With a slight smirk and in the calmest tone he said, “That’s actually not accurate.”
See! “I knew they over-exaggerated it. Was that Dawn’s doing?” I asked dryly.
“Yes, that was her PR firm’s attempt at promoting my empire, but the figure is actually slightly underestimated.”
My head shot over to his and my eyes were widened in disbelief. “Wha—! Well, if that wasn’t correct then—” I cut myself off. “I’m afraid to ask!” I didn’t want to pry.
“Rayna, it’s okay. You can ask. It’s not something that I want made public for legitimate reasons, but I feel it’s necessary to share this with you.” His eyes were so genuine.
With my eyes, I gestured for him to spill the beans. He caught my drift and returned to his pillow.
“It’s closer to a billion, but as far as the IRS is concerned, my assets and earnings amount to about 573.8 million dollars, per last year’s filings.”
You could hear a pin drop in there. I was stunned. Why didn’t he tell me this before? It now made sense, how he was so adamant about spending freely on me, the car he loaned me because he never used it, staying in the best hotels, having paid off the posh apartment in Marina Del Rey, offering to buy my house. He’s filthy stinking rich! His fleet of luxury cars, the personal chef, regular security detail—all of these were the fittings of a wealthy man.
“Brimm,” he called me from my trance. “Say something,” his voice was hard, self-protective. It sounded so familiar—like mine.
“Y-you said you don’t like discussing it. I don’t want to meddle.”
“It’s not meddling coming from you,” he hissed, exasperated.
“What is it then?”
“It’s gaining pertinent information that concerns you…your future.”
“That’s how Kid got his car…” Another thought that I intended for internal use only.
“Kid is a long-term friend. I value his loyalty to me over the years. I’m a very private and complicated man. He’s understood that and has been very reliable throughout the years. It was an appropriate gift for a trusted friend.”
I was stuck.
He turned his head to me. “What did you think I earned before the article? You must have given it some thought.”
Whoa! I don’t think I did.
I started chronicling my time with him. “I don’t know…I mean, yeah, you had a Bentley with a driver, a lofty apartment on the water…businesses, a personal stylist…” I started to feel silly the more I thought out loud. “I don’t know…maybe close to a million…okay, at best two million? In all honesty, I never gave it much thought. I accepted it as all things that came along with your parcel…that it was all Azmir Jacobs. I’ve never dated a wealthy man before.”
“According to you—you’ve never dated.” Azmir was reminding me of the small fact that I’d given him in our previous conversation in Vegas.
“This is true.” I turned back to face him. “I don’t know…I feel foolish for not knowing. And…truth be told, I’m mad as hell that Dawn knew more than I did,” I sulked openly.
“Dawn knows what I need for her to know to grow my brand. The brand that will provide handsomely for you, who will protect my privacy.”
What does that mean? I didn’t want to go there. But there was some where I did, now that we were back on the topic of Dawn.
“Azmir, you were so incensed about Brian Thompson at the charity ball and in San Diego.” I tried to maintain my boldness in the spirit of honesty. “In San Diego—”
He abruptly jumped up in the bed and with a wrinkled nose, “You didn’t…! Fuck! In San Diego or…since we’ve been apart.” Azmir’s body tensed, his pupils dilated, breath hitched and he formed fists in my mattress. He was scaring me.
“Azmir—”
“When?” he breathed seemingly painfully, collapsing his eyelids, bracing himself for the answer.