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Brodie
Nara had run out of my place like her pants were on fire.
Strange, because she never seemed to worry much about being late before. Clearly, something was up, but she had split so fast I couldn’t ask what was eating at her. Maybe she hadn’t liked the club after all? Had I pressured her to go? God, I hoped not.
I’d get to the bottom of it. First, though, I had to get to work.
I started by calling my lawyer. “Joe, Brodie here,” I said.
“Hey there. Hope all is well.”
“All is well, and I think it’s about to get better. Go ahead and send the buy-out papers to Wooten’s and Evershire’s attorneys. I’ll call them in a little while. We’ll see what they say, and I’ll leave the door open for a counter offer. I suspect they’ll be surprised as hell.”
“Got it. What else?” Joe asked.
“Next, my brother in San Francisco has rounded up a group of investors to open a sister hotel there.”
“Wow. That’s amazing news.”
“It is. I’m psyched. Can you draw up partnership papers for this? I’ll email you all the pertinent info. And one last thing.”
“Yes?”
“I’m moving to San Francisco.”
“Oh, you lucky bastard. I love that city.”
“I do, too. I have some things to wrap up here, but the New York hotel will be in good hands with my general manager. And I’ll be back and forth all the time.”
“So now you’ll be breaking hearts on the West Coast. I guess you ran out of women here in New York?” He laughed.
“It’s funny, but the shoe is on the other foot these days. I’m the one who may end up with the broken heart.”
Next, I got my partners on the phone. I suspected they’d be shocked as hell when they found out HWE Enterprises was about to drop the W and the E. That is, if all went according to plan.
“Brodie,” one of them said, “to what do we owe this honor?”
“Hey, guys.”
I didn’t want to hate them, especially since my father essentially stole money from their fathers. But because of all that went down, I was pretty sure they hated me. Or at least resented me. To be honest, couldn’t say I blamed them.
“I have a proposition for you,” I started.
“Brodie,” one of them interrupted, “we’ve already told you we’re not interested in the San Francisco expansion—"
“That’s not what I’m calling about, guys,” I interrupted. Might was well try to keep it friendly.
I got to the point. “I’m prepared to buy you out of HWE. To release you of the partnership by paying a lump sum balance of what you’re owed.”
“Well, Brodie, no need to be so rash—”
“This isn’t rash at all, Steve. I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I think what I’m offering is more than fair. It covers what’s owed to you in damages due to my father’s actions.”
“Um…well…I don’t—” one of them said.
“Look, guys. I’m going to be straight with you. I know you’ve wanted to get rid of me. I don’t know why, since it was my hard work that turned Hotel Vertigo into what it is today. But I know you wanted to buy me out. And now I want to buy you out.”
“Well, Brodie, we’re not really interested in an offer like that—” one of them said.
“Wait,” the other chimed in, “What is the offer?”
Now I had them where I wanted them.
“My lawyer is sending over the papers within the hour. I think you’ll find them more than generous.”
I ended the call. My plan of catching them unaware worked perfectly. It would take them some time to digest all I’d said, but by the time they got my offer packet, the pump would be primed. Honestly, it was an offer they couldn’t refuse.
Wow. Moving to San Francisco. It was a long way from New York, but I was ready for a change and to see my brother on a more regular basis. I wondered, however, if it would be far enough to escape the guilt of my father’s sins…?
Now to see if Nara wanted to be part of my plan.
I hoped to god she did.
