15
Barrett
Amomentary lapse of judgment had me on my knees tasting her sweet juices, and more than once today, I was distracted. At meetings, I imagined her taste on my tongue or making her come with me inside her, screaming my name.
The warning Ari shot me last night was fruitless. It couldn’t happen again. It shouldn’t. I had never taken advice from others, except my sister, Evelyn. But with Lourde, I was playing with fire. After one taste of her, she had doused me from head to toe in gasoline, holding the match.
I was her babysitter, her protector, and nothing more. But the way she moaned my name between her peach lips looped in my head, distracting me all day long. Nothing would’ve given me more of a hard-on than to see Lourde Diamond wrapping those lips around my cock. Models, celebrities, and bored Manhattan housewives couldn’t get my dick as hard as she did.
But I slayed women like a bad habit. And Lourde Diamond wasn’t a woman to slay. She was delicate with her porcelain skin, small pointy nose, and stiletto legs. The men handpicked by her mother tamed her inner wildness. They were the right men for her. Weren’t they?
But since becoming single, Lourde was anything but tame. She wanted more. Craved more.
The devil on my shoulder wove his pitch fork, willing me to yield to her. Fuck her like she’s never been fucked before. In doing so, give her a taste of the freedom she deserves before being trapped with another so-called perfect match. But on my other shoulder, a fucking angel had reigned supreme. The white glow of the angel, a blinding reminder her brother would cremate me while my heart was still beating if I gave in.
Distraction was key. With every day that passed in the Hamptons, I was getting closer to securing this once-in-a-lifetime deal. But closing it out to return to my apartment in the Upper West Side wasn’t as appealing as it was when I arrived a week ago.
But not yet. There were a few more loose ends my team couldn’t do without me, then this hotel in East Hampton would be mine—and for several million less than asking.
Last-minute plans for dinner derailed my plans to see Lourde tonight. I wondered what she was up to. The banter we had back and forth, although damn infuriating sometimes, I craved. But tonight’s meeting couldn’t wait, and I had to get Tobias here with his research before the night was over.
I sat around the table at the Pond and Pony restaurant, with my president of Legal, Tobias to my right, and Cary and Simon, representing the hotel, opposite.
I peeled at the paint on the armchair, flicking it to the ground. Outdated furnishing, old carpets, chipped boards, and staff who looked like they’d been here longer than the building desperately needed new owners. Soon, I’d get my hands on this outdated hotel and turn it into a new seven-star exclusive Hampton’s retreat. Tearing it down and starting again was what I did best. Old furniture, peeling wallpaper, and downright dark and closed spaces weren’t worth the cost of restoring the old icon, even if it had some interesting lines and was one of the oldest hotels in the Hamptons.
Tobias talked about the hotel's history with Cary and Simon over barely passable steak tartare and ceviche while I sat in silence, confirming everything in the documents Tobias passed to me before dinner started.
“I know I don’t have to tell you this, Barrett, but this hotel has been an icon for decades. I really can’t see how you’ll get past the uproar of the locals if you tear it down.”
I closed the documents, having everything I needed in front of me.
“You definitely shouldn’t be saying that.” I pushed away the half-eaten plate of food in front of me.
He looked at his other suit like the cat that swallowed the canary. “Why?”
“You're going to give me ten million off asking because no one in their damn mind would buy this run-down hotel in its current state and revamp it. It just costs too much.”
Laughter spilled from his lips. “Ten million? You’re dreaming, Barrett,” Simon said, pushing his plate away and folding his arms over his rounded chest.
“The fact is, Simon, you have no one else interested. The hotel is in the red hundreds of thousands of dollars, and if you don’t sell it to me in the next three months, you’ll close your doors for good.”
“What?” Simon opened his mouth. “How could you possibly know that?”
I cast my eyes down at the document in front of me. Glaring up, Simon did the same.
“What is that?” Cary asked, lowering his wire frames to the bridge of his nose.
“Your figures didn’t add up. So I had my team investigate. And what they found was very interesting.” I tapped my fingers on the documents. “Tabloid-worthy interesting.” A grin stretched from my mouth.
Simon looked at Cary, then back at me. “You know nothing, Barrett. I knew getting into bed with you would be trouble. We’re not doing anything of the sort.”
“Sure. So do you think the media will be interested to know the board skimmed two million dollars? Or how about this headline, Hampton Hotel Blames Layoffs on Slow Seasons Instead of Covert Ski Trips in Aspen with the Board’s Mistresses.” I turned to Tobias. “Do you think Connor Diamond over at Diamond Incorporated will want to know that?”
“Maybe we should ask him?” Tobias said, playing along.
I shrugged, sliding my phone out of my suit pocket.
“Jesus Christ, Barrett, stop,” Cary yelled.
“You can’t do this, Barrett,” Simon said, his jaw ticking.
“But I am.”
“You, Cary, John, and the other board members made your own bed. I expect my offer to be signed and returned by the end of the week with the discount.” Cary threw his napkin across the table.
As well as knowing the names of people I associated with, be it women or businessmen, I always took note of anyone trying to skim me. And these polished men in their late sixties thought their payday was coming. Well, checkmate, fuckers. This hotel was mine.
“I think this meeting has come to its end.” Simon pushed out his armchair.
“Pleasure,” I said, not bothering to get up and see them off.
“Jesus Christ. They played exactly into your hands, Barrett.”