by Claire Adams
“Okay, mate. Let’s just plan to talk when you’re out here. Give me a call, okay? Or I’ll just swing by. Whatever’s easiest.”
“Sure, Alfie,” I said. Clearly he needed the whole thing to be reiterated to him again, maybe several more times. “I’m not changing my mind about this, though. I’m literally sitting on the couch in my dad’s office right now. My office now. I’ve got bigger things to do now. So if you’re waiting for me to make any decisions or move forward with anything, you should just go on ahead and do what you want. Really, it’s good news for you.”
“Well what I want is for things to stay the way they’ve been. We need money, more money than I’ve got. I’ll talk to you when you get out here.”
The line went dead.
Only for a few minutes, though. It started ringing again, and I looked at the screen, hoping it was Isla but knowing it was probably Alfie calling back with something else to say that I didn’t want to hear. It wasn’t though: It was Ella. I hesitated, picked up the phone, but then didn’t answer. It went to voicemail, and then a text came through.
Hey you, she wrote. I miss u! We need to make a plan to do a getaway somewhere. I’ve been super busy with work but I’m more than ready for some relaxing time with u. What’s ur sched like? Call me. Let’s set something up.
I tossed the phone down. It was tempting to just throw the thing into the toilet; no one that I wanted to talk to was calling.
There was a knock at the door, but the door was opening as the knock was happening. It was Frank Carlisle, followed by Erin, who looked a little flustered.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I tried to get him to wait—”
“I wait for no man! Levi!” Frank Carlisle boomed, striding over to me. He was a tall, imposing man, and when we shook hands, he grasped my palm so tightly I thought he was trying to break it.
“Good to see you again, Frank,” I said. The extent of my relationship with Frank Carlisle, had, up until this point, been one of mild deference, because I was fucking his daughter. I think we would’ve gotten along even if that hadn’t been the case, but I had never tried to flex on him, and Frank, for the most part, had never tried to flex on me, either. I had a feeling, though, that was all about to change.
Frank and I had talked briefly at my father’s funeral, but this was before he knew that I was now the head of BCM. I could tell that he was looking at me in a different light now.
“You talk to Ella lately? She was saying she hasn’t seen you around much. Give her a call.”
“Sure,” I said. “I will.”
“Great. Obviously, though, I’m not here to talk about you and my daughter.” Frank looked over my shoulder. “Oh, great, here he comes.”
I turned and saw Cal walking over to us.
“Hi there, Frank,” Cal said, a tight smile on his face. “Why don’t we all go into my office.”
“I’d rather stay right here in Alex’s. Or Levi’s. Whoever it belongs to now.”
“That would be me,” I said.
“Right, sure.” Cal rubbed his hands together and looked toward the open door, as if he was hoping no one was close enough to hear the exchange that was currently taking place.
“It must’ve been quite a shock to find out that Alex had left this all to you,” Frank said, clapping me on the shoulder. “Quite a shock! Boy, I would’ve liked to have been there to see the look on your face when you found out!”
“It was something like this,” I said, widening my eyes and opening my mouth.
“Alex always did have a sense of humor,” Cal said as we stepped into my office.
Frank ignored him. “Place looks the same,” he said. “Now, I assume Cal has gone over the details of this with you. I know you weren’t involved much while your father was alive, Levi, but I can tell you for a fact that he’d be all about this deal. He’d be more than willing to move forward with it.” Frank shot Cal a sideways glance before looking back at me. “I hope you’ll feel the same way.”
I went over and sat down at my father’s desk, as if that might somehow provide me with the sort of answers that Frank was looking for.
“Uh . . .” I rifled through some of the papers that were on the desk to buy more time. The papers had nothing to do with anything, as far as I could tell, but at least it gave me something to look at.
Cal cleared his throat. The dislike these two had for each other was clearly mutual and very apparent.
“Frank,” Cal said. “The amount of money we’d have to hand over to buy Westport just isn’t worth the risk.”
“We’ve taken risks before that have worked out quite nicely, if I’m remembering correctly,” Frank said. He looked back at me. “I don’t think I ever once heard your father talk like this, Levi. I’m hoping your approach is going to be more like his. Otherwise, I might have to start looking into transferring my assets to another company that is more aligned with my way of thinking.”
I might not have known much about BCM, but I knew enough to know that it would not be good news if the Carlisles went elsewhere.
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” I said. “How long have you been working with my father, Frank?”
“You tell me.”
Shit. “Um . . . well, I don’t know exactly, but it’s been a really long time. And I would hate to see anything happen to that relationship. We value you, we appreciate you, and—”
“Oh, cut the shit,” Frank said, waving his hand. “Do you know how ridiculous you sound? We value you. Come on, Levi. Don’t bullshit me.”
“I’m not bullshitting you. We absolutely value you. And you know that, too, otherwise you wouldn’t be making these threats to go elsewhere if we don’t do what you want.”
“You’re making me sound like a tyrant. Which I’m not. This is something your father understood. I can’t say the same about this one,” he said, gesturing to Cal.
