(Illustration by Gordon Studer)
From LLNYC: The potential client was a well-known businessman, and he wanted Paul Viollis to understand that the seductress who was now blackmailing him was his “first rodeo.” He’d never stepped out on his wife before — honest, he insisted. This was all new to him.
Viollis, who specializes in fixing just such problems for the rich and famous, wasn’t buying it. The seasoned security consultant was at that very moment standing in the middle of a South Florida playground — he’d been watching his two grandchildren, 4 and 6, play when his office put the call through. But he wasn’t about to let his surroundings or the fame of the businessman, whose name he’d instantly recognized, distract him from doing his job.
“Look, I am happy to help,” Viollis, chief executive of Viollis Group International, told the man, noting he had been referred by a good client. “But if we’re going to work together, understand: Don’t lie to me, because I’ll fucking hang up the phone. You’re going to tell me what’s going on and let me see if I can help you. If I can help you, I’ll tell you. If I can’t help you, I will tell you that, too.” [More]