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I kept quiet after that. My decision had been made. I’m all for stretching the truth on my business mileage and office expenses when it came to my taxes, but I wasn’t about to get involved with any major cash transactions that were structured to avoid someone paying taxes on their IRS lien, and God knows the reason the other investors needed a discreet transaction.
Our meeting ended, and the two hotel owners said goodbye. Robert, our banker, stuck around to chat with Edward, leaving me with my jackass brother. Robert had put some forms in the middle of the table that we would all need to sign to increase our line of credit with the bank by millions of dollars.
Elliott slipped a pen from inside his jacket pocket and flung it across the table at me. “Why don’t you sign now, so you can be on your merry way?”
“I’m not signing this thing.” I slid the pen that had landed in front of me to the middle of the table. “I may not know too much about business, but I know a shady deal when I see one. This is exactly the type of thing that Grandfather wouldn’t go near with a ten-foot pole.”
My brother’s face contorted. “Stop being so naïve, and just sign the fucking thing. It’s a good investment. You’ll never have to pay a dime out of pocket toward the loan payments. Profits will cover everything.”
“I don’t think it’s a wise decision to put all of the other Vanderhaus businesses at risk for a single hotel in Costa Rica. First, you don’t know anything about running a hotel. And, second, there’s something shady about the deal. The owners just flat out told you that they need cash because they are trying to avoid paying a tax lien. Think they’re going to be any more honest with you than the government?”
Elliott stood. His chair tumbled over from the way he whipped from the table so fast. He raised his voice. “It’s not bad enough we have to share profits with you, now you’re interfering with us making them. You should appreciate that you even get anything from us.”
“I think you’re forgetting that I don’t get anything from you. Our grandfather left me the shares in his company. If you weren’t so spoiled and entitled, you’d see there is a difference.”
“You’re just being vindictive. Isn’t it about time that you accept that your family will always take sloppy seconds from the Vanderhaus men?”
I stood. “Fuck you.”
Elliott fiddled with his expensive watch. “Your little trashy girlfriend wasn’t even that good of a lay anyway.”
My blood started to pump. I had to have misheard him. “What the hell did you just say?”
“I didn’t even remember that I’d tapped that until she reminded me at my party.” He shook his head. “Forgettable.”
I slammed both fists on the table and leaned across it toward my brother. “What the fuck are you talking about, asshole?”
Elliott looked back and forth between my rage-filled eyes. An evil sneer that gave me chills spread across his face. He tilted his head. “She didn’t tell you, did she?”
“Tell me what?”
It was one thing for him to insult my business acumen and me personally, but I’d be damned if this asshole was going to say shit about Gia. I was barely able to contain myself.
He tsked. “It must be a Rushmore genetic trait. First your mother tried to take what my mother already had. And now you’re banging one of my leftovers.”
I jumped onto and over the table faster than Elliott could even move. The smirk still didn’t fall from his face when I pushed him up against the wall and pressed my forearm to his throat. Edward and Robert tried to rip me off of him, but I didn’t budge.
“Don’t you even say Gia’s name. She wouldn’t give you the time of day.”
The asshole started to turn red, yet somehow he managed to speak. “She gave me the time of day alright. Twice that night, if I remember correctly. I really liked the cute little heart-shaped mole on her ass when I had her on all fours.”
I suddenly felt like I was the one being choked. My grip loosened a little, not because I wanted to let him breathe, but because I couldn’t breathe now. Elliott was able to take advantage of my shock and pushed my arm from his throat.
He coughed while I stood there frozen. There was no fucking way Gia had slept with my brother. She’d never do that to me. There had to be another way he knew about the heart-shaped mole.
Edward put his arm around his son and scowled at me. “You’re really an animal.” He looked to Elliott. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah.” His voice was hoarse from almost having his windpipe crushed. He looked at me and gave one last vicious smile. “Tell your girlfriend that Harlan said hello.”
