over. The unit just opened. It hasn’t even been listed yet, but I’d given him a call to see if he had apartments available, and as we’ve worked together before, he offered an advanced viewing. That does mean there’ll be some renovation work right before you move in, but he’ll work to your timetable or around you as needed.”
I could handle some renovation work being done, especially as I’d be working long hours for a while. “That won’t be a problem.”
“That’s great. This could be a really good home for you. It should be large enough for you to be able to have two dogs or three cats. He limits to two dogs because they tend to need more room than cats do. There is a rooftop dog park available for your use as well. That’s shared with the condominium owners. One of the perks is a dog walker if you need to leave your dog at home, too. They’ll come by three times a day to walk your pets. You can even get them to play with your cats. It’s thirty dollars a day for that service. They’ll even give your pets medications if needed, included in the fee.”
My brows shot up at this. “Is this a pet heaven?”
“Basically. Pet owners love this place. The landlord? He runs an animal shelter as a charity. It’s a no-kill shelter, and he only euthanizes if the animal absolutely cannot be saved.”
I hadn’t met the man, but I loved him already. “Who is this man? He sounds too good to be true.”
Margaret laughed. “Oh, he’s an interesting fellow. His name is Jacob, he’s half Italian, and he cracks jokes about not paying any protection rackets because his uncle is a crime lord and likes him the best. Nobody knows if he’s serious, but nobody cares, either.”
I bit my lip so I wouldn’t giggle. “That’s different.”
“It sure is. Just don’t let him invite you to his office for a drink. He has one on the clubhouse floor, and that’s how you get drunk and need security to escort you home. It won’t be the first or last time a tenant has needed to be helped back to their home after being invited to the leasing office.”
Okay. I could work with that. “How does one get an invite, and should I bring a bottle of wine as a gift?”
“I see this idea doesn’t bother you in the slightest.”
“Margaret, he sounds absolutely hilarious. I’d be drunk and laughing my ass off. What’s there not to like?”
“I never thought an honest warning about the perils of being invited to the landlord’s office would be a selling point,” she admitted.
“What can I say? It’s been a long life.”
Eleven
Sensible landlords exist?
Glass, steel, and marble collided in a mix of new and old, and the pair of security guards keeping an eye on the lobby would have gotten hired at Chippendales without question. Unlike the first apartment building, they wore classic suits, the kind my brother liked as they made him feel professional and worth his keep. That kind of suit had lured Amy right to Mat’s doorstep, I bet. Mat’s friendship with Rick, who seemed like the kind to have millions, had likely factored, too.
Maybe Amy wasn’t a gold digger, but we wouldn’t be playing sisters anytime soon, not after her stint as a bridezilla and losing so much of my brother’s money, money he couldn’t really afford to throw away for nothing.
We didn’t have a million bucks, but my brother certainly looked it when he decided he wanted to impress somebody. Sometimes, I wondered if Mat’s tendency to make friends with the rich and famous had drawn Amy to him. If his wife expected a life of riches and leisure, she’d be in for a nasty surprise.
He’d only had the money for the wedding because he’d worked hard to save for it. I’d always found it charming he’d wanted a fairytale wedding as much as most women. Despite everything, I hoped it would be a fairytale marriage rather than the prelude to a nightmare. Maybe Amy would change. Maybe she wouldn’t.
Mat would do everything he could to turn any nightmares into fairytales. That was what Mat did when he got backed into a corner. When he got it into his head to be ruthless, he could take that to extremes as well.
His next move would be to recruit our parents to do his dirty work, and I had a harder time telling them no. They’d taken us