woke just after noon, with a slight head-ache. His first thought, was to how much he had drunk last night, closely followed by why he had he drunk so much last night.

He had been sober... ish, for about three months now, but it would seem old habits died hard. 

‘One day at a fucking time,’ he mumbled rubbing sleep from his eyes as he glanced to the other side of the bed; empty. 

Whoever he had spent the night with had obviously let themselves out.. what was her name again? Kirsten, Kristen..?

He’d met her at an AA meeting, that much he remembered, he suggested they go back to his, where one thing had led to another. 

He couldn’t remember whose idea it was to start drinking but once that bottle of vodka had been opened, there was no stopping her, or him to be fair. He should be ashamed of himself but he past that now. Why did he even have vodka in the house?

His bedroom looked like a bomb had hit it, most of the clothes he owned were strewn about the place, he had no clue as to what was dirty, and what was wearable. In the evident throes of last nights passion, most of his bed sheets had made it to the floor.

He lived like a teenager, and again this was something most people in their early thirties would be ashamed of, but he just wasn't.

Florida sunshine blazed through the window making him squint all the way to the tiny bathroom where he brushed his teeth and washed his face. He looked as rough as he felt and felt an over-whelming need to drink a gallon of water.

Feeling slightly better, he looked in his wardrobe for a fresh pair of shorts, but there weren’t any so he picked up the pair he was wearing yesterday, sniffed them, and decided they would have to do.

He was vaguely aware of a buzzing sound, it took him a couple of seconds to realise it was his phone. He riffled through the bed sheets, grabbing it just as the battery died on him, time to hunt for the charger.

He found it, wrapped around the leg of the night stand and plugged his phone in.

The screen came to life, telling him he had seven missed calls from a number he didn't recognise.

He jumped as the phone vibrated again in his hand.

‘Hello?’ 

‘Michael, its Monica…’

CHAPTER THREE

Just as Monica had promised there was a plane ticket waiting for him at the check in desk, when he arrived at the airport. Now Michael was settling into his plane seat and sorting out his belt. 

He felt so out of place in first class, he hadn’t had time to shower or shave which he desperately needed and his clothes were more than a little creased.

Michael was still questioning Monica’s choice of words when the steward came sashaying over.

‘Can I get you anything?’ she was very pretty, and even in his unkempt state, Michael could tell she found him attractive. 

‘No I’m good thanks.’ He smiled, thought briefly about flirting with her, but it wasn’t the time or the place, and he still couldn’t get Monica’s words out of his head.

‘Richard has been in an accident...’

The timing couldn't have been worse for Michael to take off, the bar he owned had been struggling for a while, it wasn't fair to leave Nick in the lurch, but he had to go, didn't he..?

'Would you like a glass of champagne?' the steward was back and holding a very expensive bottle of bubbles, she was so hot it was almost a crime not to engage with her.

'No thanks.' he said and forced himself to look away.

He would have loved to partake in a glass, but told himself he was just as happy with his bottle of sparkling water. The last thing he wanted was to turn up to the hospital half buzzed, he had a feeling it wouldn’t go down well.

After a short and uneventful flight, Michael strolled into arrivals with a hastily packed bag in tow. Outside there was a driver waiting for him. He would have been happy to grab a taxi but Monica had insisted.

The drive to the hospital was slow, so he took the opportunity to drink in the City through the car window. It had been a while since he had been back to his home-town, how he’d missed the never ending movement of it.

He tried to engage the driver in some small talk but quickly gave up after a few, noncommital one word answers. 

Eventually they pulled up to the hospital, where his door was opened before the vehicle had come to a complete stop, Monica gestured for him to get out, 'quickly.' she barked, no 'hello, how ar you.'

She hadn’t changed a bit; Pale skin and dark hair pulled up in a neat little bun. Her suit looked expensive and fit her like it was tailored.  She was the very personification of efficiency. Now though there was an animal like skittishness in her dark eyes.

‘I'm fine thanks for asking, you look good,’ Michael said, feeling glad to see her, in spite of the circumstances.

‘Quickly,' she said again, 'before someone sees you,’ 

‘Can I at least grab my-'

‘Sampson will take care of that, follow me, hurry!' she grabbed his arm, leading him like a child through the labyrinth of corridors. Her heels clicking with each of her quick strides. After a myriad of turns she stopped, pulling a door open for him.

He realised in that moment that he wasn't prepared for what greeted him in the room. His brother, Micheal Stone, lying broken in a hospital bed. Although there was no love lost between the two of them, he was  still family.

A tube extended from his mouth, several machines stood like sentinels around the bed, rhythmically beeping and flashing.

‘Monica I don’t know if I can do this,’ he admitted, but she gave him a gentle push as a nurse came out of the room a little further down the corridor.

He stepped closer, a grim fascination taking him over, the almighty Construction King had been felled.

‘What the hell happened?’ Micheal asked, taking in angry bruises, the swelling of the left side of his face. 

‘He was involved in a car crash,’ she said simply.

‘Will he be alright?’ He turned to look at her, and under the harsh florescent light, he could see she had been crying.

‘I... the doctors all seem quite positive but I really don't know. ’ she said.

‘What's the damage?’ Michael said, turning his attention back to his brother.

‘He’s broken a few ribs, his collarbone. He also had quite a blow to the head, as you can see.' Monica’s voice broke on the last word and she started to cry.

Michael put his arms around her, and she melted into him. This wasn’t good. Monica was made of sterner stuff than this. 

‘I’m sorry,’ she pulled away, wiping her eyes. Just like that the icy façade returned as if it had never slipped.

‘He’ll be fine.’ Michael stated. ‘It will take more than a car crash to finish him off,’ he tried to keep his tone as light as he could, without being dismissive.

Monica nodded, walking to the other side of the bed to sit down. Delicately she held Richard’s hand, and it was that small thing that showed Michael how much she cared for him. It was the kind of tenderness a wife would show