Page 35 of For the Win
“Haveyou? Taken him for granted?” I don’t deny he’s a meddler. It’s his job to ferret out other people’s secrets and get into their business. Mine was to look into the financial backgrounds of all potential Demir clients and investors. I worked with the accountants and took a deeper dive than they were willing to, searching for blackmailers, gambling addictions and relationship woes that could compromise our business interests. My father called Ken for help when matters were more urgent and the stakes much higher.
“We’ve been together for ten of the happiest years of my life,” Ken says emphatically. “There’s not a day I don’t wake up and give fucking thanks for the miracle that is Brady Finn. I was so happy, I decided I wanted to use my skills to spread that sunshine around. I got involved in his family. I moved a few chess pieces around on the board. Bellamy was one of them. He wouldn’t have been in the same hotel as Seamus if I hadn’t arranged it.”
I heard that story from Seamus. I also heard about Ken’s influence on other Finn matches. And one story about a baseball player and the owner of a manny service, who aren’t even related but happened to stay in a building Ken owns. “He’s right about your meddling.”
“I’ve slowed things down over the last few years. Focusing on work and only stepping in when I’m needed. At least until recently. But none of that matters. Now I’m just the asshole that almost got Bex and Calamity killed because I was so busy playingCupid again that I didn’t keep my eyes on the ball. He says he's worried I’ll try to mess with Jake’s life now that he’s in his twenties. He says he doesn’t know when it will stop, or when I’ll stop using it as an excuse instead of being honest.”
I know it’s because I’m connected but not a part of the family that he feels comfortable enough to tell me something so personal. I’m not the person people usually talk to about their problems. About anything, really. But we have known each other, if only superficially, for years now, and I feel compelled to help him. “How long have you been engaged?”
A moment of silence on the other end, and then, “Ten years.”
I frown at the phone. “That seems like an abnormally long engagement. You can’t be against marriage as an institution or you wouldn’t have made him your fiancé. I assume you know same-sex marriage is currently in jeopardy again.” In fact, the law making it legal passed right around the time they got engaged, if I’m not mistaken. “What is it you’re waiting for?”
If I loved someone enough to propose, I wouldn’t wait a day to start planning an elopement. Especially in the current political climate.
“He asked me that the other day,” Ken says quietly. “‘What are you waiting for?’”
“Did you give him an answer?”
“I said I wasn’t waiting for anything, because I had everything I wanted. I love him. We live and work and sleep together and it’s perfect. Why would I want to mess with perfection?”
“Then why get engaged in the first place?”
“Because he’s Brady.” I wonder if Ken realizes how much his voice gentles when he says the man’s name. “And Brady goes all in or not at all.”
As I nod in understanding, my gaze connects with the framed picture of the rabbit wedding, and the memory of Win’sreaction to it makes my lips twitch. “And all in for him means a wedding?”
“Engagement. Wedding. The works. Anything less than a legally binding promise in front of the world, one that leads to a lifetime of anniversaries like the one we got snowed in for this weekend, is unacceptable.” He pauses before swearing under his breath again. “You think I’m an idiot, don’t you?”
“I didn’t say anything.” I didn’t need to. “But if you know how to solve your problem, and you clearly do, I can’t help but wonder why you’re hesitating.”
“Keep wondering. You’re not the one I need to tell. Brady is.”
I couldn’t agree more. For his sake, I hope he does it soon.
“So, speaking of troubled youths, I’ve known Win since he was a teenager.”
I scowl at him through the phone. “Don’t start. If he wants me to know something, he can tell me himself.”
“That’s the thing, Michael. He won’t tell you. He has reasons for his trust issues, but the only people he’s ever been close enough to open up to are Bex and those other two. They’re a tight-knit group and his only family. All four of them are connected at the hip. His roots are deep here. He won’t leave them behind, and they aren’t going anywhere.”
“I already know about his friends.”
He won’t leave them behind.
At the moment, I can live anywhere. But I can’t say the idea of playing second fiddle to not one, but multiple people, doesn’t rub against some old wounds for me. Could I do that? Stay here for him and take whatever he’s willing to give me? Whatever he has left?
Aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself? Or have you fallen for him already?
I’m not ready to think about either question.
“Just be careful, Demir,” Ken says.
“I’ve always been careful.”
“You’ve always beenthorough. It’s one of the reasons I wanted you to consider working with me while you’re here. It’s also why I didn’t bother finding your mystery man for you. You could have done it yourself. Ali might be an asshole, but he knew what the company had in you, otherwise he wouldn’t have worked so hard to tie you to it. Lord knows Bellamy was never that interested in the details of the job.”
He’ll have to be now. At least, long enough to put someone capable in place. “He was too busy running with bulls and wrestling and getting into bar fights.”
