It was none of her business, but since Ian was watching us from a nearby table, I certainly didn’t want to be rude to her. “We’ll manage.”
“Warren is convinced you’re only dating him to get to him through his son.”
I turned to look at her. “Warren is an ass.”
She barked out a laugh. Several heads swiveled toward us, including Ellison’s, and I forced myself to plaster on an easy, relaxed smile.
“That is true. I know you’re not only dating him to get to Warren, but I’m not sure if you’re also dating him to get to Warren.”
“I can assure you I’m not dating Ellison to upset Warren in any way.” At least that was the truth. “I hope that you trust your godson to be smart enough to stay away from someone who would use him like that.”
She studied me until I felt like a specimen on a slide. “I’m trying to figure you out, Grey. I don’t believe for one minute that you took over York Capital to help Ellison protect the foundation. You have a history of hostile takeovers. But at the same time, I can see you both care about each other very much. You can’t fake the softness I see there when the two of you look at each other.”
She was wrong. Very wrong. We didn’t look at each other with anything other than sexual hunger.
Suddenly, she laughed again and patted my arm as if to reassure me. “You’re fighting it, though. That much is clear. Well, we’ll see, I guess. Just remember what I told you earlier.”
I recalled the threat clearly. “I couldn’t forget it if I tried,” I said with a forced smile.
She walked away laughing.
Thankfully, the night didn’t last too much longer, and when Ellison and I finally made our way back up to the room, I let go of the fake pleasantness I’d been putting on for the final hour or so. I wasn’t great at socializing to begin with, and when I felt as far out of my comfort zone as I did here among old-money families, it was even more exhausting.
I ripped off my tie and shucked off my coat, expecting to be the only annoyed person in the room.
“I’d be happy never to have to talk to those fuckers ever again,” Ellison spat, kicking his shoes into the corner of the room. I blinked at him.
“Who? What are you talking about?”
He flapped his arms in the air. “That asshole who always tries to one-up me on legal shit. He was the year ahead of me at Columbia, and he thinks that one year made him my permanent superior in all things legal. Well, he can fuck right off because I don’t give a shit. I’ll be happy to never assess another corporate contract as long as I live.”
I wanted to laugh at his discontent. But he continued before I could make a noise. “And the two guys with him. They all work at the same firm. Pompous jerks, all of them. They acted like I’d single-handedly lost my father’s company because of my legal ineptitude. Which is what my father thinks, too, so that’s extra awesome.”
“Wait. What? York Capital’s vulnerability didn’t have anything to do with you or your legal work.”
“I know that,” he said, flapping his arms again before unbuttoning his shirt cuffs. “But they don’t know it, and my father isn’t about to correct them either. Why do I even care? I shouldn’t.”
“You care because you have a strong work ethic,” I said. “Of course you care about your reputation in your field.”
“It’s not my field anymore, thank god. I can’t wait to be done with this bullshit. Sorry. No offense. I know you love it.”
“Love it? Love what?”
Ellison looked up at me while unbuttoning his shirt. I tried to ignore the temptation he was revealing between his nimble fingers. “Aggressive corporate maneuvers and posturing. One-upping opponents. Winning. Making more money. Conquering more challenges. Whatever. Being the big man on campus. It’s just not for me.”
His words stopped me in my tracks. “Is that what you think of me? I’m out to win?”
He sighed and leaned his forehead against the armoire door. “I’m sorry. Ignore me. I’m just annoyed, and I took it out on you. That wasn’t fair.”
“I get that, and thank you, but I want to know how you really feel.”
He finished stripping his clothes off until he was in boxer briefs, and then he slipped into the crisply made bed and flopped his head back on the pillows. Thankfully, a room attendant had hooked us up with fresh bedding during dinner.
I continued undressing as he sighed. “I think you let your anger fuel you. You want to prove yourself to others, but I also think you’re trying to prove something to yourself. That you can succeed without anyone else’s help. You can surpass them in business even without the privileges they all enjoy.”
I took my time hanging my pants up while I thought about what he’d said. “That’s true. But I have other motivations that aren’t quite so self-centered. I pursue money because money is powerful. When you have it, you can do many things. You can help those who don’t have it. You can direct the course of government. You can access places and policies that people without money have no access to.”
“You mentioned Blackwood has a charitable giving arm.”
“Ells, a large portion of my income goes to helping low-income kids get out of poverty. I am aggressive at making money because I can use it to help others. This project I told you about in Hell’s Kitchen is something I’ve been working toward for almost ten years. It’s the work of my heart.”
His eyes widened. “I didn’t know. Tell me more.”
“The Blackwood Giving Program is our version of the York Foundation,” I explained, unbuttoning my own shirt and deliberately not looking at him. He was too tempting with his bare chest and rounded shoulders. If I wanted to keep any rational brain function, I needed to look anywhere but at a shirtless Ellison York. “The new building in Hell’s Kitchen will take up an entire city block with retail and restaurant space on the ground floor and a mix of office and residential space above. The purpose of it is…”
I hesitated. I’d always kept my shit close to the vest. Was it really necessary to tell Ellison all of this? What if he used it to keep Ian from signing the building over to me?
“The purpose is…?”
I glanced at him and tried to remember this was the man who’d left his lucrative corporate law job to earn peanuts fundraising for a school.
“My hope is that the ground-floor rents will help support the rest of the building so it can be used to house up-and-coming business talent. People with the skill and drive to become entrepreneurs but without the connections and financial seed money to get their foot in the door.”
Ellison sat up. I could see his interest sparked. “What do you mean?”
I tossed my shirt onto a pile of dirty clothes on the floor of the armoire. “The Blackwood Giving Program currently identifies and offers to mentor and financially support underprivileged talent. We usually find them through our contacts with local universities, but sometimes we simply get a tip or an application. It’s typically a young person with a big idea. I’m hoping to build a space where we can offer our support to a larger pool of talent and also form a community of sorts. A place where these fledgling entrepreneurs can meet and work with mentors to grow and pursue their ideas while also learning some of the basics necessary to run their own business. Accounting, legal, taxes, etc. We’ve spent almost ten years running this program and have determined that one of the indicators of success is being in proximity to necessary resources and support.”