I felt as though I were a parent, lording over two toddlers who were fighting over a toy. The whole thing was giving me a headache. Did my father really deal with this shit? How? It seemed like the only thing Frank was interested in hearing was that we were going to do exactly what he wanted.
“Let me talk with Cal,” I said. “I think it’s safe to say that we all want to do the right thing here; no one wants to lose money if we don’t have to. We don’t want to take any unnecessary risks.”
“Unnecessary, no, of course not,” Frank said. “But risks—yes. Do you think I’d have the amount of money I have if I never took a risk? Do you think I’d have the money I’d never branched out from real estate investment trusts? I’ll answer that for you: No, I wouldn’t. If you need to talk to Cal about this to get him to understand, then so be it, but I think we should move on this.” Frank looked at me and shook his head. “Look at you, sitting there,” he said. “Quite a sight. Anyway. The wife and I are flying out to Napa today; we’ll be back in town at the end of the month. I’ll come around for another meeting then, and I hope you’ll have good news for me. I’ll bring back some good wine.”
He left, barely giving Cal a glance.
“Well,” Cal said once he was gone. “That went better than I was expecting.”
“Has he always been like that?”
“Always. He really respected your father, though. And if your father told him this Westport deal was a bad idea, he’d believe it. I don’t have the same credibility with him. Which I’m sure is obvious.”
Cal sounded a little chagrined, which made me almost feel bad for him. “It’s not just Frank’s money, is it?” I asked. “I mean, he doesn’t have eight billion dollars, does he?”
“No, it’s not just Frank’s money. Frank has about three billion dollars.”
I nodded. “That’s quite a bit.”
“It is.”
“You’d think a person would be content with that sort of money.”
“It’s got nothing to do with being content. It has to do with growth. Frank doesn’t want things to stagnate. I don’
t either, of course, but I also don’t want to take foolish risks.”
I nodded. I knew I wasn’t Cal’s favorite person, and we certainly had our differences, but I had to agree with him on that point.
28.
Isla
We stayed in New York for a week and a half. When Levi was at work, I’d go for long runs through Central Park and try not to think about the fact that Sophie and I still hadn’t talked. I kept expecting her to call or text, but she didn’t. We’d never gone this long without speaking before, but every time I went to pick up my phone to call her, I couldn’t make myself do it.
“I think it’s time to go back to Ibiza,” Levi said. “This is the best time of year to be out there, you know.”
“Can you do that?” I asked. “Just leave work like that?”
“Yeah. Frank Carlisle isn’t due back from California for at least another week, so now would probably be the perfect time.”
“Cal’s not going to mind?”
Levi shrugged. “He probably will, but it’s not like I won’t come back. Besides, I’ve gone into work every day this week, and though I can’t say I was hugely productive, that is pretty good, for me, anyways.”
“If you want to go back there, I’m not going to argue,” I said. I hadn’t talked to my mother since we’d left Bel Air, either, which also felt strange, though she hadn’t made any effort to get in touch with me. If I had thought inheriting money was going to make my problems go away, I had certainly been wrong.
“Let’s do it then,” Levi said. “I’ll let Cal know after we get there.”
It did feel a bit as though I was running away from my problems, getting back on the plane to go to Ibiza with Levi. I knew he kind of felt the same way too; there was stuff going on at work that he was supposed to be taking care of, but he’d put it off until we got back. I decided to keep it to myself that I didn’t actually want to come back.
We spent the first glorious day at the beach, surrounded by other happy people who were enjoying their vacation. Or “holiday,” as the Europeans put it. I sat on a lounge chair and drank a daiquiri out of a coconut shell cup; I went swimming in the clear, warm water with Levi; I grabbed onto his shoulders as he went past and he pulled me along in the water. When he stopped, he put his feet down and stood up, the water up around his shoulders. I kept my arms around his neck and wrapped my legs around his waist. His hands went gripped my hips lightly. The sun shone down on us, and for a moment, it really was as though I could forget everything else that was going on and just enjoy things right now, here with him.
“This was definitely the right choice,” he said. “Though I don’t think coming to Ibiza has ever been the wrong choice.”
“Clearly not.” I kissed his neck, tasting the saltwater.
He moved one hand from my hip lower, sliding his fingers underneath the top of my bikini bottom. I looked around as I felt him stroke my clit. We were the only people this far out, and we were far enough away from the beach that I didn’t think anyone would be able to tell what we were doing. I hoped, anyway. He slipped a finger inside of me and I gripped his neck tighter, my breath catching in my throat.
I rocked my hips against him a little bit, trying to get him in further. What I really wanted was to feel his cock inside of me, but having sex like that, in the middle of the day on a public beach was probably not okay. This was, though. He shifted his hand slightly, so he was able to slide a second finger into me, while at the same time running his thumb over my clit in a circular motion. My whole body was tingling, and he brought his other hand up and ran it lightly up and down the length of my spine.
The stronger the sensation got, the tighter I gripped him, so when I came, it felt as though I was going to snap him in half. I tried not to thrash around too much and make it obvious, and when he pulled his hand out, I let go of him and floated on my back, buoyed by the warm water, good feelings all around me.
