“TV producer and star of The House
Flipper, Jamie D’Alessandro was indicted this week in Los Angeles on charges of
fraud and grand larceny.
“An appraiser there claims D’Alessandro
owes her more than forty-thousand dollars for work she did on some of the homes
he flipped. If convicted, D’Alessandro could face up to two years in jail. This
comes just weeks after controversy began swirling around D’Alessandro’s plans
to demolish an historic home in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. The
two-hundred year old house, used as a headquarters by Union General Stillwell
during the Civil War, was the home of famous confederate spy Josette Beaumont,
once known as the Virginia Rose.
“D’Alessandro, son of the late real
estate mogul James D’Alessandro, maintains the home is too badly damaged from
decades of neglect to safely renovate. He plans to replace it with an upscale
hotel.
In other news…”
“This
doesn’t look good.”
Jamie
muted the television and quirked a brow at his chief financial officer. “I’ve
been in worse messes.”
“Ashley—sorry,
the plaintiff. She’s making your life hell.” Len Goldman kicked off her
low-heeled shoes and settled into a leather wing back chair. “Why don’t you
just pay her off?”
“Because
it’s bullshit. We were engaged at the time. She wasn’t interested in collecting
payment as long as there was a half million-dollar rock on her hand. Now that I’ve
called things off she wants compensation.”
“Jame,
you could go to jail.”
He pulled
a face. Rising from the leather sofa in his office, he strolled across the room
to gaze out at the night sky. Even at eighty stories up, there were no stars to
be seen, just the New York skyline and the artificial lights of the other
Manhattan high rises.
“That
doesn’t concern you?”
“Nope.”
He swirled the contents of his glass, then tossed it back with one gulp. “What
good is my father’s money and his team of New York attorneys if they can’t keep
me out of jail for something I didn’t do? Hell, they kept me out enough when I
was younger for things I did.”
A
shadow of a smile crossed Len’s face. “I suppose they did. Now what about this
place in Virginia? The other board members and I are concerned about the image
of D’Alessandro Development.”
He
turned and faced his mentor, the woman who had held the company together after
his parents’ unexpected deaths and been a surrogate parent to him over the
years. “Lenora. You’re not serious.”
“It
doesn’t look good, Jamie. When you
acquired the property, you assured the Daughters of the Confederacy and the
local historical society you wouldn’t tear it down.”
“It
was a mistake. I should have listened to the appraiser, but I thought it would
be great for the show. It would take millions to restore that thing.” He strode
across the room to refill his glass. “And I never said I wouldn’t demolish the house. I said I didn’t intend to demolish it. Intentions change.” He lifted the brandy
decanter toward her in silent question.
Len
shook her head, indicating her half-full glass. “You know damn well people don’t
see it that way. They just see some hot-shot kid from New York with more
arrogance than brains—”
“I’m
thirty-three, hardly a kid.”
“Have
you even seen the house?”
Jamie
settled back onto the leather sofa, resting an ankle on one knee. “I’ve seen
pictures.”
“It’s
just…I know you hate to hear this hon, but your father—”
“I’m
not—”
“I
know. You’re not your father and no one expects you to be. But Jimmy was a
self-made man. He didn’t earn his millions overnight like you did; he had to
work for it. And he believed to his dying day that a personal touch made all
the difference. He was never too big, too busy or too important to do things
for himself.”
Jamie
absorbed her words and the sting of her underlying message. Unspoken words like
spoiled brat and too big for your britches hung in the air between them. Few people
were bold enough to talk to him that way. He studied the contents of his glass,
swirling the amber liquid, listening to the ice clink against the sides. “I
have nothing to gain by going to Virginia.”
“First
hand knowledge. You know this business as well as any appraiser. Hell you’re
probably the only heir in New York who has actually done manual labor. I know
what you can do with an old house, Jame. If you haven’t seen it for yourself,
how do you know it’s not worth renovating?”
“Because
I don’t care. I don’t know what it is, Len, but lately…nothing interests me. I
know you think I’m a spoiled brat, but I feel like there’s nothing left. Like
it’s all done. My father spent his life building his fortune—building all of
this,” he gestured to the ceiling. “When he died, I became a billionaire. At twenty-three.”
“No
one could blame you for feeling that way. You never had the chance to find out
what you wanted to be when you grew up. It was thrust on you as Jimmy and
Regina’s only child. You’ve spent the last ten years learning the business from
the ground up, you’ve proven to the world that you are your father’s son, you are
a chip off the old block. Maybe it’s time to take a breather.”
“I
don’t need another vacation; there’s no place I haven’t already been.”
“Then
don’t take one. When the pressures of it all got to your father, he used to say
the best medicine was to get your hands dirty.”
He
reached to set the glass on a side table. “Are you suggesting I take up
gardening?”
She
chuckled. “No. Do what you’re really good at. Go fix up a house somewhere.
Disconnect completely. Forget about New York, forget about real estate. Forget
about Ashley and the lawsuit.”
Jamie
considered her words for a few moments. Disconnect?
No cell phone, no computers. Nothing? As unreasonable as the idea sounded, it
held a certain appeal. He released a sigh of defeat “Fine. Call off the
bulldozers. I’ll go to Virginia.”
1 comment:
Hi Nic! I just saw a tweet from Ciara Gold about your new book! Congratulations, and best wishes for lots of sales!
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