Page 13 of The Silver Fox Brother

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just watching the party."

"You look distracted." His eyes narrow slightly. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. Just tired." I smile, the automatic one that comes easily now.

"Congratulations, by the way. The Brooklyn project sounds incredible."

His face lights up again. "Right? Four hundred million. This is the big leagues, Win. This is what I've been working toward."

"I know. I'm proud of you."

And I am. I think. It's hard to tell anymore where genuine feeling ends and performance begins.

"Knox showed up," Rowan says, glancing toward the exit.

"Did you see him?"

"Hard to miss."

"Yeah, he's good at making an entrance and then disappearing before anyone can actually talk to him." There's bitterness in Rowan's voice, familiar and worn like old leather.

"Typical Knox. Show up long enough to make Mother happy, avoid actual engagement, then slip out before anyone can call him on it."

"He seemed polite enough."

Rowan's eyes snap to mine. "You talked to him?"

"No. I just watched him with your parents."

"Right." Rowan relaxes slightly.

"Well, you're not missing anything. Knox thinks he's better than all of this, better than the family business, better than working with our father. He'd rather compete against us than be part of the legacy."

I want to ask why that bothers him so much, but I already know. Because Rowan is desperate for the legacy Knox rejected. Because Conrad's approval is the only currency that matters in Rowan's economy, and Knox walked away from it like it was worthless.

"I need to get back to the investors," Rowan says, checking his phone again.

"You good here?"

"I'm good."

He kisses my forehead—automatic, distracted—and disappears back into the crowd.

I'm alone again with my champagne and my thoughts, standing in a tent full of people while feeling completely separate from all of it.

My phone buzzes. Kate, finally.

Kate: How's it going?

I look around the tent. At Rowan holding court near the front. At Diane circulating through guests with practiced grace. At Conrad receiving congratulations for a project his son will lead. At the empty space where Knox stoodfor twenty minutes before deciding he'd done his duty.

Winter: It's going.

Kate: That bad?

Winter: That complicated.