Chapter 28 #2
“When Nathaniel was in town, he made a few comments that got me thinking about speeding up a timeline or two. We need our own business. Something that my father and the council don’t have their fingers in.
We also need a safer place for pick-up and drop-off and a better location than the warehouse to hold anyone we need to question.
Although he would view it as beneath him to go to the warehouse, my father could’ve shown up at any time and found Devin. ”
“What kind of business are we talking,” Liam asked as he inspected the wall with a water stain.
“I want to turn the end closest to the preppy side of town into a club. All ages, two floors, with everything the sorority house parties have, but better. We can do themed rooms and private spaces and hire DJs that are fire. On the other end, I want to put in a boxing gym with an apartment upstairs and high-end, underground fights downstairs where the house gets twenty percent no matter what.”
“Jesus,” Myles mumbled.
“This will take a lot of work to fix and manage. Not to mention a load of money,” Liam said, pulling out his calculation book—he never went anywhere without. “I’m assuming you want part of the downstairs turned into soundproof holding cells with secret access?”
“Yes.”
His pencil moved so fast it looked like it was scribbling along the page.
“So, this is what ya meant when ya said there was a plan to stop me from havin’ to do drop-offs.”
“Yeah. It won’t stop what my father insists on us doing, but I have an idea for that as well. I’m waiting for the right moment to bring it up. I need to do it in front of the rest of the council members.”
“You can do that next week,” Liam said, looking up from what he was working on. “My dad was saying that only the council will be attending the next quarterly projections meeting, and you always have to go to those.”
“Don’t remind me. But yes, that would work. Lawrence will hate that I’m bringing it up then, but if I have it ready as a presentation, then he’ll keep his mouth shut. Money always speaks louder than anything else with him.”
“Speaking of money. Just going through a general cost rundown and hiring my family’s regular contractors who will give us a deal, we are looking at a cool million before the purchase price.
I need more time for exact figures, and we still need to rip open the walls to see the extent of the damage.
I’d tack on another half million to be safe. ”
“So, a million and a half to fix up and four hundred thousand to purchase. Seems a little lopsided,” I mumbled.
“Probably why it sat for so long. I’ve worked on some of our smaller projects.
Once you pull the walls down it can get expensive fast. I need to spend a few days wandering around with a crowbar and a sledgehammer to dig deeper into the issues inside the walls and floors.
The bonus is that it doesn’t seem to have a rodent infestation. ”
“Ya really know how to have a fun time,” Myles said.
“In that case, you can help,” Liam said and smirked.
“Why didn’t I keep my fuckin’ mouth shut?” Myles wandered over to a pile of garbage and moved it with his toe.
“Worst case scenario…two and a half mil to do what I want?”
“I hate giving you guarantees when I don’t have more information, but yes, you’re probably safe with that number, and that is only if we use my family’s contractors. If you need anyone else for any reason, then double the cost.”
“And what do we have saved?”
Liam pulled out his phone. “Including the fifty grand I won last night, we are shy by half a million.”
“Shit. I didn’t want to bring in outside investors.” Walking over to the window, I stared out at the darkened street and the few cars passing by.
“The other thing is employees. We’ll need to figure out other costs. Like hiring a manager until we are done with school and this place gets going. We’ll need twenty-four-hour security, as well as the initial stock of food, drinks, and whatever else,” Liam said.
I rubbed at my face. Maybe this was too big to start. I could scale back, but then it wouldn’t make as big of a splash in both districts.
“I’ll sell me car,” Myles said.
I turned around and stared at him in shock. He loved that car and was totally obsessed with it. I would’ve sworn before Ren came along that he fucked the thing.
“You’re serious?”
“Aye.” He shrugged. “It may kill me, but it’ll bring us a lot closer.
Besides, dependin’ on the timeline, we’ll be able to move more product, and Liam has been killing it at the tables.
Theo is always bringin’ in large sums with his extracurricular activities and whatever Blake has squirreled away. We could have enough.”
“Myles is right. We don’t need it all today,” Liam said, and my spirits lifted.
“I’ll also see what I can buy that my father will sign off on and then sell it.” I turned in a circle and could envision this place as a thriving business—one that was all ours.
Ethan made it clear that I needed to show I could make money to win over the other families.
Annoying my father only went so far, but winning alliances to my side would oust him for good.
I had nothing to offer right now other than a few dozen rogue children who hated my father for one reason or another.
That would only get me laughed at, and I had to start thinking bigger.
My alliance with Nathaniel was a good first step, but it was time to take another step. This would be a big one.
We all needed goals, and mine was to unseat my father before putting a bullet between his eyes as he begged me for this life. That day would come.