Chapter 12: Cal

Chapter Twelve

CAL

" I thought you were taking the afternoon off. Did she kick you to the curb already?" Trident seems way too gleeful about the possibility of me suffering heartbreak. He hands me a portfolio.

"We're officially engaged, but I need a ring. I promised her Grandma's rock. I'll have to see Aunt Gia for that. I looked over the financials for the other ad agency that's on the acquisition list, and I want to pass on that. The corporate governance looks shaky, and while they have a good client list, there seems to be a lot of internal strife with high turnover and their former employees bad-mouthing them openly on social media." I close the presentation with a snap and hand it back.

"I'll cross them off." He checks something off on his notebook. "What about the meeting with Chairman Chen? His team is going to be here next week kicking off his IPO road show."

"Chen's company is the AI health care unicorn? The one that supplies in-room twenty-four-hour monitoring based on real-time scans?"

"Yup. The buy-in is going to be around 40 million at the lowest for any pre-IPO investor."

"I'll review it tonight. Anything else?"

"No. The Chen meeting is the most important now that we're kicking the ball on the ad agency, so you're free to go and try to woo your woman back."

"Thanks for your nonexistent support, Trident." I glance at my watch. Aunt Gia should be home about now. "One more thing. Look into Mindy Morton. She's a resident without voting power but has a stick up her ass about Harlow. Also, find out who owns the land The Grand sits on. The apartments are owned by the residents, but the land might be separate."

"Are you thinking of buying it?"

"If I have to."

Trident wrinkles his nose. "It would be pricey."

"I'll live."

"Yes, I suppose you will. Can I get a raise then?"

"When Harlow gets full title to her apartment, yes. Also, I tried to recruit the doorman at The Grand. He'd be great in PR. He knew me on sight. I gave him my personal card, so when his call comes through, help him through the hiring process."

"I'm going to add another percentage point onto my next raise for that." He makes another note.

On the way down to the town car, I call Aunt Gia. She thinks texting is rude. You either have to call her, visit in person, or write a letter. You'd think she was born in the early 1900s.

"I've been wondering if you'd forgotten me," she says instead of hello.

"Never. You're always on my mind."

"But never in the flesh."

"I want to see you right now. Are you free?" I nod a silent thanks to my driver, who holds the door open for me.

"I presume you want something, but if that's what it takes to see your face, I'll endure. I'll see you shortly?"

"I'm on my way."

Aunt Gia lives in a brownstone on the Upper West Side. She's always preferred the west to the east because the river views are prettier at sunset than sunrise. "No decent human gets up before eight, darling," she'd said to me.

"How is she?" I ask Nelson, Aunt Gia's majordomo. He screens all her callers, reviews her mail, manages the staff. If Nelson doesn't like you, he'll make sure Aunt Gia forgets you exist.

He takes my coat and a box of cigars I hand-selected for him. Always stay on the good side of Nelson. "Perturbed."

"I'm going to view that as promising as it's at least one level below angry."

"Only one though."

"I've got good news for her, so prepare the champagne. She'll be asking for it."

His eyebrows shoot up.

"I'd tell you, Nelson, but you know Aunt Gia will want to be the first to know."

He gives me a terse nod of agreement and shows me to Aunt Gia's study. She's a collector, like Harlow's grandmother, but instead of porcelain figurines and Irish crochet doilies, it's Fabergé. From the eggs to the less well-known but equally as beautiful brooches, pendants, and snuff cases, the famed jeweler's works are under lock and key in glass cases lining the walls. It's the stuff in here that Nelson protects with his life, along with Aunt Gia, of course.

"You look vaguely like my nephew, Calix, but it's been so long I don't know if I could tell an imposter from the real thing. Your hair is very long, though, which is something Calix would have despite my constant requests that he cut it." She lifts her gold—Fabergé, of course—glasses off her nose and holds them to her eyes. I lean down and kiss her forehead.

