Page 74 of The Renter
Not that he needs my approval, but I nod. He walks away, bottle in hand.When did he steal it from me?I smile, thinking about how much I love his hands on me.
“Allison,” I say, getting her attention and walking toward her. “We’ve barely talked. I wanted to get to know you better.”
“Well, first off, thank you for keeping him busy.” She raises her glass to me. “I’ve had a semblance of work-life balance so far this summer. I’m not looking forward to August.”
“Why’s that?”
“We’ll be in the weeds, negotiating a majority stake in a real estate investing platform.”
“Adam mentioned that at dinner yesterday.”
“When they do deals, especially majority ownership ones. It’s no joke.”
I can see the past stress emerging on her face. “You seem overly qualified to be an assistant.”
“I have an MBA from Booth, but everyone treats me like I went to community college. It’s a Stanford boys club at Harris.”
“Why not do something else then?”
“The six-figure bonus checks and the connections.” She takes a sip. “Whenever I want to leave, I’ll have the Rolodex to spin up any business I want.”
I nod, understanding. The more time I spend with Adam, the more I appreciate how valuable his connections are.
“I knew who you were before Adam did,” she says after a pause. “After his … incident in Lake Geneva. When he said your name and shared your phone number, you were already in our CRM.” After taking a sip of her drink she says,“The world can be so small, him meeting you through Declan. Do you know if he’s single?”
“Adam didn’t meet me through Declan,” I correct. “And he only dates sober girls.”
“Oh … I assumed since Declan was so insistent we invest in Shirts and now with you doing this project.”
What the fuck!“Wait,” I say. “I’ve never heard about this.”
“Our other silent partners stay out of the day-to-day, but Declan is more hands-on, suggesting companies we should invest in … like Shirts.”
I want to scream. Allison confirmed Greg’s statement that Declan is a minority owner of Harris Ventures. Plus, she just dropped a bomb. Why didn’t Adam say anything? Why didn’t Declan? For the first time in my life, I feel like a nepobaby.Would Shirts have ever raised money without Declan’s insistence?
“Isn’t that weird?” I ask. “Harris Ventures being invested in Cryptoball and then Declan being an investor in Harris Ventures?”
“Weird? Yeah. But it’s not illegal. The way everything is structured. It’s fascinating, honestly. All these guys have like dozens of shell companies and various entities they run things through. No one has any personal liability for anything.”
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“Don’t do anything too regrettable,” I warn Greg, shaking his hand before leaving.
“Never, brother. Any secret missions?”
“Find out what these pricks from Bain are up to—especially in China.” I turn around. “Oh, and see what initial reactions are about our pet project. We could use some more intros in that space.”
“Have fun with your twenty-five-year-old!” Greg says louder than I’d like.
“My girlfriend,” I correct, not appreciating the remark.
“Let’s go,” I growl behind her, interrupting a conversation of hers with a tech-founder I fucking hate. The satisfaction of stealing her from the room of men circling is more than satisfying.
“You’ve been lying to me,” she says, tense, as we make our way out of the chalet.
I look down at her, unsure what she’s getting at. “About?”
“Why didn’t you tell me that Declan was the reason Harris Ventures invested in Shirts?”
