Page 72 of Grumpy Boss of the Year

“Yes,” I snap.

“I have Franco on the other line. I'm gonna patch him through now.” “Sounds good.”

“Mr. Franco, I have Liam Gallagher on the line. Liam, I have…”

“I know. You can get off the line now, Lucinda.”

“Yes, sir.” I wait for her to click off and then let my anger out. “Franco, you're gonna listen to me right now.”

“Liam, how are you? Haven't heard from you in a while.”

“Cut the bullshit. What's going on?”

“What do you mean, what's going on?”

“I just had a very interesting conversation with your daughter.”

There's silence on the other line. “Very interesting,” I repeat.

“You didn't tell her.” He’s panicking now.

“No, I didn't tell her that we have an arrangement,” I say, cutting him off. “But you also didn't tell me that you were planning for her to get engaged.”

“Look, Liam, it's a family matter, and it's really none of your business what goes on.”

“Well, I will have to let you know that it actually is my business, because you chose to get me involved in this project, and once you chose to get me involved, that meant that I had a vested stake. So listen to me?—”

“Liam, the only reason you got involved in this project is because you want to get your hands on my resorts in Italy and Greece, and I wouldn't sell them to you unless we came to a deal.”

“I am keeping up my end of the bargain. “

“Your end of the bargain is to get my daughter over to Florence this summer. I don't see her here yet.

“She'll be there.”

“Your end of the bargain was to make sure she hated working for you so much that the only recourse she found for pleasure was to come over and spend time with her family in Italy.”

“You didn't tell me it was because you were planning to marry her off.”

“You didn't ask me.”

“I’m giving you money for this deal. That's not enough to keep you afloat?”

“It's not. I'm up to my fucking eyeballs in debt. Do you hear me? Liam, I owe hundreds of millions of dollars. And there's a gentleman, who I will not name, willing to help.”

“You're selling your daughter for money.”

“I’m not selling her for anything. It's business. She wants to get married. She needed to marry a rich man anyway. He's slightly older.”

“What do you mean by slightly older? How old is he, Franco?”

“It's none of your business. “

“I can back out of this deal right now, and I can tell your daughter everything.”

“You wouldn't do that,” he says, sounding alarmed. “She would hate you, too.”

“I would, but…”

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