Page 21 of Bargain With the Boss

“For now. Unless we find something crazy on the build.” I pulled out a list of wants that we were targeting for the budget. “The apartments above would be soundproofed and elevated to utilize the view for maximum income.”

“Good points to overcome the retail spaces below.”

I grinned. “Exactly. And I don’t know about you, but the scent of Italian is a plus.”

“Perhaps.” She straightened, almost tucking a piece of her away as her excitement suddenly banked. “Still quite a gamble. What kind of capital do you have to support all of this?”

I folded my arms, then named a number.

Her auburn brows shot up. “How?”

I nodded to the bit of neon on my shelves. “Three guys with a lot of financial know how.” I’d had FHK Property Group made into a neon sign soon after we’d become official. Something that I was directly a part of—something that wasn’t part of my family.

Well, for the most part.

I knew that my family money was a major boon in creating this new company. I may have made the money, but I was well aware that my status as a Hastings made it possible a whole helluva lot easier than Gavin’s path. He’d come from nothing and worked harder than anyone I knew.

She moved away from the blueprints and back to Jude’s desk. Her focus seemed to be on the photos of Jude, Maddie, and the kids. Her long fingers touched the filigreed edge of the frame before curling into her palm.

“Jude’s happy, you know.”

“I’m well aware,” she said softly. “He made himself at home here in New York faster than I realized.”

I followed her over and sat at the corner of his desk. “Because he found his person. Maddie comes from a great family. Jude was a little overwhelmed at first, but between the Mastersons and the Hamiltons, he has stopped being such a tight ass.”

Her fingers fisted at her sides before she slowly relaxed.

I stood and placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s part of finding your person. Not a replacement.”

“Don’t worry about my feelings, Xavier.” She shook me off and walked away from me, back to the blueprints.

I sighed. “Someone should.”

She glanced over her shoulder. “And why would it be you?”

“Because I understand shitty family dynamics. I just got my sister back in my life after a whole lot of years without her.” Not all of them her fault. None of them, actually. Luna being a very different kind of Hastings was the first step in changing me too.

“Yes, well, that’s not what this is about. I’m here to help Jude, that’s all.”

“Right. Then let’s get some specifics down for the demolition days.”

“That’s a very good idea.” She pulled the budget pages in front of her.

The next few hours were all about nailing down specifics. She had a fascinating brain and was far more talented in the building arena. I left a lot of that to Gavin since he was our architect for all intents and purposes. He hid most of his talent with his tool belt and quiet efficiency, but he was the one who’d written up the plans.

I came up with money and ideas—between him and Jude the specifics got nailed down.

We ordered in food—Italian, naturally—and by the time the sun was setting she’d come up with a lot more ideas for the retail portion of things. Some specifics that none of us had thought of like seasonal businesses versus all year round thanks to the weather off the lake.

Crescent Cove got quite intense with the winters. Not quite as bad as it used to be when I was a kid, but the lake effect dumped a shit ton of snow on us. We’d need to think about snow removal for the apartments as well as shops that would survive that kind of environment or perhaps different kinds for each season.

Her retail background came in clutch there.

As we were cleaning up our chicken parm and lasagna in our small kitchenette, I asked her about where she was staying.

She dried off her hands and seemed to be choosing her words. “Jude wanted me to stay at his place, but I’d like to find a temporary apartment.”

“Hard being the third wheel.”