Arrogant Bastard - Julie Capulet Page 0,24

recognize. “It’ll be fun.”

Fun? You sound like a fucking imbecile.

I don’t care. I’ll convince her I’m not a bully or a jerk. For the first time in a very long time, I actually care about what another person thinks of me. I want her to … like me. Go figure.

Clearly, not only does she not like me, she loathes me. This is obvious by the fury shining out of her jewel-bright eyes. “No,” she says. “I don’t think so. I’m busy tomorrow night.”

Josie stares at her friend sharply. “But you love the Tucker Brothers. We have plenty of staff on tomorrow night, Luna. You should totally go. It’ll give you two a chance to talk about everything and to start making plans.”

“We haven’t decided the sale will go ahead yet,” Luna says. She’s surly.

“The seats are front row,” I add. “We’ll have a drink with the band before the show.”

Luna’s glaring at me, as though she’s not sure she loves the band enough to put up with me for an entire evening. Judging by the cocktail of emotion coloring her expression, ranging from hatred to annoyance to rage—to something else, buried deeper, which is harder to read—I’ve got my work cut out for me. And I can hardly wait. I’ve spent a lifetime building my arsenal. Of seduction, of money, of buying whatever I want.

I don’t want to buy her.

I have this unfamiliar urge to fucking win her.

She sighs. “Fine,” she finally says.

Yes!

I’ll show her. I can be a good person, she’ll see. I don’t always use people to get what I want.

She’ll fall in lust with me. She has to.

Maybe even in love. Once she discovers the things I can do.

I’ll have her right where I want her. Under me. Submitting. Taking me inside.

Hell, yeah.

She’ll see.

Fuck.

“I can’t believe that jerk! Who does he think he is? Waltzing in here offering a million freaking dollars? I mean, what the hell? Who would do that, just out of the blue? He’s a total stranger who doesn’t know the first thing about us or our business!”

We’re upstairs and Josie is sitting on the couch, leafing through the contract. I spent a fitful, sleepless night. Even an extra-intense yoga practice this morning couldn’t cure me of all the pent-up frustration. My life has just changed irrevocably, and all because of one ego-maniacal playboy who won’t even consider less than fifty-one percent.

“You’re pacing,” she says. “Actually, he seems to know a whole lot about our business, down to the exact amount of money we owe.”

“Exactly. How does a person even find out about details like that?”

“He said a lot of it was public information.”

“But not all of it! Our bank statements? Our equity? The value of our damn chattels? That’s the kind of detail he would have had to go to our bank to find out about. Which is a very devious and underhanded way to go about something like this.”

More leafing. “Or … maybe it’s the sensible and informed way to go about something like this? Just sayin’. He’s offering to buy our business. It’s not unreasonable for him to want to find out about its value.”

“Behind our backs? That’s asshole behavior!”

“It’s savvy investor behavior, Luna. I don’t know why you’re getting so worked up about this. It’s what we wanted, remember? We would’ve had to provide all that information to any investor. He’s clearly well-connected, so what? Now we don’t have to go through all the trouble of advertising and vetting people and scrambling around to get the best possible offer. We’ve just had the best damn offer we’re ever likely to get.”

“But why would he offer so much? It doesn’t make any sense for him to do that.” I stare out at the view of the sun on the water and … I don’t want to leave this place. I don’t want to go back to Iowa with its landlocked endlessness. I love the ocean views and the sea salt and the humid warmth. I love this place with everything I have. “I don’t trust that prick as far as I can throw him.”

“Really? I couldn’t tell.” Josie smiles sympathetically. “As he said, he can see the potential in our business. You should be happy, Luna. He’s an experienced businessman who’s willing to sink a ton of money into this place, which is exactly what it needs. What’s the problem?”

“His ego could be assigned its own zip code, that’s the problem. I want to know what he’s up to.”

“Why do you