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CHAPTER 11

PASCAL

“You two seem to be getting pretty close to the help,” I say while Zander, Jarek, and I are out Christmas shopping in town.

It feels wrong to call Nina “the help,” but it helps me remember she’s off-limits. Or at least, she was supposed to be. I’m not so sure the other two are abiding by that house rule.

Jarek gives Zander a knowing grin. “You fucked her too, didn’t you?”

Zander shoots him a sour look. “Not that it’s any of your business, but yes.” He turns to me. “Calling her the help makes you sound arrogant, Pascal.”

“I didn’t mean it like that. You both know I’m not arrogant.” I frown. “I just thought we had a rule about not getting involved with her.”

“It’s not involvement.” Zander doesn’t make eye contact with me. “It’s sex.”

Sex seems pretty involved to me. But I’ve never been as casual about these things as Zander and Jarek. They’re brothers to me in every way that matters. We’re just different. And I don’t like breaking rules.

“So I guess it’s not a rule anymore?” I ask.

“I’d say not,” Zander says as we browse an overpriced boutique.

I don’t know why I even asked. It’s not as if I’m going to have a one-night stand with Nina. As much as I want her, I wouldn’t be able to keep it casual.

And I definitely can’t have a relationship with her. My family would have a field day. A woman in the middle of a public scandal, who’s slept with both my best friends? My mother and the board already think I’m unfit to lead the company. This would prove them right.

Better to steer clear.

Zander splurges on his investors. Jarek picks out quirky gifts for his studio team.

I uncap a perfume bottle and sniff it. I need something for my mother, and I wonder if she’d like this scent. Almost as quickly as I wonder, I cap it and decide to buy it. It doesn’t matter what I give my mother. Nothing is ever good enough for her.

We get home loaded down with gift bags.

“I hate wrapping,” Jarek groans, dumping his bags on the kitchen island.

“Everyone hates wrapping,” Zander says. “I’ll arrange for someone to come over and wrap them.”

“I can do it,” Nina says, already peeking into the bags.

“With that wrist?” Zander nods at her brace.

“It’s a sprain, not an amputation.” She waves him off with her good hand. “Besides, I love wrapping. It’s one of my favorite parts of Christmas.”

Jarek stares at her. “You’re a strange woman.”

“Fine,” Zander says. “But we’re carrying everything upstairs.”

“Are these being shipped or handed out in person?” she asks as the three of us haul the bags up to her room.

“Both,” Jarek says. “Some are for people at the gala. The rest need to go to the post office tomorrow if they’re going to make it by Christmas.”

“I’m on it!”

“All the supplies are in this one.” I set the last bag on her bed. It’s full of wrapping paper and bows. “There are scissors in the kitchen if you need them.”

Nina peeks inside and frowns. “Where’s the tape?”

Shit. Why is there always one thing that gets forgotten?