“Yup,” I agreed. This bar was the place to be. The luxury could not be hidden or denied. Living here was the ultimate sign of success, and I deserved every bit of the life I’d created for myself.
“Yeah, this place is a damn smorgasbord of beautiful women,” he said, winking at a woman walking past us. “Plus, you know how it is in here when the sun goes down. The food isn’t the only buffet laid out for us to sate our appetite. It’s been a long ass week, and I’m ready for some fun.”
Usually, I agreed with him, but I was feeling off-kilter this evening. There was something in the air, and I wasn’t sure how to explain it. “I’m not even sure why I’m down here tonight. It’s been a long fucking week. I just want to relax, not deal with this game.” I could feel a headache growing behind my eyes. I’d been in the middle of negotiations for two weeks working on a purchase from a small information technology company. They had software I needed to expand my business to better support my federal government clients. This deal could not fail. If it did, there would be significant ramifications for my company.
Pinching my fingers against my temple, I tried to hold off the pain making its way through my head. The company knew they had me over a barrel because my Chief Technology Officer let it slip that our government contracts were as good as dead without their software. I might just fire his ass on Monday.
Now, because of his fuck-up, I had to come up with a new strategy to help the owners understand this wasn’t a deal they should pass up. I’d offered them a sweet deal, but they needed to get on board.
My fist clenched as I thought of my CTO’s fuckup. It would serve his ass right if I made a few calls and made sure he never worked in the northeast again. My anger and frustration at his reckless slip of the tongue wasn’t going away anytime soon. I needed something to take the edge off. Maybe I needed to take a page from Bryce’s playbook and get lost between the legs of a buxom blonde or brunette.
Bryce lifted his feet and placed them on the table in front of him. Rude? Yes. Then again, it wasn’t my building. If there was a problem with what he was doing, someone would speak up. Then again, with how much we paid to live here, maybe they wouldn’t.
“Did you wrap up that acquisition?” He asked, his gaze tracking the women around the room, trying to identify his prey for the night.
Shaking my head, I placed my drink on the table beside me before leaning forward. “No. I have a feeling I’m going to spend more on this deal than I thought.” And just the thought of that frustrated me even more.
“Is it too late to walk away?”
There was no easy answer to that question. On the one hand, I wanted to wash my hands of this whole thing. Contracts with the government always came with a load of bullshit extras. Picking up my drink and taking another sip, I felt the burn down my throat and let it calm the fire inside me.
“At this point, I wish I could. There’s some real momentum behind what they’re doing with their software. This is a game changer for me.” I shook my head. “No. It’s too late to walk away.” I could feel my jaw clenching. “This shit was supposed to wrap up two days ago. If I don’t get what the fuck I want, heads are gonna roll.”
“Damn, man. What are you going to do?”
Leaning back in my seat, I reached over and picked up my drink before answering. “I’m going to win. That’s what I do. There’s no other option.”
Laughing, Bryce nodded. “Yes. Yes, winning is definitely what you do. Just don’t ruin anyone’s life in the process.”
I glared at him. “What the fuck are you talking about?” I knew, but I wondered if he was brave enough to say it.
“As if you didn’t know that your name on the street is the Grim Reaper. Try that ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’ shit with someone else. You don’t have to upend someone’s entire life just because you want what they have.” He took another sip of his drink as he stared at me, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
“Asshole,” I gritted out, which made him chuckle.
“Right back at you. Now,” Bryce exclaimed, finally removing his feet from the table, “what kind of trouble are we getting into tonight?”
“I’m not seeing anyone worth the trouble,” I respond.
Here’s a bit of truth serum from me, which I know isn’t always well received. I don’t do well with people looking to latch on to someone who can help them get a leg up in this world. No, don’t take that the wrong way.
I’m not saying people don’t deserve to get rewarded for hard work, dedication, loyalty, or any other word you can add to the mix. On the other hand, I distance myself from people who appear needy and desperate. Their only focus on life is to latch on to someone else and ride their coattails. Those are the kind of people I walk away from as fast as I can.
Here’s the thing: if you can’t make it on your own, then I don’t want you around me. That’s not my game and I can do without the trouble. My little brother, Caleb, tells me I have a fucked-up view of people. Yeah, maybe I do. Then again, he and I grew up in a family dynamic as fucked up as any sob story. Our father was a mean drunk and regularly abused our mother. Our mother was a saint. She deserved so much more than the life she had with our father, taking his abuse for too many years to count. Even though she was hurting and struggling to deal with the pain he put her through, she tried to instill the right morals and values into Caleb and me. One’s like kindness, charity, empathy. All the things that made a person weak and prone to manipulation.
Thank God neither my brother nor I followed that path.
Bryce’s voice broke through my inner musings. “I see we have some new visitors to the Tower.” His eyes were focused on the entrance to the large bar area.
A little about this place, which we fondly referred to as the Bachelor Tower. This place caters to men. Single men. Wealthy Men. No kids. No women. No animals. Well, women and animals were allowed if a resident escorted them.
This place was meant for us. It was all ours, and it was perfect. We had a lounge/bar that served the best scotch, whiskey, or whatever you preferred to drink. It also had a fully equipped gym, a sauna to release the tension, and yes… even a cigar lounge for those who occasionally enjoyed a good toke after a long day closing multi-million-dollar deals.
Safe haven didn’t even begin to explain the feeling of this place. It was so much more than that.
The one exception to the no-woman rule was the bar. Women could come and go as they pleased, but they could not go beyond these walls without an escort. It was a hard and fast rule of the Tower. And as far as I know, everyone abided. There’d been talk of allowing women to live here, but from what I’d heard, that hadn’t gone over very well. Hell, the only reason I had my apartment here was because my mentor had it first. When he found a woman to marry, he moved out. I was the first person he called about moving in. It was all hush-hush since getting into this place was like getting entry into a secret society. An invitation to move into Bachelor Tower was almost invaluable.
But, hell, I wasn’t looking a gift horse in the mouth, but I also knew without my mentor, they wouldn’t have let me within thirty feet of the front door. Didn’t matter how much money I had in my bank account. To move into the Tower, there are extensive background checks. And let’s just say, my background ain’t squeaky clean. In fact, it’s pretty much black and gray from some of the shit I’ve done in my past and the people who helped me get a leg up.