The Other Side of Greed (The Seven Sins #5) - Lily Zante Page 0,32
what I will do with this area is solid, and it will make money. Hers is a straitjacket of insanity.
“It depends on what people want, what their passion is.”
“Most people go through life not knowing what they want, and they certainly have no clue about passion.”
“And some do.”
“But you’re talking about the down-and-outs of society. Do you really think they would magically know about their passion, and what they want out of life?”
At my lowest, it was food I had to forage for. For both of us. I forget to watch what I’m saying because I am so pissed off. That’s the difference between people like her and people like me. Kyra wastes money by investing in losers. I don’t.
Her soft and friendly post-Cardoza demeanor hardens in an instant. “Down-and-outs? Is that what you think of them?” She looks more pissed than I’ve ever seen her; hands on hips even though she doesn’t have the height or body to make a strong stance.
She’s trying, though. I have to give her that.
“I want to empower people to take control of their lives and to fend for themselves,” she snaps.
“These people are happy for handouts.”
“Is that what you think?” The rage inside her combusts and she looks more pissed than I’ve ever seen her. She looks as if she’d like to take a swing at me with a baseball bat. “These people want a better start for themselves and their families. Like many of us do. I don’t understand how you can’t see that.”
“Because it makes no sense.”
“You have no empathy, no compassion,” she rages. Her eyes fire up like angry flames in a furnace.
I’m a businessman and I know better. It’s not what I say to her, of course. I try to level with her. “You have to be careful because if people don’t know the basics of running a business, of knowing their profit and loss, of keeping costs down, and especially if they haven’t had to pour their hard-earned money into something, they won’t care as much as you do.”
Her brows push together. She’s not taking the bait. “We’re done for now.” She dismisses me with a nod of her chin, quickly.
I grab my chair and walk it back to my desk. “This is … this is a great piece of land you have here. It has potential,” I concede. “All I’m saying is that not everyone is as smart and as determined as you.”
“Don’t try to flatter me.”
“I wasn’t trying to.” I bite down on my teeth because she pushes my buttons, and unlike Emma, I can’t give her a dismissive nod or tell her to leave because I am not in charge. This is her domain.
Chapter Sixteen
KYRA
“That man annoys the hell out of me. I can’t stand him. He’s a ... He’s a ... UGH.” I stamp my foot like a child having a tantrum. I’ve come to check on Fredrich. It’s also because I need to vent my fury, because I’ve just finished telling him about my conversation with Brad earlier today.
“Whoa.” Fredrich leans back on the couch, his arm still in a sling, resting on his thigh. “He really gets to you.”
“I was trying to be nice. I thought I’d let him in on our vision and future plans to see what he thought of it.”
Fredrich blows out a loud breath, but he doesn’t say anything, and that irritates me even more.
“Don’t you agree?” I press him for an answer. “He doesn’t see our vision. He thinks that letting vulnerable people open their own businesses is a waste of time and money. This surprises me because I would have expected him to be more understanding given that he helped people when he was on his travels. There’s a disconnect between what he says and what he does.”
“Have you been watching him closely the entire time?” Fredrich runs his good hand through his hair. I don’t like the way he hesitates, as if he’s trying to find an excuse for Brad’s behavior, for his point of view, for who he is. “You can be quite scary at times.”
“Me? You think I’d make Brad Hartley scared?” This is ridiculous.
“Maybe he hasn’t seen first-hand what a difference Redhill has made because he hasn’t seen how people have benefitted. We know, because we’ve seen our employees’ lives transform. He hasn’t had that vantage point. If he doesn’t know what people are capable of, then you can’t blame him for being ignorant.”