Page 61 of Bidding War

He whips around to her. “Sorry.”

She smirks up at me, then looks at him. Her voice is falsely cheery as she says, “Have the day you deserve, sir.”

He darts around me without another word.

“Sorry if that was awkward. I hate bullies.”

“Me, too.” She laughs, shaking her head. “And that wasn’t awkward. That was awesome. Thank you for that. Here.” She passes me another drink. “A replacement. Wish I could do more for you.”

“No worries. Have a good day.”

“You, too.”

I’m glad that guy was a commuter and not someone I have to compete for seats with. The place is packed, but I manage to find a lounge chair in the corner just as my phone rings. Without looking, I answer, “June, baby, hi?—

“Not June, Andy.”

My eyes squint shut in a cringe before I force them open again. “Cole, hey. How is my baby brother?”

“Are you ever going to stop calling me that?”

“The day you stop calling me Andy.”

“Damn. Guess we’ll be ninety, and I’ll still be your baby brother.”

Since he’s been at the office, I have been tasked with training him. But he has no aptitude for the law, and I have no aptitude for his flakiness. A match made in hell, aka, a match made by my father. I blow out a frustrated breath. “What can I do for you?”

“Actually, this is about what I can do for you, Andy.”

Fuck. Another Ponzi scheme? Not again. “Whatever it is, I’m not interested?—

“I’m at the office, and Dad is pissed off. I have never seen him like this.”

Everything in me tightens up. Since when does Dad show Cole his real emotions? “Something wrong with you? With Mom? What’s going on?”

He takes a beat. “Did you buy June?”

If I had a mouthful of peppermint mocha, I would have spat it on my phone. “What?”

“Dad is furious because he said there was an auction, and you bought June there, which doesn’t make any sense?—"

“Gotta go.” I hang up fast and race out of the coffee shop to return home. Home is where my car is, and my car will take me to that piece of shit’s office. The longer he sits on this bit of information, the angrier he will be. And if he’s angry enough to spill my illegal activities to Cole, whom he barely tolerates, then there is no telling how bad this will get. The sooner I get there, the better.

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34

ANDERSON

This is a fucking nightmare.

That thought keeps ticking through my mind like one of those CNN chyrons. The last thing I need is Dad on my ass about the auction. How is he going to construe this as an insult to him? I don’t know. But I’m confident he will.

Since that night, my life has been turned upside down in good and bad ways. I don’t regret it, though. Not even now, as I’m driving to face my father’s wrath. That night brought June into my life again. I can’t bring myself to regret it. Not even if I tried.

With that thought, my heart is lighter. Just a fraction, but it is. No matter how pissed off he is, I still have her. Sure, things are weird between us now, but I love her. She loves me. We will work this out.

Still don’t know what to do about Andre, though.

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