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A corner of her mouth turned up for a millisecond. Tough crowd. “Don’t worry, your tux is safe. For now, anyway.”
“Glad to know I can save on my dry cleaning bill,” I said, offering her a handshake. “I’m Sebastian Anderson.”
“Abigail. Nice presentation.”
“Thanks. You a friend of Charlie’s?” I asked, recognizing her name from conversations with Charlie.
“Her best.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m grabbing us some drinks to celebrate,” I told her, unable to keep the news to myself. And, fine, maybe I wanted to make nice with Charlie’s friend.
“Celebrate?” Her brows shot up.
I nodded. “Charlie’s very happy tonight.”
“Wow!” The first real smile I’d ever seen on Abigail’s face split her mouth, and she reached over to punch my arm. When I jerked back and rubbed the sore spot, she just laughed and lifted her glass in my direction. “I’d better go find her and congratulate her.” Abigail quickly ran off without a goodbye. It was sweet to see her friend share in her excitement.
I turned toward the black-tie bartender and ordered two glasses of champagne. The man with the sparkling booze nodded and twirled a champagne glass with his fingers. I took the two freshly filled champagne flutes and turned on my heel, nearly crashing into the man I wasn’t ready to face. Theo Sinclair. Only he didn’t look as calm and collected as he had the last time we met. His nose was red and his eyes flashed.
“What the hell, Anderson?” he barked in a low tone. “A boutique hotel built on this tired piece of crap? That was not my hotel proposal.”
Not my preferred battleground, but I supposed there was no time like the present.
I squared my shoulders. “I know. It was better. You should be thanking me. Thanking Charlie Reeves.”
Theo bared his teeth like he was ready to bite my head clean off. “That wasn’t our deal.”
“Our deal was dead in the water, Sinclair,” I said, dipping my head to the side. We made our way beside one of the sweeping staircases for an attempt at privacy. I scanned over his shoulder and, not seeing Charlie, returned my gaze to Sinclair. “I probed the council and campaigned hard, but they weren’t going to approve the big hotel. This is better. More premium.”
“More premium, maybe, but a quarter of the rooms means a worse investment for me. Not to mention ballooning restoration costs.” His jaw set. “I didn’t sign up for this.”
“Look, I know you’re a businessman, but I’m the best in the real estate business. What I’m offering you is pure luxury, Sinclair. Luxury means a premium price. I know profitable commercial real estate when I see it. This version of the hotel is going to offer your vineyard visitors a taste of small-town charm with big-city comfort. It’s what the people want.”
“You mean that’s what your girlfriend wants,” Sinclair said through clenched teeth, and I straightened. Sinclair sneered. “Don’t play dumb. I could see it the moment you walked in together. You’re sleeping with her.”
I didn’t like where this conversation was going. I didn’t want to bring Charlie into this even though she was the entire reason I was having this conversation. “That isn’t any of your business.”
“You made it my business when you screwed with my hotel.”
Oh, that was rich. Seemed Mr. Sinclair had forgotten who owned this building. I leaned closer, champagne sloshing over the edge of one of the glasses and wetting my fingers. “Let’s not forget that it’s because of me that you’re even getting your hotel,” I hissed. “A better hotel. You may not see it now, but trust me, soon enough you’ll have those lifestyle influencers singing its praises on social media while those profits start rolling in.”
Sinclair scoffed, averting his glare. “You better hope so.”
Like a shark scenting a drop of blood in the water, I knew I had him. He was interested. No, more than interested, he was invested. “I’ll send you some updated figures. You’ll see that this new version of the hotel is a better deal than you could have ever imagined.”
When his gaze met mine again, his eyes gleamed with avarice. “I don’t like you pulling this one over on me,” he said.
I shrugged. “We had to keep it under wraps until the presentation.”
“My lawyers will go through your updated contract of sale with a fine-toothed comb. If you’re trying to rip me off here, the deal’s dead.”
I leaned back on my heels, affecting a casual shrug. Inside, my heart thumped, pulse heavy in my throat, a knot in my gut. Here came the hard part. I didn’t want to do this here, but there was only one way I could get the funding for The Bach Company so I could give my mother her due and make sure Charlie forgave me for selling the Monticello to Sinclair.
I took a sip of champagne and met the other man’s gaze. “I’m so confident you’ll want this new version of the hotel that I’ll skip ahead to the next part.”
“What next part?”
“I’m taking Radcliffe House Apartments off the table.” The words came out steady, even though my body rioted. Everything rested on this moment. Everything.
