Chapter One
“Argh.” I slam my phone down onto my desk, flinching when I remember that this particular desk cost me twenty grand and I’ve probably just damaged it. “Fuck,” I grit out through clenched teeth.
This is not how I saw this morning going. I should be on my way to closing some deals by now, and yet all I’m getting is pushback from the assholes I’m trying to do a favor for. Theirbusinesses are failing, their properties the only thing of value they have left. I don’t get it. Most people jump at the chance to sell to me. They see my company’s letterhead on the offer and that’s enough to get them signing on the dotted line.
New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Miami—all cities I’ve managed to get a foothold in. Las Vegas won’t be any different. I will own my share of that Strip. It’s only a question of when. Everyone has a price. Most of the time, it’s monetary. But no matter how much I offer these assholes, they’re not willing to budge.
There’s a knock on my office door. Thetap, tap, tappity-tappattern letting me know who it is before the door swings open. “I’m guessing by that frown that the call didn’t go well.” Angus, my longtime personal assistant, gives me a sympathetic look.
“I don’t get it. What the hell is going on in that damn city?” I ask him.
“No idea, but here.” He places a cup of chai tea on my desk. “Drink this. You need to relax.”
“What I need are those buildings.” I glare at him.
I have my eye on three neighboring properties on the Las Vegas Strip. They’ve all seen better days, and not a single current owner wants to sell to me.
“I know, and you will get them. You always do, Mol, but you can’t do that if you’re running on empty. When was the last time you ate?”
“I ate…” I pause. Shit, whenwasthe last time I ate? “Last night.” I smile when I remember the bowl of colorful cereal I decided was as good a dinner as any.
“Let me guess… Froot Loops?”
“No,” I lie.
“Sure.” Angus laughs. “Well, I’m going to go grab you some lunch. Oh, and your father called again. I told him you were in meetings all day.”
“Thanks. I’ll call him back.” That is not a call I want to make. I just know the longer I avoid it, the worse it will be. Sometimes it’s easier not to know, to stay in the dark where it’s emotionally safe.
Angus closes my door behind him, and I pick up my phone, surprised the screen isn’t cracked in a million places from how hard I slammed it against my desk. Hitting my father’s number, I bring the phone to my ear.
“Molly, you’re avoiding again.”
“Do you have any good news?” I counter.
There’s silence for a moment before I hear my father’s sigh. “You can’t avoid things just because they’re not good, Molly.”
“Actually I can. It’s working quite well for me.”
“Molly, she’s been asking for you,” Dad says.
“What have you told her?”
“The truth. That you’re busy with work.”
“Okay. I’ll see if I can come home on the weekend,” I tell him, although I doubt by then it will matter. My mother doesn’t remember me most days. On the days she’s asking for me, it’s usually the child version she’s looking for. Not the person I am now.
“Thank you.”
“How are you doing, Daddy? Do you need anything?”
“I’m good. You don’t need to worry about me, Molly Bug.”
“I will always worry,” I remind him.
“You just keep being the awesome human you are. I’ll see you on the weekend, hopefully.”
I set the phone down after the line goes dead, throw my head back against the seat, and close my eyes. I grew up with a very loving family. My mom was the picture-perfect mother until I was around thirteen. That’s when everything changed. It didn’t happen slow. It was like she was there one day and then the nextshe was a complete stranger. As if a demon had taken over her body and mind.
