Falling Hard (Billionaires in Disguise: Lizzy, #1)
Page 17
Mannix had always assumed that that huge building, grounds, and upgrades must have been funded by a group of investors or bought largely on credit. He revised his estimate of The Dom’s net worth skyward and felt smaller, which pissed him off. “What are you asking for it?”
The Dom named an exorbitant price, far beyond what remained of Mannix’s football contract termination payment and his trust fund put together.
“That’s high.” He would have said that to negotiate because he wasn’t an idiot, but there was no way in Hell that Mannix could scrape together that sum or anything close to it.
“That comprises liquidation value plus five years’ cash flow, calculated from the low end of the extrapolated growth curve, which is by all standards more than a fair price. I generally take eight percent of the gross as profit. The rest of the surplus has been re-invested in capital improvements and expansion. We can forward our books to your accountants this afternoon, if you’re interested in the numbers.”
“Of the gross?” Jesus, that meant that The Devilhouse was a Kobe-beef cash cow, pumping out millions per month. Depending on how much capital was tied up in that building and land, The Devilhouse might be throwing off several million per year. Maybe ten.
Considering how much Mannix paid in initiation fees and annual dues, he shouldn’t have been surprised.
Even though it was the deal of the century, it was still impossible.
Mannix said, “Most of my money is tied up in long-term investments. That sum isn’t possible at this time.”
The phone was silent, and Mannix let the dead air hang, waiting. It wasn’t a no until The Dom said no. His own breath rasped through the line.
Finally, The Dom said, “Considering the nature of the business, it cannot be sold to just any investor. Perhaps we can consider a payment schedule, if you put down a twenty-five percent deposit.”
Only a twenty-five percent deposit? Twenty-five percent was fucking insane. There had to be a fucking catch. “Interest?”
“Prime plus two.”
Financially, that was a fucking gift.
This deal could turn Mannix’s finances around in ways that he hadn’t dreamed of.
With The Devilhouse, Mannix could find subs who could take whatever he needed to dish out, however many he needed. His exultant sigh blasted out of his chest.
Mannix had to find the money.
His brother was probably saving his pennies. He had no fucking vices. He probably hadn’t dipped into his trust fund for anything beyond his house, just a few blocks away.
“It’s a deal,” Mannix said. “I’ll send you my lawyer’s email, and we’ll draw up the papers as soon as possible.”
“Excellent,” The Dom said. “I’ll rebate one percent if this is finalized within a week.”
Jesus Christ, as if it couldn’t get any fucking better. “We’ll make sure of that.”
A few minutes later, after flipping a blanket over Lizzy’s small, still form, Mannix took his phone to the kitchen for some privacy. Some things shouldn’t be out in the open just yet.
The pans from breakfast, still on the stove, smelled like browned butter and crisp eggs. He would wash those in a few minutes. He didn’t want his little fuckdoll to get dishpan hands.
Mannix grinned as he scrolled through the contacts and tapped the one labeled The Other Asshole Lawyer.
Redundant, but funny.
Three rings later, during which Mannix imagined his half-brother glaring at his cell phone in his tiny, county-government office, the line clicked open.
His small voice came through the phone line. “Hello, Mannix.”
Mannix bared his teeth, ready to do battle. “Hello, Theo.”
Brothers
Outside the glass wall of Theo’s office, too-young interns and more mature admins trotted, ferrying paperwork. Theo had hoped for a few hours of quiet to catch up, but weekends in the County Attorney’s office were almost as bad as Mondays, maybe worse due to everyone’s surly attitude for being tapped work on the weekend again. The Hyperactive Penguin, Theo’s boss, was a known slavedriver, but he was in his office, too.
Inside the glass wall, Theo’s paperwork was beginning to pile up. Since the Rojas case had been shut down, every other open case that needed work had been dumped on his desk. His schedule was a morass of small prosecutions, harder than working on one massive case.
His cell phone rang, a double-ring like an old-time telephone. The screen read Mannix Bonfils.
Ah, crap. Mannix wanted something else. From the very beginning, when their father had invited them both to dinner at a fancy restaurant in Manhattan without telling them why, springing the half-brothers on each other, Mannix had called Theo when he wanted something.
One of these days, it was going to be a kidney.
Or, more likely, a piece of his liver.
Theo thumbed the glass screen. “Hello, Mannix.”
“Hello, Theo.”
As always, Mannix was trying to sound menacing or like he was growling. Theo surmised that it was left over from being a hulking linebacker in the NFL, where image was paramount. “What can I do for you?”
“Put any bad guys behind bars today?”
