Page 59 of Boss Level

I let the shadows of memory fall away with a shake of my head. “Knock yourself out. Maybe I should’ve brought this information in an envelope. You could tell them I’m selling you state secrets.”

“Meh. They string you up for being a spy.”

“Pretty sure the town council would string you up for dancing, too,” I teased. “Speaking of, that’s when the secret is out. Dominic did a lot of digging,” had a paralegal do it, but close enough, “and there’s no way around the fact that you have to get a majority approval before you start construction, and again to sell.”

A large portion of the street had been declared a historical district in the last few months, and while that kept the city council from forcing certain changes, it also prevented others without jumping through a lot of hoops. Overall it was better for everyone, but it would make Onyx’s desire to keep this a secret as long as possible difficult.

“I can’t hide the construction anyway. As long as I can keep the sale secret until I’m ready…”

I clenched my jaw. Maddox was going to be furious when he found out Onyx was selling. Was leaving. I agreed to finance the plan because it was a solid investment, but the only reason I promised to keep it between Onyx and me was to give me time to change Onyx’s mind about stealing away in the middle of the night, so to speak.

“Let me show you what Carly came up with, and you can tell me what you like.” I pulled out my phone, navigated to the message with the remodel mock-ups, and scrolled through.

An hour later, Onyx had made some decisions, we were moving toward next steps, and I had seen Maddox drive by.

“He’s going to ask what we were talking about,” I said.

Onyx shrugged. “Tell him to come see me after if he wants answers.”

Seemed a bit childish, but I got the impression Onyx missed hanging out with Maddox more than he let on. “Okay.”

A glance at my phone confirmed it was early, so I didn’t feel bad about the time it took to walk from one end of Main Street to the other.

As I approached, I found my brother sitting in a chair outside Gage’s burger place. The table was half covered with snow, and its umbrella was closed. His metal seat had to be icy, but he didn’t look like he minded.

Maddox was only nine years younger than me, and it was clear we were related, but our lives had diverged the moment he was born. Dad expected great things from his oldest son, like for me to carry on the family name and make sure the world knew how great we were.

“You freezing that for when you actually need it?” I called when I was within earshot, and nodded at his crotch.

He grabbed his dick through his jeans. “More like putting it on ice after a lifetime of hard use.”

Thing was, the Haddar name was Mom’s, and she didn’t want her boys growing up the way she had, the weight of expectation from this place. She couldn’t stop it with me, but she damn well made sure her baby was sheltered.

Not that I blamed Maddox for any of it. I genuinely loved my brother. “Dating your fist doesn’t count ashard use.”

“I learned it from watching you.” Maddox winced the instant the words passed his lips, and I did the same. “That came out wrong.”

“And now you’ve made it weird.”

“If I remind youweirdis my thing, does that let me change the subject?”

I pretended to consider the suggestion. “Given I’d rather not talk about yourweird thing,sure.”

“What were you and Onyx talking about?”

There it was. “Baby Jesus. Also, he said go ask him if you want to know.”

“Fine. You want lunch?” He nodded at the burger place.

Anything to move past the awkward turn this conversation took. “All right.” It was only ten-thirty in the morning, but that meant the place was the perfect level of unoccupied, and I’d skipped breakfast in anticipation of this.

Maddox made it up here more often than I did, mostly visiting Onyx, but neither of us came out here often anymore, and never together. Not since Mom passed away about five years ago.

And the whispers I heard from the kitchen, wondering why we were both here, amused me rather than surprised me.

But Maddox and I didn’t have much catching up to do. We’d seen each other several times last week at RinCon, the same way we saw each other several times every week.

Which was why him asking to meet me up here didn’t make any sense.

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