Page 10 of Power Games

He shrugged. “Jacobs Enterprises’ board meets in NYC. Your brother invited me and I was in town so my assistant RSVPed for me. DC is home, though.”

She nodded, and a silence followed. It was strangely comfortable, companionable. The sort of silence that didn't need filling, because her company as she watched the stars with a smile on her lips was enough.

Charles realized it was imperative that he break the silence, before he could do something he'd regret.

“I have your album.”

She laughed. “Wouldn’t have pegged you for a pop-listener.”

“I’m not.” He didn’t tell her he’d bought it because it was hers. No need to. “Your voice is exceptional.”

She beamed.

“Mama was a singer. Now Dad is blaming her for the whole thing because she taught me to sing. It was only supposed to be a hobby, you see.”

He could imagine that Theodore and the rest of the McNamaras weren’t impressed. Kudos to her for doing what she wanted regardless.

“How is it going?”

“Pretty well. Better than I thought it would, actually. I just paid for a decent studio, then launched and advertised. Indies don’t break out easily, but I got a few shows.”

A few major shows. He knew that. He’d booked tickets for one.

Now he wasn’t sure he’d turn up. He couldn’t spend time close to her. It felt too…intimate.

They were standing a good ten feet apart, but he just knew. Fucking Laura the previous weekend had been part of the agreement with Izzy. That’s what his wife had wanted, and Charles had started to enjoy the benefits.

But this? What he was feeling around Vanessa?

This was dangerous. If he ever acted on it, just by making the decision to see her again, it would becheating. Emotionally, where it mattered.

“It’s getting chilly out here.” It wasn’t. “I’d better go back in,” she said.

She was feeling it too.

And it also frightened theshit out of her.

He didn’t see her for another three years after that night. He made sure of it.

4

Hindsight

Construction, he never got the hang off, but Quinn hired the best CEO for Jacobs Development. Tech was exciting. Charles remained hands-on with that division of his operations, glad to hear of the latest development. After years of learning the industry’s jargon, he could hold his own when he discussed details with any partners. To the astonishment of everyone, Charles more than the rest of them, he took to investments like a fish to water.

He would never have just decided to play with the company’s money when he lacked the training or experience, but boredom made him use his own dividends to try his hand at trading. He’d doubled his investment by the following month. Around that time, Charles also bought some bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies—a hundred thousand dollars’ worth. In a few years, it grew exponentially.

Eventually, he took an executive position in the iBanking part of his empire.

It did take a while, but by now, even the most envious of his board members understood what Quinn had seen in him. Making money was in his blood, perhaps more than being in the Army had ever been.

Anyone looking in would have said his life was perfect.

It wasn’t. Each passing year, turning him from an indecisive boy to the man he was to become, Charles grew a little more jaded. Less content. Sometimes, he told himself it was for one reason or another. He didn’t take enough time off. Izzy was being—well, Izzy. He didn’t like his home. Maybe a new car would help.

Other times, very occasionally, and often after a glass of whiskey—or God forbid, a shot of the violet gin he kept locked in his safe—he told himself the truth.

What was wrong with him washer. The one who got away, cliché as it might sound. A more accurate description would have been the one he’d run away from, because manning up had seemed terrifying at twenty-nine. Now, a little older and a lot wiser, Charles knew exactly what he should have done. Hindsight was twenty-twenty and all that.

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