He Bought His Mistress A Penthouse In The Building I Own Chapter 07

He Bought His Mistress A Penthouse In The Building I Own Chapter 07: The Declined Transaction

Elias tapped his tablet screen. “He ordered the tasting menu.”

“Of course he did,” I said.

“And the 2010 vintage Bordeaux.”

“Chloe always liked expensive grapes.” I didn’t take my eyes off the scene below.

I sat in the shadows of the second-floor mezzanine. The tinted glass partition gave me a perfect, unobstructed view of the main dining room.

Downstairs, Julian and Chloe sat at a center table. Chloe laughed, adjusting the oversized platinum Patek Philippe on her wrist. Julian smiled, playing the role of the perfect, wealthy provider.

“The bill is coming,” Elias noted. “Total is four thousand, two hundred dollars.”

“He doesn’t have forty-two cents.”

Julian raised his hand. He snapped his fingers at the passing sommelier.

“Look at him,” I pointed. “He still thinks he owns the room.”

“Reality is about to hit his table.”

A waiter in a crisp white jacket approached Julian. He presented a black leather folder.

Julian didn’t even open it. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a sleek silver card.

“His personal American Express,” Elias identified, watching the zoomed-in security feed on his device. “The one tied to his defunct LLC.”

“The account with a negative balance.”

Julian placed the silver plastic on the check tray. The waiter bowed and walked toward the POS station near the kitchen doors.

“Time it,” I ordered.

“Forty-five seconds.”

Downstairs, the waiter returned. He leaned down, whispering something near Julian’s ear. He placed the silver card back on the table.

Julian’s smile faltered. He picked up the card, frowned, and spoke sharply to the server.

“He is blaming the chip reader,” Elias guessed.

“He always blames the hardware.”

Julian dug into his wallet again. He produced a blue card.

“Chase Sapphire,” Elias narrated. “Canceled at three-fifteen this afternoon.”

The waiter took it. He didn’t bother walking away this time. He pulled a handheld terminal from his apron. He inserted the blue card right in front of them.

The machine beeped. A harsh, red light flashed.

Chloe stopped smiling. She leaned back, crossing her arms over her silk dress.

Julian’s face flushed. The angry color crept up his neck, visible even from the second floor.

He snatched the terminal from the waiter’s hand. He mashed the keypad.

“Run it again!” Julian’s voice carried up slightly, cutting through the soft string quartet playing in the corner.

“Sir, please do not touch the equipment,” the waiter instructed.

Julian yanked out his wallet. He dumped its contents onto the table. Three more cards scattered across the white linen.

“Try them all!” Julian demanded.

The waiter picked up a gold card. Swipe. Beep. Red light.

A green card. Swipe. Beep. Red light.

Julian grabbed the edges of the table. “Your machine is broken. Fetch your manager.”

I picked up my crystal goblet. The condensation wet my fingertips.

I tipped the glass back and swallowed the freezing liquid in one long gulp.

A jagged cube of ice slid forward. It struck my front teeth. A sharp, shivering pain shot through my jaw.

I set the glass down. The heavy crystal clinked against the wood. I welcomed the sting in my mouth. It kept me grounded. It kept my rage perfectly chilled.

“He is panicking,” Elias observed. “His pulse must be through the roof.”

“Let him sweat.”

Julian stood up. He ignored the waiter and pulled out his phone.

“Who is he calling?” I asked.

Elias typed a command into his tablet. A second later, a dial tone played through the small audio speaker sitting on our table.

“Marcus,” Julian’s voice filtered through the intercept. “Pick up. Pick up.”

The line clicked. “Julian? It’s nine at night.”

“Marcus, listen to me. I need a favor. A massive favor.”

“I’m at my kid’s recital. What is it?”

“I need you to wire me five grand. Right now. Use Venmo, Zelle, I don’t care.”

A long pause echoed over the line.

“Five grand?” Marcus asked. “Are you joking? You make triple what I do.”

“My accounts are frozen! Vanguard locked me out. It’s a massive routing error, and I am stuck at a restaurant.”

“Call Sera,” Marcus suggested.

“I can’t call Sera! Just send the money. I will pay you back tomorrow with interest.”

“Julian, I don’t have five grand liquid to just wire you from a school auditorium. Call your fiancée.”

The line went dead.

Julian stared at his screen. He hit the table with his fist. The silverware rattled.

Chloe stood up. She grabbed her designer clutch.

“Chloe, sit down,” Julian hissed.

“Everyone is staring at us, Julian,” she whispered loudly. “You are making a scene.”

“I said sit down!”

She didn’t. She turned on her heel and walked rapidly toward the coat check. She left him standing alone with a four-thousand-dollar bill.

Julian turned back to the waiter. He forced a strained, desperate grin.

“My bank is doing a security update,” Julian lied. “I can leave my watch as collateral. It is a Patek. Worth two hundred thousand.”

He reached for his wrist.

His fingers grasped empty air.

He had given the watch to Chloe. And Chloe had just walked out the front door.

The waiter stared at Julian’s bare wrist.

The polite, standard-issue smile vanished from the waiter’s face. His expression turned to pure stone.

He raised his hand and waved sharply toward the front entrance.

Two large men in dark suits stepped out of the shadows, walking straight toward Julian’s table.