by Nana Malone
As we marched out of her office, Ollie leaned over. "Did that just happen?"
"Yeah. But the fact that it had to happen is a problem. We fucked up."
We closed her door behind us, and I sighed and turned to face him. "Look, I think Olivia wants us to actually try and be a team and work together. So just come over. I'll make dinner."
Ollie lifted his brow. "Since when can you cook?"
"That's the thing, Ollie. You said it yourself, you don't know me. So come for dinner tomorrow night. We'll work on the Kensington file, and figure this shit out. All right?"
He met my gaze and held it for a long moment. "Yeah, fine by me."
I forced myself to march to my desk, plop down on my seat, and keep my eyes on my laptop. The fury and embarrassment were still coursing through me. I'd never been admonished before. Ever. I was a model-employee type. But Olivia was right, this thing with Ollie had spilled over, and that was unacceptable. So we were going to fix it one way or another.
Nine
Ollie
This felt like a mistake.
But watching my sister’s face light up when I strolled into the restaurant made me wonder if it was worth it. She stood, and I marched over and gave her a hug. "Found it okay, I see."
"Yeah, I love the décor. This is super cute."
I'd reserved a table by the garden, giving us more privacy. Especially important if Max and I got into it. I glanced around, not seeing my brother. "Where is he?"
"Well, he texted that he's going to be a little bit late."
I nodded and took my seat. I’d run through my options on what to say to her when I arrived. "Tessa, this whole meeting of the minds thing, it might not go how you want."
"Oh, I know. Stop being so dour, Ollie. Just give it a chance. You're my brothers. I want us all to get along."
Before I could respond, the hairs at the back of my neck stood at attention. When I glanced up, I saw Max strolling through the restaurant as if he owned the place. He looked the same. Tall, like me. Broad shouldered, like me. His hair was a lighter brown. His gray eyes matched Tessa's like Mum's. I had my father's eyes. At least that's what Mum had always said. Not like I remembered the geezer. When he approached, Tessa bounded up to him with a squeal of glee. "Ah, you're here, you're here, you're here. Oh, I've missed you so much."
As she squeezed him, his gaze met mine over her shoulder, and he gave me a smirk.
I ground my teeth so hard, my jaw ticked. I had to remind myself, that I was not there to cause a scene. I was here because of Tessa. What she needed. She'd be off to school soon, and she wanted this to happen. So, I would try to make nice.
When Tessa finally let him go, Max grinned at me and outstretched his palm, knowing full well I had no choice but to take it. Because if I didn't, that would upset Tessa and also scream that I was a petty bitch. So I shook it. "Max."
"Mate," he said with an air of joviality that I couldn't mimic.
He eyed me up and down. "Wow, little brother, looking sharp. All that fancy posh school turned out, didn't it?"
I narrowed my gaze. "Oh, wow. That didn't take very long."
Tessa's voice was chilly. "That is enough. The both of you."
Max just shrugged. "Oh, come on. Relax, sweetheart. Just having some fun with Ollie. He does look good though. Three-piece suit and all."
"That's because I have a job, Max."
"Ah, the implication being that I don't have one. I will have you know I've got some very interesting prospects."
“Sure you do." I shook my head. "Tessa, I'm not sure—"
She pouted. "No, you promised."
I knew what I had promised, but there were some things that were just too much to ask.
Max laughed. "Ah, I was wondering how she got you here. Look, I'm grateful to you for trying, Tessa, but I told you brother dear wasn’t going to be down for this."
I frowned at my siblings. "Down for what? What the hell is going on, Tessa?"
She gave me a shifty smile. "Look, I know you two don't get on. And that's, you know, that's your guys' thing. But when Max was telling me about this new project that he's got going… Obviously, I don't have any money, but he needs investors. And I just thought that maybe you could help, Ollie. I mean, you're working and you pay for school, I know that. So, there's probably not a lot extra, but you work with some very rich people."
My stomach pitched.
