1
ELLIS
I glued the phone to my ear and didn’t even try to keep my voice calm. “That’s not the deal we had, and you’re not changing it now unless you want to wind up in court.”
Hudson’s voice crackled through the airwaves. “Come on, man. We’ve done enough of these deals together to know the drill. He got cold feet. Anybody can understand that on a deal this size.”
“He got cold feet, but he’s also got an iron-clad contract,” I shot back. “If you think I’m gonna let a multi-billion-dollar deal fall through ‘cuz he couldn’t stand the heat, you don’t know me very well.”
“I know you, man,” he replied. “I know you. I’m just saying....”
“Well, don’t say,” I shot back. “If you know me, you should have told your client I don’t play that way. Now do you want to tell me the deal’s back on at full price, or do you want to tell him he’ll be hearing from my legal team?”
I was panting now and my bear was roaring beneath my skin. If I wasn’t careful there would be a brown bear in the middle of my office, where my human form had just been standing moments ago.
Hudson tried to play hardball, just the way he always did when his back was against the wall. These candy-ass chumps couldn’t swim with the sharks. “Just keep your shorts on, Ellis. You don’t have to get nasty.”
“Signing a huge real estate contract for a brand-new hotel and then backing out on the price at the last minute? Now that’s what I call nasty. Do you think I got where I am by playing tea party with the little girls? I’m hanging up now, Hudson. I’m hanging up until I see the bank transfer notification pop up on my phone. Until that happens, I don’t even want to hear your client’s name. Have a nice lunch break now. See ya later.”
“Just hold on, man.” His voice rose to a strident pitch. “He can’t pay, man. That’s the whole truth. Okay? He can’t pay. He thought he could get financing, but it fell through at the last second.”
“Well, what does that have to do with me? What was he doing signing a contract like that if his financing wasn’t secure? What do you think a judge is going to say?”
Hudson’s voice quivered. He hung by a thread, and I enjoyed making him dance. “He’ll have to declare bankruptcy, man. You couldn’t do that to somebody, could you?”
“I most certainly could, and I most certainly would. Do you see anybody crying over my finances? Do you see my fucking real estate agent calling anybody up at ten o’clock in the morning, whining about how I can’t pay? Of course not. I couldn’t show my face on the street if I did that. You know who my family is Hudson. You should be ashamed of yourself, and your client shouldn’t be paddling in the big pool without his water wings on.”
Hudson had to chuckle. “Come on, man. Have a heart. You know he’s a…”
He wouldn’t say it out loud, worried someone might hear, but yeah the dude was a whale. A literal whale. Like swims in the ocean type shifter.
“Good-bye, Hudson. Have a nice call with your client.”
I hit the hang-up button before he could reply. I set the phone on my desk where I could reach it in an instant. I flipped through my schedule while I waited for the call-back. These inexperienced patsies get into the cutthroat world of commercial real estate. They see a big fat price tag and their eyes pop out of their heads. Then when the hammer comes down, they want to wring their hands and cry me a river.
My office phone rang again. I let it ring for a minute before I answered. A moment later, I picked up.
It was Hudson’s secretary. “Good morning, Mr. Johnson. I’d like to send you over the bank transfer details we made this morning.”
Of course. “Sure thing, Sarah. Send them right over.”
“You should be receiving a call from Hudson in about ten minutes to confirm.”
“Thank you, Sarah, but I’ll be out of the office until two o’clock this afternoon. Please give Hudson my regards. If he has anything to say to me, he can leave a message.”
“Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Always a pleasure doing business with you.”
“You, too, Sarah.”
I got on the phone with my agent and explained the whole mess. He laughed his ass off. “You’re not serious.”
“Just want to warn you about those two.”
“Thanks, man. I’ll be sure never to do business with Hudson again.”
“Any word on that condo block you mentioned?”
“I got the plans this morning. Hang on. I’ll get the details for ya.” I could hear the rifling of papers and muttered swearing.
Just then, my secretary Candace strolled into the office. She set a stack of mail on my desk and sauntered out. I flipped the pile around to have a look while I waited for my agent to respond.
The first thing I noticed was a big white envelope on top with Ellis Johnson written on the front in big loopy cursive writing. That was funny. I never get mail with my name written like that, and I never get anything handwritten—ever. I turned it over.
A silver sticker with two matching wedding bells sealed the flap closed. Down at the bottom, one of those stick-on return address labels ready Julia Lewis, 14 Rochester Avenue. What the fuck? I never heard of any Julia Lewis, so what’s she doing sending me big fancy envelopes with wedding bells on the back?
The phone twanged in my ear. “Found it. The price went up to 15 million. Can you handle that?”
“Hey, listen, Jack,” I replied, “I’ll have to call you back.”
“Sure, buddy. We can always find you another condo to invest in.”
“It’s not about the price. The price is fine. Something just came up. I’ll call you back after lunch.”
“You bet.”
He hung up, and I put the phone down. I had another look at the envelope. Then I turned my phone off completely. I leaned back in my chair. This was gonna take a while.
I took a deep breath and ripped open the envelope. Once I read the invitation, everything made sense. The bride and groom’s parents requested the honor of my presence at the marriage of their son Brayden Adams to Julia Lewis.
Brayden Adams was my best friend growing up. Ran around like fools as cubs. We got into all kinds of mischief together, and we always got each other out of it and had each other’s backs. I would do anything for Brayden.
I didn’t know this Julia Lewis from a hole in the ground, though. It was six or seven years since I laid eyes on Brayden, much less talked to him. What happened? I couldn’t even remember. We just sort of drifted apart over the years. I got into the big-time world of the family business and he.... well, I don’t know what he got into. I guess he got into Julia Lewis.
The thought of Brayden made my mind wander to his younger sister Mckenna. I never gave her the time of day the whole time I was growing up with Brayden. Then, all of a sudden, one day in junior year of high school, wham! She hit me like a ton of bricks. Fuck, she got hot.
I couldn’t keep from drooling every time she walked into the room. The subtle blush on her cheeks when she caught me staring at her, the gentle sway of her curvy ass. My bear was growling just thinking about her.
Brayden never found out we had a hot fling in high school. It lasted until freshman year of college. Fuck, she was amazing back then. Was she just as tasty now?
Her blonde hair curled over her shoulders. Her green eyes sparkled under her long eyelashes. She never got any taller than 5’4”, but she kept putting on the womanhood long after she stopped growing. She just got more and more unstoppably hot the older she got.
She couldn’t get rid of those curves no matter how much she worked out. Her hips curved around her big beautiful ass with a chest to match. A guy could get lost in those magical tits. I could lay my cheek against them and listen to her heartbeat. She would sigh and cuddle me close, and her body seethed with inner energy. The only shifter I had ever been with, she kept me on my toes.
She could sling the sass around. She never took my stupid jokes lying down. She shot her mouth off and put me in my place. I always liked that in a woman.
I was never one for weddings, but if Mckenna was there, I would be in. Hell, she would probably be in the wedding party. She’d be wearing a nice, close-fitting gown that showed off her assets. Mckenna Adams. I couldn’t wait to see her again.
I couldn’t wait to get her under me again.