AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Girl I met. She’s just a college student, but she figured him out. Anyway, I asked for Ben’s input on the project. He said the Drumm family is all smoke and mirrors. They’re in a lot of debt, and he thinks they’ll siphon money from this project to pump into their other failing resorts.”
“JD and I aren’t looking for ROI from the resort itself.”
“Your call, but I don’t trust the connard.”
There’s an edge to his tone that suggests his distaste for Eric is personal.
Not seeing Bridget anywhere, I wander down the hall to look for her. I find her in her bedroom, bent over her desk, trying to reach for something behind it.
Fuck me.
A picture of me standing behind her, doing her in that position, flashes through my mind. Shaking it away, I tell Tony to hold and ask her, “Need some help?”
“I got it,” she mumbles. A second later, she stand back up and lets out a breath. “The outlet is right behind the desk, unfortunately. I’d put the desk elsewhere, but as you can see, there’s not a lot of options.”
She’s right. Between the two beds, two desks, and a dresser, very little room is left.
“You can use this room for your call if you want some privacy,” she offers.
I shake my head and turn my attention back to Tony. “So you’re passing on an opportunity to get in good with the Drumm family?”
“Not worth it.”
“Your brother think the same way?”
“No, he’s pissed as hell with me. I was supposed to make friends with Eric, but I’d rather eat shit.”
That’s a stronger statement than I’d expected. Something happened between the two of them, but I don’t want to get into it right now.
“Thanks for the feedback,” I say and end the call.
“More fundraising for Drumm?” Bridget asks.
“He wants me to invest in a resort he plans to build upstate.”
“Don’t do it.”
Taken aback by her bluntness, I protest, “You don’t know anything about the project.”
“Don’t have to. Don’t you read the news about him and his family? How they always find some excuse not to pay their contractors the full amount? And they never use the larger construction firms. They use little guys whom they can bully around. And they’re hypocrites. The senior Drumm makes such a big deal about limiting immigration, but his resorts employ undocumented workers who are too frightened to advocate for themselves.”
“Governor Drumm could be the next president.”
“So you’re going to overlook his faults because of that?”
“In business—hell, in life—you have to overlook a lot of things.”
She shakes her head. “There’s got to be better people to do business with. Let’s say Drumm does become president. What are you hoping to get out of it?”
“Nothing. For myself. But I have family and friends who are interested.”
I keep to myself the fact that the president appoints the Attorney General, the FBI Director, etcetera. The Jing San has lower-level connections in these government agencies, but we’re looking to aim higher.
“That’s nice of you to be supporting your family and friends,” Bridget says, “and I’d hope they’d understand if you wanted to make a business decision based on principles other than political gain.”
I lean against the doorframe and cross my arms. “What makes you think I have any principles?”
She furrows her brow. I want to point out that she can’t name anything.