This was worse than I had ever imagined. All this time, I'd been worried about him taking advantage of Tessa, somehow getting her caught up in one of his schemes, stealing from her, or her friends.
It never occurred to me, that he would get her to do the dirty work. "Tessa, this isn't something I can ask my bosses about, whatever he's got going on."
"You haven't even heard him out, though. It's great. It's for this new cryptocurrency, right? Governed by the people. The technology is elite, cutting edge. Something that me and my friends would definitely use."
I rolled my eyes. "Jesus, Tessa, crypto is old news. Bitcoin's been around for ages."
"Yeah, but it's different from Bitcoin. No finite cap on coins. No regulation. You know how it is. Max, tell him. Tell him about your idea."
I shook my head. "Tessa, I'm sorry, but I can't. I'm not going to ask my new bosses to invest in some scheme of Max's. I thought you just wanted us to all reconnect."
"I do. But look, when Max came to see me at school, we just got to talking. And I just thought that, you know, if the Wexlers all worked together, we could change the world. I know there's been like, bad blood or whatever, right? But Max is turning over a new leaf, and—"
I frowned, as I played back her words. "Max, when did you go and see her?"
They exchanged glances. Max looked up. "A couple months ago. I went up to school to visit."
I clamped my jaw. "You're supposed to talk to me before you do that."
He threw up his hands. "She's my fucking sister, mate. I can see her whenever I like."
"Actually, no. Not according to the court and the Crown, you can't."
Tessa put up her hands. "Bloody Christ, don't fight. I just… God, is it so bad that I want us to have something together? I want us to be a family again."
I pointed at Max. "Tessa, Max is Max, and he will always, always, always choose himself. Even if he's pretending to choose you."
Max shook his head. "I've changed, Ollie."
"Really? Have you? Because right now, Tessa is pitching me some cockamamie scheme you have for bitcoin, which involves me talking to my bosses about it for you to get funding. How does that prove you've changed?"
"I didn't tell her to reach out to you. She wanted to do that."
"Yeah, because this is for us, for our future, Ollie." Tessa piped up.
"I have our future in hand, Tessa. You're going to be a doctor, just like you always dreamed."
"I know. And I'm so grateful for everything you've done for me, Ollie. I am. But why do I have to cut out Max? He’s my brother too."
"We don't have to. Max makes his choices. And when the chips were down, who took care of you? Who was there to make sure you were fed and clothed."
She shook her head. "Both of you. Before things got bad, Max was great. He just lost his way. You've cut him out, Ollie. You don’t know him anymore. Why did you have to ruin this?" And then she shoved away from the table and ran.
"Tessa!” I called after her. "Tessa?"
But my sister was gone.
I turned to Max with a frown. He just grinned at me. "Thanks for that, little brother."
Forever the manipulator. "What are you up to?"
Max leaned forward. "That's on you, little brother. You did my job for me."
"What's the game? What's the play?"
"No game, no play. I wanted to see Tessa, so I saw her. She’s doing well. Got to hand it to you, little brother. That school is posh. Real nice."
“You’re going to hurt her.”
"Would you relax, Ollie? There you go, always
assuming I'm up to something. I'm not. I just met some guys, and one of them, he's really good with technology and shit, you know? He was chatting to me. Had this idea of building his own darknet while we manage the exchanges and take a little off the top. Create our own coin. Real smart dude."
"Then what's he doing with you, Max?"
He rolled his eyes and sat forward. "Ollie, look, all we need is the capital to start. Your bosses are rich. They donate millions to all kinds of shit. They fund startups all the time. What's the big deal?"
Deflated I leaned back in my seat. "How much to walk away from Tessa?"
He lifted a brow. “You’re serious?”
“Deadly.”
“Five million to start. And a reup on the investment in three years.”
I coughed up my disbelief like phlegm. “Let me get this straight, you want ten million quid from me in three years.”
