The name thudded into the conversation in exactly the way you’d expect a huge pile of shit to land. I reached for the expensive pen-weapon, flicking my thumb back and forth over the tip.
We came to New York City to explode, but fireworks singe when you get too close. Quite a few Wall Street insiders didn’t just dislike me and my brothers, they hated us. Once upon a time, the twattiest nugget of them all tried to pull the rug out from under me.
He believed he owned Manhattan, and I was trespassing.
Because, well, he sort of did own Manhattan. Allan Margulis, the owner of Margulis Realty.
He didn’t count on how bright and brilliant my bang would be. Allan was textbook pissed when I asked his daughter to marry me. Madder still when she accepted. And went reality TV-variety apeshit when I refused to back down and started planning my future with her.
His fury stained everything. Including my relationship with the one and only woman I’ve ever loved. That’s a scar for another time. The type of shit I would only talk about if I got drunk and sad enough. But that man no longer shut doors on me.
And I’d be damned if he kept me from this building.
“We can keep looking,” Trace offered, looking at me hopefully.
“Let’s fast-track an offer,” I told Francis before looking to my brothers. “Right? It looks good to you guys?”
“It looks perfect,” Damian said, “but—”
“He’s not gonna sell to us, Axel,” Trace said in a low voice.
“That’s for his board of directors to decide, isn’t it?” I asked. “And I’ll make sure they vote to sell. Francis, offer a full million higher than the asking price.”
Francis barely blinked at this as he recorded our notes. I didn’t even need to know the price. I just needed the building.
“And schedule my meeting with them under the name Spencer Wattford,” I added quickly.
“Jesus, Axel,” Damian said, dragging his hands down his face.
“Do you think it’s worth going there just to get kicked out of the building?” Trace asked.
“They won’t kick me out,” I promised him, though really, I had no idea.
Because if there was one company I’d avoided like the fucking plague, it was Margulis Realty. What went down between me and the Margulis family eight years ago is the sort of thing I strove to not think about. But the truth was that even when I didn’t think about it, it pushed me higher. Hotter. Brighter.
So yes. I was deeply interested in purchasing this dream building even though it was being sold by the man who told me that I was a joke. The same man who convinced his daughter, the ex-love of my life, to see me as a joke as well.
Allan Margulis and his miserable tribe of money-hungry, dollar bill-freebasing, sacks of turds.
My ex-fiancée, Cora, included.
If there was one person I’d be happy to never look in the face again, it was my ex. Because apparently our love had not been so impervious and ever-lasting, though she spent three years of our lives convincing me of the opposite. But some things must be endured as the price of revenge.
This building purchase was only the first stop on the revenge train; I’d been laying the tracks for the past eight years. I’d always wanted to take down Allan Margulis, the final exclamation point on my life. Somehow, I’d make it happen. While I still didn’t have my plan in place, this building would be the doorway. I couldfeelit.
“I’ll see when I can get you on their schedule,” Francis said, swiping so furiously on his screen that one gelled strand of his dark hair came unglued. Then he pulled out his cell phone, tapping out the phone number. “Any chance we could get some bodycam footage for if theydokick you out, though?”
I hefted with a humorless laugh. “I’m sure Allan would love to personally kick me out of his building. But I bet he won’t.”
Francis was on the phone with Margulis Realty, his sugary-sweet customer service voice something better fit for Hollywood.
“How can you be so sure?” Trace asked.
“Because I know his kryptonite. It’s public drama.” I flashed my brother an evil grin. “That man knows how far I’ll drag him into the tabloids if he tries any shit.”
My brothers and I discussed the details of the building while Francis wrapped up his call. He set the phone down, looking victorious.
“Spencer Wattford will be meeting the Margulis board.Today.”