Sex and the Billionaire Crime Boss

Ch. 16: Wiseguys

The guy sitting next to Gino introduces himself to me as Malcolm and pushes his laptop over for me to take a look at the document open on the screen. Apparently he's been in his room writing things up while the others were in the high stakes poker room, and he completed it a little faster than expected.

He tells me there are four documents open and I should review them all.

I focus on the screen. I don't have a clue what this deal is even about, but I can't say that because I don't know how much Max wants them to think I know. What I am sure about is that he did not bring me here as his lawyer, and he had no intention of showing me any of this until I screwed things up by coming back to the suite when I wasn't supposed to be here.

I don't want you anywhere near the people I'm meeting with. That's what Max said to me when he instructed me to have Gabe check with him before coming back to the suite. Which is exactly what I didn't do.

Now I have to read through these documents and try to figure out what's going on. If what I say doesn't make sense, I'm just making more problems for Max.

My heart is pounding. Yes, I took tax classes in law school. But what if I read these documents and I still don't have a clue what's going on? Can I pull this off well enough to fool not only Gino and Joey D, but Malcolm, who apparently is a tax lawyer himself?

I glance up. "I'll need a few minutes to read through all this."

"Take your time, sweetheart," Gino says. "I could use a drink."

Apparently, that's Gabe's cue to go over to the tray that's sitting discreetly on a side table, and bring fresh glasses and a bottle of expensive whiskey over to the conference table. There's also a large bowl of some kind of fancy nuts, and Gino takes a handful and puts them all in his mouth, while Gabe pours him about three fingers of whiskey in a short glass.

Then he sets a bottle of scotch and a glass with two ice cubes in it in front of Joey D, and fills a tall glass half full of water from a bottle was on the tray.

"How about you get me a beer," the man sitting next to Joey D says to Gabe, with a smirk. Gabe reaches into the mini fridge under the side table, and sets a bottle down in front of him.

"You can serve me when we're in your house," Gabe says.

"It's not open," the guy says, like he expects Gabe to go get a bottle opener and open it for him.

"Try using your teeth, Bull," Gabe says.

It sounds like a boxing nickname, which would explain the nose.

"Quit pissing at each other," Gino says around another handful of nuts. "You're giving me a headache."

Bull looks like he's going to say something, but I see Joey D give a slight shake of his head, and Bull keeps his mouth shut. He takes the cap off with a clean jerk, although I don't think it's a twist top.

Gabe puts a fresh glass in front of Max, and Gino slides the bottle of whiskey over. Max tilts his head at Gabe, and he returns to his seat.

Joey D starts talking about some sports gambling odds, and the tension in the room visibly relaxes.

I wish I could go someplace quiet to focus on these documents, but I know there's no chance of me walking out of this room with Malcolm's laptop, so I just try to blot out everything and focus.

This reminds me of a law school final exam, but worse. If you fail a test there, they don't kill you and dump your body where no one will ever find it. And I'm halfway serious about that thought.

The distractions fade into the background as I get caught up in the documents. At first I'm puzzled. It looks like a standard investment deal for the construction of two commercial projects, one in Miami and one in New Jersey. There is a consortium of investor entities, a construction company, and a management company.