“That’s strange.” Most people liked it when someone cared enough to remember their birthday. It couldn’t have been shyness. He remembered the way she’d cut Simon to pieces in front of the board without even raising her voice. She was clearly used to speaking in front of an audience.
“It’s next Wednesday actually,” Natalie said. “I want to do something, but I’m not sure how she’s going to react. She can be kind of odd about celebrating special occasions.”
“Well, when you guys were working together she was probably too busy to bother,” Ethan said, fishing a little.
“I don’t know if that’s quite it. She always made time to celebrate other people’s birthdays or promotions, just not her own. I mean, we’d plan everything. Then we would invite her, but she’d get sort of all weird about it and make some excuse about why she couldn’t do it, some BS about how she was super busy or something.” Natalie shrugged, although her frown said it still bothered her. “But she always came in the end, even though it was like pulling teeth to get her there. I suspect it was because she didn’t want to let anybody down more than anything.”
Curiouser and curiouser. All this new information, combined with her heartbreakingly sad face at the christening party and at the park, was making the puzzle that was Kerri more and more difficult to solve.
He needed to figure her out. Her contradictory nature and attitude baffled him. Women were never simple, but none of them had been this complicated. If he’d been less attracted, he would’ve called quits, unwilling to put up with the work required to win her over. However, he was crazy for her, and honest enough to admit his desire for her might never fade. A deeper understanding might help him regain his equilibrium and find better ways to deal with her.
“Anyway, drop me off wherever Kerri’s staying,” Natalie said. “I want to see her.”
“She’s at the Arlington penthouse.”
Natalie raised an eyebrow. “Really? Your place?”
“Technically it belongs to TLD.”
“Technically.”
“Yes.”
Natalie chortled. “And to think that she said you weren’t her type.”
“She said that? Kerri?”
“The very same. She said you’re tall, but not dark. I told her you could always wear a wig, but then she said you weren’t manageable.” Natalie rolled her eyes. “Can you believe it? It’s like she’s looking for an analyst to boss around or something. One with benefits.”
Though Natalie seemed to find the whole thing amusing, Ethan knew exactly what Kerri had meant. She wanted a man she could easily leave behind whenever she felt too threatened. His instinct to offer her a “temporary” arrangement with a clear exit had been spot-on. If he’d insisted on anything else, she would’ve refused.
“Anyway, don’t forget: dinner at our place this evening,” Natalie said. “Alex is flying back right after the meeting to join us. He’s dying to meet Kerri.”
***
Ethan dropped Natalie off at the penthouse and drove on to his office. His assistant looked up the moment he walked in the door. “Ethan, there’s someone here to see you.”
He frowned. “ I have an appointment?”
“Yep. With me.”
He turned around and found Gavin rising from the comfy leather seat. “This is a first,” Ethan said. “I don’t think you’ve ever visited me here before.”
“We need to talk.”
“Okay.” Ethan took him inside. “Coffee?”
“No thanks. I’m not planning to stay long. I had to cancel a few appointments to come see you as it is.”
“You could’ve called.”
“I did call—your admin, to make sure you’d be here.” Gavin took an empty chair and crossed his ankles. It was his way of pretending to be loose and relaxed, though it didn’t fool Ethan. “But what I’ve got to say is too important to talk about over the phone.”
Ethan took his own chair, leaned back and put his feet up on the desk, waiting. They didn’t look like brothers, he thought, not for the first time. Gavin had dark hair, dark eyes, and an upright posture that seemed almost military. There was tightness about him, a hungry tension that coiled inside like a starving cobra. Ethan thought his younger brother was too grim and intense, but he refrained from commenting. Gavin was an adult and capable of making his own decisions about how he wanted to live his life.
“You should be careful who you sleep with,” Gavin said finally. “I didn’t really want to get involved—it’s none of my business who you’re fooling around with—but this is important.”
“You’re right, Gavin,” Ethan said mildly. “It’s none of your business.”
“Yeah yeah yeah, but just listen. You know that woman you hired? Kerri Wilson?”
So Gavin had figured out Kerri wasn’t just an employee. But then he had never been slow, except when it came to his own romantic relationships. “What about her?”
“Do you know who her grandfather is?”
“No. What difference does it make?”
“Barron Sterling.”
Now he had Ethan’s attention. “Sterling & Wilson?”
“The one and only. Her father was David Wilson, and he was married to Barron’s daughter Renée.”
Ethan digested that, then shook his head. “Do you know how many women have the name ‘Kerri Wilson’?”
“Quite a few, I’m sure. But I’m right about her family.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. If that’s who she is, she’s the sole heiress to Sterling & Wilson. What would she be doing freelancing for me?”
“Learning all our business secrets?”
Ethan considered the idea for a couple of seconds. “I approached her, not the other way around. And convincing her to work for me took some effort.”
Besides, if she really were Barron Sterling’s granddaughter, why wouldn’t she ever say anything about her family? She’d deflected questions about them as though they were some kind of a shameful secret. Barron Sterling wasn’t just any man. He was a legendary investor and venture capitalist. A family connection to him would’ve boosted her i-banking career, smoothed things out for her. Assuming that she would have had to work at all.
