Page 72 of Nothing to Do

“Because everyone else is tied up with the bullshit.”

He led her to a cart and gestured for her to sit first. Weird that Struan should have such manners while his contrasting brother didn’t. Histwinbrother. How did that even happen? It couldn’t be nature, not if they were identical, but—

“Zane,” she said, kicking her thoughts into line. “Is he okay?”

“I don’t know much. I was out when Roman left. When I got back the phone was ringing, Rox told me everyone was gathering at the house and Zane wanted you picked up.”

Probably because if the press had their own carts, they’d be whizzing after their marks. A quick stop at the resort to pick her up would raise more questions than she was happy to answer. The rods and reels had enough chum to feed on.

“Your brother showed. Sorry, your brothers showed up.”

“Yeah, Logan was flying in to square things with Roman. How the hell did that turn into a bust up?”

“Because your brother brought Deacon.” Though his double take registered in her peripheral vision, she kept her eyes ahead. “And your other brother, the one that looks like you, he showed with the damn press. Him and Deacon started throwing punches straight away. They didn’t even try to talk.”

“Damnit, what was Logan thinking?”

Now she did shift to take him in. “Yeah, ‘cause it’s Logan’s fault.” Another double take. “I understand that it was maybe stupid to bring Deacon along, but if the men are friends and he truly wanted to make peace…”

“This would be as good a place as any, if the press wasn’t around.”

“That was Roman’s call too. Bringing the press here because of that new show. You know, you blame Logan and everyone else, when is someone going to tell Roman to act like a reasonable human being?”

He actually smiled. Smiled! The nerve!

“There’s not a single person in Roman’s inner circle who hasn’t tried explaining that to him. Hell, I’ve been trying since we were in diapers and it hasn’t got me anywhere. Did Sway show?”

“Not at the beach.” Though God knew if she’d stowed away on the men’s plane to join them. That would be the perfect extra layer to really enhance the insanity. “I don’t see how her presence would make the situation any better.”

“It wouldn’t, but if Logan brought Deacon…”

“Aren’t the two friends?”

“Yeah.”

“If Deacon is marrying Sway, she’ll be in Logan’s life, to some degree I’d imagine. Maybe bringing Deacon wasn’t the smartest choice, but I can understand Logan not wanting to choose between his friend and his brother.”

“That’s exactly the kind of thing Roman will expect.”

“And what does that do for Logan’s life? For his work? If he dumps Deacon, he’s saying Roman controls everyone. That will only fuel his ego. I’m not surprised Sway doesn’t want to be with him. No offense; a relationship with him must be utterly exhausting.”

“I know you’re trying to help—”

“This where you tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about?”

“No. This is where I tell you you’re preaching to the choir.”

Good, that gave her a chance to probe. “So why do it? Why pander to him all the time? Bow down and prostrate. Is it the money? Is he that good to you? Do you love the Hollywood lifestyle that much?”

“You’re close to your sister.”

“I love her, and would do anything for her, but I don’t rely on her for an income. She has friends she goes to with her secrets, we live separate lives. The way I hear it, you’re Roman’s lackey twenty-four seven.”

“After our mom died, our father hit the bottle, and that was about all we saw of him. Magnus, our uncle, he looked out for us, nurtured what was in Roman. Maybe it was too late by then, I don’t know, but he’s always struggled.”

“He doesn’t look like he’s struggling,” she said. “He looks like a man who enjoys pulling strings.”

“I guess you could see it that way; he does like it when we jump to attention for him. We have a cousin tied up in her ownsibling bail out. Theirs started before ours, I don’t know, maybe that’s where it came from. It’s a family thing.”

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