Ruined: A New Adult and Billionaire Romance (His For A Week Book 5)

by EM BROWN

  “You expect people will drive three, four hours out of the Bay Area to come here for golf and spas when they can get that much closer to home?” Benjamin asks.

  “Yes, because this will have the Drumm brand. And the Drumm brand is synonymous with luxury and exclusivity. The best of the best will want to come here to play.”

  Benjamin takes off his coat and hands it to Sierra, whose lips are visibly turning blue despite the amount of lip gloss she has on.

  “I’ve got schematics I can show you over lunch,” Eric says. “There’s a bar and grill in town that’s our best bet. Bill, the owner, is a big supporter of my dad’s.”

  The bar and grill reminds me of Hooter’s because all the waitresses have low-cut skin-tight shirts.

  “I know this isn’t a Michelin star restaurant,” Eric explains after we’re seated in a corner booth, “but I’m not elitist. This is good old American comfort food, and the scenery’s not bad either.”

  He winks at Benjamin and Tony, neither of whom seem to share Eric’s mirth. After we’ve all ordered, Bill comes to our table. He’s about fifty years old, with a receding hair line and a slight beer gut showing.

  “Drinks on the house,” he declares. He claps a hand on Eric’s shoulder. “Think your dad will swing through town anytime soon? Man, I love the guy.”

  “He would campaign in California if there was a chance of winning the state,” Eric replies.

  Bill sighs. “Yeah, I tell you, it’s them liberals in San Francisco and LA. They’re not like the rest of the state. You tell your dad that.”

  “We know.”

  “What I like about your dad is that he’s a regular joe, like me and other working stiffs.”

  I find his statement interesting because Drumm has been a billionaire for all but the first twenty some years of his life. Before that, he was ‘simply’ a multi-millionaire.

  “He tells it straight, right?” Bill continues. “And he’s a man of action. He wouldn’t be a rich man if he wasn’t.”

  Eric and Bill talk politics for a while longer. Bill doesn’t pay much attention to Tony or Benjamin until Eric mentions that Benjamin and Tony’s families have a combined net worth of over twenty billion dollars.

  “We’re going to develop a resort and golf course in this county,” Eric tells Bill.

  “You do that. Bring jobs to the area. God knows the liberals haven’t done squat for us out here.”

  “That’s what the Drumms are about: bringing jobs and boosting the local economy.”

  “Well, I tell you what: anytime you fellows want to have lunch here, it’s on the house. That’s my gesture of appreciation for what you’re doing.”

  I look around the restaurant. The customers appear to be solid working class people. Of all the people here, Eric, Tony and Benjamin are the last people who need a free lunch.

  “You’ve barely eaten anything,” Tony says to me later.

  “I don’t want it ending up all over the helicopter,” I admit, poking at my salad.

  “Is it just the helicopter or all modes of flying?”

  “The helicopter is especially brutal. I can feel the turbulence.”

  Tony turns to Benjamin. “We need a ride back with you and Bataar.”

  Benjamin nods.

  “Thank you,” I say to Tony.

  Knowing that my stomach won’t be twisted from the inside out, I finish my lunch. Afterward, I decide to use the restroom. So far it’s been kind of interesting listening to the men and even amusing to watch the waitresses trying their best to flirt with them. Eric is friendly, but I’m secretly satisfied that Tony doesn’t seem interested at all in the women.

  Even though Benjamin Lee is intimidating in his own way, I’m feeling relaxed and have been working on distancing myself from what happened in the kitchen with Eric. What he did was wrong, but I don’t want my day to be ruined because of him. That’s giving him more power than he deserves. On the helicopter ride up, I was glad that it was hard to have a conversation, allowing me to be in my world for a while to work through all my thoughts and feelings. The arrival of Benjamin was a nice diversion. It’s hard to tell how close the Lee cousins are to each other. They didn’t greet each other with the openness that Lila or Mo would have greeted one of their relatives, but it could be a cultural thing.

  And if Tony and I are getting a ride with Benjamin, I get a reprieve from Eric. I just have to decide if I can stand the rest of the week in his company. Is the money worth it? Is Tony?

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  It’s worth it, I decide.

  But then I step out of the ladies’ room and walk right into Eric.

  “I bet you feel really lucky,” he says.

  The hall leading to the restrooms is narrow, and I get the sinking feeling that if I try to walk around him, he’s going to grope me again.

  I don’t say anything, hoping he’ll get tired of talking to me.

  “You see all those waitresses throwing themselves at us?” Eric goes on. “But you and Sierra are the lucky ladies that are going home with us. You notice how jealous the waitresses were of you two?”

  One of the waitresses had rudely taken my salad plate before I was done. The others mostly ignored me and Sierra.

  Since I think Eric’s question is rhetorical, I remain silent. Eric takes a step toward me, and I think about ducking into the ladies’ room again, but his arm shoots out, blocking my path and caging me against the wall.

  “So how about a game of pool—excuse me, snookers—tonight?” he breathes on me. “I can snooker you real good.”

  I’m floored. Did he not pick up on the vibes I was sending in the kitchen? Or does he not care? Is he so full of himself that he can’t imagine a woman not wanting to be with him?

