Page 5 of Billionaire Devil

When Sloane found out I design clothes she looked me up and bought a few of my pieces online. She told her friends about me and it’s been Sloane’s orbit of Instagram fashionistas that have given me the most exposure so far.

“Honey, what are you doing Saturday night?” she asks. “Will you come with me to a party? Technically, I’m working, but I need reinforcements. I can’t bear to talk shop all night with the finance nerd brigade.”

“Whose party is it?”

“My boss’s brother, Noah. It’s at his to-die-for house in Southampton.” Sloane has a job as the assistant for Colton Maddox, one of the four very successful Maddox brothers, famous for their good looks and their money. And for supposedly being Manhattan’s most eligible bachelors. Colton is the playboy brother, according to Sloane. She tells me wild stories about how he charms all the most beautiful women in Manhattan into bed but refuses to commit to any one of them beyond one night. “Usually I’d go alone but I need a buffer since it’ll be mainly work people. They’re celebrating the best quarter they’ve ever had at Invested Enterprises.”

“Sounds fun. But I’m heading back to California for a friend’s wedding this weekend.”

“Oh,” she says, disappointed. “When are you leaving?”

“Sunday morning.”

She perks up. “Then youcancome.”

“I was going to have an early night on Saturday and try to leave early on Sunday. I’m driving all the way to L.A., if you can believe that.”

“You’redriving?”

“I know, it’s a long way. But I’m scared of flying.” I don’t mention to Sloane that I’m thinking of moving back to L.A. for good. “And I thought I could see a few places along the way that I’ve always wanted to see.” I don’t love the idea of going alone, but then again maybe it’ll be a good opportunity to get some headspace and reassess my life. I haven’t had a chance to do that in a while.

“Please come?” Sloane pleads. “I need you, girlfriend. Plus I haven’t seen you in weeks and we need to catch up. You can still get an early night. Wear one of those sexy-ass designs you’re so good at. It’ll be a good opportunity to get noticed by some seriously loaded Hamptonites and it could be good for business.”

Maybe she’s right. Besides, I can admit I’ve been lonely lately, mired in my grueling work schedule. It might be nice to have some fun for a change. “Okay. I’ll come. But just for a few hours.”

“Fantastic! Thank you, sweetie. I’ll die of boredom if Ihave to spend the evening discussing spreadsheets and cost benefit analyses. You’re way more interesting.”

I laugh. “Sure I am.”

“Who knows, you might meet some hot billionaire who will sweep you off your feet and fall madly in love with you.”

“Yeah, right,” I scoff.

“I’ll see you on Saturday, honey. I’ll pick you up at six.”

2

Saturday

Southampton, New York

I lookout over the water, taking a minute to appreciate the killer view from the palatial deck of Noah’s Hamptons house. The whole sky is lit with fiery shades of red and orange. Tonight we’re celebrating the best quarter we’ve had yet. And the backdrop fits. I get the eerie feeling that something monumental has opened up or shifted somewhere out there in the universe—which is fucked up. The sky is absolutely on fire with cosmic power tonight.

Would you listen to yourself, asshole?

I don’t usually stop to consider shit like “cosmic power” or sunsets in general. In fact I can’t remember the last time I took the time to notice the color of the sky.

I’m not sure why I’m feeling philosophical tonight. Maybe because we’ve worked our asses off and are finally beginning to reap some serious rewards for all our colossal efforts.

Invested Enterprises was my brother Cash’s creation, but Noah and I have put just as much blood, sweat and tears into the company’s success as Cash has.

Cash had something to prove. At first I came along for the ride, because it was a challenge and it was also an escape hatch from the family business. Maddox Enterprises was founded by my great grandfather. It’s well known to be one of the most profitable investment companies in New York State history. Not a bad legacy, sure. But trying to work there with my father, before he dropped dead of a whiskey, cigar and meanness-induced heart attack—as well as my three older brothers and the long list of ancient executives—was a little like trying to conduct business in an overcrowded pond full of blood-thirsty sharks.

The layers of stifling expectations were so entrenched, it was like pulling teeth just to present any inkling of a new idea. The decrepit old board members, some of them relics from our grandfather’s era, saw every modern concept as a threat to their traditions and, even worse, to their gigantic investment portfolios. We tried to tell them we could have taken those portfolios to the next level, but it was no use.

Alexander was always going to be CEO of Maddox Enterprises because he’s the oldest son. Noah is the second son and the most accepting of all of us. If nothing betterhad come along, Noah probably would have stayed and made a good career out of being second-in-command while also keeping the peace because that’s what he does.

Cash was the one with the most strained relationship with our father. The thing he craved most of all was to be out from under the thumb of A.J. Benjamin Maddox III. And because our father was so convinced Cash would fail, it lit a bonfire under Cash like nothing else could have. Cash was hell-bent on making IE succeed no matter what it cost him.

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