Zoe wasn’t too young this time. And he didn’t care if she was naïve. He wanted her and she would play. She’d play and he’d make sure that she enjoyed the entire game. It would take all of his concentration to make sure she didn’t run away from the table though.
“I don’t know what you mean. Everything is perfectly fine.”
“You know it’s not,” he countered softly. “Isn’t that what last night was all about?”
She turned away from him, loading the dishes into the dishwasher. “Of course not. Last night was just a girl’s night out.” She stumbled on the stool and laughed bitterly. “Or in, I guess.”
He stopped her as she started to pass, just by the expedient way of touching her shoulder softly. “What if I had a way out for you?”
“A way out of what?” she pretended ignorance.
“If I thought you didn’t already know the answer to that, I would walk out of here without another thought. But you do know. The first thing you need to do is ask for help. Right now, you’re not ready to ask me for help, but I’ll give you a while to try and find funding some other way. Go to your bank. Ask them for a loan to cover your costs plus the extra you’ll need to get through the next six months so you can build up your cushion once again. Or maybe you have other investors that you’d like to deal with. Go ahead and try them out, see if they’ll back you once again. And then, once they’ve turned you down, come to my office and we’ll talk.” He flicked a business card out of an expensive looking case from his jacket pocket and laid it onto the counter beside her. “I look forward to hearing from you again, Zoe,” he said as he bent to kiss her gently on the cheek.
Without another word, he walked out of her loft, the soft click of the huge metal door sounding like a death knoll.
With a shaky breath, she inhaled as she picked up his business card and glanced at the words. As the title and company sunk in, she was astounded that she’d been so blind. Marco DiAngelo was the CEO of Ocarm Enterprises? Impossible! Ocarm Enterprises was not just one of the sharks of the investment industries, it was The Great White!
Blindly, she moved over to her laptop and did a search on Marco DiAngelo. There wasn’t much there, but she found a few stories about the man’s father who was reputed to be one of the biggest mob bosses in the country. Marco had spurned the family business and moved into legitimate businesses, grown them into a massive empire that spanned the entire globe with industries all over the world covering so many products she couldn’t even read some of them, although others were hugely famous brands. There were very few articles about Marco himself, most talking about what a private person he was and how he’d turned his companies into a legitimate business empire, some articles detailing the struggle between the mafia, his current businesses and the law, and all times, Ocarm Enterprises came through the investigations completely clear of any mafia connections.
His sister, on the other hand, had courted the media, showing up at one nightclub after another, arriving alone but never leaving that way. She was known for selecting her escorts from the up and coming men of the world, appearing all over the globe, riding in fancy jets for one night of partying. It was mentioned that, when Darcy DiAngelo showed up at a nightclub, it was the stamp of approval, giving that nightclub the start any new business would need to get going.
Then a couple of months ago, she’d simply disappeared. There were rumors that she’d married a Russian billionaire, but nothing confirmed.
The pictures of his father were numerous, all of them with one woman or another, rarely with the same one twice. The women looked to be a fraction of his own age and upon his death, there was a fight between three twenty-something blond women as they all tried to cry over the casket.
Marco avoided the limelight as much as possible, rarely appearing in public although his name was associated with several women, many of whom were famous actresses or models, all very tall and extremely beautiful. Good grief! Zoe had even designed one of the dresses for one of his ex-girlfriends!
Snapping the laptop shut, she simmered with anger and something she absolutely would not define as jealousy. She hadn’t seen or heard from the man for ten years. She had no right to feel anything other than anger over his knowledge of her financial situation.
With disgust, she stood up and changed clothes. One thing he’d been right about. She needed to visit her bank and get additional funding. She’d been a good customer to them for years and had never defaulted on any payments, never bounced a check and was meticulous about her accounts. Surely they would front her the money to cover her expenses for the next few months. She considered herself to be a good risk, surely they would as well.
Considering her options, she looked into her closet, trying to figure out what one should wear to a bank. Conservative, successful….navy blue pin stripes, she told herself.
Looking into her wardrobe, she had nothing like that. Her designs consisted of bright colors with lots of zap and pizzazz, very feminine, very romantic and glamorous.
She pulled out a black jacket and a pair of black slacks, adding her most subdued silk shirt, which turned out to be a turquoise silk satin with a wrap waistline.
Looking at her appearance in the mirror, she thought she looked very professional and supremely successful. Adding small gold earrings, she made the call to her bank, asking for the woman she’d dealt with several times in the past.
Leaving her loft, she felt strong and powerful, confident that she could figure this out easily.
Three hours later, she was no longer confident. She’d been turned down by her bank almost as soon as she’d sat down in the manager’s office. Not only had the manager not been able to front the money, she’d also listed out several fees that Zoe now owed to the bank due to her negative bank balance and numerous checks that had bounced in the past two months.
Feeling like a leper, she left the bank with her head held high, but her stomach was twisting in knots. Marco had mentioned that there were other investors, but she had no idea how to go about finding people like that. She’d focused all her energy on her designs, forming client relationships, building the business. She’d taken for granted the other side of the issues. Financials had never been her strong point, which was why she’d hired an accountant.
And which was also why she was in this current situation.
The sun was bright as she walked down the street, but the sunshine and cool autumn day didn’t penetrate her mind as she pumped her mind to figure out how to get through this.