Park Avenue (Book Six in the Fifth Avenue Series) (33 page)

Ètage, or Floor, the real
estate firm to which her father had given an exclusive, six-month renewable
option to sell the apartments, was among the city’s best.
 

It was a full-service
boutique real estate firm that billed itself as being “driven by vision and
innovation.”
 
Though it was
relatively new to the scene, it had quickly become one of Manhattan’s most
powerful players, selling more than a billion dollars in real estate during its
first five years in business, and doubling that amount over the next five
years.

Despite being a firm that
had been in business for only a decade, which was nothing when it came to
Manhattan’s deeply entrenched and competitive real estate market, its success
got noticed by the right people, such as Leana’s father, and it tended to
create a buzz among those who mattered, such as Leana’s father.
 

What set Ètage apart from
its competition was its owner and president, Hugo Morel, a bright,
forty-year-old former model who studied interior design at the Pratt Institute
and who came from one of France’s more influential families.

Leana knew of
him—she had seen photographs of him and read flattering profiles in the
Times
,
Vanity Fair
,
Architectural Digest
,
and
Dwell
—but
she was unaware of the years when he was a Ford model and one of the key faces
behind Dior Homme.
 

Her father told her that
he was talented, driven and aggressive, but also charming.
 
“His family’s connections and his good
looks opened doors for him,” George said when she pressed him for more details
that morning.
 
“But it’s his skill
at staging apartments and how he uniquely markets a building that nudges him
close to genius.
 
I’ve wanted to
work with him for years, but I’ve been shut out until now.
 
What Morel has done is smart.
 
By keeping Ètage’s client list so small,
he’s made his firm exclusive.
 
His
time is finite.
 
He only can take on
so many development properties at once.
 
This will be his largest and most prestigious to date.
 
I need you to look at his concepts and
listen to how he plans to market the building.
 
Come back to me with an informed opinion
on whether he’s nailed it or whether he needs to rethink his game.”

Leana was confused.
 
“Isn’t this all a little late in the
process?” she said.
 
“I’ve been
marketing The Park for months.
 
Shouldn’t this have been settled months ago?”

“I began marketing the
building a year ago with another firm,” George said.
 
“Morel was the first person I
approached, but I was told that he didn’t have time.
 
So, I went with my second choice, which
came through with a good plan, though not the one I knew Morel could have
provided.
 
Then, six weeks ago,
Morel called to ask if I was still interested in having him join the project.
 
He said he was impressed by how the
building was turning out.
 
Of course
I wanted him, but time was tight.
 
I
asked if he could complete concepts and come up with an effective marketing
plan that would eclipse the current plan in such a short period of time.
 
He said it wasn’t an issue.
 
I took a leap, fired the other firm, and
we gave Morel and his colleagues access to the building.
 
Yesterday, he presented his ideas to
Pepper.
 
Today, he’ll present them
to you.”
 

Now, Leana checked her
watch as she walked around the cavernous lobby with Sean waiting for Hugo
Morel.
 
He was due to arrive in
minutes.
 
She wondered if her
opinions would differ from Pepper’s, but decided it didn’t matter.
 
What she was charged with was finding
the best fit for the apartments.
 
If
they were the same, so be it.
 
She
looked up at Sean.
 
“So, what do you
think?” she asked.

“Interesting that you
ask.
 
I was thinking, ‘How can I
afford to live in this joint?’”

She smiled up at
him.
 
“I was thinking the same
thing.
 
My father might own it, but
I can’t afford it.
 
The details are
pretty amazing, aren’t they?
 
With
all this glass, it’s as if you’re standing smack in the middle of the city,
which, especially on Columbus, offers its own kind of constantly changing
artwork.
 
Look at the traffic
outside.
 
And the people on the
sidewalks.
 
And the way the light is
changing.
 
It’s as if we’re in an
evolving landscape, and I know that was intentional.
 
I can’t wait to go to the ninetieth
floor and look at the Park from that viewpoint.
 
You’ll be with me.
 
At the very least, we can dream one of
us owns it.”

“That’s a big dream, Miss
Redman.”

She put her hand on
his.
 
“OK.
 
Sean, it’s time for you to start calling
me Leana.
 
‘Miss Redman’ seems like
I’m an unapproachable shrew.
 
You
know, like Pepper?
 
In fact, you can
call Pepper ‘Miss Redman.’
 
She’ll
expect it.”

“Leana it is.”

“I think our guest has
arrived,” Leana said, looking across the lobby as Hugo Morel entered the
building.
 
“Holy shit.
 
I’ve only got one good eye, but he’s
better looking than I thought he’d be.
 
What a stud.”
 
She looked up
at Sean.
 
“Just so you know, I’m
very happily married to a fantastic husband whom I adore.
 
That was just an observation.
 
A girl can look and appreciate.”

“Noted, Leana.”

“Thank you, Sean.”

“I wish I looked like
that,” he said.

“Hell,
I wish
I
looked like that.”

