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"Any of my brothers here?" I asked Shauna, my assistant.
"Good morning. And no. But Julian was here last night."
That was no surprise. Julian, Xander, Zachary, Anthony, Beckett, and I were each involved in running the company, but they were rarely in the building. Out of everyone, Julian was here the most often. They all had an office at whichever business they liked the most. Julian ran the bar branch of our business, and his home base was in his favorite one here in the French Quarter.
He hadn't made the call with my brothers yesterday, so I wanted to catch up with him this morning. I checked my watch as I strolled inside the office. I was meeting Scarlett Jones in twenty minutes. That was enough time to catch up with Julian. He'd been to New York for a meeting yesterday, and I was curious to hear how it went.
My brother answered on the first ring.
"How did the meeting go?" I asked.
"Good morning to you too," he said slowly. "Not all of us are morning people, you know."
"It's almost eight thirty," I pointed out.
"Precisely. And the meeting went well. Before you know it, I'll open a few bars in New York too."
"That's good. I'm happy for you."
It was our joint ambition to expand the family business beyond the borders of Louisiana. It was time to broaden our horizons.
"Listen, I talked to Mom yesterday evening. Apparently, Isabeau and Celine are coming to the restaurant this morning."
I stood ramrod straight. "What? That wasnotwhat Mom and I agreed."
I'd called her right before I picked up Bella yesterday afternoon.
"It wasn't Mom's choice."
I groaned. This was typical in our family, though. "Right. Then let me call Mom."
"Dude, you called just to wake me up?"
"No," I said. "I genuinely wanted to know how your trip went."
"Right. Oh, and by the way, I saw your new chef last night."
I was about to end the call but stopped, frowning. "Really? How come?"
"She came to see the restaurant. Dude, she's smoking hot."
I closed my eyes for a moment before slowly opening them again and drawing in a deep breath. "Tell me you didn't hook up with her."
"Damn. Of course not. You know I never get involved with anyone working for us."
That was a golden rule in the family, but with Julian, you just never knew. He viewed rules as annoying suggestions, not something to abide by.
"I warned her that this morning might be a clusterfuck," he continued.
"Right. Well, thanks, Julian. Go back to sleep."
I knew my brother meant well, but scaring off our new employee before she even started was not the way to go.
I punched Mom's number, but she rejected the call. I was about to call again, then noticed that she’d sent me a message.
Mom: Sorry, it didn’t work. I'm already downstairs with both. They insist on knowing this new chef since, and I quote, “The reputation of our flagship restaurant is in her hands.”
My grandmothers had a flair for the dramatic. Isabeau even more so than Celine.
