CHAPTER TWENTY
DREW
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The next morning, I gather my team in the executive boardroom to do a high level debrief on Open Leaf.
Gemma hasn’t rung or messaged to say she’s taking me up on my offer, but I’m happy to give her time. Then again, it’s only seven-thirty in the morning, and I might have set this meeting early on purpose.
Just in case she does show up.
Chloe is under strict instructions not to let anyone in this room. What’s revealed here today needs to stay in this room and certainly not be shared with Mrs. Ford. When or if she needs to know, I will be the one to tell her.
If my suspicions are right.
Which I’m confident they are.
“I’ll have the paperwork ready for the Dufort’s by midmorning,” Robin says after we finish discussing the Chicago store closing and the building being offered to Daniel.
“Add another three percent. Dufort Hotels really wants the property, and I know two other investors who would jump on this today, driving the price up with a multi offer.” I rub my chin, thinking. “Daniel knows it, too. Let’s not fuck around with this.”
“Got it.”
“We need to recoup our investment. We’ve taken enough time already. What other assets have we identified?” I twist slightly in my chair and lean on the arm. “Theo?”
He thumbs through a folder and pulls one out. Then clicks the button on a remote which connects his laptop, bringing a spreadsheet up on screen.
“Right. So, my team and I reviewed the market value of the other buildings owned by Open Leaf. There are fifteen. Twenty-five percent of the stores are located in buildings owned by the company.”
Higher than I thought.
“How many of the properties were owned prior to Anthony Ford stepping in as CEO?” I ask.
Theo glances at me, clicks through his spreadsheet, then says, “Seven.”
Jesus fucking Christ.
He purchased eight buildings across major cities in America over six years. Even for a property investor, that’s a large amount of real estate investment.
“Equity?”
Theo rubs his jaw. “Low. Shall I go through each one?”
I slowly nod.
It’s going to be a long morning. I know which ones are the big red flags, I’ve seen the foreclosure notices Gemma would have received—the documents which likely led her to selling.
I’m playing chess now.
Today we will decide what we keep and what we sell. And what we throw in the trash.
This is what I do.
This is how I work.
This is what I don’t want her to see.
I’m known for being cold, calculated and fucking good at making money off companies crumbling at the seams.
Very few people take the high risks I do, but that’s because they aren’t me.
I’ve made billions, and I’ve done it by not letting my heart or my cock take the lead.
I need Gemma gone.
But you’re still thinking of fucking her on the kitchen counter.
To see her spread open and dripping for me while I slide her tiny, chopped snacks through her juices.
Christ.
Focus on Theo, not your damn fantasies.
As I listen to him and Robin go through the numbers, I see the facts I’ve pieced together in my head play out like a movie.
Anthony Ford overcapitalized and put the company in a terrible position, which meant his widow had no hope of keeping it running. Gemma didn’t have the knowledge, skills or funds to salvage what her late husband had done.
Perhaps he had a plan.
That’s me being kind.
I mean, that plan didn’t include him being killed in a car accident and leaving his wife with this mess, despite his intentions. But he has, and I can’t help wondering what those intentions were.
Bad strategic decisions, I can forgive.
Not...what I think Anthony was involved with.
During the pre-purchase due diligence, Theo met with their former accountant. The older man agreed to meet with us despite resigning months ago.
Theo came to me, concerned. “Something fishy is going on, Drew.”
“Fishy, how?”
Those weren’t the words I wanted to hear when looking at acquiring a company.
“I asked about those large chunks of cash being moved, and he got defensive. Vague at best,” Theo replied.
“Explain.”
“I asked what those amounts were for and Harold said, and I quote, many of our employees split their salary payments into dual accounts for one reason or another. Mr. Ford was the owner. I don’t get to decide how much he pays himself. Or to what account. I was doing my job.”
Theo and I stared at one another, knowing the old guy was correct.
It left us with more questions than we had answers because it was a lot of fucking money. A sum that would have left Gemma and Zoe in a different set of circumstances than they are in now.
I don’t know the details, but I know she’s updating her resume, and no one does that if they have seven or eight figures in their accounts.
I also trust my gut, which is why I had Theo reach out to Barrett Security—owned by Connor Barrett, who hosted last week’s charity event—to have one of his private investigators look into Anthony Ford’s life.
Many of Connor’s team are former Marines with high-tech experience. Digital warfare is a real time threat in the Western world, and Connor has gained a reputation for being a go-to guy in the state.
While Anthony’s income and how he spent it might appear to be none of my business, I wanted to know if there was anything criminal going on...and why he left his pretty young wife with a business knee deep in debt.
Correction, with debt up to its ears.
I had a strong suspicion, and Theo had already messaged me saying my thoughts, which I shared privately with him, were correct.
Fuck.
It would matter.
Theo finished going through the numbers, with Robin interjecting where required, and my patience started running out.
“Okay. Let’s jump to the Barrett report.”
Theo’s shot me a look and nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Knock, knock.
