Page 18 of Finding Lord Landry

I sent him links to the news articles but quickly realized I was being overly dramatic. Angry copper miners didn’t have a beef with the tourists, and from what the articles said, the environmental toxins were dangerous to people working in the mine, not necessarily tourists several miles away.

Still. I worried. There was only one airstrip on the island. It was conceivable protests could impact Kenji’s ability to get out of there safely if things escalated.

I forced myself to get a grip and calm down. Kenji was smart and travel savvy. He was also fairly risk-averse. He could handle himself. Thankfully, he was staying in the kind of high-end resort that would keep its customers apprised of the situation in town.

Still, I groaned in relief when my phone rang many hours later.

“Sorry it’s so late,” Kenji said as soon as I answered. “Were you asleep?”

“No. I was too worried,” I admitted.

I’d managed to keep my cool for the rest of the day and through an interminable dinner with the family. If Davencourts weren’t too civilized to yell, people across the park would have heard how displeased the family was by my proposed two-year delay in stepping forward as the heir. As night came without a phone call from Kenji, though, my anxiety had ramped up.

In desperation, I’d even tried to lose myself in Netflix since their algorithm had my personality on lock somehow and they always suggested the best shows, but that hadn’t worked, either. There was nothing new since the last time I’d logged in a couple of weeks before.

“Yeah, well…” He let out a breath. “I had my phone off until I overheard some of the guests talking about the situation in town.”

“What are they saying?”

“Resort management is acting like it’s no big deal, as if the locals protest over every little thing. But several of the guests are concerned enough to leave early.”

I hesitated, worried my asking him to leave would have the opposite effect. “Kenji… I think you should consider?—”

He cut me off. “I called to get a flight just in case, but they’re all full.”

I let out a breath of relief. “I’ll send the plane.”

“There’s no point. They’re not approving any new aircraft into the island’s airspace. Apparently, the media attention has made it a zoo at the airport, and they could barely handle their air traffic on a good day.”

I was surprised to hear a hint of nerves in his voice. Kenji was never nervous. He always had his shit together with several different backup plans, all with their own shit together, too. He was the most quietly confident person I knew, and nothing ruffled him.

“What are you going to do?” I asked. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“The managers of the resort are assuring us we’re safe where we are. That they have plenty of supplies even in a worst-case scenario, and they have armed guards at the resort gates. Obviously, Chaska himself is encouraging everyone to remain calm and stick around.”

I could only imagine. “Let me guess. He said something to the effect of… ‘Whatever storm rages around us, remember—it will pass, as all storms do. Together, we will weather this moment. Peace begins here, with you.’ Or some bullshit like that.”

The warm rumble of his laugh made me grin like a fool. “You’re learning. A few more of those and you’ll be well on your way to being a die-hard apostle. I should bring you back a meditation robe and incense-burning kit.”

“Are you worried?” I asked softly. “You must be if you’re trying to get out of there.”

He cleared his throat. I knew that trick. It was his way of shoring up and getting on with it. Here in England, it was famously known as the stiff upper lip. “No. I’m just ready to get home. It turns out I’m not particularly good at relaxation.”

“You don’t say?” I teased. “I figured you’d go through iPad withdrawal at first, but you’d rally and embrace the sunshine and fruity cocktails eventually. I half worried you’d decide to chuck it all and become an islander.”

“Not all of us have a billion dollars, Landry,” he reminded me. Thankfully, there was no bite in his voice. The Brotherhood paid him very, very well, and part of his compensation over the years had included stock options in our various lucrative endeavors. Kenji Toma was doing just fine, financially speaking.

I leaned back in my bed and stretched out, throwing one arm behind my head. “What would you do with a billion dollars if you had it?”

I half expected him to scoff and make a short remark before chivvying me off the call. So I was surprised when he actually humored me.

“Well, for one, I’d splurge on something ridiculous like the Pearl Royale chess set by Colin Burns. But then I’d have to have a room fitted out with custom lighting to do it justice. Which means I’d need to buy a place.”

Kenji currently lived in a small apartment between the park and Lenox Hill, which was very convenient to work, but it was also half-underground and didn’t have its own laundry machines. My fingers itched to buy him a nicer place and give it to him anonymously. But since he was neck-deep in all of my financial business—at least the non-Davencourt side of things—it would have been nearly impossible to pull it off, even if he’d been willing to accept an anonymous gift. Which… considering the Brotherhood’s history of trying to give him perks, would have been a disaster.

Not that I hadn’t decided to do something very stupid anyway. Something I’d probably never tell him about or show him. Still, it was nice to spoil him, even if I couldn’t tell him about it.

“You should buy a place anyway,” I suggested.Or move into mine.

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