Page 155 of Hard Luck (Blackstone House)

But that gave me an idea…

“Call Nolan back. Make sure he doesn’t, underanycircumstances, try turning on that laptop. And tell him Alexa will come and fix it.”

“Tell him Alexa will go to his home in California?” Brax looked doubtful, and with good reason.

“Yes.”

I had a plan. A way to pay Echo back for her meddling. Yes, everything had worked out with Cole in the end, but I still didn’t appreciate her going behind my back.

“Alexa won’t do that,” Brax said. “She hasn’t spoken to Nolan once since she left Blackstone House, and we all know she avoids him for her own weird Alexa reasons. I think he’s actually quite hurt by it.”

“I’ll make sure she goes. Just tell him, okay?”

I’d worked out roughly where she was now. When I called to ask her to send the financials to Brax, she’d been down some rabbit hole or another, and my call had been diverted to Chase. And while we were speaking, I’d heard a metro announcement in the background. Chase was in Paris. Which meant Echo was also in Paris.

“Nolan will be disappointed if she doesn’t show up.”

“Yes, I know.” I was counting on it. “She’ll be there, I promise.”

What was a little blackmail between friends? Brax picked up the phone.

“Nolan? It’s Brax.” He did realise that in the twenty-first century, we had these things called smartphones? And they told us who was calling? “I had a think about your computer issue, and I’m sure Alexa will be able to fix it.” A pause. “Yes, yes, that Alexa. I’ll give her a call.”

I gave him a thumbs-up.

“She’ll come, I’m sure of it. A friend in need and all that. You have my word. Just don’t turn the laptop on—that could make the situation a hundred times worse.” Brax hung up and grimaced. “You’d better pull this off.”

“I will.”

“You didn’t hear the hope in Nolan’s voice.”

“I said I’ll handle it. When have I ever not fucking handled it?”

Indi gave a nervous giggle. “Does anyone want coffee?”

I forced a smile. “Why not?”

We were nibbling on petits fours when Cole suddenly put down his coffee cup.

“I’ll do it,” he said. “I mean, I’ll take it. I’ll take the offer.”

Thank fuck for that.

“What happened to sleeping on it?” I asked.

“I can’t sleep. I haven’t slept properly for months. Every night, I lie awake waiting for another phone call telling me something’s gone wrong. And you’re right—you handle everything. You brought me here, and you’re telling me it’s a good deal, which means it is. What do we do now? Shake on it? I’ve never made an agreement like this one.”

Brax glanced at me and chuckled. “Normally there would be corporate due diligence involved, and a considerable amount of legal work, but this isn’t a regular transaction.” No, this was more like Brax throwing millions into a black hole and praying, and he was doing it for me. “I’ll instruct my lawyers in the morning. What’s your lawyer’s number?”

“I don’t have a lawyer.”

I slipped my arm around his waist. “Well, I have a lawyer. Not sure he does corporate stuff, but I’ll ask him for a recommendation.”

“You have a lawyer?”

“For investments and stuff.” I had a small property portfolio, plus some equity stakes in companies whose ethos I liked. And I’d need to get a new will drawn up. At the moment, my entire estate would go to the Helping Paws Animal Shelter when I died—which was likely to be sooner rather than later, given my line of work—but Cole should probably be in there somewhere. “We’ll figure it out.”

Brax paid the bill, and as we were leaving, he leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. “Cole looks good on you,” he whispered, and then he examined my necklace, holding it between a finger and thumb. The gleam in his eye told me he knew exactly what it was for. “So does this.”

---