Page 14 of Worth Every Penny
My gut pinches at the mention of his sister. “It would take more than that to get rid of me,” I tell him, before draining the remains of my champagne glass. A waitress appears and tops it up immediately. She flutters in my peripheral vision, lingering longer than her job requires. Mildly irritated, I give her a smile, which she returns with gusto.
I focus on Jack, and the waitress finally gets the message, drifting away to attend to the other guests.
“I should have told her before,” Jack admits. “But I wanted to surprise her. I didn’t think she’d take it that badly. She has this weird obsession with the company being her last link to Dad. And if we no longer own it, then we’re finally burying him.”
“Is that what she said?”
Jack scratches his cheek, not meeting my eye. “More or less.”
“Come off it. It was clear as fucking daylight that selling isn’t the main issue. It’s selling tome.”
Jack’s brow furrows, and he stares at the ceiling like there’s something interesting up there. I glance up to check: there isn’t.
“It’s complicated,” he mutters. “She thinks you had your chance, and you blew it.”
Fuck this bullshit. “Don’t you think we ought to tell her the truth?”
Jack stiffens, and this time his eyes latch onto mine. “No. It would absolutely destroy her, and I’d rather save her the pain.” He must see the disagreement on my face because he’s quick to continue. “You know how she worshiped our father. The man could do no wrong. I can’t take that away from her.” Jack sighs. “It’s kinder she thinks you’re the problem than Dad was.”
The problem.
It’s better thanTheGrim Reaper,at least.That’s what they called me in the press.Fuck, it was horrendous. The papers running headlines like, Ruthless Nico Hawkston backs out ofdeal that kills Gerard Lansen,as if my actions could cause someone’s heart to give out.
Like I said,bullshit. All of it. But back then, we were grateful for the distraction because it hid the real, dirty truth of it.
Kate was as clueless as the rest of them. No wonder she hates me.
Something tugs awkwardly in my chest, and the physical discomfort of it reminds me why I’ve spent all these years trying not to think of her.
I fix Jack with a hard stare. “We should tell her. She’s not a child anymore. I’m not sure she was a child at the time, either.”
Jack gives me a pained smile. “Honestly, there’s no need. No point in opening up old wounds. Plus, we promised my father we’d hide it from her.” An image of Gerard Lansen on his death-bed, his face haggard and drawn, flashes in my mind. Jack leans in and whispers a reminder, “His dying wish, Nico.”
My jaw locks. I wish I’d never agreed to it. “She never asked about what happened?”
“No. By the time she joined the company, I’d stabilised everything. No small thanks to you.” Jack rubs his hand over his forehead. “She might be annoyed now, but she’ll come round. She’s soft underneath it all.”
Soft underneath?
I’m immediately assaulted by images of Kate sliding her bikini top off in the hot tub, breasts full, nipples peaked… the scene blurred through the steam and the passage of time.
Shit. This is a woman I haven’t encountered for nearly a decade, but at the slightest suggestion, I’m seeing her without her clothes.
Jack keeps talking, but I’m not listening, too engrossed in thoughts of Kate.
“Nico?” Jack’s voice penetrates, and I refocus to find him staring at me with concern.Fuck’s sake.This woman is alreadydistracting me from more important things. “Sorry, what?” I manage.
“Kate,” Jack clarifies. “She’s got a big heart. It’ll work out. Reckon she always had a thing for you anyway, when she was a kid.” I frown and Jack observes my confusion for a moment, then grins and elbows me in the ribs. “Don’t go getting any ideas. She’s too good for you.”
“Right. Of course,” I say, and Jack gives me a puzzled look, probably because I gave a serious answer to what must have been a joke.Damn. If he ever suspected I’d thought about Kate in any way other than as his little sister, I’d lose my dick to whatever rabid dog he set upon me.
When we were in our mid-twenties, one of our mutual friends tried it on with her at a bonfire night party. Fireworks, marshmallows, and a sneaky grope of her arse.
Jack punched him so hard he lost a tooth.
None of us ever went near her after that. Jack was so overprotective, he would have followed her to university to barricade her into her room if he wasn’t already working overtime trying to salvage the wreck of his father’s company.
And I certainly never told Jack about the hot-tub. How she straddled me in there at his birthday party.Fuck, that was probably on this exact day… ten years ago?She was only a kid; maybe sixteen or seventeen. There was no way I wasn’t pushing her away, telling her to go back inside, but she’d made short work of the bikini top before I got the words out. I can still remember how her white bikini bottoms were almost see-through as she grabbed a towel and made a run for it.