Page 18 of The Laughing Game

“Oh,” I said.

“We’ve put quite a bit of effort into you, Angel,” Vihaal explained. “I’m glad you’ve decided to give us a chance. Sebastian seems to think you’d complement our dynamic.”

“Whoa,” I said, swallowing. “Um…”

“No pressure. I simply wanted to let you know that we don’t usually make these sorts of invitations. And we don’t do the casual thing anymore.”

“Not since we got married,” Gideon added. “It’s just…it’s not us.”

“That’s why we wanted to be friends with you, first.”

I nodded, trying to wrap my head around all of this. “You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

“Understood. I’d also like to ask you to look over the financials at my antique store.”

“Sure. I can do that.”

“Oh, thank God,” Gideon muttered. “It’s honestly such a mess and I think there’s something underhanded going on—”

“And I think Gideon is paranoid. But. That’s why we’d like you to go over Tarnish’s financials. To see if anything jumps out at you.”

“Oh. I see,” I said, becoming serious as I added milk to my tea and stirred it with the little spoon Gideon passed me. “Tarnish is your store?”

“Yes,” Vihaal said, sitting back and crossing one long leg over the other. “It does pretty well. But over the past few years there’s been a decline in profit, which concerns me.”

“I don’t trust Dominic,” Gideon stated.

“Gideon,” Vihaal sighed.

“Look, I’m sorry, but I never have trusted him. He doesn’t like me.”

“That’s not true. And he’s a friend of the family…”

“A buddy of your asshole father’s, you mean.”

My gaze flashed to Vihaal as he closed his eyes, then opened them again, seeming to be mustering patience.

“V, I’m sorry. But it’s true. Your dad is an asshole. You’ve said it, yourself, many times.”

“Yes, I have. And yes, he is. But there’s a difference between me saying it and you saying it, especially in front of someone I’m trying to impress.”

“Vihaal, I’ve been impressed since I met you.”

Vihaal regarded me with curiosity. “Really.”

I cleared my throat. “Yeah.”

“What’s your going rate for business accounting? I don’t know how long it will take.”

“Do you want me to look at this year’s financials? Or the past three years? That will give me an idea.”

Vihaal nodded. “Start with this year. If everything looks fine, then I doubt there will be a need to dig further. But, if anything gives you pause, then you can look at the previous year. And so on.”

“I’ll give you the rate I give Sebastian and Jacob, which is two hundred dollars per hour,” I said.

Gideon, who was pouring another cup for himself, spilled tea over the edge of the cup as he stared at me.

“Whoa. If only I was better with numbers,” he said, adjusting his aim.

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