This Little Piggy

M.G. Crisci

Description

<b>ALLURE OF WALL STREET SHATTERS A PERFECT LIFE.</b>

Sandra Martini thought she had it all, a storybook marriage, two loving children, a meaningful career in healthcare, and lots of corporate expense account goodies. But, all hell broke loose when husband Victor met Franklin Ryman, a wealthy, "tarnished" member of Wall Street's dark-side dealmakers, known as "the lunatic fringe."

The morally bankrupt Ryman guaranteed Victor no experience was necessary to become a Wall Street zillionaire, other than "Follow the Leader." Smitten with the notion of becoming filthy rich at the age of 37, Victor waved goodbye to his carefully-cultivated career on Madison Avenue to launch a questionable IPO (Initial Public Offering) with Ryman.

Reluctantly, Sandra agreed to join "the love of her life" on a breath-taking roller-coaster though a seamy side of Wall Street that professional dealmakers deny exists. A world where the only color that matters is green.

When the roller coaster stops, Victor and Sandra are financially and morally bankrupt, their marriage is in shambles, and Victor contemplates a bizarre version of suicide to make amends.

Sujets

• Vie de famille
• Relations familiales
• Biographical
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 29 janvier 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780985991845
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 7 Mo

Extrait


Copyright © 2013, 2018, 2021 M.G. Crisci
1-360686021
 
All rights reserved,
Including the right of reproduction
In whole or in part in any form.
 
This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, business, places, events and incidents
Are either the products of the author’s imagination
Or used in a fictitious manner.
Any resemblance to actual persons,
Living or dead, or actual events are purely coincidental.
 
Cover Art: M.G. Crisci
Cover Design: Good World Media
Edited by Holly Scudero
 
Published by Orca Publishing Company USA
 
ISBN-13: 978-0-9859-9184-5 (ebook)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-3259-5 (Amazon KDP)
ISBN - 13: 978 - 1 - 4566 - 3064 - 5 (hardcover)
ISBN - 13: 978 - 1 - 4566 - 3063 - 8 (paperback)
 
Third Edition
 

Also by M.G. Crisci
 
7 Days in Russia
Call Sign, White Lily
Donny and Vladdy
Ergonia, Land of Giant Ants
Indiscretion
Mary Jackson Peale
Only in New York Volume I
Only in New York Volume II
Papa Cado
Project Zebra
Salad Oil King
Save the Last Dance
She Said. He Said.
Still Standing
The King of Violins
This Little Piggy
 
Learn more at
mgcrisci.com
twitter.com/worldofmgcrisci
YouTube.com/ worldofmgcrisci
facebook.com/ worldofmgcrisci
Table of Contents 
1. The $20 Bet
2. A Girl Named Sydney
3. Into the Darkness
4. The Ryman is Back!
5. Fairytale Family with Two Careers
6. Naye’s Unexpected Decision
7. Butter-Stained Hermès Ties
8. Convincing Sandra to Change
9. Things Are Not Always What They Seem
10. Selling Used Parts To Rocketman
11. Sutton Place Penthouse
12. Negotiating in Bad Faith
13. Ryman Takes Care of Number One
14. Marino’s Cuban Cigars
15. Winning Over the Boiler Room
16. The King and Queen of Penny Stocks
17. Time to Say Goodbye
18. Leslie’s $3 Million Lease
19. Astrid’s Complicated Past
20. Ten Greedy Black Beards
21. World’s Greatest Liquidator
22. Victor Gets a Makeover
23. Las Vegas Penthouse Poker
24. Douglas Fairbanks’ Beach House
25. Ryman Tries to Change the Deal
26. Big Retainers Don’t Grow on Trees
27. Eddie’s Magic Barter Credits
28. Ryman Gives Away the Store
29. Back to the Bigtime, with Conditions
30. Sequential, Parallel Transactions
31. Parker Bloomberg Primes the Pump
32. Prince Charming Becomes THE Ryman
33. Professional Fees, Conflicts of Interest
34. Accounting Fiasco at the SEC
35. Ivanka, Sam’s Traveling Pro
36. Throwing Victor Under the Bus
37. Never Surprise Family
38. Sex Over St. Patrick’s
39. Irene Katherine Remembered
40. Survival of the Fittest Begins
41. Dr. Vedderman’s Spinal Cocaine
42. The Roadshow Turns Sideshow
43. No Thanks, Sherrie and Barbee
44. Quick, Somebody Call 911!
45. Mona Toothson’s Other Life
46. The First ITI Operations Meeting
47. The King Takes Ryman to the Cleaners
48. Ryman & Melrose, Partners in Crime
49. Enough is Enough
50. Sleazeball CFO from Hell
51. Manhattan Here We Come
52. Barter Bank Hits Rough Seas
53. Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre
54. Bloodbath in the Boardroom
55. Everybody Wants a Piece of the Pie
56. One Lie Leads to Another, and Another
57. From Bad to Unimaginable
58. Easy Money
References
 
