“Today?” I laughed incredulously. “Fuck yeah.”
“I bumped one of your afternoon appointments to make it work,” Francis said. “But it sounds like they’re motivated to sell.”
“An extra million can be pretty convincing,” Trace conceded.
Damian didn’t look convinced. His arms were crossed, and he shook his head. “We do want this building. Don’t pull any shit that will get in the way of that.”
Ah. My brother knew me too well.
“I’ll behave perfectly,” I assured him. To Francis I said, “When does Zero get back from the dog walker?”
Damian groaned again. “Axel. I swear to God.”
“I don’t have time to listen to your complaining,” I said with a smile. On the inside, I was so jazzed I could hardly contain myself. But some trepidation came along with the excitement. Okay, a serious amount of trepidation.
I hadn’t been within ten feet of these assholes in eight years.
Which was why I needed Zero.
I grew up in the foster system with my brother Damian. I knew what it meant to be shuffled from one house to the next, all your shit stuffed unceremoniously into a trash bag.
You started to feel like trash yourself.
That’s why, when I adopted my dog, I went to the dog pound.
Zero was part Rottweiler, part something else nobody was sure of, and my most faithful companion. Zero was stocky with a dark, glossy coat. He knew what it felt like to be loved, lose that love, and then bounce between all the wrong households. He also knew what it felt like to finally find a forever home, like the one Damian and I had been lucky enough to find.
Zero and I got shit done. Zero was also the number of fucks we collectively gave about what outsiders thought of our business practices. And he was coming with me to Margulis Realty.
One of the best parts about my plan to meet with Allan Margulis—that intolerable, soulless, dead-eyed billionaire who was probably born half-robot—was that he hated dogs.
But when I showed up offering him twenty million dollars in cash, he couldn’t say shit about my dog.
God, I loved being me.
“Axel, you can’t take Zero,” Trace rapped his knuckles against my doorframe as I got Zero leashed up later that afternoon.
“The fuck I can’t.” I stood, smoothing down the front of my button-up. I wore a light gray business suit. Perfect black tie. Alligator shoes. I could be in fuckingVogue. I’d tell Anna Wintour to make sure to give Zero his own suit, too, for the photo shoot.
“Dude, we want him to say yes. Not chase you out of the board room.”
“He wants money, and that’s what we’ve got. He’ll deal with Zero because hehasto.” I sent Zero a mischievous grin. He was in this with me. He sent me a lopsided dog grin, his tongue hanging out. His dark brown coat positively gleamed. I tutted for Zero to follow me as I headed toward the doorway. “Besides, the board has to vote in the best interests of the company. And the best interests of their company is to make a cool million extra, whether or not a dog is present.”
Trace grimaced as he stepped aside. “I hate when you’re right.”
“I love when you doubt me.” I clapped his shoulder as Zero and I breezed by. “Just lets me stroke my own ego.”
“Maybe that’s why I do it,” Trace called after me. “Being a good big brother and all.”
I waved to our employees as I left. Everybody knew Zero. Everybody loved him. Zero snorfled as some admin employees cooed on his way out. Once we hit the elevator, my cool grin faltered. In the back of the company car—a luxuriously tricked-out Cadillac Escalade in two-tone black with black wheels to match—I finally let my shoulders sag.
“We got this, Zero,” I told him as he panted next to me. But the truth was, I didn’t know.
A battalion of assistants scanned guests lists in advance of functions, galas, and more, to help us avoid the Margulis family. On the rare occasion I found myself even remotely near a Margulis, I left before I could chance seeing Cora.
You’d think that nearly a whole damn decade later this would be easier.
But it wasn’t. Which only proved to that whispering little gremlin in the back of my mind that Cora and I really were some sort of twisted soul mates or something.