"No. Well, yes, but not from you. And, you know, this is dumb because you should be in on this with me. With your strategic brain, mate, we could do so much."
"I'm not interested in working with you, Max. There's a reason we haven't spoken in years."
"Oh, you mean that thing where you grassed me out to the police to spend a year in the nick only to be let out on a technicality? Are we going to talk about how you didn't visit me in jail? Because I thought we were doing bygones and shit."
"You ended up in jail for a year because of what you did. Your actions. You fucked up."
"Well, you know, nobody would have even known it was me if I hadn't been seen. But God, you know, I thought there were no witnesses to that night. Guess I was wrong."
"Yeah, guess you were."
"And then, if only those charges against… What was her name again?"
I wasn't taking the bait. He was trying to get me to say Rian's name. "The sooner you realize that you were in the position you were in because of yourself, the better off you'll be. I'm not here to bail you out. You're still up to the same bullshit."
"I'm not up to bullshit. I'm legit now."
"Right, that's why you had to backdoor and get your sister to ask me to get my bosses to give you billions."
"Well, I don't need billions. Five million investment. To start."
I just laughed. "You're mad. You know that?"
My brother leaned forward, hands not on me, but I could feel the menace coming off of him in waves. "You owe me. You think I don't know it was you? You know, we never talked about it, but I've always known it was you. The way you jumped to help my girl. For pussy, you sold out your own brother. You grassed on your own brother."
There was no point in arguing with someone who was a narcissist. He would never see his own culpability. And what could I say? He was right. Because of Rian, I'd told the cops where to find him.
"You know, for years you forced me to help you. You forced me to come up with the plans. I don't want to do that shit anymore."
"Are you still whining about that? So you drew up some plans. Big fucking deal."
"I was twelve. You were my goddamn brother. You were supposed to be looking out for me."
"You did it for years, so you must have liked it."
I shook my head. "Stay the fuck away from Tessa."
He grinned. "Tessa is almost a full adult. You can't make me stay away from her then, can you?"
"Those will be her risks to take. But at least I got her to this point."
"You think it was just you? You call me a narcissist, but you're the one with the ego. Smart boy, wannabe rich boy. You're not better than me, you know."
"I never thought I was. But now that I'm grown, I know you're just a thug. That's all you'll ever be. I was smart to keep Tessa away from you this long."
"Well, you won't keep me away from her forever. She's my fucking sister."
"Funny how you only remember that when there's no school fees to pay and when you're not the one on the hook for her. I didn't get Tessa where she is. Tessa did that for herself. She's smart as hell. And she'll see through you eventually."
"There's nothing to see through. I'm turning over a new leaf, trying to be a different person."
"Yeah, but with you, there's always a catch. Now what, you're some kind of tech founder? Bullshit. I know you, Max. I'm not giving you money, and I'm not asking anyone to give you money. As far as I'm concerned, I don't have a brother. You understand?"
He grinned. "Now, now, no need to be hasty, little brother."
"No, we're done." I pushed away from the table, and as I stalked out of the restaurant, I texted Tessa. Tess, I know you're upset, and I'm sorry. But I can't get behind this venture. Please call me tonight.
I hoped to God she wasn't in too deep with Max, because she didn't know the full truth about him or just how far he was willing to go to get exactly what he wanted.
Rian
"Mr. Kensington, we are so unbelievably thrilled. It was quite a pleasure meeting your daughter the other day. She has such an energy about the project.” Energy… was that the right word?
I kept my smile plastered in place. Mr. Kensington was pleasant enough. He had way more ideas about the hotels than his daughter did. My problem today was pushing past his full charm offensive.
Ollie’s voice was as smooth as melted chocolate. "As you probably heard from your daughter, we've got some ideas for the opening. As we know, your mother was a performer in the 1930s, so we’re hoping to go with the old world jazz and blues aesthetic."
That was my line. He was taking my lines.
Mr. Kensington sat forward. "Oh yes, this is certainly interesting. Tell me more."
