Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 96454 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 482(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96454 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 482(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
“We all know he’s dirty. I think he’s likely already done something illegal.” CeCe nods Mom’s way. She’s got a plate in front of her but it’s salad and a single meatball. I don’t know how her body runs on alcohol and the occasional grapefruit, but it does. “I want to take a look at his finances. I called some people I know in Silicon Valley, and he doesn’t have bank financing on his project yet. He’s meeting with potential investors along with that reality person next week. He does have one name attached to the project. Lance Norfolk, and I find that very interesting.”
I’m confused. “He didn’t know Lance Norfolk. I thought Benjamin set up that meeting. How did he convince the man to invest so quickly?”
CeCe finishes off her martini and Thomas swoops in with another. “Benjamin is looking into that. Neither of us believe they had any ties before the night of the party. Now we’re wondering if we were wrong, and wouldn’t that be interesting? From what I can tell Lance is backing them, but for now in a hands-off way. I’ve heard a rumor the majority of the money to hire the actual programming staff came from Nick himself.”
This is what I don’t understand. I lived with the man. I know his finances. “Nick makes a great salary, but it’s not like he’s ever had a ton of cash. He mostly spent everything he made. The man drives a Bugatti. I know how far out on a limb he went for that car.”
His car note is more than most mortgages. Far more.
“You didn’t have a joint account?” Heath asks.
At least I hadn’t been that dumb. “I wasn’t going to join our finances unless we got married. We kept everything separate, and we each paid half of the monthly bills.”
Harper snorts at that statement.
I know what she’s saying, but I wish I didn’t have to react. “Fine. I paid most of the bills because he always had an excuse. One of which was the Bugatti, which he claimed was really for both of us since we needed to look like a power couple. I rode in that car maybe three times.” I look to Heath. “We can be the power couple that takes the subway.”
He grins my way, and my heart threatens to stop. “Baby, I’ll spring for a Citi Bike, too. It’ll have a nice basket on the front. Nothing but the best.”
Lydia frowns at Heath and looks Mom and CeCe’s way. “He’s joking. He’s got a very weird sense of humor. He certainly has enough money for a car. He’s excellent at saving. I taught him not to go into debt.”
“A sensible lesson.” My mom seems perfectly happy with Lydia. She’d gone into the kitchen and helped her bring out our dinner.
Ria and Ye Joon had left for the day, and I’d promised to fill them in on the plan tomorrow.
If there was an actual plan. Because so far it seemed like Lydia, Mom, and CeCe had spent the afternoon simply bashing Nick.
“So the question is where did Nick get the money to bring in Taisir Jatt,” CeCe muses. “Taisir apparently left what he was working on to start this project. Benjamin called around, and he estimates it would have cost Nick roughly two hundred and fifty to bring him on.”
Darnell’s eyes narrow on something other than his plate. He’s on seconds. “We are not talking two hundred fifty dollars, are we?”
“Of course we are. Isn’t that what I said?” CeCe asks.
I don’t think CeCe knows there’s amounts of money that small. “Thousands. She means two hundred fifty K.”
Harper whistles. “That’s a hell of a golden parachute.”
I shake my head. “I joked about that. Nick left the company with less than fifty K severance. We didn’t have anything at the end. His golden parachute was really more bronze.”
“Because he mismanaged your funds,” Mom points out. “He invested money in risky ventures that didn’t pay off and brought the entire company down. You came out of it with far less than he did.”
Lydia nods her way. “And that should be illegal.”
“I think we call that capitalism,” Darnell points out. “He sounds like a cartoon villain. Any way he made a little money on the side as he slithered off into the sunset?”
Anika leans in, her eyes lighting up. “Yeah, I bet he did. I certainly wouldn’t put it past him.”
I’m not following. “What are you saying? Do you think Nick embezzled funds? Shouldn’t the accountants have found that? Our accounting department went through every test they could before we sold. Surely they would have found something.”
“And how would we even prove it at this point?” Heath asks. “Could we hack his bank records?”
“You will not be hacking anything, young man,” his grandmother announces. It’s good to know we have a voice of reason. “I’m sure CeCe knows plenty of people we can hire to do that job for us.”