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He’s high. Dangerously so.
I sit next to him. “Is that how you feel?”
His shoulders tighten. “Not so much, Raegan.”
The heaviness in him breaks my heart. “He left, didn’t he?”
There’s no answer for a few minutes. All I hear are the waves far below, the insects in the forest.
“His girlfriend showed up. He left with her.”
The raw anguish in his voice rips me up inside. Emotion rises up my throat, and I swallow it back down.
Ash inches closer to the edge, and I grab his arm. “Let’s stay back.”
“But you can see better the closer you are. It’s like you could fly off into heaven.”
“It’s not so bad here. People love you and need you. The rest of your team. Me. Harry.”
“He’s here?” Ash turns quickly, as if hoping for his brother’s presence.
“Not right now.”
I wish he were here. For me, for his brother.
But he’s in London. Not because of something important—because no matter what he promised me about focus on our future, his vendetta is once again taking priority.
“Come on,” I say. “Let’s go back to the villa.”
After I get Ash to the car, I check my phone. Still nothing from Harrison.
I send off a text.
Rae: We need you at the villa. This is not a fucking drill.
* * *
HARRISON
“My hands are tied, Mr. King.” The man across the conference table in the London boardroom taps a pen on the desk. “Ivanov offered us a better price, and the deal has been inked.”
My efforts to interrupt Mischa’s operations the past few days have been mildly entertaining, if not even wholly satisfying. The rats in his Paris club were especially vindictive. But yesterday, my efforts caught up to me when I learned my real estate team was waiting on a signature to renew a major lease and couldn’t reach me.
Because of it, I lost my lease on a fucking club.
Now I’m negotiating to ensure one of my more profitable venues—one of a handful of which I don’t own outright—continues.
There’s no way I’m giving it up.
I survey the executive at the property management company. He might be responsible for billions in real estate, but so am I.
“What if I tell you Ivanov won’t be in any business in a few months?”
“Forgive me if that’s hard to believe.”
The windows in the historic building let in filtered light, and I shift out of my chair to cross to one, getting a view of the street below and the park on the far side.
“You don’t have to believe it, but know this—it’s easy for you to review paperwork and file deals and cut checks, but when you sign on to work with Ivanov, he’s not interested in those things. He’s a gravedigger.”
