Page 30 of Off Limits Billionaire

“Don’t waste food!” Nana shouted at him.

“Sorry, Nana,” the twins apologized.

I held my hands up to regain their attention. “I’m telling you now that this Pierce-Adler family feud is done.”

“Here we go,” Cameron huffed and folded his arms over his chest. “She’s playing you!”

“Do you want to know why I gave her 12 grand?” I asked him.

My parents’ faces showed their shock when they heard the dollar amount, but I needed them to understand.

“Hazard pay, or whatever reason she conned the money out of you,” Cameron told me.

“First we were cornered in Montclair’s by a guy who we outbid on the gift item. Then that same guy tried to escort her into a dark alley while I ordered a car to take us back to our hotel. We decided to check out of the hotel, then the airport driver essentially kidnapped us and we were held at gunpoint at Heathrow. That’s the fucking hazard pay!”

“Language!” my grandfather stammered.

I closed my eyes to take a deep breath. “I put her in danger and she deserved to be compensated for her trouble. I had to bend over backwards to get the best horologist to work at a reasonable rate and you just screwed me, Cameron. Not only am I going to lose out on the time it’s going to take for my little project, but I’m certain her rate is going to skyrocket since you broke the contract.”

“Who broke it?” Cameron pressed his hands against his chest as if I'd smacked him. “No way. That's not my fault. You should have told me.”

“I don’t need to explain myself to you! You work for me! This feud is over!” I told all of them. “If it weren’t such a thorn in everybody’s side, you wouldn’t be expecting her to screw me or steal from me. She’s been above reproach. Oh, and for your information, Cameron, thatguywith her was her brother, Hunter Pierce. He was going to quote me on the goldsmith work that needed to be done, which your consultation invoice neglected to mention.”

“I never cared for the Pierce family,” Nana stated solemnly, “But I never had problems with them, either.”

“My grandmother told me ...” my grandfather started but paused to catch his breath. “My grandmother told me all about the feud. Adler Assets got its start with her husband, your great great grandfather, Miles Adler, when he bought a building that he was supposed to partner with Milton Pierce on. But, Pierce took his share of the capital and bought a rare antique clock that was in desperate need of fixing. It forced our family to borrow money from the kind of people you don’t want to borrow money from. My grandfather, Miles, worked his fingers to the bone to pay back those people. My grandmother Rose hated that her husband kept the building and made them suffer through a few years of tough times.”

“And we’re better for it!” I stated. “Imagine if everything we have today were partially owned by another family or another company. And … look where our family is now. This is where the grit of being an Adler has gotten us. Every generation is more successful than the last because of the sacrifices made for us. Anabella Pierce didn’t screw me. You all did, and you’d better hope she forgives me.”

15

ANABELLA

Ineeded my family and friends around me. So, I invited them to come for dinner and prepared a fancy meal for them. Nina, Sonia, Hunter, Paul, and my grandparents all chatted amongst themselves at the dinner table. Every few minutes or so, someone would toss a compliment my way. I had no appetite and just sat there pushing my food around my plate.

“It’s really good, Ana.” Gran-gran smiled with every bite. It was simple. Steaks and vegetables grilled in a cast iron skillet with a peach cobbler cheesecake I threw together for dessert.

I let out a breath as I wished I could share this with Marcus, but he was the asshole that had me moody in the worst way. It’d only been a week since I was fired off the job, and about three days since Marcus last tried to reach out to me. The idea of him trying made me glance down at my phone in my lap, but nothing was there. No messages from Marcus and no chimes of large deposits of cash hitting my account.

“What’s the matter, Ana?” Paul finally asked the question I’m sure burned through all of their minds.

I looked up and forced a smile. “I really wanted that job restoring the Godschalk. Idon’tneed your “I told you so”, you were right. I was wrong. Happy?”

“No,” Paul grunted as he pushed himself away from the table. “I’m upset that you had to take this job to begin with. I should have been more focused on what was going on here. I have about two thousand free to go towards the mortgage. I finally sold that piece I bought in Egypt. My commission off this next sale—”

“It’s fine, Paul. We’re covered until May, I believe. I haven’t gotten any refund requests, so I’m guessing I get to keep it all.”

“You know what?” I felt the tears stinging my eyes, but willed them not to fall. “This whole family feud nonsense was placed over our heads and we didn’t have a fair shot. Marcus and I didn’t have a fair shot at business, friendship, or anything else because of this fight, and you two probably don’t even remember the reason why it started.”

“I know why it started!” Grandpa snapped, waving a finger in the air. “My grandfather, the great Milton Pierce, came across a rare clock that was expensive, broken, and would need even more money to restore it. He took the money he'd set aside for the Adler deal and put it into the clock.

He knew the building Adler wanted him to invest in and the scope of work it needed was beyond what he wanted to invest. He tried to tell Adler, but Adler didn’t listen! The only thing left for Milton to do was strike out on his own. If he was going to lose any money, it would be with an investment he was happy to invest in. The Pierce family suffered in poverty for a few years while my grandfather repaired the antique. My grandmother, Estelle Pierce, blamed the Adlers for trying to lock us into an awful business deal.”

I let my fingers hold my head up as I processed the story for the millionth time. “I get why it was a big deal back then, but now? Why now? Why until this day? And Paul … shut up about Marcus! That’s just you two bumping egos and wallets.”

“That sounds like what you and Marcus did,” Hunter chuckled under his breath.

Nina and Sonia sat quietly as my family and I hashed this feud out once and for all.

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