Page 67 of Just One Look
This is my last shot.
If I can overwhelm him with the financial burden of running a place like this, he’ll leave. And sure, I’ll be sad. I might even miss him swanning around the rescue center in his ridiculous suits. But it’s better this way. A little bit of hurt now will save a boatload of heartache down the line.
“Shit,” Maverick mutters, stroking his chin as he flips the page over. “I thought I’d covered everything that needed doing ’round here. I’m across a lot of these things, but there are a few I hadn’t considered.”
Okay, Hunter, you’re up. Time to really tighten the screws.
“I included some initial costs. They’re on the conservative side, but as you can see, they do add up.”
Maverick’s eyes go big when he reaches the total at the bottom of the list. “They sure fucking do.”
“But, hey, you’re a billionaire, right? What’s a couple of mill? Unless you’re just pretending like you can’t afford it.”
He folds the papers in half, places them on the bench, and looks straight ahead. “I’m not.”
“Not what? Not pretending?”
He shakes his head, then turns to me with deeply pinched brows. “I’m not a billionaire.”
“But weren’t you in some 30 hottest billionaires under 30 article?” I blurt, then immediately regret it. “Pip mentioned something about it,” I add quickly.
“My family has money, but we’re not as wildly rich as they let the media believe we are.”
“But you guys own the second-largest shipping company in the world.” Our eyes meet, and shit, what is up with my brain-to-mouth wiring? “Pip again. Seriously, that guy is a stalker. You should hire security. Add that to the list.”
He smiles again, but it’s a practiced smile, not his real one. Doesn’t reach his eyes, doesn’t bring out the dimples.
“My mother’s side of the family owns the company. But her two older brothers fucked her over even though she was the one who’d been running it. When she died, her rightful share didn’t get transferred to Dad like it should have, but to them.”
“Oh.”
“Before she passed, Mom gave each of us kids a couple of million to use in whatever way we wanted. She said she wanted to see us living our dreams while she was still alive to see it. It’s a lot of money, don’t get me wrong, but it’s hardly the billionseveryone”—he levels a pointed look in my direction—“thinks we’re swimming in.
“Oh.”
“My sister put it toward her campaign, which saw her unseating an almighty Duporth and getting elected to Congress. My other brother, Fenner, put it toward research. He’s obsessed with saving the oceans and is currently based on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, working on bringing sea turtles back from the brink of extinction. Wagner invested his share to take back control of our family’s winery so it can reclaim its rightful position as one of the best wineries this side of the Atlantic. And I decided to finally get my shit together and actually do something that matters with my life. So I bought this place.”
“Oh.”
“I still have some money left to spend…” He picks up the list and waves the papers at me, breathing out a heavy sigh. “But this is a lot.”
My stomach churns worse than it did after Clancy’s ill-fated experiment with raw fish. I feelhorribleabout creating that stupid list now.
I reach over and pluck it from his hands. “You know what? I may have gone a little over-the-top with it,” I say, scanning over the bullet points.
“No. I want to do this right. No shortcuts. No weaseling out of things. I know your expectations of me are pretty low, but I am going to turn this place around. I told you I’m not like the previous owners, and I meant it.”
He takes the list back from me. Our fingers brush. Unwanted tingles rush up my arm, and I try to pull myself together.
The plan was to overwhelm Maverick, a shock-and-awe campaign of huge bills and never-ending expenses. Well, myapproach backfired, and the new plan is going completely off the rails.
What the fuck do I do now?
17
Maverick
The elation I felt when Jackson sat closer than he ever has to me on the bench quickly dissipated when he produced the to-do list from hell. He may have tried walking it back, but he only pointed out what I knew in the back of my mind but was dreading addressing in the clear light of day. The sanctuary needs a lot more investment. I’d set aside a chunk of money for just that, but the scale of the work required is bigger than I had initially bargained for.
