Big Daddy Sinatra 3: The Best of My Love (The Sinatras of Jericho County) by Mallory Monroe Page A

today.”
    “You
can put it that way,” Matt said, refusing to cede even that little ground.   “Jericho Inn is certainly doing better than
the one I purchased, yes.   But the point
is, I think we both can do far better than that.   We can do far greater things than running
some country-ass hotels.”
    If he
expected Charles and Jenay to eagerly ask what those “far greater things” were,
he was mistaken.   They remained silent,
which left Matt no alternative except to fill the quiet with his own words.
    “How
about a world class, first rate resort?” Matt asked.   “Right here in Jericho.   We can even call it the Jericho Inn.   Or, even better, the Sinatra Inn.   I don’t care.    But it’ll be world class and will turn this sleepy little town into a
hip, jumping resort town for millionaires and billionaires.   It’ll be the Aspen of Maine.”
    Jenay
had not expected him to go there.   She
wanted to look at Charles, to see if he was surprised too, but she remained
stoic.   This was a matter of business,
and Charles was the best businessman/negotiator she’d ever met.   She was going to take her cues from him, not
the other way around.
    Matt
waited for a response.   But again,
Charles only sat there.   And again, Matt
had to fill the void with his own words.   He had to state his full intentions.   “To make it all happen, however,” he said, “we will need to merge both
of our hotels first and foremost.   That’s
because we simply cannot have any upscale competition whatsoever.   The town’s various motels can remain, but our
resort will be it in terms of a luxurious place to stay, and we will keep the
city council well fed, if you know what I mean, so that nobody else can come
and try to usurp that position from us.   So what do you guys think?   About
merging our hotels I mean?”
    “You
aren’t here to merge any hotels,” Charles said.   “That’s the last thing on your mind.   You’re here to merge money.   Specifically to merge my big money with your not-so-big money.”
    Matt
and Steve both smiled.   “I’m sure that’s
not it, Mr. Sinatra,” Steve said.   “Mr.
Dellum is a very wealthy man.”
    “Mr.
Dellum,” Charles responded to Steve, although his eyes remained on Matt, “used
to be a very wealthy man.   Until the
stock market crashed in ‘07 and took a huge chunk of his change right along
with it.   He’s not on any critical lists,
granted, but he’s not on any Fortune 500 lists either.”
    Although
Jenay continued to sit stoically, she was amazed.   When in the world did Charles have time to do
that level of research on Matt Dellum?   She had only just told him about the meeting last night.   She looked at her husband.
    “So
let’s get down to it,” Charles said to Matt.   He even leaned forward in a kind of in
your face, man to man response.   “You
need deep pockets to make this resort a reality.   Very deep pockets.   Pockets so deep it’s almost obscene just how
deep those pockets will have to be.   So
you purchased that B & B for half a million as leverage, figuring we
wouldn’t like the competition and therefore would be more inclined to consider
such an offer.   And without a lot of
information, it would have been a good move on your part.   But you miscalculated in one very specific
way.”
    Charles
may not have cared for Matt right off the bat, but the feeling was mutual.   “What was my miscalculation, as you call it,
Mr. Sinatra?” Matt asked him.
    “You
assumed we were the kind of people who hated competition,” Charles
responded.   “It was an understandable
assumption.   Most people do hate it, so I
can understand that feeling.   But my wife
and I aren’t most people.   We thrive on
competition.   Because we know the trick.”
    Matt
considered him.   He thought he would be
the chess player at this table.   He was
wrong.   “And what trick is that?” he
asked Charles.
    “We
never compete with anybody but