The Billionaire And His Son Want Me Back (Paisley)

The reason Dominick had left so early that morning was a call from the mountain sanatorium. Paul's condition had taken a turn for the worse.

On the drive back, Dominick's silence filled the car with a heavy tension that no one dared break. "Dom..." Marissa glanced at him with gentle concern. "Don't worry, okay? Grandpa Paul's going to be fine. I've already reached out to Mr. Hansen. He's the best in the field, and he's heading to the hospital right now."

"Thanks." Dominick's voice was distant as he stared out the window, clearly lost in thought.

Marissa knew better, though. Paul's condition wasn't the only thing weighing on Dominick's mind right now.

"You know," she said with fake playfulness. "Nathaniel and Ms. Sutton looked pretty good together just now. If you ask me, I think he's actually interested in her."

In the car window's reflection, his brows furrowed deeply. Without missing a beat, Dominick pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

*****

Over at Beaumont Villa in Harrowfell, Morris Beaumont, Nathaniel's brother, was just sitting down to breakfast.

A call from Dominick at this hour was unexpected, but he answered with a pleasant tone anyway, "Mr. Vanderbilt, what can I do for you?" After all, with their companies about to partner up, he had to play nice with Vanderbilt Group's heir.

Dominick cut straight to the chase. "Nathaniel's got too much free time on his hands. Find him something to do."

Morris froze. He'd expected Dominick's call to be about their partnership deal, not about Nathaniel.

'Didn't Nathaniel just have his club's grand opening?' Morris thought. 'He even invited his old high school crew, and Dominick was there too.'

"Can I ask what happened?" Morris treaded carefully.

"Nothing much. Just didn't like how he was wasting time," Dominick replied with an icy edge, making zero effort to be diplomatic.

Sure, the Beaumonts might be on equal footing with them in Harrowfell, but the Vanderbilts were calling the shots on this deal. They could easily cut the Beaumonts out if they wanted to.

This meant if the Beaumonts wanted a piece of this project, they couldn't afford to get on the wrong side of the Vanderbilts-or Dominick-right now.

Morris' heart was racing, but he kept his voice steady. "Sure thing. I'll take care of it."

"Good," Dominick replied and then added. "Make it somewhere far. I don't want to see him around for a while."

After hanging up, Morris just sat there, completely thrown.

He was still trying to process what that call had even been about when Byron Beaumont, Nathaniel's grandfather, spoke up, "What did the Vanderbilt heir want?"

"He..." Morris' expression turned weird. "He wants me to keep Nathaniel busy with some work. Somewhere far away."

"Hold up," Byron frowned. "Did that boy manage to tick off Dominick at yesterday's party or something?" "It was just a cocktail reception. How much trouble could he have caused?" Morris shook his head. "Besides, they got along fine in high school. Maybe not best buddies, but they stayed out of each other's way."

"Should we call Nathaniel in and ask him about it?" Morris suggested.

Byron thought for a moment before shaking his head. "What's the point? Obviously, he messed up somewhere and got on Dominick's bad side. With our families about to seal this deal, we can't afford any slip-ups. Just send him somewhere far off to gain experience or whatever."

Morris was more than happy to oblige. After all, this was a crucial time in the competition for inheritance. "Perfect timing, actually. We just finished building that factory in Brightmoor. He can go oversee that." "Yeah, handle it however you see fit." Byron had lost his appetite completely. "That kid...can't go one day without giving me a headache."