"Here, let me know if this helps identify me." I hand her a box wrapped in silver tissue.

"Hmm. From Sotheby's? I don't recall anything going up for auction that I would've liked."

"I know better than to buy anything at auction. Why would I bid against you?" I take a seat opposite her and pour myself a coffee. While she's busy unwrapping the gift, Nelson appears with a big juicy slice of prime rib.

"Thank you, friend. Looks great."

"My God, Calix, where did you find this?" Aunt Gia holds up the small, two-inch-long nephrite hippopotamus with diamonds for eyes.

"I heard from a friend of a friend that someone needed some quick cash and had a few unusual Fabergé items."

"A few?" She clutches the hippo to her chest. "Where are the others?"

"Don't be greedy, Aunt Gia. This beef is spectacular, Nelson. Give my thanks to the chef."

"Will do. Is there anything else?"

"Not for me. Aunt Gia?"

"Yes, I'm going to need some torture devices so that I can wrench the other Fabergé items from this child."

"How about we hold off on the threats and do some bargaining?"

Aunt Gia's eyes narrow, and her face sharpens. She hasn't held the majority of the family wealth for twenty-some odd years without being savvier than most Wall Street bankers. "What do you have in mind?"

"I'll give you the rest of the collection in exchange for Grandma's pear ring."

Aunt Gia's tea cup clatters onto the saucer. "That's an engagement ring."

"It is." I take another bite of the rib. It's really fucking good. Harlow should try this. I'll ask Chef to make it for dinner tomorrow night when I bring her over to meet Aunt Gia.

"Are you going to sell it?"

I send her an exasperated look. "Aunt Gia, are you serious?"

"I can't think of any other reason you'd want it. You've rejected all of my spectacular choices."

"The key word here is that the choices were yours and not mine. I've found a girl I want to marry, and because of that, I am in need of the family engagement ring." I finish the beef and push the plate to the side. Nelson appears out of nowhere and whisks it away. He doesn't leave the room, though, that nosy bastard.

"I need to meet her. What's her name?" She mimes writing something in the air and Nelson provides her a pen and paper.

"No background checks, Aunt Gia."

"Absolutely we are doing background checks and preparing a prenuptial and all of that. It's for your protection, darling. Your parents should do this, but since they're not here and I am the de facto head of our family, I will take care of it."

"No. I'll bring Harlow over to meet you tomorrow night. Don't scare her off as I'm very attached to her. I'm going to see any attack against her as an attack against me, so pass that along to any family members you plan to have at this dinner." Knowing Gia, she'd bring in a half dozen of the elderly Line set to grill Harlow. They want me to marry, but they want it to be someone of their choice. Harlow would not even make an understudy list.

"This is not acceptable, Cal. You're the heir to the Line empire. You can't run off and marry just anyone."

"I can and will. Aunt Gia, you have been after me to get married and have kids and settle down. I'm doing exactly that. I don't care where Harlow came from or who she's connected to. It's not like our family tree is full of saints. We've had plenty of bad branches, and some of our roots we pretend don't exist. Her background doesn't matter. Only she matters." I get to my feet. Talking about Harlow makes me miss her. We've been apart long enough. "Nelson, prepare the prime rib for tomorrow night along with something lemony for dessert. She likes that. Aunt Gia, you're going to like her. I promise."

At the door, I turn back. "Do you know anyone who lives at The Grand?"

"The Grand? That pre-war Candela building on Park and 77th?"

"That's the one."

"I know Gertie and her partner, Sharon, live there. Why?"

"Harlow inherited an apartment from her grandmother, and she's trying to get approval from the board to keep it. Any good word you can put in for her would be much appreciated."

Aunt Gia perks up. "Her grandmother lived at The Grand?" Translation: Harlow's family can't be all bad. "Why didn't you say so in the first place? Of course, I'll put in a good word for your fiancée."

"Thanks, you're a peach. Enjoy the Fabergé toy. I'll bring the rest tomorrow."