Chapter 1177 - Friends And Traitors (5)

Later that evening…

Jasper, Bradley, Christopher, Russel and Vincent arrived at a location downtown with a limousine which Jeff sent to pick them up.

They all observed the building with dark large display windows and wondered why Jeff invited them here for dinner. This is not a restaurant.

They don't know that this is the art gallery which belongs to Isabella. The lights are off, and they placed dark cloth over the windows (from the inside), to provide privacy.

Penny called her gallery staff and worked with Sarah and Aiden swiftly to prepare the inside so that it is ready for this occasion. Penny almost had a heart attack when she saw what Sarah and Aiden brought as 'decorations for setting the right mood' (how they called it). But she knows better than to ask questions.

Several chefs were in charge of preparing a scrumptious meal worthy of royalty.

Jeff's bodyguards opened the door for Jeff's five guests, and one of them said: "Master is waiting for you inside."

Jasper, Bradley, Christopher, Russel and Vincent walked through short and dark hallway before entering a spacious area which has one dim light in the middle. The light is falling onto a large round table, filled with tasty looking food. And when they got closer, they confirmed that it smells good as well.

"Thank you for not leaving Los Angeles and agreeing to meet with me.", Jeff said when he stood up from his seat and gestured toward the chairs. "Please accept this as part of my apology."

Vincent looked around while taking his seat. "Private setting, dim lighting, good food, soft music… If I don't know better, I would assume it's a date."

Jeff chuckled. "This is how I pacify my wife, so I thought of trying the same with you."

"This is not a restaurant.", Russel observed.

"True. This is more private so we can talk without fear of being overheard.", Jeff explained.

"Are you going to leave in few minutes, like you did for lunch?", Bradley asked Jeff mockingly.

"Sorry about that. I made arrangements so that we are not disturbed. My people are outside, making sure no one invades on our private dinner. And in case something happens related to my Uncle, the people I trust will take care of it."

Jasper snorted. "You have people you trust?"

"I do."

Jeff's look told Jasper that he regrets putting Jasper in the same bucket as others whom he suspected to be traitors. Jeff knows that even though Jasper said that he understands why Jeff doubted him, the fact that it reached that point, hurts.

Jeff's eyes moved over Vincent, Russel, Bradley and Christopher while speaking: "Thank you for coming. As you know, my Uncle made his move and he is keeping me busy. All of you have experience of your family members opposing you for various reasons. Some think how they are more qualified than you in deciding what you should do with your life, and others believe that they deserve your position. In any case, it's a headache inducing situation. But I am grateful for this because it showed me who my friends are, who will stand on the side and watch, and who will betray me."

"You found friends? Do you need to look beyond this table?", Russel asked.

"No. At this table I have everything I need. Even though sometimes we don't share the same opinion, I am confident who my friends are.", Jeff said with a straight face.

"I'm sure this is more than an apology dinner. Why are we here?" Vincent was unable to hide his irritation. He left New York that morning to come for lunch. He wants to know the reason behind this dinner because if there is none, he just wasted the whole day.

"Patience. By end of this dinner, everything will be clear." Jeff gestured to them to start eating.

"I want to begin by showing how sorry I am for calling you for lunch and then bailing out. But I know that words don't mean much, so other than this dinner, I prepared something for each of you…" Jeff moved his hand and few people stepped out of the shadows and placed boxes and envelopes in front of everyone seated.

Jasper looked at the envelope in front of him and opened it reluctantly. Just what is Jeff thinking? His eyes bulged out. It's a deed which proves ownership of a resort. And Jasper recognized it: it's the same resort where he proposed to Ellie. Jasper frowned and looked at Jeff.

Jeff saw that Jasper is full of questions. "Anna picked. She says that Ellie loves it because she always talks about it with a big smile on her face. Treat it as an early wedding gift. But when we come to visit, I expect a discount."

Jasper smiled. When Jeff mentioned Ellie, Jasper lost all arguments to opose accepting it. "I will make sure that the best room is on your name. Come anytime. Thanks."

"How did you get this?", Russel asked Jeff under his breath while looking at the document in his hand. He is trying to get a deal with a BNP Paribas bank from Paris for months, and they don't want to meet with him. And here he is, holding a paper which says that BNP Paribas is willing to meet with executives of Harper investments which is owned by Russel's family and there are few time slots suggested in the next two weeks!

"I have my ways.", Jeff said mysteriously. He will not say that if not for Sarah's and Aiden's hacking, Jeff would not know that getting a meeting with BNP Paribas is a problem for Russel and he would not be able to get those time slots either.

Jeff waved his hand like it's not a big deal. "Don't look at me like I did something huge. I only cracked open the door for you. You need to get in and impress them."

"Eh, easy for you to say. You talk about cracking the door open, but I am unable to find the door for months!", Russel chuckled. "Hey, you know what? If this is the price of me coming to Los Angeles and you ditching lunch, please… let's do this again."

Russel checked the time, calculated what is the time in Paris and was disappointed that it's middle of the night. Well, he will make that call first thing in the morning!

Vincent opened his envelope and found that inside is a deed. His eyes opened wide in shock when he realized that it's a deed for a twenty acres lot in New York where HIS family mansion is. He looked at Jeff questionably. "Why do you have this?"

"When your grandfather approached mine, he gave that as a token of sincerity. I am returning it to you because I believe that we can work together well without me holding onto it.", Jeff explained.

Vincent was not sure how to respond to this. He is aware that families are giving these kinds of things to the White family in order to secure their position (get protection and pledge loyalty), but he was not aware that his family is part of that. Should he bow to Jeff? Does Jeff hold anything else on his family? Vincent's grandfather passed away years ago, but he will talk with his father as soon as he goes home.

"Uhm… thanks.", Vincent said awkwardly.

Bradley and Christopher observed all this, and their hopes were up. At first, they were suspicious that Jeff is up to something, after all, their conscience is not clear. But seeing that everyone got something good, they understood that these are tokens of apology from Jeff because he rudely left the lunch and caused them inconvenience. They wondered, what goodies they got? Must be something valuable!

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