Page 80 of So Close

“If her personal happiness hinged on a hotel that didn’t belong to her, she sort of had it coming.”

Anger rose up in him, hot and fierce. “She didn’t deserve any of this. Not one little bit. She’s too good for this kind of bullshit. And I could have been honest with her from the beginning, I could have told her there was no way this could work out—instead I played a game with her—to get what I wanted. To keep from losing moneyso I could make more money.”

“That’s what you do, Trey. You make money. And then you make more money. For your stakeholders. For your investors. For your employees. That’s yourjob.And speaking of your job, once you get this thing signed, let’s talk about what we’re going to do next. I want in, whatever it is.”

“Even though I almost blew this.”

“You always had it in hand.”

It was the exact opposite of the truth. From the moment he’d seen Auburn Campbell in Bob’s Tavern, he’dneverhad it in hand. It had been completely and totally out of his control and he’d been profoundly and thoroughly out of his depth—

Yet it had been, quite possibly, the best week of his life.

“Yes. I want to work with you on whatever you do next. I’m thinking something else in the same space. More real estate tech. Or health care tech, although I feel like that’s more tapped out. Or—I’m willing to look at block chain if you are. This time I want in, though, from the ground floor.”

“You can be in for whatever you’ve got,” Trey said.

“Excellent. So. Sign this fucker and we’ll get on with it. Make you a billionaire next time, right? Unicorn status. Put you on the map. Get your name in those ‘biggest deals of’ or ‘highest valuation’ lists. Just pick up the goddamn pen, man. Pull yourself together and pick up the goddamn pen.”

He did. He opened it. Set the tip on the page and signed again.

“Two down. Forty-seven more to go,” Doug said.

“Are there really that many signatures?”

“No. Keep fucking signing.”

On the desk, Trey’s phone began to buzz. Instinctively, he reached for it.

The number was unfamiliar but the name he’d attached it to made his whole body buzz at the same frequency as the device.

Auburn.

“Don’t get that,” Doug said. “Finish signing.”

He almost obeyed. Because there was no point, because this was where they were now. This was what had to be done, and anything that chipped away at his resolve would only make life more difficult for all of them.

It quit ringing, and he exhaled and signed the third line.

And then it started again.

Auburn.

He picked it up and answered. “Xavier speaking.”

He heard her intake of breath and then she said, “I want to make an offer for Beachcrest.”

41

She’d handed the phone off to her lawyer, right away, even though he’d said, “Wait—”

The lawyer named the number, then began making a case for why Trey should accept the offer, but Trey cut him off.

“I accept.”

“You acceptwhat?” Doug demanded.

“Auburn’s buying Beachcrest.”

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