Chapter 2 - The Waterfront Hostage
The next morning, the Whitmore Grand Hotel was buzzing with corporate energy. I hadn't flown to New York to stalk my ex-boyfriend. I had flown to New York because the life I built after Ethan left was formidable in its own right.
When Ethan had abandoned me in Chicago, I used my heartbreak as fuel. I poured myself into my urban development firm, rising quickly to become the lead director of community negotiations. Blackwood Enterprises was currently attempting to purchase a massive, multi-billion-dollar waterfront district in Brooklyn. But they couldn't break ground without the approval of the community trust that held the historical air rights.
I was the primary representative for that trust.
At 10:00 AM, I walked into the glass-walled executive boardroom on the fiftieth floor of the Blackwood building. I wore a tailored ivory suit, my hair pulled back into a severe knot. My assistant, Maya, had taken Leo to the Central Park Zoo for the morning. I was entirely focused on the kill.
The Blackwood executive team was already seated. Victoria Hayes was there, sitting beside the empty chairman's seat, looking incredibly smug. Her family's money was financing half the waterfront deal.
Then the heavy glass doors opened. Ethan walked in.
He looked terrible. His eyes were bloodshot, his jaw shadowed with dark stubble, and his tie was slightly askew. He stopped dead when he saw me sitting across the mahogany table, my legal briefs neatly arranged in front of me.
"Ms. Davis," the Blackwood lead counsel said, gesturing to me. "Thank you for coming. We are eager to finalize the air rights transfer today."
Victoria choked on her sparkling water. "She is the trust representative?"
"I am," I said smoothly, opening my folder. "And after reviewing your final proposal, Mr. Blackwood, the community trust is formally rejecting your offer."
The boardroom erupted. Executives shouted over each other. Ethan just stared at me, completely paralyzed.
"Rejecting it?" Victoria snapped, standing up. "We offered thirty percent above market value! You are being petty and vindictive because of your personal history with my fiancé!"
"Victoria, sit down and shut your mouth," Ethan suddenly roared, his voice cracking like a whip across the room. The executives went dead silent. Victoria looked as if she had been slapped.
Ethan slowly walked around the table, his eyes locked on mine. "Why are you rejecting the offer, Ms. Davis?"
"Because your proposal demolishes the community center and the low-income housing on the south block," I answered, meeting his gaze with absolute ice. "You promised in your preliminary filings to preserve them. The new blueprints erase them entirely to make room for luxury condos. You broke your promise. And I do not negotiate with men who break their promises when it becomes inconvenient for their legacy."
The double meaning hung in the air, heavy and suffocating.
"I wasn't the one who authorized the blueprint change," Ethan said quietly, his eyes begging me to understand. He looked at Victoria. "The Hayes group demanded the luxury condos as a condition of their financing. I signed off on it blindly. That was my mistake."
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"It's a two-billion-dollar deal, Ethan!" Victoria shrieked, entirely dropping her polished facade. "You are not tanking this over a community center and some bitter ex-girlfriend!"
"I am tanking it," Ethan said, turning to face his board. "The deal is dead. We are withdrawing our current proposal and restructuring the entire development to preserve the south block. Meeting adjourned."