  His other hand grabs my ass. I push his hand away. He puts it back. I swat it away.

  “Stop it,” I tell him.

  He leans in even closer to me. “Playing hard to get, babe?”

  I can smell the beer on his breath. He presses his body into mine.

  Just then a waitress enters the hallway en route to the ladies’ room.

  “Oh, is there anything else I can get you, Mr. Drumm?” she asks, batting long fake lashes at him.

  Eric grins in response, and I take that moment to scurry away. Once out of the hallway, I gulp in air as if I had been suffocating. I was mostly angry at myself over what happened in the kitchen. Now I’m mostly angry at Eric.

  As I sit down at the table, I am aware of Tony’s gaze keenly on me. I feel like a deer being watched by a wolf. I’m glad for the buzz of my cellphone, indicating a text has come in. It’s from James regarding our planned study session. I don’t know what to reply. I had considered texting him to say that I wasn’t going to be available this weekend, but now I’m not so sure.

  I avoid looking at Eric when he returns. I can’t stay at his place, I decide. He makes my skin crawl, he makes me feel ashamed of myself. And I don’t want to have to put up with him.

  But twenty thousand dollars...

  I’ve already lost three days of work. All that I’ve done would be for nothing.

  Well, not quite nothing. If money wasn’t even on the table and I had the option to give up my virginity to someone like Tony, I’d probably go for it anyway.

  Still, why did Eric have to screw things up for me? Why did he have to ruin it all? He gives billionaires a bad rap. Or maybe they’re all like him. Maybe having a shitload of money makes you feel grossly entitled, like you own the world and the people in it.

  I’m glad when it’s time to go.

  “You don’t look well,” Tony says to me as we walk to the SUV.

  The man named Bataar gets in the driver’s seat. Tony holds the back door open for me.

  “The salad’s not sitting well,” I lie. “Probably should have had them hold the blue cheese.”

  I stare out the window as Bataar pulls out of the parking lot and heads toward Highway 5. As if he knows we’re basically just escorts, Ben
jamin has barely said anything to me or Sierra. Which suits me because I don’t feel that talkative.

  “What do you think?” Tony asks. “Is it worth investing in?”

  We’ve been driving for a while in relative silence because Benjamin was on his cellphone. He speaks in Chinese, and I’m struck by the long vowel sounds of the language.

  But Benjamin has been off the phone, and when he doesn’t answer right away, I look over at Tony to find him staring at me. Surely he wasn’t directing the question at me?

  “Drumm wants ten million for the golf course alone,” Tony says.

  I look over at Benjamin, awaiting his response.

  “He’s asking you, Virginia,” Benjamin says.

  I start. What?

  “Should I invest in Drumm’s luxury resort and golf course?” Tony rephrases.

  “I don’t know anything about business,” I reply. Why the hell is he asking me?

  “Regardless, tell me your impression.”

  I realize both cousins are listening to me. I take a moment to think so that I don’t come off sounding like a complete idiot.

  “I don’t know much about the resort business,” I qualify again, “and even less about golf courses. But given that there are a lot of options for golfing—in prettier places along the coast—I wonder that people will travel here for that. Unless it’s a spectacular one-of-a-kind golf course. I don’t know what goes into making one golf course more attractive than another.”

  “What else?”

  “As for the resort component, Eric said the spa would be for the women. As with the golf, there are a lot of options to choose from down near the Bay Area. In other words, there’s a lot of competition. Unless the plan is to draw from the population around here.”

  “Not enough rich people here. The entire county is smaller than a lot of suburbs. Any other considerations?”

  “Well, what is your goal? If it’s to be buddies with the Drumm family, then that’s a consideration.”

  “I know your father wants those defense contracts,” Benjamin says to Tony, “but they’ll never let a Chinese company get their hands on anything substantive. Just look at the limitation in the telecomm industry. And the senior Drumm is no fan of China.”

  “Father knows it’s a long shot,” Tony replies, “but it doesn’t hurt to cultivate a relationship with the Drumms.”

  I inadvertently clear my throat, making Tony look my way.

  “You don’t think so?” he inquires.

  “No. I didn’t say anything. I don’t know.”

  “Let’s return to your analysis of the development opportunity. Putting aside the potential political benefits, do you think I should do business with Drumm?”

  Hell, no.

  “I can’t really say,” I deflect.

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know enough about how he is in business. I’ve heard things about the family business, how they don’t pay their contractors sometimes and that they contract with companies that use undocumented workers. But maybe it’s not true. Or maybe it doesn’t matter in business?”

  “Drumm projects are never on schedule,” Benjamin adds, “because they do contract with companies that use unskilled labor, which is cheaper but not as efficient.”

  “Which is kind of ironic. You’d think a luxury resort would be built by the best workers to be had. Even if the labor drives up costs and you have to charge your customers more, given the type of clientele Drumm wants to target, couldn’t they afford the higher rates? Their price elasticity of demand would be less than one—inelastic.”

  Benjamin glances over his shoulder at us. “You should hire her. If you don’t, I might.”

  Tony stares at me. Hard. “She’s mine.”

  I don’t know what to say to that.