I glance up as Chloe opens the door. “Mrs. Ford wanted to let you know she’s here and will be in her office.”
Crap.
Damn you, Gemma, you should’ve taken my offer.
“Thank you.”
I grind my teeth, not surprised by the tenacious, sexy woman who has turned my emotional world into chaos.
When the door closes, I glance at Theo to continue.
“Anthony Ford was having multiple affairs.” Theo says, looking uncomfortable. “He was gambling, buying drugs, and associated with some dangerous underground people.”
He slides a report across the table, and the names are listed. I’m not intimately knowledgeable about who they are, but the Barrett Security investigator has added details which I’ll read later.
A headache appears at the base of my head as I consider the danger he put his wife and daughter in.
“So he was paying debts for drugs and gambling?”
“It could also be blackmail. There’s an account for Ms. Sally Wallstone. Could be an alias; they haven’t confirmed, but have offered to dig deeper,” Theo shares.
Clearly, there was a line drawn for a reason, so I simply nod for now and will decide down the track.
“Did they include the names of the women he was involved with?”
“Yes. One of them he paid half a million dollars to,” Theo shakes his head. “God, this guy...looks like she has a son. Could be hush money.”
Jesus, fuck.
“Who is she?”
“Works for a large publisher. She’s an editor, so say her social profiles. Single, lives in Hell’s Kitchen. Is also an author, although the book doesn’t seem to have had huge success.”
Yeah, well, when you get paid that much by a multi-millionaire for having his kid, why spend time marketing your book?
Maybe I’m cynical.
But when your best friend was murdered and his billion-dollar inheritance stolen, do you blame me?
Fuck you, Sandy.
Theo slides his phone towards me, showing Sally’s social media account. She’s pretty, in her late twenties, stylish, and appears confident.
Her son...looks like Zoe.
Well, well, well, Anthony.
Does Gemma know about this? Is Sally the only woman you knocked up while married?
“She purchased a new condo with the money before her child was born,” Robin says, swiping his phone, and I figure he’s on her Instagram account.
I can’t be angry with her.
I’ve been lucky so far, not getting a woman pregnant, and I hope it stays that way. But the war raging in my chest is on behalf of Gemma. She loved him—loves him—and that fucker doesn’t deserve it.
“How much did he spend on gambling and drugs over the past five years?” I ask.
Theo flicks through his files, and we watch as he does a quick calculation. “We’re looking at around seven million. An estimate.”
Plus, the five hundred thousand to Sally.
“Any other payouts to women?”
“Two. Much smaller amounts.” Theo nods.
“So, round it up to eight million.”
Robin and Theo stare at me. They’re thinking the same as me. It’s the number that would have gotten Open Leaf out of the hole they were in when Gemma sold up the business.
Anthony Ford’s deceit hangs in the air like a stench.
I know the two men have built a professional relationship with Gemma over the past month. She’s likeable, pretty and (except for me) has helped my team with anything they need.
“Sorry, I just have to say this,” Robin, who is married, pipes up. “What a fucking dick.”
Theo nods, then starts shaking his head. “I heard Gemma on the phone talking to her bank manager last week. About her mortgage.”
What?
My brows shoot up.
Are her finances that bad?
Then what the fuck is she doing here? Why hasn’t she taken my offer and used it to pay her mortgage?
Then what?
She could sell the fucking penthouse. Is she keeping it because it was the home she and Anthony bought?
Jesus, I bet it is.
She’s sentimental.
I rub my thumb along my forefinger, gritting my teeth. I could walk along the hall right goddamn now and tell her about Sally Wallstone. About her son.
Zoe’s half-brother.
It would destroy her.
I’m not responsible for her lying, cheating husband who ran his family company into the ground, playing little businessman while fucking another woman. And I am not going to stand back while Gemma clings to a false past while losing her home.
Why do I care so fucking much?
I need to get refocused.
Now I have all the information I need to bypass the emotional restraint I’ve been under because of Gemma’s big pretty eyes, I’m free to move forward.
Ruthlessly.
I clear my throat. “I’ll make sure she’s looked after. Robin, get on the phone to our buyers and start selling off the real estate. Not the Manhattan flagship store. Sell the rest.”
“On it.”
“Theo, send me the files and make sure they are not on our public servers and are fully password protected.” I say. “Ask HR to call me.”
I need to see Gemma.
I search for a reason and can’t find one, but the need to see her is all-encompassing.
What I tell her after this meeting is yet to be determined.
“Will do,” Theo says. “Do you want the demo team ready to step in?”
Nicknamed the demolition team, that’s exactly what they do. Shut down and tear apart stores, offices, whatever we are working on once properties are sold.
They do it fast and efficiently.
“Put them on standby. It will depend on how long it takes Robin to get them sold.”
“No pressure,” Robin jokes, then glances down as his phone vibrates. “Would you look at that? Dufort has just agreed to purchase Chicago.”
I walk out with a smile on my face.