Living a life of moneyed leisure wasn’t the vibe Ethan had gotten from her. She’d been working at the christening party, playing in that quartet. Word around campus had been that she was constantly scrambling for money. Why would an heiress worth several billion dollars do that?
He thought about her wardrobe. Everything was nice enough, but she had nothing super-expensive, nothing that screamed, “Look at the platinum-plated life I was born to!” He’d bet a year’s bonus that she shopped the clearance racks at upscale department stores more often than not.
An heiress wouldn’t do any of those things. And an heiress born to the Sterling fortune would’ve lived her entire life amid luxury and indulgence. She might volunteer time at charities, but she wouldn’t know that things like clearance racks in department stores even existed.
“She could’ve made you think that,” Gavin said. “Women who know how to use their bodies can make men think anything.”
“Gavin, you’re starting to piss me off.” Ethan reined in his temper. “It wasn’t that way. Besides, TLD is doing so poorly that there’s no way Barron Sterling’s going to toss his only grandchild my way to snoop around.”
“Barron doesn’t know we aren’t doing so hot.”
“That’s beside the point!”
“It’s exactly the point.” Gavin looked at him closely. “Ethan… This isn’t going to turn into another Lisa, is it?”
Ethan went rigid. “Don’t even mention her name.”
“There’s something about Kerri—the odd tension and pain.”
He ignored the tension part. He’d sensed it too. “What pain?”
“When you showed her the photo. You couldn’t see her since she was right next to you, but I could. There was nothing on my tablet that should’ve made her react like
that.”
“Like what?”
“The expression on her face. It was so…tragic. I actually had a flashback to Lisa there for a moment. Your ex was strange like that, all those ups and downs. And the bitch framed you at the end.”
Christ. Gavin still hadn’t let it go. Ethan knew his family had been furious at how the situation with Lisa had evolved; Ethan had been enraged too, though not entirely at his ex. There had been a lot of complications and issues that he hadn’t bothered to tell them about once his name had been cleared. He’d assumed that they’d decided not to think about her any longer, but apparently he’d been wrong. “Lisa was nothing like Kerri. Don’t compare them.”
The muscles around Gavin’s eyes tightened, creating tiny lines. “All right. I’ve said my piece, so my duty’s done. I hope you aren’t making another big mistake, but like you said, you’re a big boy. So maybe you know what you’re doing.”
Despite the overly casual tone, Ethan knew better. This wasn’t over as far as Gavin was concerned. He had hated the darkness Lisa had brought to Ethan’s life. Every one of the Lloyds still thought Ethan hadn’t said a thing against her to protect her reputation, even after he’d explained to them he didn’t know enough about her motivation or thoughts to say anything for or against her. It was her family he’d held responsible for her death.
The thing was, if Gavin thought Kerri was like Lisa, he wouldn’t sit back and watch Ethan date her. He’d do his best to sabotage the relationship.
Shit.
Still, Ethan couldn’t bring himself to be too angry. Hadn’t he questioned his own motives for his initial attraction to Kerri?
“Did Simon put you up to this?” Ethan asked suddenly.
Gavin looked horrified. “What? No. I haven’t seen that son of a bitch since the meeting. He knows I’m meaner than you.” The two men sat and thought about that for a moment. “By the way, have you heard from Catherine?”
“No. Why?”
“It’s just…” Gavin sighed. “I was sure she’d contact you to secure, you know. The money.”
Ethan considered that. Catherine probably had some funds socked away and wasn’t suffering horribly. Bruised pride, yes, but nothing even remotely approaching heartbreak or poverty that would require his intervention. Someone that calculating would land on her feet. “She already got the future she wanted. Besides, she might have something to do with how poorly TLD is doing, so don’t feel that sorry for her. I’m not going to know for certain until the audit’s done, but the signs seem to indicate she’s involved. She was Jacob’s wife—well, we thought she was, anyway—and on the board all this time. To tell you the truth, I’m more worried about Meredith.”
Meredith was their youngest sibling and a single mom. She depended on the income from The Lloyds Development to provide for her son and fund the charities she was involved in. No cause involving women and children was unworthy of her time and money.
Gavin’s mouth curved into a hopeful smile. “Think she’ll go after Eric’s father?”
“Don’t know. She won’t tell me who the bastard is.” Ethan raised an eyebrow at his brother inquiringly.
“You know she doesn’t tell me anything.” Gavin cursed. “That girl’s got too much pride.”
Ethan looked amused. “As opposed to who in this family?”
Gavin ignored him. “She won’t go after her ex for child support, and she won’t ask us for money, either. How dumb is that?”
“Not dumb, just young and stubborn.”
“Well, neither of those things is going to help when the bankers want their money back. Did I tell you she remortgaged her house last month?”
“What the hell? Why?”
“To fund some projects for the poor, what else. You know how she is.”
“You offered to pay, I presume?”
