Page 54 of Broken Headboards

And again.

When he finally picks up, his voice sounds mellow, as if I had woken him up. Good. If I can’t rest, neither does he.

“Already missing me Tess?” he asks.

“Not exactly, but I’d pay to have my hands around your neck right now,” I snarl.

“Kinky,” is all he says. “I like that.”

“Cut the bullshit Austin. I know it was you who bought the fabric from Martin & Co,” I declare.

“Yeah, they have some pretty good shit,” he admits. “I actually don’t have any use for it right now, which is a damn shame, but their stuff is so good I just had to buy all of it. What can I say? I’m a compulsive shopper.”

“Okay, you proved your point Austin,” I say, trying my best to stay cool. “Let’s do it this way—name your price and I’ll buy the fabric back from you.”

“The price? The fabric isn’t up for sale, Tess,” he says with a fake air of innocence. “That’d be a dishonest thing to do. I mean—buying all that fabric just so I could sell it at a higher price? That’s a predatory way of doing business, don’t you think? At Oakmont we pride ourselves in our ethics.”

“How much?” I growl. From the other side of the line comes his amused laugh.

“Alright, if you insist…” He pauses, as if he’s trying to do the calculations in his head. “Let’s say...five times the price Martin cut for you.”

“Five times?” I can’t believe my ears.

Christ, the bastard must’ve run the numbers. And he was right—I’m overexposed now, and he’s using that to screw up my operations. With the amount of money I spent tying up his supplier, I don’t have enough money on hand to cover such an outrageous price tag.

“This isn’t over,” I hiss through my gritted teeth. Before he has the chance to say anything, I hang up on him.