Before Ollie could get in another word, I leaned forward with one of the designs I'd been playing around with on my computer. The very first Kensington Hotel, built in the sixties, harkened to a past gone by. I mocked a few things up. I opened my folder and slid across a few. "As you can see, we’ll transport your guests to another era. The champagne will be flowing, and the waiters will be dressed like they’re from the thirties. We’ll have flappers and cigarette girls. Obviously, they won’t be selling cigarettes, but healthy snack options. Maybe a few cigars. And we’ll have performers. I understand that you love the jazz singer, Norena Mullins. We’re working on having her perform at the opening."
Mr. Kensington’s brows lifted. "Norena Mullins, God, the pipes on her."
I grinned that he looked so happy. Okay fine, and also because Ollie looked like he wanted to throttle me. "I know, right? She's outstanding."
Next to me, Ollie forced a smile. His dimple peeked out, and his eyes were crinkled at the corners in warmth. I knew I ought to be concerned because he had learned to fake a warm smile.
I’d blindsided him. Score one for me! I would have loved to prep with him, but he’d been too busy at some kind of lunch. So I’d seized the opportunity.
That's it, champ.
I didn't come to play.
Mr. Kensington leaned back. "My God, you two are a fantastic pair."
I laid out a couple more of the plans for Kensington. In my hurry, as I’d had no help from Ollie, I’d used some placeholders of my photos for art.
"You know, I love these mock-ups. Do you think the artist could put together a few pieces for me?"
I grinned. "I think that can be arranged."
He nodded. "What's the name of the artist?"
I flushed. I hadn't expected that. But what shocked me more was for Ollie to actually lean forward and give me the credit. "Oh, this fantastic artist you say? Her name is Rian Cooke."
I stared at him, unable to say a single word.
Mr. Kensington, who was obviously surprised, unknowingly broke the momentary tension for me. "Wait, Rian? Like, your name is Rian?"
Ugh. Ollie was such an asshole. "Actually, Ollie's mistaken. I'm the artist."
Kensington furrowed his brows slightly as if he wasn't sure what was happening. But then he nodded. "Wow, you are exceptionally talented. Do you mind? And of course, we'll be willing to pay your commission pric
e."
Commission price? Did I have one of those? It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him I didn’t sell my work, but instead, what I said was, "I'm sure we can work something out. I'm just happy that you're thrilled with our ideas and the design concept."
"I am. And I’m quite surprised my daughter didn't bring in some of these designs you have."
Ah yes, his daughter. She'd been too busy trying to climb into Ollie's lap. She hadn't been willing to listen to a thing about the design concept. "Well, these are some more recent ideas after meeting with her and discussing the concept further."
Ollie leaned forward. "Yes, and as we researched, we learned more about your passion for jazz and big band. And customers are going to love being transported in time as we give a modern twist to old-world charm. Everything is retro. And in this partnership with the London Lords, we will work to make the Kensington brand synonymous with glamour once again.”
Oh yeah, he was laying it on thick.
The old man sat back with a satisfied smile. “I must admit, this is the first time in a while I’ve been quite so excited about a proposal. The two of you are energizing. The Kensington Hotels aren’t what we once were. To do this partnership and rebuild makes me excited. To see your vision for the opening and the design has me energized. I’ll tell you what.” He placed his scotch glass on the table next to his chair. “I’d like you two to attend an event we have planned tomorrow night at my home to get an up-front view of my taste.”
“We can’t wait, sir.”
I slid Ollie an evil look before grinning at Mr. Kensington. “I second that. It would be our honor.”
“Excellent. My daughter will call with details.”
When Mr. Kensington dismissed us and we were confined together in the elevator, I scowled at Ollie.
He just winked at me and grinned. "What's your problem, Beaumont?"
"My problem, Wexler, is that you marched in there and tried to take my idea."
"Haven't you heard? We're a team and there is no I in team."
"You know what, it doesn't matter. You got what you needed in the end."
