Page 211 of The Company

“Is that a debt you feel the need to pay back?” the Admiral asks him.

I don’t hear the answer so I step forward, making a creak on the stairs. Both men come into view and they are looking at me like I caught them in the middle of a secret. Which I might’ve.

“Well,” I say loudly. “Look who’s back. It’s good to see you, Nicholas.”

He tips his head at me. “Vincent.”

“Did I hear something about you taking Harper away from me?’

“She’s not your prize, Vincent. She’s not a commodity to be bought and sold.”

“Nicholas,” the Admiral snaps.

I put up my hand as I descend the rest of the stairs and cross the polished wood floor where they are standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows that look out at the back yard. “Admiral, please. I think I may have a solution that will satisfy everyone.”

“What’s that?”

“All we have to do is ask her, Nick. She’s a grown woman. She’s smart enough to make up her own mind. Why do you assume she hates me?”

I stop and watch their reactions.

“She does hate you,” Nick finally answers. “She doesn’t want this.”

“So let’s ask her.”

“Ask me what?”

The three of us turn our heads up to the voice. She’s standing at the top of the stairs in that gorgeous silver gown. Her hair is exactly as it was coming out of the shower. Wispy and unkempt. She has no makeup on that I can see. I’ve never seen Harper in makeup. And on her feet are the cutest little silver shoes. She steps down, flashing them at me, making me smile.

“Fucking adorable.”

“What?” the Admiral asks, turning to me.

“Your daughter, Admiral. She’s so sweet and adorable, I can’t stand it.” I sigh as she comes down the steps, blushing and smiling.

And then she notices her twin.

“Nick!” Her feet fly down the steps now, and then she runs across the polished wooden floor so fast I’m afraid she’ll slip and fall. I almost reach for her as she goes past.

But I come to my senses and let them have their moment.

She flings herself at him. He laughs and all the animosity in the room disappears as he catches her in a hug and swings her around so her dress flares at the bottom.

I might die, that’s how fucking cute this girl is.

She peppers her brother with kisses and they talk excitedly for several minutes. “Where have you been? Why did you leave? What were you doing?”

And it hits me at this moment, that these two are talking in some kind of code.

She knows why he left. She knows what he was doing.

And his answers are just as interesting. “All over.” “I had business.” “Nothing you need to worry about.” Because they say nothing and everything at once.

We all know why he left. The better question is, why did he come back?

But it’s not the time or place for that question. This is our night.

“You guys were talking when I came downstairs,” Harper says, the excitement from seeing Nick still in her eyes. “What were you saying?”