1. The $20 Bet
 
NEW ROCHELLE, NY, 1992
It was Victor’s first college mixer, and he was a bit intimidated.
As the son of two middle-class Italian-American immigrants—one a butcher, the other a telephone operator—his social calendar consisted primarily of dates with local guidettes —noisy girls who simultaneously chewed gum and spoke with a heavy New York accent.
Victor’s parents wanted a better life for their son, which meant getting a good education. When Victor’s best friend and next-door neighbor, Jim Badino, decided to attend Iona, a small commuter college less than 20 miles from home, Victor followed suit.
~
“It’s time for us to step outside our comfort circle,” said Badino. “There’s a mixer at Good Counsel College this Friday evening. Let’s crash the party.”
“That’s a pretty snooty, upscale kind of place,” said the insecure Victor. “Can't we start with something where the girls are a little easier?”
“Don’t you want to see how the other half lives?” laughed Badino, who was a year older than Victor and the seasoned veteran of three prior college mixers. “I guarantee they won’t bite unless you bite them first!”
~
Soon, the two boys, dressed in sportscoats and ties, were sipping punch in the Good Counsel student lounge. They were surrounded by a chatty group of polished young women, who were subtly eyeing the available inventory of young men.
The D.J. began to play Just the Way You Are by Billy Joel. Badino headed for a tall, slim girl in a simple, elegant black satin dress. Moments later, they were dancing cheek-to-cheek.
Badino pointed at a girl standing alone. Victor stared at the floor self-consciously. When the music stopped, Badino waved Victor over. “Victor, say hello to Lois, and this is her best friend Sandra.”
Sandra’s Mediterranean complexion, dark eyes with a touch of yellow, and long black hair looked like something out of the pages of Vogue magazine . As Victor stared, she smiled shyly. Bryan Adams started to sing Everything I Do, I Do for You. Badino and Lois returned to the dance floor. Victor thought, What the hell . “Sandra, may I have this dance?” She paused. There was a certain sparkle in her eyes.
“No, thanks,” she said.
Her rejection made Victor more determined—he decided he wouldn’t take no for an answer. “I’ll make you a deal,” he smiled. “I promise I won’t ask you to marry me until the second dance.”
Sandra remained aloof, but Victor sensed he was wearing her down. “Trust me, I understand your reluctance. But I assure you, I’m not who you think I am.”
“And who is that?”
“The dreaded Joker that Batman has been chasing around Gotham City for years.”
“That’s was lame,” she said with a smirk. “Is that the best you can do?”
“How about I get down on my knees and beg?”
She smiled. “Now that’s more like it. But where are my roses?”
~
Michael Bolton started singing To Love Somebody. Victor opened his arms and Sandra entered. She gently placed her head on his shoulder . At that moment, Victor knew he was one and done— he had found his soulmate . They spent every minute together for the rest of the evening.
As the mixer came to a close, Sandra wrote down her phone number. Badino said goodbye to Lois with a big kiss. Victor looked at Sandra, but she shook her head no. “Girls like me never kiss boys like you the first time they meet them.”
On the drive home, Badino started to laugh. “Now that was one sensational pair of chicks. I see you almost got to first base.”
~
“Did Sandra tell you about her little agreement with Lois?” asked Badino later.
“What agreement?”
“Sandra didn’t want to come. She told Lois the only way she’d go to the mixer was if Lois dressed in a black negligee and wore heels as a disguise.”
“Looks like the nuns who chaperoned don’t own slinky evening attire,” laughed Victor.
“Lois and I agreed that the next time we get together,” boasted Badino, “she’d wear the same nightgown but ditch the heels— and Sandra. Speaking of Sandra, it looks like you did okay.”
“That’s one way to put it,” Victor replied.
“Is there another way?”
“Yeah, I’ve decided I’m going to marry her.”
“Just like that. Does she know?” asked Badino.
“No, not yet. Turns out Sandra is only a high school senior. She crashed the party because Lois is a Good Counsel freshman.”
“So, let me get this straight,” smiled Badino, “you just met a pretty high school senior and have decided—at some point in the future— you’re going to marry her.”
“Yup, and sooner rather than later,” replied Victor matter-of-factly.
Badino laughed hysterically. “Sport, you’ve been watching too many Cinderella movies. I’ll bet you ten dollars that it doesn’t happen at all. Not sooner. Not later.”
“Make it twenty,” Victor replied. “And I want the bet to be paid in full at the wedding—no IOUs.”
~
During the next two years, Victor wore down Sandra's resistance, despite her protestations that she was too young. The couple married a few days after Sandra’s 20 th birthday, and had two kids and tons of responsibilities before they were 23.
2. A Girl Named Sydney
 
LONG BEACH, NY, 2007
Driving forty-five miles in a torrential downpour from Greenwich, Connecticut, to Long Beach, Long Island, was not Sandra’s idea of a dream evening.
“If I didn't love you so much, I'd make Fatal Attraction look like a fairytale,” said Sandra. “Tell me again, why are we going to a birthday party in a driving rainstorm with a $250 bottle of wine for a woman named Sydney? ”
“Johnny says his wife is good people; we’ll like her.”
“You're telling me that pothead who works for you is married to a woman named Sydney? Why on earth would someone name their daughter Sydney?”
“Babe,” Victor shrugged, “I know you think Johnny Katz is a bit of a free thinker.”
“A bit ?” interrupted Sandra. “Are we talking about the same person? The guy who decides when he wants to work, takes amphetamines before client meetings, and sings Gregorian chants in the bathroom?”
“Honey, you’ve got to trust me on this one. Johnny has a knack for growing businesses by putting seemingly unrelated pieces together.”
“If you say so,” glared Sandra sarcastically.
In fairness to Sandra, Johnny and Victor were strange bedfellows. When Victor was promoted to a senior vice president at stodgy Arthur and James (A&J) Advertising on Madison Avenue, he needed an account supervisor to replace himself. After interviewing the available internal candidates, he decided he didn’t want a corporate yes-man.
Katz’s initial interview was memorable; he had done his homework. After exchanging pleasantries, Katz pulled Victor’s favorite sandwich out of his attaché case—lean pastrami and imported Swiss cheese on German pumpernickel, neatly wrapped in aluminum fo