  “Go on,” Tony urges me.

  “Well, what do you want in a business partner?” I ask him.

  “A proven track record of success. Business acumen.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Like what?”

  “Like honesty. Ethics. Shared values, maybe. I’m assuming you wouldn’t want to deal with someone you didn’t trust or who was unethical.”

  Or maybe that doesn’t matter if he has connections to the criminal world. Maybe he’s the one who’s unethical and untrustworthy.

  “Are you suggesting I shouldn’t trust Eric?”

  “I don’t know him that well,” I mumble, looking away.

  “What does your intuition tell you?”

  “What does yours say?”

  “I know what mine is. I want to know what yours is.”

  I shift in my seat, unsure how to respond. I finally recall, “Mo used to say how you do one thing is how you do everything.”

  “Which means?”

  “It means how you show up in one part of life is a reflection of how you can be in other parts.”

  “Is there a reason you aren’t answering the question directly?”

  I blurt, “I think he’s an asshole, and I don’t think he can be trusted. That’s my honest opinion.”

  I bite my bottom lip, wondering if I was too candid.

  Tony looks unfazed. Maybe it’s because he’s come to the same conclusion.

  Feeling like I need to back up my statement, I add, “The Drumms have been accused of a lot of shady dealings, and though nothing has been proven in court, I’ve noticed their attorneys never address the questions head on. Instead, they resort to smearing and name-calling their accusers. But I could be misjudging it all. I’m not a business person. Maybe this is normal in the world of business, in which case, I’m glad I’m not in it.”

  This time Tony looks surprised, I think because of the force with which I spoke. And the heat in my tone is definitely the result of what happened between me and Eric today. He represents all that is wrong with a profession that puts money above people.

  “How else is Eric an asshole?” Tony asks.

  “You probably deal with assholes all the time in your line of work,” I murmur, ready to be off the subject. I don’t want to have to relive the reasons I think Eric is a jerk.

  “We come across them frequently, and sometimes we don’t have the choice of walking away. This can be the case when we have to work with government officials. But I try not to make a practice of working with assholes if I don’t have to.”

  I look out the window at rows of olive trees. I still have to text James back.

  “So far I agree with everything she says,” Benjamin tells Tony. “My first impression of Eric? He’s a first order wanker. He’s not a complete idiot, but his hubris drops his business IQ significantly. I think the allegations in the news are just the tip of the iceberg.”

  “But if his father becomes president, those allegations won’t amount to anything,” Tony replies. “Even if this resort and golf course is a loss, which it probably will be—”

  “The water costs alone could sink it. California is a damn desert.”

  “That hasn’t stopped you from investing and developing in the state.”

  “Our projects aren’t golf courses in the middle of the bloody sticks.”

  “It’s a loss we can afford.”

  “You’re inclined to work with Eric then?”

  “From what we know of the Drumm family, they are—what is the expression—tit for tat? Scratch a back to get yours scratched.”

  “You go in on this, they’ll be knocking on your door for other investments, like the acquisition of a football team.”

  “American football is not so bad.”

  “Basketball is much better.”

  I perk up at the mention of basketball.

  “Don’t let your personal biases cloud your financial judgment,” Tony cautions his cousin.

  “My brother plays basketball,” I say.

  Benjamin asks about Andre, what position he plays, how long he’s been playing. I talk about Andre’s potential and the camp his coach wants him to attend. Tony listens att
entively.

  “His coach thinks he has a shot at a college basketball scholarship,” I explain. “Lower level division two, for sure. But if he goes to this camp, maybe a division one school will take notice.”

  “You have any footage of him playing?” Benjamin asks.

  I take out my cellphone and pull up several video recordings, which I share with Benjamin.

  “He’s good,” Benjamin says after viewing the videos. “Abilities on both ends of the court. He looks disciplined on the floor. You said you’re from North Carolina? I’m sure the D-1 schools in the area are familiar with him. You do live in basketball country.”

  “Andre’s good, but he’s not head and shoulders above the competition for places like Duke or UNC,” I reply, “but maybe if we can get other colleges interested, a school like UNC might take a closer look at him.”

  We veer into other conversations, and I’m disappointed when we’re back in the Bay Area. I liked listening to Tony and Benjamin converse, switching seamlessly between English and Chinese. I wonder what it would be like to learn Chinese.

  The car pulls up in front of the house, and I look upon it with foreboding. Sierra and Eric are probably inside already.

  “It was nice to meet you, Virginia,” Benjamin says after opening the door for me. “Let me know what happens with your brother. I might be able to help out. Tony can you put you in touch with me.”

  “You starting a sports scholarship program?” Tony asks.

  My phone rings, and I pick it up. It’s Mrs. Ruiz. But even though Benjamin has walked to the other side of the car, I can still hear him.

  “You need a reason to stay out of trouble,” Benjamin is saying to Tony.

  “So I can be more like you?” Tony returns flippantly.

  “The family business won’t do it for you. Nor will Carmen.”

  From the corners of my eyes, I see Benjamin look my way. He finishes his thought. “She might.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  “Virginia? Hello?”

  I turn my attention back to my call. I don’t know what Tony’s response to his cousin is.