Page 81 of Austen Persuaded

His mouth twitched. “I’m just now realizing you probably know her as Zophie Croft, right? My sister changed her name a couple years back after dealing with a stalker situation. It was a whole thing, a long story. But anyway, she’s Kelly now. She’s in DC at the moment presenting at a naval engineering conference.”

My shoulders relaxed as I let out a breath. “Oh, I see. So she’s a bigshot engineer now, huh?”

Kylan laughed, rich and deep. He’d so rarely laughed recently that the sound—and the smile that came withit—caught me off guard, and I had to avert my eyes. “Maybe someday, but no. She’s still slogging through her PhD work now.”

I gasped. “Wait, what?” I looked around the grand, spacious apartment or condo or whatever this type of home was. “How does a PhD student afford this house?”

“You don’t have to remind me I wasn’t born into money.” Kylan looked at his lap for a moment, as though uncomfortable or unsure what else to say. Finally he simply said, “She deserves the best.”

And then it dawned on me. This spacious, sophisticated home—and everything in it—was all from him. He’d made sure his sister lived in luxury. He must be even richer than I realized. “Ah. She’s lucky to have such a generous brother.”

He waved his hand dismissively. “I’m the lucky one. She’s amazing.”

I looked away.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

Shaking my head, I studied my hands and then squeezed my eyes shut.

“Annie?”

Breathing out shakily, I turned toward him partially. “Nothing, really. I’m really happy you guys have each other. Sometimes I–I wish I had a close family member like that, that’s all. My … my mother is still a horrible person.” I didn’t dare make eye contact with him. I knew how he felt about my mother—he blamed her, along with Viviana, for persuading me to break things off all those years ago.

After a long silence, he said, “People like her rarely change.”

“I know,” I said quietly.

Finishing the decadent drink, I set the cup down and leaned back against the sofa, tucking my feet under the blanket. I needed to lighten the mood, so I said the first thing that came to mind—which may or may not have been the best idea. “So, look at you.”

His eyebrows rose slightly as he gazed at me. “Look at me?”

“Kylan Quinn has made a name for himself,” I said with a small smile. “How does that feel?”

He gazed at me uncertainly, but seeing that my smile was genuine, he started to grin. “Not going to lie, it was pretty intoxicating at first. I mean, who was I? Nobody, right? It was all parties and money and … a little fame … well, you know, like a dream for a humble kid from Minnesota, I guess. I suppose the novelty wore off after a while. I’m leading a quieter life now, though in this line of work networking and image do matter, of course, so I can’t just hibernate. I probably would if I could though,” he said with a chuckle. “Sorry, rambling.”

“Not at all.” I bit my lip. Had he been drinking? That was by far the most words he’d spoken around me since he’d returned. “I’m glad it’s been such a fun experience. May I ask how you did it? I mean, such success in just a few years … I’m sure people ask you that all the time, right?”

His face became serious again, and he nodded. “Pretty much constantly.” For a long moment, he said nothing. Maybe he wouldn’t tell me anything. That was fair. But finally, he spoke, his mind seeming far away. “As is often the case, it was a combination of luck and hard work. Very hard work. Like nonstop work every day until my eyeballs wouldn’t work anymore. I just wouldn’t stop. I was … determined, I suppose.”

“So did you start out in a position like mine or …” I trailed off, trying to encourage him to say more.

He chuckled. “Lower. I was an intern, not even a paid one at first. It was New York City … I knew it wouldn’t be easy. I was willing to start at the bottom. I worked graveyard shifts at a hotel, plus a million hours a week at the agency trying to prove myself. Well, it worked. But I had some help,” he said, a touch of bitterness in his voice.

“Somehow you don’t sound happy about the help,” I noted hesitantly.

“No, I was grateful … I am. But things got complicated. It’s a long story. Basically, I became friends with the owner’s son shortly after I started working at the agency. One day I overheard Josh saying he needed more D&D players, so I volunteered. You might remember I … never mind,” he said, lowering his eyes for a moment before inhaling and exhaling slowly. “So I was in the right place at the right time. The friendship opened a lot of doors, and I moved up through the ranks quickly. Before I knew it, I was part of management thanks to, well, luck and connections. And I did work hard too. I basically did nothing but work. I became really close with the family, not just Josh but also his dad and his sister Jem.”

Kylan swung his gaze from the ceiling to me and took a deep breath. “And you’re wondering, ‘OK, but how did you get from being a manager in the agency toowninga bunch of agencies,’ right? Well, Josh’s dad had a major stroke and passed away suddenly. He … he actually left the agency to the three of us, along with his investments. Josh, Jem, and me.”

My mouth formed anO, but I said nothing.

“Yeah. We were all sort of numb with grief and shock, but Josh was livid. Resentful. He … he changed. I didn’t know him anymore. So, I ended up buying them both out. I didn’t want to be tied to someone who was just so hostile, and Jem … well, she had her own issues. We were never going to be able to work together. I could’ve sold them my part, but their hearts weren’t really in the business anymore. They couldn’t even deny it. So I bought out their dad’s business, and then I started buying up other agencies.”

My eyes were wide. “Wow, for some reason, the way you tell the story, acquisitions actually sound fun or exciting.”

“It was—well, itis—kind of intoxicating.” He exhaled softly and then paused. “So, now you know.”

Our eyes locked for a long moment. “It’s incredible, Kylan. Yes, it sounds like there was some luck, and some tragedy, but you expanded their business into the amazingly successful operation that it is today. From nothing. Four years ago you were just a new college grad. A lowly intern. Less than I am today. And now this. It’s just … mind boggling. Everyone who knows you has to be in awe.”

---