Chapter Twenty
Dominick
Sometimes, I felt like I was going to spend the rest of my life putting out fires and dealing with other people’s messes. But at least when it came to Xavier, I actually wanted to help out. It wasn’t just a business duty or an unwarranted concern about a profit margin. He cared about that garden and his business in the way corporate executives never seemed to care about the people they employed or the places they owned.
He cared about it because it was his home.
From my seat in the plane, I sent an email to a few of my assistants and CC’d Patricia from the communications firm for good measure. The wheels of bureaucracy turned slowly, but when Patricia wrote back immediately with a promise to look into things, I was satisfied there would be at least some movement on the matter.
In the back of the car from the airport, I made a call to my office, tasking one of my assistants with following up for good measure. With the cityscape of Manhattan flying by and a cup of coffee steaming in my hand, I flipped through the files Zachary had forwarded my way. The profiles of the businesses trying to take over the firm all looked pretty standard to me, which was a relief—I knew how to handle greedy executives.
The car dropped me off at a quiet little Chinese restaurant on the Lower East Side. It wasn’t anything special, but Zachary and I had frequented the joint for years, knowing it was far enough away from the office that we could enjoy a little privacy while there. Pushing through the beads that hung across the entrance and stepping down into the basement lobby, I spotted him immediately, posted up at a booth in the back.
The waiter led me over while telling me about the specials, and I did a quick assessment of the other diners, confirming there was no one to worry about.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Zachary grumbled. He made a gesture to stand and offer me his hand, then thought better of it and pulled me in for a quick hug.
“Have you slept at all this week?” I asked, noticing the bags under his eyes.
Zachary lifted an espresso shot in a tiny cup, then threw the whole thing back. “You’re lucky I didn’t tell anyone you were coming to town. The board would probably ride you harder than they ride me, golden boy.”
“That bad, huh?”
Before he could answer, the waiter came over, and we each ordered the same combination special we’d been enjoying for years. I considered getting myself a beer to take the edge off but knew I needed to keep my head clear. I had only had until Sunday night to deal with the crisis, and it wasn’t like there was peace and quiet waiting back in Denver.
I pulled the files out from the duffle bag I had packed, then threw them on the table. “Any updates since this morning?”
Zachary shook his head. “Just a bunch of rumors and wild speculation. You come up with anything to save the day?”
I fished out one of the files, then flipped it open. “You know much about Passages New York? They look like a holding company, but they’re buying up properties in Long Island City faster than I would have expected.”
“Not really,” he answered. “They don’t seem like they’re that big a piece of the puzzle.”
“Except for the fact that their net worth forms about fifteen percent of the muscle for this takeover.”
Zachary nodded, flipping through the papers. “Sure, the people behind the takeover are putting that whole business on the line. Makes sense. Lots of capital, little overhead. They can leverage it without risking their other operations.”
“Exactly,” I said. “They need the Passages New York money. Otherwise, they’d have to start selling off their real moneymakers to get the liquid.”
Zachary frowned and loosened his tie. I noticed the clock had switched to six and almost chuckled at the instinct. He was always on the clock, right up until the moment he didn’t have to be anymore.
“What’s your point, then? If they’re willing to risk the whole corporation, it can’t be that important.”
“Except for the fact that the bottom falls out from under them without the leverage. Aren’t some of the guys in Research and Development interested in working on projects in Long Island City, too?”
“What are you saying? You think they’re getting bribed with some cheap properties on top of everything else?”
I closed the folder, not wanting to leave our work exposed, even if the restaurant seemed safe. “Maybe, maybe not. But if they’re trying to gobble up half the shares in our firm, what’s to stop us from gobbling up Passages New York?”
Zachary laughed as the waiter returned, sliding a few steaming egg rolls onto the table. “You know our firm can’t do that. Too many regulations, red tape. It will set off alarm bells.”
I thanked the waiter, then pulled apart my chopsticks with a snap and plucked one of the egg rolls onto my plate. “The firm can’t, but I can.”
Zachary laughed again as he dolloped some sweet and sour sauce onto his egg roll. “You’re telling me you have that kind of cash sitting around? Shit, man, I’ve been wasting my time on small fries.” He sighed. “Anyway, I can’t imagine they’d sell.”
I waved my chopstick in the air. “Don’t be so sure I’m short,” I said, dropping my voice.
Whenever people asked about my finances, I kept my cards close to my hands and said my net worth was a lot less than it seemed. That was true, especially since I kept most of my assets in investments instead of liquid capital. But across a range of industries and portfolios, my money was growing, waiting for the time when I decided to cash out and pursue something big.
