Page 34 of The Sound of Secrets

Ky frowned and bounced the ball in his hand. “No. I told you, he showed up to warn me that you and the billionaire wanted to take me from my mother. That’s it. Why would I tell him about Winnie’s security people?”

I shrugged. “Someone told him and he used that information to harm an innocent woman, because he had no other way to get to me.”

Ky picked up the ball and smirked at me. “You don’t believe me? I’m not surprised. I saw everything peoplewere saying about you yesterday. You and I have a similar background in that we don’t come from much. It looks like you would do anything to get where you are now. Of course you think I’d do the same. Winnie never told me anything about her family that you can’t find on Google, and I haven’t spoken to that old man since the first visit.”

I took a sip of my coffee as he and I stared at each other. He looked so much like Parker I couldn’t help but go on the defensive every time I saw him. But he was just a kid. A kid trying to keep his family safe from an indomitable enemy. If he wasn’t so prickly and combative, I would appreciate his nerve.

“I can feel it in my gut. We’re not related. You should do the blood test to get Win off your back. I’m telling you it’s best to comply as someone who has tried to evade him for years. It’s easier to give him what he wants. And a word of advice: since you’ve had the shitty luck to get entangled in this family’s affairs, don’t believe everything you read about the Hallidays or the Harveys. The truth is far worse than the fiction Win lets people eat with a spoon.”

Ky turned his back on me and ran back to the field when his teammates called his name. I send up a silent thanks to the sky that Winnie wasn’t an insolent teenager. She’d been a dream to manage since she was young. I hoped she didn’t pick up Ky’s more brazen and difficult traits during their friendship. Win wouldn’t stand for it.

I made it home and did my best to look like a respectable adult. I even managed to show up early for the meeting. The clients were very understanding about therescheduling and enthusiastic about what sort of items they were interested in sourcing for their new restaurant. They left satisfied and ready to sign a contract with the design firm. My second meeting didn’t go as smoothly. The client was an older woman with a firmly entrenched aesthetic. She didn’t want to hear any of my suggestions and demanded I find specific items that were scarce. Locating what she wanted wasn’t a problem. The issue came from her wanting a discount since I wasn’t available when I said I would be. She claimed the inconvenience of the canceled meeting was worth several thousand dollars off of the commission. Regardless of how many times I explained to her I couldn’t make that call, she insisted she wouldn’t pay the quoted price. I was frustrated and annoyed at the back and forth. I planned to call Alistair in for reinforcements when the woman made a snide remark about me being a gold-digger. She insinuated I could afford to lose my entire labor fee because I was married to a man worth billions.

Irritated that she turned things personal, I refused to continue working with her and left the meeting in a foul mood. I called Alistar right away to let him know he needed to find another acquisitions manager to handle her. However, when he answered the phone, he was in a worse mood than me.

“Fuck her. The customer isn’t always right.”

His violent response took me off guard. “Well, I did inconvenience her by not showing up yesterday.”

He grunted. “Shit happens. It was a family emergency. She’s lucky I’m your boss and not Win. If he caught wind of what she said to you, a canceled contract wouldbe the least of her worries.” He sighed heavily and muttered, “I wish I could refuse to work with someone when they piss me off.”

I bit back a laugh I knew he wouldn’t appreciate. “You’re still having issues with your mentor?”

“She talks to me like I’m an incompetent child. Like I didn’t build a successful business from the ground up. I feel like I can’t breathe without her telling me I’m wasting valuable time and company resources.”

I hummed a sound of sympathy. “She’s also very accomplished. I hope you’re treating her with the level of respect you think she owes you.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be on my side?” I could tell he asked through gritted teeth.

“I’m on the side of whomever gets Win out of there fastest.”

Alistair groaned. “That’s not what you would’ve said a couple months ago.”

That’s because a couple of months ago, hell, a couple of days ago, I couldn’t see myself with Win long term.

Now, I was having trouble picturing my life without him.

Win

“They’re my client. I’m the one who brought them on board. I’m the reason they went with Halliday Inc. I refuse to hand the development over to her. I don’t need this shit, Win.”

I pressed my palms against my eye sockets to ease the headache pounding in my skull. The pain was a daily occurrence when dealing with the constant animosity between my brother and Bellamy. Regardless of what I said, the two of them were bound to fight like cats and dogs. They were constantly trying to one-up and undermine each other. In this instance, one of Alistair’s long-term design partners wanted to make the move into the international real estate market. Logically, he should be the point person, but the advancement plan Bellamy put together for them was show stopping. Her contacts overseas were even better than mine. In an ideal world, they would work together and create an immensely profitable project, but neither could see past their own wants and needs.

“She worked overseas for years. She was practically banished and considered a pariah in the industry after the lies my mother told about her. She’s highly capable and incredibly connected. She’s been doing this longer than you. Instead of being angry, you should learn from her. She’s worthy of admiration. They’re your client, so you should want the best for them to build long-lasting cooperation. Throwing away everything at the first step because things didn’t go the way you wanted is not how you run a business. I know you know that, Alistair.”

The younger man paced angrily in front of my desk. I could feel the frustration pouring off him in waves. I doubted I’d ever been as passionate and invested about my work when I was his age. I copied what my father did nearly to the T. I spent most of my days sleepwalking through business deals and corporate goings on. I did what I had to do. Not what I wanted to do. But the time for that was ending, which meant I had to get this wayward younger brother of mine on the right course. I couldn’t leave if he was ready to jump the tracks every single time he encountered failure or opposition.

“I suppose it’s too much to ask that you respond like my brother rather than my boss in situations like this.” Alistair’s voice switched from frustrated to forlorn.

I rubbed the back of my neck to release some of the pressure squeezing my brain. “As your brother, I want you to succeed. I want you to grow and learn. I want you to take Halliday Inc. to the next level because I believe you are talented and innovative enough to do so. I want you to have a team that has your back, because you’re going to need it to fight against those gargoyles on theboard. Bellamy is an asset and the best gift I can give you before I go.” I rolled my head and heard a pop loud enough it made Alistair cringe. “As your boss, I only care about the money, not who’s responsible for earning it.”

Alistair paused his frantic pacing. He stopped in front of my antique desk and stared at me with his eyebrows lifted in surprise. “That’s the first time you’ve called me yourbrother. It’s usually half-brother or bastard.” His tone softened. “I’m touched. I’m still pissed about her stealing my clients, but I feel less like you’re taking her side.”

I grunted. It didn’t serve a purpose to use thehalfanymore. I wasn’t sure when I started to view Alistair as my younger brother, the same as Archie. All I knew was that he was my family, and he was taking on a task far bigger than he realized. The least I could do is set him up for success. “There are no sides. There’s only who can close the most lucrative deal and earn the most profit. Business goals should stay separate from personal ones. Don’t let what happens in this concrete coffin become your entire life the way I did.”

He threw himself into a chair across from me and tilted his head back so that he was looking up at the ceiling. “I don’t know why that woman irritates me so much. I’ve always considered myself laid back and easy to get along with. I feel like every word I say and every move I make is the start of an argument with her. I’ve never met anyone so combative.”

“Bellamy is a woman in a male-dominated field. She built her business in a country that still holds extremely patriarchal views. She’s someone who has had to clawher way up the corporate ladder, avoiding others trying to kick her back down. She’s not battling against you. She’s fighting for herself.”

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