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“Sorry to call so early, Arsen,” Gerard says once he comes on the screen. I look at the clock. It’s 7:30 am. He’s already dressed in a crisp suit and tie, sitting in his office downtown. The guy must wake up at around 5 to get there from the Upper East Side.
‘It’s not a problem, Gerard,” I say as I leave the field of vision for a moment to turn on the coffee maker in the kitchen. “What can I do for you?”
“Actually, I have some good news, if that’s what you’re calling it,” Gerard says as I come back into view. “Mr. Giannoni has come back from his clients and he’s stating that we might have a tentative offer on a few more of the properties that we’re looking to sell.”
“Which ones?” I ask. This is key.
There’s a pause from Gerard before he answers. “He’s prepared to purchase the whole portfolio, sir.”
The entire thing?
In one shot, I could be done with Dad’s ridiculous smut business? I could free myself from the filth that he peddled?
“Everything, Gerard?” I ask again, raising my eyebrows. “In one swoop?”
Gerard shrugs. “He certainly seems amenable to taking the entirety of your holdings. But if I would suggest an a
lternative, I would say that we do it piece meal.”
The method doesn’t really matter to me. If I can get rid of everything, then this is something I should totally look into.
But one thing bothers me.
“Gerard, who does this lawyer represent?” I ask. If I’m going to be giving up Dad’s life work for some cash, I want to know who I’m selling it to. Despite the fact that it’s all X-rated smut, I want to make sure at least that I’m not fucking over the people who do the work day in and day out. And that could easily happen if I end up selling to someone shady.
“I can certainly find that out, sir,” Gerard says. “However the buying party is going to be an LLC based out of Delaware, most likely.”
That makes sense. You want to know the easiest country to launder money in? It’s not fucking Switzerland, or the Bahamas. It’s right here. The United States of America. With our secretive banking laws and the ability for one company to own another, anyone can buy anything while still remaining fucking hidden from the world.
“I’m not comfortable selling the entire fucking company if I don't know who I’m selling it to, Gerard,” I say into the video monitor. “I just want to know where all these people’s livelihoods are going to end up.”
“I agree, sir,” Gerard says. “We wouldn't want to sell to someone who is completely disreputable, but I also want to point out that there will be a certain level of…”
“Seediness?” I ask with a smile.
Gerard smiles at me. “A certain type of character who will come to define the market, yes,” he agrees with me. And yeah, he’s got a fucking point. I mean, you’re not going to see blue chip companies like Disney try to buy the Sex Palace on 3rd Avenue that my Dad built in 2010, or the Swinger's Club in Miami. That’s not going to be purchased by Coca-Cola. But still, I want some type of fucking standards.
“I mean, who is this guy representing? Is it a company? Or a person? Something, anything, is all I’m looking for,” I tell Gerard.
“Maybe we should start our transactions with a limited subset of properties then and try to ascertain more information,” Gerard suggests.
That’s a pretty good idea. Give this Mr. Giannoni something and then dangle the prize in front of him in exchange for more information.
“I like that,” I tell Gerard. “Why don’t we sell the entire strip club portfolio first and see what we can find out?”
I’m not worried about selling the strip clubs. The only real employees in a strip club are the managers and the bouncers and they’re all tough as fucking nails. Dad had strip clubs from Myrtle Beach to San Francisco to New York City. Even if its fucking ISIS buying these clubs, the girls will all be able to simply move on and the guys that work there—heaven help anyone that tries to fuck around with them.
“Agreed, let’s get the paperwork sorted on that. And what do you think the earliest we can prepare for signature would…” I don’t get a chance to finish because Gerard interrupts me.
“I think we can discuss this a little later on today, sir,” he says and my eyes flash up to see him on the monitor. He’s looking past me, somehow. “I didn’t realize I was bothering you, Arsen. Thought you normally slept alone.”
I turn around and see Ashley standing at the door to my bedroom. She’s looking into the living room, wearing one of my collared shirts.
God, she looks so fucking cute.
I barely get a chance to register as Gerard says goodbye and hangs up. He probably felt a bit awkward, which is a fucking riot considering that we were talking about selling off pieces of a sex empire.
But who cares about business deals when the hottest fucking girl is standing just a few feet away from me wearing nothing but my shirt?
