CHAPTER 2
Zander
Zander Michaels closed the huge oak door to his large office and took several long strides over to his massive mahogany desk. Every time he laid eyes on the desk he beamed with pride. He’d paid almost thirty thousand dollars to have it handcrafted using the finest wood that money could buy and it had been made directly to his specifications. Every time he sat behind the desk he felt like he was sitting on a large throne.
He slid behind the desk and leaned back in the Italian leather chair and smiled to himself. He’d just closed a deal to acquire an exciting new startup that was going to net him an even bigger fortune than the one he’d already built. He’d been after this one for a while and he’d finally managed to outmaneuver his competition and sway the twenty year olds who had started the business which would revolutionize the video game market to sell it to him. He’d basically just used tried and true practice of intimidating his competition (some might call it blackmail; Zander referred to it as aggressive sales strategy) and then he simply outbid the only ones left.
He paid his personal private investigator Marco his fee for digging up all the dirt he could find on the other interested parties and now he just needed to talk to Tom, his top strategist on how to best go about amplifying the profits of this fledgling startup and turn it into a global monster.
Oh, life was good. The next few years were going to be very lucrative indeed.
Zander grabbed a bottle of Wild Turkey and from his mini bar in the corner of the office and poured himself a highball, his favorite. It was getting towards the end of the day and he felt he’d earned it. Although, he often felt he deserved a good drink to start the day with too. That was one of the perks of being your own man, being the boss.
Zander had always loved being the boss. Ever since he’d started his real estate company right out of college he knew that it was what he wanted to do. He’d worked a few summers learning the business by helping his uncle Rich flip houses and turning a pretty profit. By the time, he was entering his last year in college Zander was flipping and selling houses on his own. And his profits were skyrocketing. He’d already made his first million by the time he graduated. After that the sky was the limit and he was able to devote all his time to his business endeavors, branching out into convenience stores and the restaurant business too.
But then he got involved in acquiring his first start up and it became his new passion. It was fairly easy to do. He hired the best team to search the world until they found the newest and most interesting startups that showed the greatest promise and then he offered them the kind of money for it that they never dreamed was possible.
Of course, these kids didn’t dream it was possible because they had no idea what they really had or how they were practically giving away untold sums of riches for a few million dollars. In the past seven years from startups alone Zander had added almost fifty million dollars to his wealth.
“Mr. Michaels?”
Zander pressed the button on the phone to answer his receptionist, Margo.
“Yes?”
“There is a Mr. Hunt on line one for you,” she replied.
Zander sighed. “Ok.”
He waited a moment before picking up. He had not spoken to Harrison Hunt in almost two years. The guy was a snake in the grass, plain and simple. Zander at one time considered Harrison to be one of his closest friends, but then the bastard betrayed him by moving in on a new startup he was working on. Zander thought that the deal was done and he was just about to swoop in when he discovered that Harrison had dug up some blackmail material on the kids who owned the startup. He basically blackmailed them to sell to him at a much cheaper price than what Zander was going for. So, he used Zander’s own methods in a far shadier way as far as he was concerned.
This was the cutthroat business they had chosen. It was not a place for the meek that was for sure. It was in fact a place for one who had no scruples left.
Zander picked up the phone.
“Harrison, long time- no word,” Zander said in his usual jovial voice. He was fighting the impulse to give this guy the tongue lashing of the century but for now he could fish around and see why Harrison Hunt would be calling him of all people.
“Hey, Z man! How the hell are you?”
“No complaints,” Zander replied. “How are things in your neck of the woods?”
“Perfect as always,” he said. “You know how it is.”
“Yeah, unfortunately I do remember how it is,” Zander said a bit of cold taking shape in his voice. How dare this jerk act like they were going to let bygones be bygones?
“I deserve that,” Harrison said. “I did you raw, and I understand that I am probably not your favorite person.”
“What do you want, Harrison? I’m a very busy man,” Zander said.
“Right to the point. I’ve always dug that about you.”
“I’m still waiting…”
“Ok, you know this new club I opened up called Club Privaat?”
“I’ve heard of it,” Zander replied. He used to go to the club when it was called The Paradise Palace. But when Harrison bought it he decided to go elsewhere for fun and drinks.
“Well, it’s shaping up to be one hell of a lucrative deal.”
“Good for you,” Zander replied. “You still aren’t getting to the part where I care about this.”
Harrison laughed. “Well, this is no ordinary club. We do wealthy auctions with some of the most beautiful women you have ever laid eyes on.”
“You do know that I am rarely lonely for the company of beautiful women, right?”
“I vaguely remember,” Harrison joked. “But these women are incredible. They are like none you’ve ever seen. Most of them are wannabe models who have decided to go a more lucrative route. I think you would be interested in bidding on some of these girls. They are ten times better than the ones over at Maluchi’s.”
“How do you know about Maluchi’s?”
Harrison chuckled. “Please, I know. In fact, I’ve called him a few times to just gloat about how much better my girls are.”
“So, you want me to come to the auction? If you are doing so well, then why do you need me?”
“I was hoping to clear the air a bit with you. Two guys like us, if we put our heads together there is no telling how much of a splash we could make. With all of the things on my plate I hardly have time to really run the place properly. I could use an extra guy.”
“So, you want to be partners in this new venture?”
“Well, yeah. Plus, it’s a great way to drum up business, find out how other guys in our community are running their business and how we might be able to steal their customers.”
Zander laughed. “Same old Harris, always pulling some kind of crazy angle.”
“Well, you can’t really blame me, can you?”
“No,” Zander replied. “I can’t say that I can.”
“So, what do you say? At least come tonight and check out the auction. If things aren’t to your liking I’m open for suggestions.”
Zander thought a moment. Did he really want to even consider going into a partnership with this slime ball? The man was not to be trusted. But then again, all Harrison really did was beat him at his own game. In fact, he had to admire the tenaciousness of his stunt. It was deceptive, underhanded, and totally against the law. Zander couldn’t help but respect it on some level.
“Ok, I’ll come and check it out. That’s all I’m promising,” Zander said.
“Great,” Harrison replied.
“But if I do decide to go in on this I want seventy percent,” Zander added.
The line was silent for a second. Zander smiled. He could practically hear Harrison about to bang his head through a wall at the audacity.
“Ok, I can live with that,” Harrison grumbled.
Zander smiled. “Excellent. But that is only if I climb aboard. I’ll be there tonight. What time is the auction?”
“Eight o’clock, sharp. I would suggest getting there a few minutes early to scout the talent so you are ready to bid beforehand.”
“I know how auctions work,” Zander said.
He hung up the phone and finished his drink. It tasted so good he had to have another one. It would help wash the taste of Harrison Hunt out of his mouth.
He had a feeling he’d just agreed to hear the Devil make him an offer.