Sex and the Billionaire Crime Boss - Season 2

Ch. 12: Risky Business

I had assumed Max knew the topic for the meeting and just had chosen not to tell me, but apparently not.

Gino leans so far back in his chair that I'm afraid for a moment it's going to tip over, but it doesn't. He nods at Malcolm, then turns to Max.

"I've recently developed an appreciation for art," he says. "You have an interest in a small gallery in Miami."

"I do," Max says. "It's come in handy from time to time."

"We'd like to buy it."

"Would you."

Max sets his glass down.

"I'm not sure I want to let that go. As I mentioned, it's . . . convenient."

I glance over at Joey D, who is staring at Max with narrowed eyes and an intensity that makes me nervous.

"We'd be willing to pay a premium," Gino says. The chair tilts back another inch and I hold my breath.

Max just smiles, then he leans forward, his elbows on the table. "I think we can work something out that will make us all happy."

Gino also leans forward slightly, and at least now I can stop bracing for him to go over backwards onto the pool deck at any moment.

"I'm listening."

"I started out with a small interest - around 10% - but I've been steadily increasing it over the past few years. I now own 50%. My partners have been thinking about retiring. They own a villa in France. I can, shall we say, give them a little push in that direction."

"And you'll sell the other 50% to us." Gino states this as a fact, not a question.

Max nods. "Indirectly. You set up a foreign investment entity for the purchase."

"You keep one-third," Joey D says. "Gino and I split the other two-thirds."

"No." Max says simply. "I keep fifty or it's no deal."

"Are you trying to fuck with me?" Joey D asks, in a voice that's almost too calm.

Max gives him a level gaze. If he's concerned by the tone the conversation has taken, it doesn't show.

"It would be my pleasure to do business with you involving the art gallery."

"On your terms," Joey D says.

"On mutually agreeable - and extremely beneficial - terms. For all parties."

I pick up the mimosa Gino insisted on ordering for me and take a slow, nervous sip. This could go either way, and I'm scared. It's not like I think someone is going to pull out a gun and start shooting or anything right here on the rooftop pool deck of this fancy NYC hotel, but there are undercurrents here I can't begin to understand.

"Our history with your father only gets you so far," Joey D says.

"Likewise," Max says and, if it's possible, the tension in the air increases. I notice Gabe slip his hand under the table. I wondered why he wasn't really dressed for sitting by the pool. His light-colored pants and t-shirt covered with a linen jacket seems a bit overdressed.

Now I realize the jacket is probably concealing the fact that he's carrying a gun.

I notice a look pass between him and Max - it's so fast I almost missed it - and Gabe relaxes slightly. His hand moves back onto the table. Presumably Max signaled him to stand down.

Max turns back to Joey D. "If the fifty percent is not satisfactory to you, then you can acquire a different gallery. No hard feelings."

Holy shit. I'm holding my breath now. Can you even say no to people like Gino and Joey D?