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“You and your brothers cooked a lot?”
“My parents weren’t around too much,” he says. That’s right. Because Ryan’s parents got divorced. I don’t really know much about that time of his life. The Internet didn’t really have a lot to say about his teen years. Instead, the small amounts of information I found about Ryan seem to be focused on his later years: taking over the business, growing it, and surpassing everyone’s expectations of what a leader should be. I bullshitted my way through describing his life and childhood when he interviewed me. The truth is that it was a guess based on my own upbringing.
“It’s nice you had that connection with your brothers,” I say.
“They’re fine,” Ryan says.
“You three run Shadowvale Industries together, right?”
“Mostly,” he nods. He looks at me carefully. My guess is that he’s trying to decide how much he wants to tell me about his life.
“Are you still close with your brother?”
“No.” I want to be. I just can’t freaking find him. It’s like a punch to my gut. I know I can’t give up, but at this point, my leads are so thin and worn out that I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to do. I’m hoping that a PI will help. Do I really have any other options? “I don’t know what else I’m supposed to say about that,” I blurt out.
“Me neither,” he says. He smiles in a disarming sort of way. It’s easy to see why people like Ryan so much. He might be terrifying, but there are moments like this where he also seems real.
Ryan takes a bite of his food. I ordered him a sandwich, too.
“This is so fucking good.”
“I’m glad. Mine’s good, too.”
“Damien never lets me eat carbs,” he tells me. Shit. Should I have also skipped on such a carb-heavy meal? Before I can doubt myself too much, Ryan reaches for my chin and tilts my head toward him. I’m so shocked by the fact that he’s touching me that I don’t react. I just take it, accepting it.
“What?” I whisper.
“Don’t doubt yourself. You followed your intuition, and that’s a good thing.” For just the briefest moment, I think he’s going to kiss me, but then he pulls back and shakes his head, as if clearing his thoughts and reminding himself that he’s the boss and I’m...
I’m just me.
10.
Ryan
We finish lunch. Somehow, I don’t throw myself at Alex even though I want to. She’s making it harder than I thought she would. When we wrap up the meal after twenty minutes of small-talk, she points out that we have a meeting with my brothers. More specifically, I have a meeting with them.
“Come along,” I say.
“To meet your brothers?”
“You’re going to have to talk to them sooner or later,” I say. I laugh. She seems nervous when it comes to them, which is crazy because they’re the calm ones in the family. I’m the one who’s a wildcard. Oscar is funny and romantic, while Phoenix is the sad, broody brother. We all play our roles.
“I know. Am I going to be their assistant, too?”
