Killian (Hope City #8) - Kris Michaels Page 0,19

made a face. “You know him?”

“I know of him. The man has been after a meeting with me for over a month. I finally sent Champion’s lawyers to his office.”

“Wow, what did he want?” She leaned forward, crowding him.

“We have no idea. When they arrived, he suddenly had a conflicting meeting and wasn’t available. It hasn’t been rescheduled.”

“Oh, that man… He’s slimy. He wanted my sister Brianna to give him a bribe to forward her petition to change the city statute to allow restaurants to donate excess food at the end of the night to homeless shelters.” Her blue eyes narrowed, and she huffed a frustrated growl. The soft wave of her breath caressed his face, and that’s when he realized they were sitting almost on top of each other. Her body was pressed up against his as they looked at the documents.

He cleared his throat and backed away. “What are you proposing to do about that?”

“I have a plan. You should watch the five o’clock news on Wednesday.” She scrunched her nose up and then smiled.

“I don’t typically watch television during the day.” Or much at all, it would seem.

“Well, I don’t know if it will be televised again at ten. That depends on the station manager and the news on Wednesday.” She stood up and stretched. “Thank you for looking at what I thought was hinkey.”

“Hinkey?”

“Yeah, Scooby-Doo and Velma?”

He had no idea what she was talking about. “Oh, of course.”

“Yeah, I’m more like Daphne, except for the hair color and cut.”

Killian stood and actually chuckled. The woman’s brain—and by extension, her mouth—worked overtime. “I’ll take your word for it. Thank you for dinner.”

“Oh, you’re welcome.” They wandered back toward the front of the condo. “If I have questions on the land purchases, can I call or stop by?” Bekki bent over and let Duke lick her face while crooning, “I need to stop in and see my friend Duke, don’t I? Yes, I do.”

He snapped his eyes up because he did not just notice how perfect her ass was in those yoga pants. Yeah, he didn’t need her dropping by, he had work to do and a project to ramrod into completion. The clock was ticking, and time, in his business, was money. Every ounce of energy he had for the next three years was going to be horned into the Pinnacle.

“Please call before you stop by, there will be a lot of heavy equipment moving in shortly and we are breaking ground. I may not be able to talk depending on what’s going on.”

She stood up and wiped at her face. “I can do that. Are you sure there isn’t anything happening with the contractors?”

“If you pulled all the reports like you did on me, you’d see that the vast majority are trying to meet code and will fix issues so they pass on the next inspection. There really isn’t a way to tell if an inspector is taking kickbacks for approving shoddy work except for the shoddy work. My company, Tri-State, and Apex profit from good work turned in on time. Companies like Perkins have a reputation for a reason, and reputable general contractors would never hire someone as a sub that they can’t trust to do the job the right way.”

“Then how did Perkins get the job on the Partridge Tower?” Bekki leaned back against the door, blocking his way out.

“That I couldn’t tell you. I don’t deal with subs; I have my own employees. I pay them on salary, and they have healthcare. Even though carrying them when we aren’t actively building is expensive, the profits of having my own people that I know are qualified far outweigh the loss of contracts because a sub pads his estimate or can’t complete the work required.” His business model was unheard of for general contractors, but he’d done the math and the numbers were solid.

“You never use subs?”

“No, not to perform work. I hire companies to deliver goods, such as concrete and lumber, but I can hire on more staff as needed. It’s seasonal employment for some as we expand and contract, but I rarely have problems finding qualified people to work and my core stay with me.”

“That’s pretty ingenious.” Bekki stood up, but her brow furrowed. “What do you want the land for?”

Killian blinked and tried to catch up. Again. “What land?”

“In the office, you said you’d have bid on the land. What did you want it for?”

He shrugged and shoved his hands in his