Ming sat there with his mouth gaping like he’d stalled his engine. Ray forced himself to take a slow breath so he wouldn’t reach across his desk and shake the life out of Ming.
“Yes, right!” Ming shifted forward in his seat. “I wanted to touch base about Phoenix Family Trust.”
He knew it! Elvin owed him. Ray ran a hand over his face to stifle a groan. “No.”
Ming opened his mouth and closed it again with a confused look. “What?”
“No,” Ray said louder in case Ming hadn’t heard him the first time. “We’ve tried this before and it didn’t work. Why do you think it will this time?”
“Because it’s been years since we’ve pitched them! The market has changed! We’ve got a stronger track record!” Ming’s hands got more animated with every sentence.
“So set up the meeting yourself.” Ray pushed back his chair to stand. “You have their contact information. What do you need me for?”
“Oh come on, Ray. They’re much more likely to respond to you than they are to me.”
Ray paced around the room, stretching his arms over his head. Talking about PFT always made him antsy and restless. “I don’t know why you think that. I’m not exactly a welcomed entity over there.”
“Why not?”
Ray rolled his eyes. He wasn’t about to detail his complicated family history to Ming of all people. “I’m just not.”
“But why?”
Ray spun toward Ming, not entirely sure he was hearing right. Was Ming seriously pressing this point? “Because!”
“Okay! Okay!” Ming settled back into the chair like he planned to be there for a while.
Ray planted his hands on his hips. “Anything else I can help you with?”
“Are you sure there’s no one there you can ask for a meeting? As a favor? For me?”
As if Ming was anyone Ray wanted to do favors for. The dude didn’t understand the word no. But, if it would get him off Ray’s back... Ray sighed. “I can try to make a couple calls.”
Ming jumped up and slapped his hands together. “Great! I knew I could count on you!” He came over and clapped a hand on Ray’s shoulder before shaking it a little too forcefully. “We’re going to make a great team, buddy. Just you wait and see.”
Ming headed toward the door, spinning halfway so he was walking backward. “You and me, Ray!” He shot finger guns at Ray. “Joanna’s going to be stoked.”
Ray let out an audible groan as Ming let himself out. What the hell had he gotten himself into?
Elvin poked his head in. “You still alive?”
“Barely.” Ray flopped onto the long couch on the far side of his office. He stuck out an arm and pointed in Elvin’s general direction. “I win our bet. Ming wouldn’t stop going on about PFT.”
“Would it really be so bad to reach out? It’s not like you have to talk to your father.”
His father. Ugh. That was the real problem. Once upon a time, Ray had been groomed to take over management of the trust. But he’d ruined all his father’s plans when he insisted on joining Jade Harbour instead. It was still a sore spot for the family and Ray had been all but disowned for wanting to work for someone else.
A number of Ray’s relatives held senior positions within the trust. All good people who knew what they were doing, but every single one of them had gotten to where they were because of their last name. Nepotism wasn’t only alive and well, it was considered a fucking virtue, and Ray didn’t want anything to do with it.
“I know.” He ran through the short list of cousins and uncles he could call. Who wouldn’t give him too hard of a time for missing the family reunion the year before? Or try to ask for an IOU in return? There was no way he’d be able to avoid a lecture on filial piety, giving back to the family, and carrying on their good name. He let out a frustrated groan and shot to his feet so fast that his head spun a little.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. I’m great.”
“You don’t look great.” Elvin looked like he was trying really hard to hold back a laugh.
Ray shot him a glare. “I need to get out of here.” He shook out his limbs, trying to throw off the feeling of insects crawling across his skin. “I need a swim.”
Elvin nodded. “I’ll cover for you if anyone asks where you are.”
“Thanks.” Trust Elvin to always know exactly what to say at exactly the right time.
Ray grabbed his suit jacket from the coat hanger and slipped it on. “Stop by later and catch me up on anything I missed, okay?”
“Sure.”
“Great.” Ray stopped at the door. “And for the love of god, don’t put Ming on my calendar again.”
Elvin chuckled and shrugged. “I’ll do my best.”
Ray headed for the elevator. Few people, including Elvin, understood the weird dynamic between Ray and his family. Hell, he didn’t fully understand it himself. His parents hadn’t been around for most of his childhood, happy to shuffle him from boarding school to vacation resort and back again depending on the time of year. They’d paid for him to have music lessons and language classes. His closet was always full of the latest high-end fashions; his garage with luxury cars. There wasn’t a single thing he’d wanted that they didn’t buy for him, so they were baffled when he refused to join the family trust like all his relatives had.
He stepped out onto the sidewalk outside Jade Harbour’s office building and found his driver waiting for him by the curb. Elvin must have given him a heads-up that Ray was on his way down.
“Home, Mr. Chao?” The driver opened the car door as Ray approached.
“Yes, thank you.”
What do you mean you want to join a private equity company no one has ever heard of? Ray could still hear the incredulity in his father’s voice when he’d broken the news. It wasn’t like Ray wanted to become a monk in some remote monastery. Hell, his father might actually prefer that over the prospect of Ray working anywhere other than PFT.
He’d met Joanna while completing his MBA. His family had sent him as a representative to some fundraising event and over the course of the evening, Joanna had enthralled him with her take-no-prisoners attitude. Then a few months later, he ran into her at a restaurant where she was meeting an executive of a struggling portfolio company. She’d invited Ray to sit down with them and by the time he’d finished his drink, he’d managed to come up with three viable solutions to their problems.
She’d called him with a job offer the next day. Nothing fancy. No corner office or unlimited expense account. Jade Harbour had been in the early stages of its growth at the time. But the chance to build something from nothing was too enticing to give up. PFT was established, well-known, stable. He’d be taking over an organization that already ran on autopilot. Where was the fun in that? Jade Harbour was an opportunity to see what he could do without the safety net of his family’s wealth and status.