Page 29 of Built to Last

“Really?” Reid shrugs. “I mean we can at least be honest about that part. I find you very attractive.”

And he has a fiancée. Such a lucky woman. “And I find you annoying.”

“Yes, your office will do.” Luca’s back to being irritated, and now it’s all turned my way because I don’t have a charming wingman who softens me. Nope. I’m alone and I’m going to be more alone soon when I don’t even have this project to work on.

Reid nods and steps into the hallway. “Fine, but you should understand she’s not the only one who said things she shouldn’t. It was mutual. Mutual… I don’t know… Should we call it hate? That seems a bit dramatic.”

“Hate works for me.” I can’t stop. Now that I’m walking into my worst nightmare, there’s a part of me that wants to get it over with. I’ve been moving toward this ever since Ivy came back and found her guy. I knew Anika would find her Prince Charming, but I guess I always thought Ivy and I would end up as bog crones somewhere cursing men who wander into our territory.

Now I’ll have to do it alone, and that sucks.

I should have done what I was taught to do—put all of my complaints in a well-worded email. But no, I had to rush right over, and I totally forgot I’d actually been invited to this party. I hadn’t even thought about the fact that Ani would be here.

She’d even texted me yesterday to let me know she and Luca were in town and would see me on Saturday since I was skipping this party.

Did I rush over here because subconsciously I want her to pick me? To prove to me that I’m more important than some country she’s trying to pull out of tragedy?

I suck.

Luca closes the door to Reid’s sleek office, shutting the Dorsey brothers out of their own space. He does it without a blink and then walks to the big floor-to-ceiling windows like he owns the place.

It’s good to be king.

“Has he done something he shouldn’t?” Luca asks.

He takes me off guard. But the answer is obviously yes. “He wants to take out a wall, Luca. A whole wall. Not take it out, exactly, but take this beautifully crafted architecture and turn it into a houseplant.”

“Harper, has he harassed you?” Luca carefully enunciates each word as though he needs to ensure he’s got the English right. His first language is German, though he speaks with only a hint of an accent.

I stare for a moment, the lights of the city illuminating this man my best friend married. I thought he was going to fire me. He’s worried about me? This is the perfect opportunity to take out my enemy. I can’t help it. There’s a ruthless asshole inside me. I think about it for half a second and then do what I always do, what I hope I will always do, shove the asshole down and do what’s right. “No. He’s hit on me, but I’m going to admit that was a mutual thing.”

A long sigh of relief goes through Luca. “Thank you. I was worried. I’ve never heard him talk to a woman that way. I brought him on this project because he’s always been so easy to work with.”

I hadn’t. “Well, rest assured he hasn’t done anything I would call harassment. I kind of came on strong tonight. He was giving me back what I put out. But I stand by my criticism. He is going to ruin the history of the house and turn it into some bland, resort-looking thing.”

“He’s going to turn it into a property someone has already paid eighty-two million dollars for,” Luca admits.

I feel my jaw drop. “What? I thought it wasn’t going on the market until the show was done. It’s kind of the point of the show. We’re supposed to rehab the place and then hope we can sell it.”

“And if I’ve learned anything in my time working in reality television, it is that reality is a word we play with,” Luca admits. “Banover Place has already been sold. At least in theory, though Anika trusts the buyer. This is the show that will hopefully fund the rest of our company. We’re new. We don’t have the capital to buy the building, pay for everything, and hope we can get the price we need. So this is how we’re working.”

My gut sinks. “And Reid is working with the buyer, isn’t he?”

Luca nods. “Not on everything. Just on the basics of design. We want it to be a surprise. The buyer won’t be visiting, but they will be making decisions on certain aspects of the design.”

“Then I’m not needed, am I? I was supposed to come in because preservation is my specialty.” I’m not sure why I’m here if they’re going to gut the place and turn it into…well, this. The apartment I’m standing in is gorgeous by modern standards, but there’s such beauty in the past, too. Do we have to change everything?

“Harper, do you have to have everything your way in order to work on this project?” Luca asks the question with a surprising lack of judgment. “This is likely my fault. I told Anika I wanted to film your real reactions and negotiations. Perhaps we should have brought you in on the entire process.”

But that isn’t how a contractor works. The truth is I’m here to work with the designers. I’m not supposed to argue whether the design is good, only to tell them if it can work and how much time and money it will take to see the thing through. I feel guilty because I’m turning this into something it’s not about. Me. “I’m sorry. Banover Place is special to me, and I might be doing exactly what Reid accused me of. I’m trying to control something that isn’t mine to control. If this was any other job, I would simply tell you whether I can make it happen. I certainly don’t argue with the dude who owns the big box store about where to put his aisles.”

“It’s special to Anika, too,” Luca replies softly. “This isn’t some retail store. We’re talking about a home. We’re talking about history. Do you think it’s not important to me? I fell in love with Anika in that house. I want it to shine. But I have to balance what I want with what the person paying us millions wants as well. We believe after all is said and done and we sell the house and the show, we could bring in over a hundred million. Do you know how many homes can be fixed in my country for that money? We can attract some contractors and get real work done. We’re a small country. We don’t have the professionals needed to deal with the overwhelming destruction we suffered. We still have people living in tents.”

Tears well. Yep. I suck. “I think it might be best if you got someone else.”

“And break my wife’s heart?” He’s right back to looking like a king. “Do you think she doesn’t feel the distance? She’s living in a foreign country, away from the women she views as sisters. She’s been looking forward to this for a long time. She’s worried you’ll drift apart, and working on this with you is one of her ways of keeping the connection.”

“But I don’t know that working with Reid is going to be a good thing for the project in the long run, and I am starting to suspect whoever bought the place wants him on board.”

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