Page 3 of Robert

“You consider that to be a bad thing.”

“Of course it is,” she muttered, rolling her eyes, “it’s frustrating.”

Taking a sip of his water, he waited for her to continue and when she just sat there, he podded. “What is it you are trying to hide from me?” A contemplative look settled over his face. “Who is he?”

“Robert!”

“Am I wrong to assume that it is a ‘he’?”

“No.” She sighed dejectedly. “And he is genuinely nice, and I happen to like him a lot. He wants to meet you.”

“I see.”

His expression was bland, but she knew him too well, not to realize that his sharp mind had jumped ahead to other things.

“He is also an intern,” she ventured.

“One who knows your brother is wealthy.”

Her eyes flashed, and she tried to curb her temper. She also knew he had the tendency to be overprotective. He had taken over her care when their mother died. She also owed him everything. Because of him, she was not burdened by a crippling student loan.

He had funded her education and set her up in an apartment near enough to where she was interning. She did not have to worry about money and anything she wanted, she just had to ask. He had made his money by sheer grit and determination and none of it had been easy.

“He knows who you are, yes, but is not impressed or overwhelmed by your status. He is intimidated because you happen to be my big brother.” Her expression became pleading. “I really like him, Robert. All I am asking is that you meet him and try to be less…,” she gestured with one hand helplessly. “Less you.”

His thick brows shot up in amusement.

“Less me?”

“You know what I mean.” She sighed. “Less unapproachable, less intimidating, minus the constant frown and suspicion on your face and the interrogation. I know you ‘re probably going to have that – that completely impossible head of your security team run a check on him.”

Leaning back in his seat, he stretched his long legs out and studied her face. Their mother had passed on her coffee brown hair and hazel eyes to both of them. But there the resemblance ended.

Catherine had a fine boned face, with delicately arched brows and a gentle expression that gave her an ethereal look. She was also incredibly innocent and compassionate.

Robert had never been innocent. He had grown up much too fast when his dad left him and his mother to cope on their own.

He had been eight at the time. They had been forced to leave their shabby, yet comfortable home because his mother had been unable to pay the rent and found refuge in an apartment that was more of a hovel than anything else.

He had seen his mother running around doing three jobs, just to put food on the table and pay the rent. His brilliance had landed him a scholarship in an exclusive private school, where he was forced to realize the difference between him and the privileged kids who attended.

He had stood out because of the way he looked and the clothes he wore. And he had suffered through years of being laughed at and bullied – until he had started putting on weight and learning to fight.

Now he was no longer scraping for food and wearing hand me downs. His suits were tailormade and of the highest quality, but there were some moments when he still felt like that scholarship kid who did not belong.

“Dinner.” He said abruptly. “Bring him by on Sunday.”

She eyed him as she took a sip of her drink.

“Will you be nice?”

“Will he be genuine?” He countered.

“Robert!”

“Just saying…” A thin smile touched his lips. “I am just trying to protect you.”

“I am an adult…”

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