“Of course.” Gavin’s voice turned falsetto. “‘I can’t take your money, Gavin, and I can’t pay you back with the funds from TLD either. They’re all earmarked.’” He made a sour face. “Apparently, taking my money is a sign of dependency, while taking some banker’s money shows her independence.”
“If you haven’t already, I’ll set up a trust fund for them,” Ethan said.
“I already offered, but she turned me down.” Gavin’s expression was equal parts amazement and outrage. “Can you imagine?”
Ethan winced. He could imagine very well how ham-fisted his younger brother must have been. Gavin didn’t understand he couldn’t just throw money at people. Whatever he’d said and done while offering the money must’ve set her off.
“Anyway, I’ll let you and Mom handle the convincing part. You’ll probably have better luck than me. I’ve already started setting up a fund for the rest of the family.”
“I can put some into that too,” Ethan said.
“I thought most of your assets were tied up in real estate.”
“I can have them liquidated.”
“Don’t do that. You aren’t going to get the best price.” When Ethan shrugged, Gavin continued, “I’m sitting on quite a bit of cash right now, so I’ll set something up. You can make a pledge to contribute if you want, but seriously, don’t screw up your investments just because of Jacob.”
“Fine. I’ll have my accountant contact you with the details.”
Gavin sighed and rose to his feet. “Thank god Dad isn’t here to see this cluster-fuck.”
Indeed, Ethan thought as his brother left. Their father would’ve had a fit, while their mother would’ve done her best to calm him down. The thought brought a small nostalgic smile to Ethan’s face. But he hated that his mother had to see this family drama. It was more fitting for a soap opera than real life.
Would Gavin tell their mother his suspicions about Kerri? Even compare her to Lisa?
Ever since Lisa’s death, Ethan had deliberately pursued women who had a range of interests other than him—career, education, and other personal aspirations. So what if Kerri’s eyes sometimes held a hint of grief? Everyone had something they regretted or felt sorry about. Kerri wouldn’t pull what Lisa had. Kerri wouldn’t slit her own wrists and scrawl, “Ethan, it wasn’t supposed to be like this” in blood for the police to find at their place.
Still, Gavin talking about how Kerri was just like Lisa to other members of the family could irreparably damage Ethan’s relationship with Kerri. She had no problem cutting Simon down to size, but she wouldn’t fight to win approval or acceptance in a non-professional capacity. She’d vanish again rather than try to change his family’s mind about her. He was sure of it.
Ethan put his feet back on the floor. He needed to find out more about Kerri and her background to prove Gavin wrong and counter whatever damaging move his younger brother might make in his desire to help Ethan avoid another costly “mistake.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Hey there!”
Kerri looked up from her laptop and saw Natalie waving from the door, her sun-kissed face glowing. The vivid jewel tones of her top and mini skirt accentuated her golden skin and dark almond-shaped eyes, making her look even more exotically beautiful than usual. Kerri closed her computer and ran over. “Natalie!” She hugged her friend. “I had no idea you were coming today! If I’d known, I would’ve gone to the airport.”
“Don’t worry. Ethan came to pick me up, even though he didn’t have to.”
They went to the table. Kerri sat, while Natalie went to the kitchen.
“I never suspected you guys would move in together,” Natalie said.
“Well, number one, this isn’t actually his penthouse,” Kerri said. “And number two, it’s a temporary arrangement.”
“Uh huh.” Natalie grinned, then suddenly her smile disappeared. “Hey, I can’t believe you quit and didn’t tell me!”
Kerri sighed. The cat was obviously completely out of the bag. But then why wouldn’t Ethan tell Natalie? She was her best friend, and he’d probably assumed she already knew. “Well. I kind of had to leave.”
> “Leave? Why?” Thankfully, before Kerri had to come up with a way to explain, Natalie snapped her impeccably manicured fingers. “Does it have something to do with your fainting? You do look thinner than before.”
“Jealous?” Kerri joked, unwilling to talk about the real reason for her weight loss. Ta-da! I got my granddaddy’s liver! “And since when do you get your nails professionally done? Is that a requirement to be Mrs. Alex Billionaire?”
“Stop trying to change the subject.” Natalie rummaged through Ethan’s fridge and dug up a couple of apples. “I mean, you were already model-thin except for your boobs, but you must’ve lost at least ten pounds.”
“Tons of work and stress. Does wonders for your figure.”
“Uh-huh. You need to tell Ethan to stock up on ice cream.” Natalie tossed one of the apples to Kerri. She caught it and bit into the crisp flesh. “And you have to tell me everything. I mean everything.”
“What is there to say? I fainted a couple of times, and so I went to see my doctor. He did some blood work and said I was in awful shape. Ordered me to give up sugar, fat, and everything else that makes life sweet.”
“But you quit your job. Why?”
“Too much stress. It was killing me.” And because I’d rather be fried in hot oil than face Barron. She’d promised herself she’d never grovel for his approval and love, and she didn’t want to see her grandfather who’d only cause her pain.
“Oh my god, you should be in a resort somewhere, getting pampered, instead of slaving away for Ethan’s empire.”
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