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"You wanted to earn it," Nikolai offered.
I nodded. "After that, I worked my ass off to get my GED. Patricia didn't live long enough to see that happen, but I promised her I was going to go to college. She helped me with the application and paperwork for financial aid. College was everything I expected it to be. I had to work twice as hard as everyone else to get equal grades. But no one knew about my learning challenges. I wanted it to be an even playing field because that was what it would be like after school. As soon as I began my studies, I knew it wouldn't be enough to get me where I wanted to go. To get me into the world of Clifton Hayes."
"So you went on to Harvard," Nikolai said.
"It was a whole new life. Going from small-town Kansas to big-city Boston. But I loved it. For the first time, I felt like I fit somewhere. There were a few times that I was tempted to contact Cliff to tell him of my progress, but I couldn't do it."
"Why not?"
“Because I didn’t want to be tempted to take any handout he might offer me out of pity. I wanted nothing more than to work for TDS, but I wanted it to be on my terms.”
"So what did you do?"
"I began studying things beyond what I was learning in school. I read everything I could about Cliff and his business. I studied the market and his competitors. I spent years analyzing the trends in real estate development. I started to see opportunities coming down the pipe before they actually did."
"What does that mean?" Nikolai asked.
"Real estate development is about knowing what people are going to want before they want it. You have to know which area of the city is going to be the next Soho or Tribeca. I was in my last year of grad school when I was sure I’d found that area. I took a chance and began interacting with the community of people that was already there. Especially the shop owners and residents of the small apartment complexes. After graduation, I moved to the neighborhood to ingratiate myself even further into it so I’d know who would be willing to sell and who’d need bigger incentives. About six months after I moved, I saw the trend that I’d predicted start to shift my way, so I reached out to Cliff and made him an offer he couldn't refuse."
"What was the offer?"
"I guaranteed him I could get everyone in a one-block area to sell to him. It was a perfect piece of property for building the luxury apartments and commercial storefronts that TDS is known for. I basically told Cliff I could negotiate the deal for him. If it fell through, he wouldn't have to pay me anything. If I succeeded, I wanted ten percent of the deal." I laughed and shook my head. "God, I had a lot of balls."
"But he took you up on it," Nikolai said.
I nodded. "He did. While the deal was huge for me, it was chump change for a guy like Cliff. I'm sure my relationship with Patricia played a big part in his willingness to take the deal. I managed to pull it off somehow. I got enough money to pay for this place," I said as I glanced around the room before meeting Nikolai's eyes again. "I was able to pay off all my student loan debt and I have enough money in the bank to last a while. Cliff was so impressed with what I’d managed to do that he made me senior account executive. No entry-level job," I said with a smile.
"Amazing," Nikolai said softly, his dark eyes holding mine. He leaned down long enough to kiss me gently before pulling back and saying, "So that's why you're in such a high-level position at such a young age."
Since he didn't really need an answer, I didn't say anything. I couldn't tear my eyes from his. I was still in a complete state of shock that the man was even here in bed with me. And that we were talking about things that lovers talked about, not just two guys who’d hooked up. After a moment I said, "Cliff took me under his wing after that and then, I don't know, I guess we just became friends."
"Why not put the rumors about your relationship with him to rest?" Nikolai asked.
"How?" I asked him. "When has denying a rumor ever resolved it? How do you prove something that isn't true? Cliff told me a long time ago that people will believe what they want to believe. He doesn't care what they say about him in the press. He warned me that I would be a target the more we were seen together, but I didn't care. The trade-off is worth it.”
