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He jabbed his finger inside her office, and she backed up, nervous energy licking at her spine.
He slammed the door. “We lost Bruno Santana. What the hell happened?” he demanded.
“I-I don’t know. He?—”
“He must have said something to you!” Arnie exclaimed. “You wanted to get rid of him at one point. Did something happen?”
She and Bruno hadn’t discussed what they wanted to say, and she didn’t want to contradict anything he had told Arnie.
“What did he tell you?” she asked.
“He praised you profusely and then said some crap about meeting someone and no longer needing our services.”
“Well, it happens, right? We’ve lost clients before when they meet their soulmate before they make a connection with someone on our list.”
“We’ve never had that happen to such a high-profile client,” Arnie snapped.
Marissa forced herself to relax. He wasn’t angry at her. He was understandably upset about losing the publicity that matching a client like Bruno could bring if he allowed them to share his story.
“You explained to him about the fee? Hopefully that will soften the blow to the company. There’ll be other billionaires.”
He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “We hope, but when? I wanted this guy.”
“Um, Mr. Jackson is waiting in the conference room. I should go.”
“Yeah, yeah, go. I’m sorry. I’m pissed, but I’ll get over it.”
Marissa patted his arm and scurried from her office, quietly breathing a sigh of relief.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
As Marissa approached the front of Garlique, she spotted her brother about to enter.
“John!” she called out.
He turned, and a wide grin spread across his face. She ran into his arms, and he lifted her off the ground in a tight squeeze.
“Look at you,” she gushed, cupping his face in both her hands.
The last time she saw him in person was six months ago when she went to visit him in Arizona. He’d fallen ill and lost a scary amount of weight. She had hardly recognized her younger brother and had been frightened she would lose him, her closest family member. He had recovered and now looked more like his old self.
His skin was the same russet-brown complexion as hers, and everyone said they had the same eyes.
“Look at you. You’re practically glowing,” he commented.
“Am I? I guess we’re both in a good place at the moment.”
They walked into the restaurant side by side.
“What made you decide to pick this restaurant?” John asked once they settled at their table.
“It’s a friend’s restaurant. I’ve had food from here before, and they won a James Beard award last week.”
Her brother frowned. “James Beard… that’s a restaurant award or something?”
“Yes, there are more than one, and they’re awarded annually to chefs and restaurants in different categories.”
“You seem to know a lot about it.”
