"We have a situation."
Marcus said as he ended his call. They were having breakfast on their hotel balcony in Venice
Aria set down her coffee. "What kind of situation?"
"Business competitors are trying to force a hostile takeover of one of my subsidiaries. The European art acquisitions division." Marcus's jaw clenched. "They went directly to the board without contacting me first."
"Can they do that?"
"Legally, yes. Ethically, it's aggressive as hell." He stood and paced to the railing. "They're targeting the weakest link in my organization. Trying to cripple my European operations."
"What are you going to do?"
"Fight back. Hard." Marcus turned; his expression was cold in a way Aria had never seen. "I need to fly back to New York today and handle this before they gain any more ground."
"I'll come with you."
"You don't have to. You could stay here and enjoy Venice."