An intern, wearing jeans and a tank top on her robust body instead of a suit, rushed in with a few pages, probably trying to get done so she could go home.“Nope. It’s Sunday.”
“So you aren’t at the office?”
Theo’s voice was grim. “Yeah, I’m at the office. What can do for you, Mannix?”
Financing the Deal
If Mannix listened closely, he could hear the slightest lilt of Theo’s Colombian accent in his deep voice, even though Theo had been born and raised in the States. He was practically a fucking anchor baby. Mannix said, “About The Devilhouse.”
Theo cut him off. “I canceled my membership to that place. It’s not for me. I appreciate you getting me into the party and all, but I’m just not into that.”
“It’s for sale,” Mannix said.
“So?”
“So I have a business proposition for you. We can go in on it together. You can be a silent partner.”
“I don’t think so.”
His dismissive tone sounded final, but Mannix could work with anything. “It throws off eight percent per year.”
The line was silent for a moment. “Eight percent isn’t bad. How much are they asking?”
Mannix told him the enormous number.
“Well, crap. I don’t think I should cash out that much and slap it all on one business venture.”
“That Dom is sending over the books,” Mannix said, “but that includes the building and the land.”
Theo paused. “Real estate is on the upswing.”
Time to turn the emo screws. Mannix had always played the dismissive, older, legitimate heir to Theo’s upstart bastard, so he said, “It would be great to go into business together. I’ll bet our father would have loved it.”
Mannix waited through Theo’s long pause. “It’s still too much money.”
And now logic. “It’s a fair offer,” Mannix said, “made more generous by the fact that The Dom wants us to front only half the money. Fifty percent down is a steal. As a silent partner, you would put down twenty-five percent, and so will I.”
Mannix just had to make sure that Theo never saw the paperwork on that one. He would have it all sent to his own lawyer.
Theo asked, “How do we finance the rest?”
“It’ll be paid out of receipts over five years at the prime rate plus two percent.” And now some bravado coupled with standard investing advice. “It’s an excellent investment opportunity. Income stocks are for blue-haired widows, Theo. At your age, you need an aggressive investment with growth potential.”
Theo’s sigh whooshed through the cell phone. “I can’t imagine a management company that would take it.”
And now, some pity for the crippled brother. “I was thinking about managing it. I’ve been looking to get o
ut of the NFL entirely. Even coaching is too hard on my injured back.”
“Well, that makes it more interesting.”
Through the phone, Mannix heard a complicated drum roll tapped out like a herd of beautiful women running in high heels. Trust the half-Colombian bastard to play the bongos on his desk.
Theo said, “I’ll think about it.”
“If the deal closes within a week, he said that he could rebate us one-half of one percent of the purchase price. We would split that.”
“Wow. Let me at least think about it over lunch. It’s still a lot of money.”
They said their goodbyes, and Mannix tapped his phone to hang up.
Theo would cough up the money, Mannix knew. He felt too guilty about having it in the first place to not spread it around. Their father had dumped Theo’s inheritance on him when he died and given Mannix a like sum to tide him over, but Mannix would inherit the balance of the Bonfils estate, fifty times what Theo had inherited, when his mother kicked off.
They could hammer out the partnership agreement tomorrow.
Mannix planned to be busy that night, celebrating.
“Lizzy,” she said. Her blond head perked up from where her slight body lay over the couch. Mascara streaked her face under her gray-blue eyes. She looked frail, but her little body was corded with muscle. She could take anything from him.
Mannix smiled. “Come here.”
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“Playing Rough (Billionaires in Disguise: Lizzy, #2”
will be published on May 23, 2014.
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Episode 1: Rae Falling
Episode 2: Into The Devilhouse
Episode 3: Secrets on his Skin
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Episode 6: Into the Fire
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Coming Soon by Blair Babylon:
Lizzy: Episode 2: Playing Rough — May, 2014
Lizzy: Episode 3: Breaking Rules — June, 2014
Lizzy: Episode 4: Burning Bright — July, 2014
Angel of Death: A Selling Handcuffs Novel – July, 2014
Billionaires in Disguise: Georgie – Winter, 2014
Billionaires in Disguise: Flicka – 2015
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A. The Billionaires in Disguise Books are erotic romance. Erotica generally centers around the sex act, a preponderance of the page count is given to the sex act, and the main characters usually do not build a life together after the sex act. Erotic romance concerns itself with the two people falling in love and, usually, building a life together in a very, very sexy way. Erotic romances generally end with an HEA (Happily Ever After) or at least an HFN (Happy For Now).
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