“No. I’m going to Central and speak with the Deputy Commissioner in person.” He grabbed his keys and followed his men from his office. He glanced at the clock and rolled his eyes. It was going to be a long fucking day.
Chapter 4
“I'm just about ready to get out of here. What about you?” Chef Roger peeked around the corner of the door.
Brianna glanced up from the deposit slip she was tallying. “I am. Hang on for just a minute and I'll walk with you.” She glanced at the clock on her wall. “Why are you still here?”
He shrugged. “Tomorrow is chowder day.”
“Ah, the sourdough bowls. Are they ready to go into the proofer? I can put them in the oven when I get here in the morning.” She could slip in early and then go to the gym with Ryker before the day started.
“No, that's okay. We should be fine. Carol is coming in early to help me. The new fishmonger is dropping off our clams first thing. We are going to have a coffee and then get to shelling those clams.”
“You know we could order them shelled.”
“But why? It costs you more and we don't know how fresh they are. This way, I know my food is as fresh as possible.” His bright green eyes flashed, and he smiled.
“You'd go harvest them yourself if you could, wouldn't you?”
“I would, and that is a perfect segue into this topic. What do you think about opening an organic, sustainable ingredient restaurant?” Roger leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees.
Okay. That was one hell of a leap. “You realize that I'm just now turning a profit on this place, right?” She set her pen by the receipts she'd tallied.
“I do, but I also realize that this business was in very poor shape when you bought it. You not only had to rebuild it, you had to change people's perception about the establishment to bring the city back through those doors, and you've done that. We have a line out the door for lunch service and reservations for dinner are booked solid for almost three weeks. This place is about to make you rich.”
She laughed, “And you want to put me in the poorhouse again.”
“Not quite. I have a proposition for you. I'd like to go in fifty-fifty on the new place. I'd be the chef, take care of the kitchen, just like here. Together we hire the staff, manage the front of the house, and take care of the accounting.”
She blinked as a chill went down her spine. “And where would that leave Horizon?”
“With me as the Executive Chef over both establishments. What we'd do is bring in a young chef who is hungry. One who wants to succeed. If he or she works out, we offer them this restaurant as executive chef and I push on with the organic place.”
“You've been thinking about this for a while now, haven't you?”
“I have. I've watched the way you've run this place. You are a natural. You have zero staff turnover. Do you know how extraordinary that is? Most people cycle through waitstaff and kitchen help. Hell, most places need a revolving door to keep up with the flow of people in and out. But not you. You treat your people well, pay them well, give them benefits.”
She nodded. The idea of another business set her nerves on edge, but it was exciting, too. “I'll admit, I'm interested. I'd want to run it past my advisor, but after that, I'd be willing to take a hard look at what I can do.”
“Advisor? You mean for finances?” Roger nodded. “Yeah, I can see that.”
“No. Well, I mean yes. I'll have to get with my accountant and then the bank if we go forward, but Justin, my cousin. He's the one who advised me that this would be a wise investment, but it would take work. He's the one that pointed to you and told me I'd be a fool not to make you an offer.”
“Justin King? As in the man with the Midas touch? The billionaire? He noticed me?”
She gaped at him. “He's not a billionaire.”
“He must be.” Roger nodded.
“No.” She scoffed at him. There was no way Justin... no... “Can't be. He owns a few restaurants.”
“A few? I guess if you consider at least six Michelin star restaurants around the world, franchises across the globe, and owning an entire building in the heart of New York City as the average Joe, then… yeah, okay.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you playing me? How do you know that?”
He dropped his jaw and blinked. “How can you not know this? He's been on the cover of every culinary periodical for the last decade.”
“I don't know if we are talking about the same Justin King. My dad said he had a few successful places. I called him and he and his wife came up. We'd only met a couple times throughout the years. I told him I wasn't afraid of hard work, and that I wanted the place to succeed.”
“Well, that's probably why he helped you. His work ethic is legendary.”
“Huh. Okay, I'm still not convinced we're talking about the same guy, but anyway, I'm going to ask him what he thinks before I go forward.”
“Can I meet him? I have a huge man-crush on the guy.” Roger bounced in his chair and then laughed like a loon. “Justin-freaking-King!”
She shoved the money into the deposit pouch and laughed. “I'm telling you, you're thinking of a different guy.”
“I don't think so. Big guy, good looking, black hair, green eyes, sexy as all get out.”
She stopped what she was doing. “Just how much of a man-crush do you have?”
“Enough that I put him on my list.”
“List?”
Roger cocked his head at her and pursed his lips. “The list you and your spouse have?