We started the next day off by sleeping late and then having coffee and pastries in the backyard by the pool. Levi was asking me what I felt like doing for the rest of the day when I heard the doorbell ring, faintly, through the open slider door.
“I’ll go see who it is,” Levi said. “You want me to get you more coffee while I’m in there?”
“Sure,” I said, handing him my empty mug. “Thanks.”
He went inside and I stretched out on the lounge chair, hoping that the sunscreen I’d put on would keep me from burning but help me get a tan.
“Now’s not a great time,” I heard Levi say after a minute.
“It’s not going to take long.” The guy had a British accent. I glanced toward the sliding door, but they were both just out of view.
“Fine,” Levi said. “Let’s talk in here.”
I considered going for a swim while they were talking, but I just stayed where I was on the chaise lounge. They had moved further away from the door, but the windows were all open, and the light breeze was just right, so I was still able to catch snippets of what they were saying.
“ . . . not going to let you do this . . . Just doesn’t make sense . . .” the British guy was saying.
“It makes perfect sense . . .” Levi replied. “But even if it doesn’t, it’s not up to you to tell me what to do.”
I got up and moved a little closer to the house so I could hear them better. “I’m not trying to tell you what to do,” the British guy said.
Levi laughed. “Then what is this? What are you doing right now, Alfie? Trying to read my horoscope?”
“You’re just getting a little ahead of yourself,” Alfie said. “I can see that; everyone else can see that. I’m looking out for you, is what I’m doing.”
“I definitely don’t need looking out for.”
“Sure ya do, mate. You just don’t realize it yet.”
I inched closer. What on earth were they talking about?
“Listen, Alfie. I really don’t know how else to put it to you. You’re a smart guy—we both know that—and you’ll be fine. You just keep doing what you’re doing, and everything will be great. It’ll be just like it is now, minus one. And you know what that means, Alfie? That means that you’re in charge. You get to call the shots. All of them.”
“I already was, mate.”
“So then what’s the problem?” I could hear the exasperation in Levi’s voice. “Why are you just dropping by here unannounced when we’ve already been through this?”
“Sorry, mate, I didn’t realize that I had to book an appointment now. When did that start? It doesn’t matter. What does matter, Levi, is that you can’t just decide to pull out like this for no reason. We’re partners. You don’t just suddenly pull out of a partnership like that.”
“Partners? You’re acting like we’re boyfriends, Alfie. Is that what you’re saying? That we’re like boyfriends and you don’t want me breaking up with you?”
“Ha. Listen, mate, you’re a handsome fella but I’m not into that sort of shit.”
“It was an analogy. A bad one.”
“Well, regardless, you can’t just do something like this for no good reason. I would never do that sort of thing to you.”
“How is my father dying not a good enough reason for you?”
“Because it doesn’t make bloody sense! Why would your father dying mean you need to stop doing this? If anything, it gives you more freedom to get a better hold on the market. Really become the main source. Isn’t that what you want? Doesn’t that sound bloody fantastic?”
“See, that’s good, Alfie,” Levi said. “You have vision, you have goals. So do something with it. I’m just not going to be a part of it.”
I was about to go back to my chaise lounge—I didn’t want them to come out here and find me eavesdropping—but then Alfie said, “Then I need two million dollars.” I paused, curious what Levi would say.
“I’m not giving you two million dollars, Alfie. What the hell do you need that much money for anyway?”
“That much money
?” Alfie scoffed. “That’s a drop in the bucket for you. You giving me that is like me giving one of my mates a tenner.”
“Giving you an amount like that probably would raise some suspicion.”
“What do you mean? You said we’d tell anyone who asked that I’m your personal assistant.”
“Right. But I don’t know anyone who’s just going to up and give their personal assistant two million dollars. For no reason.”
“But this is for a reason.”
“Not one that I’m a part of anymore. Listen, man, there’s no other way for me to put this, but I’m out. And I don’t want you coming around here anymore if your sole purpose is to try to get me to change my mind. Because it’s not going to happen. I’ve got different priorities now. I’m sorry.”
I hurried back over to the chaise lounge and stretched out on it. I heard Levi’s footsteps a few minutes later, and I opened my eyes and sat up.
“Hey,” I said. He was alone.
“Sorry about that.”
“Who was it?”
“That guy, Alfie. I think you met him briefly. He’s a friend. Just wanted to come by and talk to me about something.”
“Oh.” I paused, waiting to see if he’d elaborate, but he didn’t. I thought about asking him directly, but I decided not to. If he wanted to tell me, he could. If he didn’t, I was okay with that. Because I trusted him. That’s the thing my mom and Sophie didn’t understand about me and Levi: I trusted him, and I knew that he had changed from who he was all those years ago, and he wouldn’t do anything to hurt him.
29.
Levi
Fuckin Alfie. He was persistent, I had to give him that much. He called me a day after he’d stopped by when Isla and I had been out at the pool, as though talking to me about it over the phone might have more impact than talking about it in person. It was surprising, actually, that he was making it this hard for me to extricate myself from the situation. I had truly thought he’d be psyched to get to take the whole operation over himself.
