46. Alexander

"Good morning, Mr. De Luca," Elle greeted with a warm smile as I walked into the office on Friday morning.

"Morning, Elle. What's my schedule for the day?" I asked as she followed me into my office.

"You have a meeting with Mr. Knox of Knox Constructions from 10 until 11:30, and you'll be meeting with him at Da Andrea. At 10, you are meeting with Mr. Montgomery to look over designs for the hotels, stores, and restaurants, which will take you several hours. This means you'll be free for the rest of the day," she replied, checking her tablet. I nodded, taking a seat in front of my desk and turning my computer on. "I'll go ahead and bring you your coffee."

"Thank you, Elle," I replied, and she nodded before excusing herself and closing the door on her way out. I soon dove into work, which took up my entire morning, and by 9:45 a.m., I was gathering my briefcase and jacket before leaving my office. Elle wished me a good day since I wouldn't be returning to the office after my meeting with Michael Knox, the CEO of Knox Constructions. He's one of the many construction companies I've been working with since I began my business. If today's meeting goes as planned, then that means Knox Constructions will soon belong to Storm Enterprises. I've been negotiating with him for the past seven months after I learned he was planning on selling his business here in New York, since he's moving to Barcelona and opening a new construction business there.

Anyway, I'm not going to bore you with details about my meeting with Michael, but I will tell you that once we met and talked about the proposition I made, we came to an agreement. Our legal teams will both meet and go over a few things before he signs the business over to me. I'll be sending a few of my employees to Knox Constructions once the final papers are signed and it's in my name. I'll also be changing the name of the business to De Luca Constructions and placing my dad as the president of the company to run it for me since I'll be busy running my main company.

"So, how did your meeting with Knox go?" David asked as we met up in front of the building.

"It went pretty well. We came to an agreement, and our lawyers will be working on all the legal stuff. Once we both sign the papers, the company will be mine, and Knox will be on his way to Spain."

"Dude, that's great. Congrats!" he said, patting me on the back, and I smiled.

"Thanks. It's been a real pain in the ass going back and forth for months until we came to a compromise," I said, and he nodded.

"I know. I remember you mentioning it a couple of times over the past seven months about how he's been changing the price of the company," he said, and I hummed in agreement.

"You have no idea how much I wanted to just tell him to screw it and look for another buyer, but I kept declining his price and telling him that the price I offered was final," I said, and he nodded. "Knox, seeing that I wasn't going to budge, finally asked to think it over, so I gave him time, and he finally agreed to sell it at the amount I first offered."

"I have no doubt how persuasive you must have been to get him to finally agree and go through with the sale of his company," he said before changing the subject. "Alright, enough about your new company. I wanted your opinion on this color scheme for one of the hotels. What do you think?"

We had stopped at his office, as he would be the main person running the building, even though I'll be coming in here once in a while to check how things are going when he can't. I saw many displays posted all around the room. We were currently looking at one design, which featured soft colors from off-white to light pink. I tilted my head and glanced at the other designs, which had different color schemes. I thought that was a good idea.

"I honestly like them," I said regarding the first design he showed me, and he nodded. "But I think that instead of this hotel being this color, it should be this one," I added, switching the designs of two of the hotels around, and he nodded in agreement.

"I was actually thinking the same thing," he said. For the next three hours, we went over the different color schemes and designs for how each of the hotels would look once the whole building is completed, which will be in about two months. All the rooms and buildings, in general, were already done; all that was needed was to design each space accordingly, which won't be too difficult. "I heard Hayden is considering majoring in interior design."

"Yeah, he mentioned that a few days ago and how your parents don't want him to follow that, and instead want him to either become a model or major in business," I said, and he shook his head.

"I've told them to just let him major in or follow what he wants instead of forcing him to do something that he doesn't want, but they just won't listen." He started running his fingers through his hair, and I could tell it was taking a toll on him—not just his company, but also his parents' disagreement with what Hayden wants to pursue.

"How are you and Xander doing by the way?" I asked, changing the subject from Hayden and his parents to his renewed romance with his boyfriend of four years.

"It's going pretty well. We both decided not to jump into marriage right away like we had when we first got together, but we both also know that one day down the line, it will eventually happen," he replied with a smile, and I nodded.

"That's good. You two just got back together not too long ago, so it's understandable that you both don't want to take the next step just yet," I stated, and he hummed in agreement.

We talked a bit more before deciding to call it a day, and we left the 45-floor building and got into our respective cars. Once we finish with the building, Kat and I agreed to head to SoHo to spend the summer vacation there. This will allow Hayden to take a breather from his parents and their constant nagging about him following in their footsteps.

A honk brought me out of my thoughts, and I looked to my left to see David. I rolled my eyes and lowered the window. "I forgot to say, Happy Father's Day!" I shook my head as he leaned his head to yell through the passenger door. I shook my head again and thanked him, even though he and the rest of the Montgomery-Storm/De Luca family would be coming to my and Kat's house to celebrate Father's Day with us.