I laughed. How about that for a twist? The King of Diamonds, admitting that in the past, he’d encountered a diamond he knew he could never scavenge.
“A family-owned business? With strong employee morale? And a long-standing history? I knew a losing battle when I saw one. But then I used the other part of my title. CFO. I dug a little deeper. And to no one’s surprise, it was a company that was in serious trouble.”
“Was it?”
“Yes,” I said without hesitation. “As time goes on, no one wants to go off Strip. Everyone complains about prices, but everyone wants to be where the show is. Aces Up was a relic of the past, frankly. They were an entity headed for bankruptcy one way or another. We offered to buy them, yes, at a discounted price pre-bankruptcy, but we saw the writing on the wall. They refused. And, within six months, they were bankrupt.”
I shrugged.
“Now, this is the part where I surprise you and say we bid above market value at the time for the casino. This led some, who saw the sequence of events, to accuse me of using underhanded maneuvers to try to tank the business. And I’m not a saint. Let’s be clear. If I had seen an opportunity to undermine them to purchase them, yes, I probably would have. But the reality is, it was a business past its time, giving us an opportunity after the fact.”
I leaned back and my chair and held up my hands, as if to say that was it. And it was.
“So…” Delilah said. “You mean to tell me that you acted out of the goodness of your heart?”
“That’s not what I’m saying,” I said with a laugh. “Remember, your recorder isn’t on. This is just for context as you do reporting.”
“Right,” Delilah said. She was off her game. Perfect. That gave me the opportunity if I wanted it.
“What I am saying is that just because we’re ruthless assholes doesn’t mean we are evil capitalist ruthless assholes,” I said. “Sometimes, even us ruthless assholes are capable of being surprisingly protective and embracing heroes.”
Delilah nodded. She still seemed off a bit, as if she didn’t quite believe it.
And that’s when the confluence of her state of mind, my desire, and the topic at hand gave me an idea I could finally seize on to give us the best of everything.
The privacy I wanted.
The semi-public atmosphere Delilah wanted.
The complete stripping of bullshit both of us wanted.
“Allow me to show you,” I said. “I’ll drive.”
“I’m sorry?”
“I said, allow me to show you, as in, show you Aces Up Casino, and I will drive.”
Delilah’s jaw dropped. She grabbed her recorder, moving so slowly I genuinely wasn’t sure which way she would go.
“Don’t you have drivers?” she said. “Sarah said Cassius never went anywhere without having someone to drive him.”
“Of course,” I said. “Hiring a driver is the best way to buy back more of our time. But sometimes, driving is the most personal thing you can do for someone. And besides, it’s also the only way to ensure I can be as frank as I can be.”
“Meaning?”
“People talk, Delilah,” I said. “And most often, if it’s not your rivals talking, it’s your staff. Your driver. Your butler. Your cleaning staff. You want me to be honest, with no bullshit? I can only do that if it’s just you. Have the public setting but the truly private conversation.”
Delilah bowed her head in thought for a few moments before she nodded. A part of me almost let my smile go in full; Aces Up definitely would not be where anyone, biker or Morril, would expect us. We’d have privacy.
And if I showed her a hotel room?
I didn’t think I’d be able to restrain myself if we got to that point.
“Come,” I said, “I have a Lambo outside. I’ll drive us.”
“A Lambo?”
“A Lamborghini Aventador. You don’t think I’d drive a Honda Accord, do you?”
