Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“I wouldn’t take the risk,” Leo says. “You’ve managed to keep your identity secret up until now. Why chance it?” He’s smiling as he speaks. We all know he’s trying to steer us away from spending money in The Avenue. But honestly, they’re drinking from my hotel bar as we speak. It doesn’t make a lot of difference.
“The six of us together would attract a lot of attention,” Worth says. He’s right. As ever.
“As long as that attention is female with legs for days, I’m okay with it,” Leo says.
“Don’t worry,” Worth says. “You can have third pick after Bennett and me.”
“I’ll give you Bennett,” Leo says. “He’s too fucking handsome and he’s got that brooding hero thing down. But you think women are going to pick you before me?” He scoffs.
I groan and turn up the volume on the TV. We’re already in competition in business. We don’t need to be competing over women. I need to save my energy.
Leo punches my arm in a friendly way as he gets up to get another drink. “If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”
Over the last decade, Fort Inc. has successfully developed some of the most important technology in the world. And I’ve managed to lead that company without anyone knowing I’m the son of a movie star. I need to figure out who’s behind the break-ins and silence them. Then we can go back to Monday nights at an exclusive private members club, and my friends can stop bitching about how great my hotel is.
TWO
Efa
New York, New York. A city so great they named it twice—though it seems a little unnecessary to me. I mean, we get it. It’s New York. No need to repeat yourself.
Anyway, here I am in New York City. It’s almost like I’m standing in a cartoon. Or on a film set. I’ve seen it on TV and in films so many times that I convinced myself the version of the city I knew couldn’t be real. But the cabs really are that yellow and steam really does balloon up from manhole covers. Everything’s bigger than it is back in London. Louder. The skyscrapers are so tall they block out the sun, and everyone shouts, including the guy who served up my coffee this morning. He either had anger management problems or was particularly frustrated to be working the weekend.
I lean back on the stone wall behind me and gaze up at the building in front of me, on the other side of Columbus Circle. It houses the headquarters—and only office—of Fort Inc., the most successful technology company in corporate history. It’s not listed on the stock exchange, and the owner—Ben Fort—doesn’t court publicity. In fact, he shuns it. There are no pictures of him on the internet. I can’t even fathom being powerful enough to be able to scrub the internet clean of me. He doesn’t have a LinkedIn page, and bizarrely for a tech company, Fort Inc. doesn’t have a website. No one knows how you get a job there or who they employ.
But I like a challenge.
Fort Inc. fascinates me. Over the last few years, they’ve produced some of the most revolutionary products the industry has ever seen. AI basically wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Fort. Which is why I want to work for them. With my shiny new degree in computer science, I’m still figuring out what I want to do in the technology space. I know I want to make an impact, I’m just not quite sure how yet. To figure it out, I want to work with the best of the best.
And that’s Fort Inc.
I spend the next twenty minutes trying to cross Columbus Circle and finally reach the entrance to the Deutsche Bank Center. I don’t have a plan. Today is all about seeing a little of New York before I start work tomorrow morning, but I couldn’t not come here. I could just turn up at Fort Inc. reception and say I want a job. What have I got to lose? Problem is, I don’t know what floor they’re on. Maybe they don’t even have a reception.
I make my way through the throng of tourists and get to the office lobby. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find Fort Inc. listed on a building directory. I’ll casually breeze past and bump into the head of HR.
Rumors say Fort hand-selects people from the best colleges and others making their mark in the industry. I went to university on the other side of the ocean and I only just turned twenty-one, so there’s not much chance of me getting noticed by them, or anyone. But in my experience, tenacity pays off. By the end of the summer, I’m determined to be working for Fort Inc.
In the meantime, I get to enjoy a summer in New York—although I hear it can be humid—while working in one of the best hotels in the city, The Avenue.