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Those words leave a bitter taste in my mouth, one I’m not sure I can rid myself of. Although that’s probably just her goodness rubbing off on me.
“That why you have…” He flips to a page in my folder, slaps it down on my desk and spins it to face me, his finger coming down on the thick paper. “This?”
I look up at him. “I’m not a monster. We’ve been over this and she’s going to be better off without that sinkhole for money. This is my way of doing something she’ll like.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Did you turn into some kind of saint when I wasn’t looking?”
“Hardly. I’ve got this blonde tonight. Smoking. But…that doesn’t change you and this Zoey person. Or what’s going on. Because it’s sort of veering on evil, Magnus.”
Shaking my head, I get to my feet. “Hardly. She’ll have more than enough money to set up anywhere she wants after this. I need that spot.”
“Yeah—”
“Just like you apparently want your share of the family legacy, a share I’m guaranteeing by proving I’ve got heart. Now, if you don’t mind, we’re launching everything this weekend. And then I’ll deal with the whole Zoey thing.”
“Cutting it close.”
“As I said, I’m not a monster, Zoey—”
“Oh, yeah, you’re real neutral when it comes to her. I meant the proving you’ve got heart. Just remember, fires have a way of raging out of control, Magnus.”
My brother’s words haunt me. All through my meetings, all through the shit I need to do. Even now, through this meet up with Jenson, my dear dead father’s attorney.
“This looks fantastic,” he says. His face is neutral as he says it, but this doesn’t faze me. Jenson likes to play things close to the bone, just like my father did.
I give him a neutral look back as I recline in the old fashioned wine-red chair in his darkly tasteful home office.
The place befits an ivy league educated attorney, one who rubs shoulders with the rich and powerful. One who keeps secrets. One who’s from the same world as his clients. The dark polished floors. The built-in teak bookshelves with beautifully bound books. The window that overlooks the tree lined East Sixty-Seventh street address. His big desk that’s used as well as something for show.
Jenson’s been on the periphery of my life growing up, handling all the things my father needed handling, the private things. Divorces, prenups. All of it.
I’ve half a mind to ask why and how a man like him, one who knew the intricate details of my father’s life, way more than me or my brothers or any wife, has remained close to my mother.
“Is something bothering you?”
“I don’t like being jerked around,” I say, tapping a hand on the chair’s arm. “My brother got jerked around, and the details keep changing. What surprises are coming my way?”
He breathes out and closes the folder. “This meets everything you’ve been asked to do. This shows, on paper, you have heart. As long as you don’t dump it the next day, which…” He pulls his laptop to him and taps something on the keyboard, the screen lighting up and reflecting on his face and gold-rimmed glasses. “I don’t think you’re going to do unless you want to look like some kind of modern-day scrooge—”
“It’s not Christmas.”
“—or lose the vast chunk of money you’ve tied up in all of this. We still have some time left, not much, but it looks good. I’ll pass this on, and you’ll know on the day. But between us, your stake seems to be set and the family business still in the family’s hands.”
“It doesn’t answer the questions I have as to why he did this.”
Jenson folds his hands together. “Your father always had reasons for things.”
“I know. Which is why this doesn’t make sense.” I study him. “Maybe you can tell me why my mother’s so interested in all of this?”
Jenson, of course, remained tight-lipped on that. Just an ‘ask her’, but when Faye wants to be elusive, she’s a ghost.
The next morning I need to head in to the damn store. I’d love to say that’s done, too, but it isn’t.
Zoey has a way of sliding so far into a man that she tangles around him, but this thing with us isn’t something I’d ever planned. Not to this point. Not where I like her, where I care. Somewhere what I wanted and how I wanted to do things changed. I still need the building, but in another life, I just might want her, too.
I’m not what she wants, though, not really. She wants a fantasy, someone who doesn’t exist. But for the first time, with all my money, I wish I could give her that. And…I can’t.
