Page 52 of A Billionaire Gentleman

He didn’t need to ask what I needed clarified. “I believeofficeis the word you’re looking for.”

That’s what I’d thought he’d said. “I wasn’t aware I had one.”

“You do, and it’s time you use it.”

I thought about asking him if that meant I wasn’t going to be traveling around with Grandad anymore, but I didn’t want to give him any ideas. It had been bad enough being away from Aurelia. I didn’t want that with Sofi. I wanted to have a house where I could invite her over, somewhere we’d have real privacy. Maybe I could convince her to only sign a six-month lease wherever she found a place…

I was getting ahead of myself.

The first thing I had to do was go to work.

I finished my breakfast and then headed back to my room to change. I supposed I’d have to get a few more suits now that I would be working with the rest of the family. Maybe Sofi and I could go shopping again.

With that pleasant thought in mind, I made my way back downstairs and joined Dad in the car. We didn’t talk on the ride to the office, but that was par for the course. I didn’t expect that a working relationship would miraculously make us close. Honestly, I didn’t know if my father was close to anyone.

Not even with the brother who was waiting in Dad’s office when we arrived. Davin didn’t look surprised to see me, so I assumed he’d already known that I was coming in. Or maybe nothing really surprised him anymore. It was hard to tell.

He’d always been a serious person, and time hadn’t done anything to change that. Not even thirty, and sometimes he acted older than Grandad.

“Morning.” He pushed himself up from the chair. “Your office is next to mine. Come on.”

I knew where his office was, but I followed him as if I didn’t, going into the one that he pointed to. The two offices looked a lot alike, both without a single personal touch. As I settled into the seat behind my desk, I wondered what I might be able to bring in to make it look different. It wasn’t like I had family pictures or anything like that.

I smiled as I imagined a picture of Sofi on my desk. Maybe I’d ask someone to take a picture of the two of us and have it framed.

But I first had a report to give.

“Dek, Grandad’s here.” Davin tapped on my door a few minutes later. “There’s breakfast in the conference room.”

Grandad.

Sofi.

Davin raised an eyebrow as I bolted up out of my chair, and the hint of a smile I saw made me think he knew exactly where my thoughts had gone. Since it wasn’t often that I got to see him smile, I was happy to let him have some amusement at my expense.

“You really like her,” he said as I fell into step next to him.

“I do,” I agreed. “I know she’s Grandad’s assistant, but I don’t care.”

It was freeing to say it, and a thrill went through me. I was grinning like a fool when I walked into the conference room, but I quickly saw she wasn’t there. My disappointment must’ve shown on my face because Grandad answered my unspoken question.

“Sofi went back to Vegas to take care of a few things. She’ll be back tonight or tomorrow.”

I frowned. She hadn’t told me.

“Maybe what’s from Sin City should stay in Sin City.” Dad scowled as he shut the door behind him. “And leave good people alone.”

“Sofiisgood,” I snapped. “If you want to be pissed at someone, fine, be pissed at me, but leave Sofi alone. She’s a good person.”

Utter silence and all eyes were on me.

“Now that we’ve determined Deklin’s personal life has nothing to do with our business, perhaps we can get to said business.” Davin’s voice broke through. “I believe we have some properties to discuss.”

I had to admit, I was impressed with how well Davin shifted things right back to where they needed to be. Dad wasn’t happy, but Davin managed to work around it with enough skill that I wondered how often this happened. As Grandad and I presented everything we’d gathered in Vegas, I watched Grandad direct his attention more to my brother, giving Davin the chance to respond before Dad. And Dad seemed completely oblivious to it all.

When we finished, I headed back to my office with only one thought on my mind. I needed to talk to Sofi. I started dialing even before I sat down, slumping in my chair when the call went straight to voicemail. She should have landed by now, but maybe she’d forgotten to take her phone off airplane mode. That was probably it.

“Hey, Sofi, it’s me. Just wanted to make sure your flight went well. Let me know when you’re back, and I’ll pick you up at the airport. No need to take a car. Um, that’s it. Bye.”

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