I watched as Zane quirked his lips to the side and thought about the proposal I was offering him. I knew I had him; there was no way he would give up the rights to the Expressway Tunnel…it meant too much to him. I had something he wanted, and he was going to have to work with me to get it.
“I believe I can help you, but I need to know what it entails first. How much of my time will be spent down there? What exactly is the plan of getting into his club?”
Grinning, I adjusted my seat again and leaned forward to lay it out for him.
“Like I stated before, Rex won’t let you in the club unless he trusts you, and a sure-fire way to get him to trust you is to devise a plan to take me down.”
Nodding, Zane rubbed his chin and said, “I take it you two have a history.”
“You’re correct, but I won’t bore you with such petty back stories.”
“Thank you,” he smirked.
“First course of action is for you to call Rex and set up a time to meet up with him. He will be intrigued to hear what you have to say, since you’re in the bidding process.”
“That will be easy.”
Zane and I talked for the next hour, devising a plan to find a way into Rex’s club without getting caught. I explained to him the no phone policy, so we would have my detective friend outfit Zane with a hidden camera to record the inner workings of the club.
The time spent with Zane was rather enjoyable. The man had the same attitude toward business as I did, and he was grounded. He wasn’t like every other business man I had to work with. I could foresee a friendship developing between us.
Once we finished, Zane stood and walked me to his door.
“Thank you for seeing me today,” I said politely, as I buttoned up my suit jacket and adjusted my tie.
“I appreciate the offer,” Zane said with a smirk. “I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to get my hands on the Expressway. Never thought my racing would be taken outside of New York City, but this is an opportunity I just can’t possibly refuse.”
“That reminds me,” I said, while holding my hand out. “I will take that deed for now,” I smirked.
“Damn, thought you would forget,” Zane laughed, as he handed it over to me.
“Let me know how your conversation with Rex goes. I’ll be interested to see how he takes your offer. When you come down, be sure to visit when all is said and done. I would love to show you around town.”
“You can count on it,” Zane answered with a smile. “Just after everything is completed.”
“Naturally. I’ll be in touch. Thank you, Zane, I can’t tell you how grateful I am for your help.”
“No, thank you, you made me a better offer than what I was shooting for.”
With those parting words, I took off to catch my plane back to New Orleans.
Everything seemed to be coming together. Zane was going to contact Rex and fly out to New Orleans as soon as possible, and I had my detective on hold. Hopefully, sooner rather than later, I would be able to finally take my dad and Rex down, and if it wasn’t too late, hopefully claim Goldie once again.
11
“She Knows”
Goldie
“I have a meeting, Goldie, an important one, so please clean up your dishes and go up to your room,” Rex demanded, as he wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin and then took his plate to the kitchen.
I missed Kace already. It was torture being with Rex, and then trying to go to the club to teach the girls, who remained cold and stone-like toward me. I had hope when Blane tried to approach me, but all he asked was for me to give the girls a break…that was it. I wondered if he really was trying to be in cahoots with me, because I didn’t even get the smallest of nods from him.
Rex had been an uptight ass-hat ever since he took a call earlier today. It was like someone strung his balls up and occasionally pulled on them, just to piss him off.
His maid cooked us a delicious platter of lasagna, and did the man even thank her? No. He just ate the food on his plate without even talking to me. I had more of a conversation in my head with George Washington on the wall than I did with Rex.
“Hurry along,” Rex said, while he looked at me, waiting for me to move.
“Do you mind if I finish?” I said in a snappy tone, getting pretty annoyed with his pestering.
“I would tell you to finish upstairs, but I don’t allow food on the second floor. Please, just finish; I need you out of here.”
“It seems like you’re trying to hide me,” I stated with my mouth full of lasagna.
“I can’t imagine why,” he rolled his eyes and ran his hand through his hair.
“I thought I meant something to you, Rex. I’m sorry, but with the way you’ve been treating me, it seems like you don’t even want me here.”
Where the hell did that come from? And why the hell did I even care?
Looking frustrated, Rex got in my face and said, “You’re the one who wants to build a friendship first. If you were my girlfriend, you would be treated a little differently, maybe with a little bit more respect.”
Ahh, so the man wanted access to the Goldie garden. Not going to happen.
“Well, it would be nice if we could be friends first, seems like it would build a solid foundation. How am I supposed to know if I want to move forward with you if you’re going to continue to treat me like this?”
Irritation laced Rex’s features, but I could see him ease up a bit.
“I’m sorry, Goldie. I’m just stressed, and having you in the next room is killing me. I will do better at being a gentleman. I apologize.”
He sounded almost like he meant it.
Deciding to throw him a bone, I got up from the table, shoved the rest of my lasagna in my mouth, and rinsed my plate off in the kitchen sink. I was about to turn to him and give him a conciliatory hug when his doorbell rang. The look in Rex’s eyes made me think I should probably get the hell out of his sight, or else I would be dragged up the stairs by my hair. Scary.
“Uh, I’ll just head up to my room.”
“Take the back stairs,” he said curtly, ushering me away.
Flipping him off behind his back, I walked to the back stairs and pretended to climb them with great force. I was too curious just to let him get away with tucking me away. I needed to know what this meeting was all about, especially if it possibly had something to do with Masquerade. I was a “manager” of sorts; I needed to know what I was working with.
I heard Rex greet whoever was at the door in the hallway in the fakest tone I’ve ever heard from him. A very strong male voice greeted Rex back, making me wonder who the hell he was meeting with.
Carefully, I padded across the kitchen floor and perched my ear against the door to get a better listen.
“Glad to see you had a safe flight,” Rex said. “I was surprised you contacted me, Zane. I wasn’t expecting to hear from the competition.”
“Call me, Z,” the man said back. “Shall we go somewhere to sit and talk?”
“Yes, follow me back to my office.”
The sound of their footsteps retreated across the hardwood floors back to Rex’s office. Once I heard the door click shut, I pushed past the kitchen swinging door and looked around before falling to the ground and army crawling across the floor.
As I glided along the hardwood, I made a mental note to commend Rex’s maid, Sally, on her formidable waxing capabilities, because what I thought might be a difficult task, going unnoticed while crawling on the floor, was actually quite easy.
I pulled up next to Rex’s office door, under a console table that rested in the hallway, just in case I had to do some quick camouflaging, and pushed my ear next to the crack of the doorway.
“Drink?” Rex asked.
“I’m good, thank you, though.”
The clanking of a decanter sounded off in the room as I heard footsteps retreat away from me.