“No, she’ll take the Eurostar just like everyone else. Now I want you to listen carefully to what I’m about to say, son.” Annoyance tightens the light lilt of her watered-down Jamaican accent. “Whatever your personal feelings for Dina are, put them aside. You will need to work together to make this happen. You will also need to convince your friend that you are a couple. If his father gets wind that we’re spying on him, poking around in places he hasn’t invited us, it won’t matter how competitive our bid is. He won’t want do business with us.”
I laugh and shake my head. “We won’t drop our cover, but George wouldn’t say anything if he caught wind. He wants this to happen.”
“Did he tell you that?”
“Yes. Dupont Senior is holding this meat market to make himself feel like he’s a hot commodity. And wasting a fuck ton of money doing it in France instead of in the UK. But who else could give them the placement, the reach, the white glove service we can? No one. We’re the assets in this relationship. They need us.”
She shakes her head in disappointment. “You still have so much to learn. Dupont isn’t low hanging fruit. They’re a wildly successful brand that has created a cult-like following. And we need this acquisition to hit our expansion targets. We may be the top dog now, but we won’t stay there by resting on our laurels.”
I stifle my groan of frustration at that self-inflicted dressing-down.
“Now that you know what’s at stake for the company, do you want this assignment, or should I find someone else?”
“Of course, I do.”
“Good. Now, when all the details are settled, I’ll have Emily send them to you.”
My screen goes dark. I hate the way she ends phone calls. But it’s not her I’m annoyed with right now. I could kick my own ass for giving her the chance to school me on what I know already.
Of course, Dupont is important.
Of course, we can’t take their business for granted.
But the bombshells she dropped during that call knocked me off balance.
First, there’s Dina. That last time we saw each other, I lashed out. She did, too. But at least she wasn’t being dishonest.
I’ve picked up my phone countless times to apologize. But I knew what I had to say needed to be said in person. I owed her at least that much. So I stopped picking up my phone, but I couldn’t stop missing her.
Before that Christmas Eve kiss, we’d become friends in the year after she joined the company. We had conversations that made me laugh, that made me think about my life differently. She’s funny and smart as hell and just as competitive as I am.
I want the chance to apologize face-to-face. I thought that would happen next time I was in Houston. I’m not prepared right now, and I have no idea what I’ll say to her or what she’ll say to me.
And then there’s the news about Erin Canterbury—or as Fatima calls her in a show of solidarity, Ms. Cunterbury—is the person my mother hired instead of me. How ironic that I’m being asked to step in and save her ass.
The intercom on my desk buzzes. “Yes, Fatima?”
“Mr. and Mrs. Rivers are in the lobby. I’ve ordered lunch to be brought up in fifteen minutes. But I wanted to make sure you still wanted to eat here.”
I glance at my watch in surprise. The day is flying. I’m having lunch with my sister Regan and her husband, Stone. They’re passing through Paris to pick up Regan’s kids after they spent the month with her ex-husband. “No, book us a table at Farnesina.”
“Would you also like a car?”
“No, we’ll walk.” I know Regan will complain every step of the way, but after that conversation I need some fresh air.
* * * *
“This is delicious,” Stone says around a mouth full of pasta.
“I know. The food is the best thing about living here.”
His expression turns thoughtful. “Is it, really? I would have thought it was being out from under your mother’s thumb.”
“Well, that backfired spectacularly. She acts like one of my job descriptions is to step and fetch for her. She pulled me off my desk this weekend.”
“Oh, yeah. As if you’re really upset that you get to spend the weekend playing house with Dina.”
I scoff. “News travels fast. I wouldn’t be surprised if you knew before I did.”
“Mom texted me when we were walking over. She said she needed the glam squad at Le Meurice on Friday. I have to pull some strings to make it happen, but I’d do anything for my girl, Dina.”
I curl my lip in disgust. “It’s damn disloyal for you to be so cozy with someone who hates your brother.”
She smiles at me over her wine glass. “She hates you as much as you hate her.”
“And he doesn’t hate her at all,” she and Stone sing song in unison.
I shake my head and scowl at them. “It’s really knives out on Tyson today, isn’t it?”
“No, man. It’s nothing but love.” Stone winks and takes another bite of his pasta.
“Well, you’re wrong. To hate her, I’d have to care about her. And I don’t. Like every woman with eyes, she’s obsessed with me. That’s it.”
Regan and Stone exchange a look. It’s brief, but I catch it. “What was that?”
“Nothing,” they respond in guilt-laden unison.
I put my fork down and look between them both. “Say whatever it is your symbiotically connected minds are thinking, weirdos.”
They exchange another look before Regan reaches across the table to take my hand. “It’s okay to have feelings for her, Ty.”
I yank my hand away with a loud scoff and laugh in dismissal, ignoring the way my stomach flips at her words. “I know that. I just don’t think I can have a great relationship and the kind of career that will lead me to where I want to be—running Wilde World.”
Regan narrows her eyes. “Tyson, that was what you said when you were ten. Are you sure it’s still what you want?”
“Yes. I mean, I guess. I don’t know. I’ve had thoughts of leaving, starting something of my own. But I can’t imagine it.” Especially not now that the COO role is open. “Either way, I’ll need all my focus.”
She sighs. “Fine. I don’t know why you think you have to choose one over the other.”
“Show me someone who has success and love.” I raise my eyebrow in challenge.
“Me, Stone, Remi, Kal, Mom, Beyonce and Jay-Z,” she counts off on her fingers.
“I mean, at the same time. All of you, and B and J included, downshifted when you got married. I haven’t even hit my stride yet.”
“Um, you’re the youngest managing director at Wilde World.”
I dismiss that with a wave of my hand. “But that’s not everything I want. I still need to focus. When I’ve achieved my goals, I’ll think about love.”
“By then, you’ll be balding with a gut. And the only women who will love you then are the ones who want your money.” She smiles sweetly and bats her lashes at me.
I roll my eyes. “You’re such a little shit, Regan.”
“I’m just saying,” she says with an unapologetic shrug.