“Has Donald shown up again?” I asked on our way to the Rockford building.
“He’s shown up a couple times. Always gets turned away by security,” Elliot replied. “If he’s smart, he’ll retire to Florida and protect what little assets he has left.”
I shook my head. “I will never understand why a man his age is driven to make more money to the point he risks it all. It’s greed, plain and simple.”
“Nothing is ever that simple. It’s not always greed or ambition that drives rich men to get richer.”
“Then what?”
His jaw rippled. “Not every wealthy man started out that way.”
Elliot Levy was one of them. The information available to the public about his background was vague, but I had read enough to know both his parents had died prematurely and he’d been his sister’s guardian. He’d started Levy Development in his early twenties with an investment from his best friend, Weston Aldrich, who’d been born into extreme wealth. Elliot had taken that investment and used his ruthless instincts and business acumen to build his billion-dollar company.
By anyone’s standards, he was successful. He could’ve retired now and never worried. But he wasn’t anywhere near satisfied, and I wondered when he would be. If he would be.
“I get not wanting to ever be hungry again. But who needs billions? Aren’t millions enough?”
My question was half in jest, but Elliot responded to it seriously.
“What’s enough? Ensuring you’re never hungry? Your kids? What about grandkids? It’s not just money but security and power. Most who didn’t grow up with wealth had neither.”
“Even then, a few wrong moves, that security and power can be stripped and you’re nothing but a sad old man. I would think building a true life, with family and a network of friends, would offer more security. When Liam left, I’d floundered so badly because I didn’t have a village I could turn to.”
“One doesn’t preclude the other.” He started to say more but stopped, pressing his lips together. Then he met my gaze, locking onto it. “You have a village, Catherine. You just weren’t willing to open the door and see it until I forced my way in.”
My head jerked slightly, and my swallow got stuck in my throat. “I’m—” It was on the tip of my tongue to fight him, but he wasn’t wrong. I had people. Davida or Raymond would have helped, but I hadn’t asked. Deep down, I knew Elliot would have helped me too.
“You’re right. It’s really difficult to open the door after my first village let me down.”
He reached across the seat and squeezed my hand. “That won’t happen this time.”
Climbing out of the car, Elliot held his hand out and helped me out of the car, smoothing my sleeves down my arms.
“You don’t have to cover your tattoos.”
I tugged on a cuff, noting he’d gotten out of talking about his unyielding ambition by turning the tables on me. “It’s habit. Besides, I don’t own any short-sleeved tops appropriate for the office.”
He looked me over for a long, drawn-out moment then nodded once. “We’ll go shopping this weekend.”
My brows shot up. Before I could question who exactly “we” was, he turned on his heel, starting for the entrance. I scampered to catch up with him, shoving shopping out of my mind for now.
There’d been a lot of progress with the Rockford building since the last time I’d been here. With the slowdown in the technology sector, Denver’s office real estate market had experienced a downturn. Around a quarter of the city’s office space was vacant, not just because of fewer jobs but the shifting workplace culture. More workers were going remote, leaving offices half filled. Unlike Donald Rockford, Elliot was well aware of this. When he’d come into possession of the building, he’d hired a team to rethink the entire tower.
The top ten floors were now apartments, both corporate and long-term rentals. The roof held a bar and café open to the public, with a viewing platform that would draw in tourist dollars.
There were still offices, but several floors were designed to be shared workspace for companies who had no use for entire blocks for their employees.
On top of those changes, he’d brought in experts Weston used to make this building as environmentally sound and energy efficient as possible, which was a draw to many businesses—and because Elliot was hopelessly devoted to efficiency.
Elliot wasn’t the only developer making these changes, but he was on the cutting edge in Denver. His buildings had very few vacancies, and Rockford currently had a wait list.