CHAPTER
FORTY-FOUR

Hugo Morel was fit, stood
six-foot-two, had gleaming black hair that was raked away from his face in a
way that emphasized his angular bone structure, and he wore a tight-fitting
black suit that revealed every reason why Dior Homme once championed him.
 
If he was forty, he didn’t look it.
 
With smooth, unlined skin, Leana would
have guessed him to be in his very early thirties.

He carried a large
briefcase in his left hand, and extended his right hand to her.
 
“It’s a pleasure,” he said.

She shook his hand and
was pleased to find that his grip was firm.
 
She hated a weak handshake.
 
He was beautiful to look at, but he also
was confident and masculine, which appealed to her.
 
“The pleasure is mine, Mr. Morel.”

“Hugo,” he said.

“Leana.
 
I’ll be frank with you, Hugo.
 
Today is my first time here.
 
I’ve been working on my own project on
Park.”

“The hotel?”

“That’s right.”

“I read about it
recently.”

He was referring to news
reports of what was written on the tarp.
 
“That’s a kind way to put it.”

Instead of responding, he
offered a half-smile.

“My father brought me in
today for a second opinion about what you have in mind.
 
As you can imagine, the stakes are
high.
 
Unfortunately, I’ve only been
here for a little more than an hour, so I haven’t had time to find a place for
us to meet, but I can do that now.”

He looked perturbed.
 
“I thought you’d be ready for me.”

“I am.
 
I just need to ask someone where we can
sit down and talk.”

“I can answer that.
 
There is a suite of offices on the third
floor.
 
If you’ll follow me, we can
use one of them, look at the concepts and the marketing plan my team and I drew
up, and see if they meet your expectations.”

Leana was surprised by
the clipped tone in his voice.
 
“Of
course,” she said.
 
She started to
walk to her left, but he stopped her.

“The elevators are over
here,” he said.
 
“This way, not that
way.”
 
He furrowed his brow at
her.
 
“Pepper assured me that you
were familiar with the site.
 
Apparently,
you’re not.”

“I don’t know why Pepper
would give you that impression when she knows it’s not true.”

“She said you’ve been
here several times.
 
That isn’t
true?”

“It isn’t.
 
This is my first time here.”

“That’s curious,
especially since this building is by far your father’s most impressive.
 
As his daughter, I’d think you’d want to
see it.
 
Or, more to the point, that
you’d be eager to see it.”

“My father and I have
been estranged for three years, Mr. Morel.”

“That’s none of my
business.”

“But it answers your
question.
 
When someone challenges
me, I have no problem answering their concerns and moving forward.”

“I wasn’t challenging
you, Miss Redman.”

“I’m afraid you were.”

“Either way, I was hoping
you’d be prepared.
 
My time is
valuable.
 
Worse— we are
losing time that should being spent staging one of the apartments and getting a
marketing campaign underway that will bolster the weak campaign running now.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong,
but I believe my father came to you first and offered you an exclusive on this
building.
 
But you turned him down
because you were busy.
 
Is that not
true?”

“It is true.
 
I was busy.”

“What’s curious to me is
that you decided to jump in again at the last minute, probably because you
realized your mistake.
 
You’ve seen
what this building has become.
 
You’ve read the press and you’ve heard the buzz.
 
You want to be associated with it
because you’re correct.
 
The
building is impressive.
 
In fact, as
we both know, it’s beyond impressive.
 
It’s going to be a landmark.
 
I believe we’ve been more than accommodating of your sudden request to
come to the table so late in the game.
 
But my father wants to work with you, so here we are.”

“And you don’t want to
work with me?”

What is his problem?
 
“I guess I’ll know that when you show me your
plans.
 
But I will tell you this,
Mr. Morel.
 
I’m my father’s
daughter.
 
Pepper is his niece.
 
She already has weighed in on your
ideas, but my father will hear the final word from me.”
 
She nodded at his briefcase.
 
“I hope what you brought is creative and
convincing.”

“I guess we’ll see.
 
If you don’t know this building as well
as Pepper does, allow me to lead
you
around.
 
I think that will be more efficient.”

“Perfect,” Leana
said.
 
“Because I have to tell you,
Mr. Morel, my time also is valuable.”

They started to walk
toward the elevators, Hugo leading the way.
 
Leana forced herself to keep her anger
under control.
 
Why is he being
so hostile?
 
She didn’t
understand it.
 
It wasn’t just
arrogance.
 
It was something
else.
 
He pressed a button next to
one of the elevators.
 
The doors
slid open, they stepped inside with Sean, and Hugo pressed the button for the
third floor.
 
He looked at her
eyepatch.
 
“I understand you’ve been
under some stress.”

“Is that what you call
nearly losing your eyesight?”

“I was raised to be
polite, Miss Redman.
 
I read about
what happened to you.
 
In fact, you
couldn’t escape it.
 
I think all of
New York knows what happened to you at this point.”

“Have I done something to
offend you, Mr. Morel?”