Chapter 29
Liam
The Monday after Thanksgiving, I did something I hadn’t done in years: I went to see Albert.
I didn’t ask him to come to the brownstone, because I didn’t want to see David and Becca out of sorts again.
The detective had dug up Albert’s personal address, as well as the fact that he spent most of his day there.
It was a hellhole outside the city, nothing like the condo he used to afford. The dumbass. If he smartly invested the paycheck we sent him every month, or at least saved a chunk of it, things would be very different.
The building’s elevator wasn’t working, so I took the stairs to the fifth floor. There was a coat of filth on each step. I didn’t look too closely, but it was more than just dust and mud.
I knocked at number 57 a few times. When no one answered, I banged louder until I heard movement on the other side of the door. Albert opened it, finally. He looked like he’d just gone to sleep. Dark circles marked his eyes. His gray T-shirt had multiple holes in it, as did his shorts.
“What the fuck?” he exclaimed.
I pushed him out of the doorway, stepping inside the apartment.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Wanted to talk to you. Didn’t want you to show your face at the brownstone again.”
The hallway was small and dark, but I had no intention of staying long enough to go into any of the rooms.
“How do you know where I live?”
“I had a detective look into you.”
“Did you now? Liked what he found?”
“You’re broke. You’re actually stupid enough to waste all that money you’re getting every month.”
“It’s not that much.”
“Depends what you’re used to.”
His last building had a doorman and concierge services. His suits used to be five thousand a piece.
“That’s why I need more. That’s why I want out of the firm.”
“You’ll just waste that money too.”
“That’s not your problem though, is it?”
“It is. It requires me to do something I don’t want to. I have a problem with that.”
Albert narrowed his eyes. “All you have to do to get enough cash to buy me out is freeze one current investment. One.”
I stared at him. “How do you know that?”
“You’re not the only one who hired a detective.”
“You live in this shithole and waste money on a detective? Christ, what happened to you? You used to be smart.”
It was why we made him a partner in the business. It wasn’t just because he’d been our friend.
“I won’t freeze it.”
Albert’s eyes turned cold. “What the fuck is wrong with you? You’ve wanted me out of the business for years.”
“This is a bad time.”
“You’re fucking one of those bitches from Soho Lingerie, aren’t you?”
I rolled my hands into fists.
“The one who’s not married. My detective suspected that,” he continued.
“You ever call anyone a bitch in front of me again, you won’t have teeth. You hired a shit detective if he didn’t even confirm Tess and I are together.”
“You’re crazy if you think I’m going to wait on my ass until the time is convenient for you.”
“Yes, you will.”
“Maybe I should go see this Tess. Find out what she thinks about this.”
My hands were gripping his T-shirt before I even realized it. “You go anywhere near Tess and you’re done. So fucking done.”
“Yeah? What’re you going to do about it?”
“We never pressed charges against you.”
“Because you didn’t have the balls. So don’t come to me with that. You’re too proud to have your name tainted in any way, so don’t think I’m buying this act.”
“People change, Albert. You changed. I changed. Things that used to matter don’t anymore.”
Others did, and they mattered so much more.
For the first time, I saw uncertainty in his eyes, even fear. Good, because I meant every word.
“I’m not budging on the deadline,” he said.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. I want a written notice that you’ll extend the deadline until April, or I’ll make you very sorry for trying to steal from us. I don’t want an answer now. Think about it. Really well,” I said.
I left before he had a chance to reply. I didn’t want to hear one more word or I was liable to punch him.
I didn’t know what the hell I’d been thinking, coming here. Maybe that I could get through to him somehow because we’d been friends once? Clearly, that didn’t matter to him.
And it didn’t to me either. Not anymore. Albert was going to learn the hard way not to mess with me.