Chapter 6 - Mave Built Something With Her Own Name
Collins Logistics began with one client.
A bakery chain.
Not glamorous.
No offshore accounts.
No mysterious trucks.
Mave loved it.
Within six months, she had seven clients.
Within a year, twenty-three.
She hired two employees.
Then five.
Vincent never invested.
He offered once.
She stared.
He withdrew the offer.
Progress.
Vincent’s legitimate companies survived restructuring.
Some were sold.
Others became employee-owned.
He cooperated with investigations into historical Costa operations.
His attorneys negotiated settlements and penalties.
For the first time, Vincent spent more time in conference rooms with regulators than with men carrying guns.
Leo adapted surprisingly well.
He became operations director at a shipping company.
He still chewed gum.
One afternoon, Mave entered Vincent’s new office.
Smaller.
Glass walls.
Normal furniture.
She placed coffee down.
“Black. Two sugars.”
He looked up.
“You’re not my secretary.”
“I’m aware.”
“Then why are you bringing coffee?”
“Because I wanted one too.”
She sat opposite him.
Vincent smiled.
“You have a meeting tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Dinner afterward?”
“Maybe.”
“That sounds like rejection.”
“It’s scheduling.”
He reached for her hand.
Mave let him.
Their relationship was not simple.
Vincent had control issues.
Mave had independence issues.
They argued.
Sometimes loudly.
Then apologized.
Sometimes badly.
Then tried again.
No one had taught either of them healthy love.
They learned.
May you like
Slowly.
That became more romantic than anything Vincent could have purchased.
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