Page 29 of Ruthless Financier
None of this would work in Florida, where it was hot and humid. I grabbed my phone I’d left in the bathroom and in that same moment, it vibrated. I read my right-hand man’s name and stood by the bedroom window as I answered.
“Russ, what did you find?”
“You read the email?”
No. I silently did while he waited, and my eyes widened. Indigo wasn’t a good girl at all. She was a fucking saint. I put my hand in my pocket and said, “I have now, but I need you to clarify this.”
Russ asked, “What part?”
I reread the financials and said, “She literally doesn’t keep a penny, if your analysis is right. It’s one hundred per cent for her business and her shelters.”
Russ coughed, which meant he’d triple-checked and thought I should already believe him, but he explained in more detail. “The shelters had a few years of balloon payments that were missed. Indigo refinanced, but she must have done the math for internal funding, mortgage, and long-term viability of the buildings. She needed twenty-five million to ensure the shelters had a future, and to start her own business.”
Outside the door, I heard her humming. My heart raced more as I said, “Okay, I have to go.”
Now adrenaline rushed through me. Her black underwear that I never actually saw, but guessed through her white blouse, had caught my attention. I figured underneath she’d be feisty.
With the news about her financial situation, I wondered if she ever did a damn thing for herself.
I headed out and saw her in the kitchen, cutting fruit, as she asked with a bright smile, “Did you finish your business call?”
I pressed my hand on hers to get her to stop and said, “Indigo.”
She put the knife down and asked, “What’s going on?”
I stared deep into her blue eyes and wished I could see straight into her soul as I said, “I found out why twenty-five million is your number.”
Her face twitched, but she shrugged and said, “Okay.”
I didn’t move a muscle. She avoided me for a moment and I said, “I want to hear it from your lips, though.”
She let out a sigh and met my gaze. Her blue eyes seemed to darken to gray as she moved my hands and continued to chop her apple. “The money will mostly go to my shelters. And I can start my business, too.”
If she didn’t want anything else, then she was nothing like any woman I’d met in recent years.
Caring women were never available in my world. They were spoken about like their very existence was a fairy tale. With her welcoming family and her warm heart, Indigo wasn’t just a good choice for a fake wife, but for a real one.
I stilled that thought. I wasn’t ready. I’d thought she was very different from other women, but not fucking perfect. The doorbell rang as I said, “Let me cover your start-up costs at least.”
She walked away from her plate without touching a slice. I took one and let the crisp, clean, tart flavor burst in my mouth as she said, “That wasn’t the deal.”
She opened the door to a food delivery person, took the take-out from him, and nodded. I hadn’t even heard her order, so she must have used an app. As the door closed, I walked over and took the brown bags from her and said, “I understand—”
“Then don’t interfere.” She tugged the bags from my grasp and placed them on the counter herself. “I’d calculated everything.”
I believed that, but I didn’t have to charge her if she used whatever I already owned. But she wasn’t going to make this easy. I’d have to uncover new ways to help her rather than writing out a check. Honestly the check-writing was my father’s method, so it might be fun to treat Indigo differently. I tapped the marble counter, “Fine, but I still want you to represent me professionally, and I want to throw in handling the Tulsa Sooners’ PR.”
She opened the bags as she asked, “Seriously?”
Good. If she’d not just take my money, she could earn it. Baseball had a connection to her family, and professional players often had sponsors and did advertising. She’d fit in perfectly there. I straightened my spine and said, “Yes, but it can’t be announced for a month. I’d be happy if you’d run the team’s PR and handle sponsors and things like that.”
Color returned to her face as she took out Chinese food in white boxes and arranged them on the counter. She said, “Ajax will be thrilled. He hoped that once he learned more about the job, he’d be able to branch out into sports.”
“Glad your team will be on board.”
Tonight’s dinner reminded me of a life before prep schools and parties to mingle at. I opened the rice container and said, “And I’ll go through Sun and Moon Trust to see what other businesses there are—which ones I‘ll liquidate and which ones will be kept intact who might need PR. We’ll talk about them after analysis, but there may be more clients I’ll toss your way. Can you handle it?”
She took out microwavable dishes and dropped the chicken smeared in sauce on one as she said, “Absolutely. And if you get Frozen Assets as planned, I’m sure there are other businesses … Wow. I sound predatory, when actually I’m okay finding my own leads.”
