eyes flicked to the clock at the corner of his screen. Technically, this man would be off work in seventeen minutes, so he needed to start wrapping this up. Unfortunately, the accountant sounded more like he was just warming up.
"Your ongoing contract with the Professional League of Gamers is costing more than we're making. With the increased donation of our top suites to not only an entire game company, but also a list of these professional esport players, we need to reconsider the contract."
"No," Adam said.
The man sputtered. "What?"
"Calculate the revenue lost, and I'll adjust my income to compensate. I'm not budging on the PLG, Clark."
"Oh," Clark breathed. "But sir..."
"That is the one thing that's non-negotiable. Make it a write-off."
"Sir, I can't. It's not causing a loss, but we're losing potential income, and that's not something I can use. It's merely a bad business decision."
Adam chuckled. "And a good one for my own mental health. Would it help our taxes if I lost more money on those deals?"
The man pushed out a breath. "The best option would be if it was a charitable event, but it's not. The PLG is very much a for-profit organization."
"The QQ program isn't," Adam informed him. "Look into that and see if you can make the use of our hotels into a charitable donation, and I'll consider it. I will not risk losing these events, though. Clark, this is my personal project. Treat it as such."
"Yes, sir, Mr. Degrass," the accountant breathed. "Besides that, I recommend you focus on renovating the existing buildings you own, get them open and operating, then decide if the company needs to continue expansion. I have a note here that real estate is in a bubble, so delaying purchases could result in lower purchase prices and larger equity gains."
"Tell that department to get me a proposal," Adam decided. "I'm not opposed, but I'll want to see the numbers."
Clark jiggled his head again, clearly nervous about talking to the owner of the company. "Besides that - "
An alert on Adam's computer sounded, interrupting the man. A moment later, Adam's phone went off. He grabbed it, swiping at the screen to see a fire alarm in one of his hotels. That it hadn't been deactivated before sending to headquarters meant this was likely a real problem. Then he saw which one of his hotels was burning.
The Clairmont.
"Shit," he breathed, pushing to his feet. "I have to handle this. We have a hotel burning." By the time he finished the sentence, he was already halfway to the door of his office. As soon as he hit the lobby, he looked at his assistant. "Marc, find out what's going on at the Clairmont. I'm across the hall."
His feet never slowed. If it was any other hotel, he'd consider it a coincidence, but the one that was currently being prepared for the Columbus Expo? The fact that Riley had been updating him with KoG's attacks against Deviant? That his tie to both the games he played and hotels he owned was no longer a secret? Everything about this said that it wasn't a coincidence.
"Kate!" He barked when he was halfway across the building. "Clairmont!"
"I'm getting it too," she assured him, frantically typing at her keyboard. "Adam, the fire department's en route."
"Fuck!" he growled. "Get your things. We need to be there, not here."
"What?" she squeaked.
"It's a two hour drive, Kate," he reminded her. "It's also Columbus!"
Then he stepped into Nancy's office. She saw him and quickly ended the call she was on. "Adam?" she breathed.
"Mom, the Clairmont's on fire. I'm taking Kate and we're going to see how bad it is."
"You do not have any business being there," Nancy told him.
Adam just pressed his hands onto her desk and leaned over them. "I think this was an attack. I think this is tied to all that gamer stuff. Mom, I'm not going to let the authorities call this faulty wiring and leave us stuck with the bill. I'm going, I'm taking your admin, and I'll let you know what we find."
Nancy just sighed and shook her head. "Go. I'll hold down the fort." Just as he turned away, she asked, "You know how bad it is?"
"No, but I've been warned that something is coming," he admitted. "Call Darius for me? If you can convince him to stay with you tonight, that would be best."
Nancy's hand moved to touch her throat. "What's going on, Adam?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "There's a group of online terrorists, and