I rest my elbows on my knees and study his pinched features. How do I explain it to a man who
cares nothing about society’s opinions? “From what I can tell, she has a brilliant marketing mind. But
do you want her representing us at the mayor’s office? What about at a $10,000-a-plate dinner?” A
collective groan travels through the room at the idea of those stuffy dinners. But they’re a fact of life
for me. I’m constantly out networking, schmoozing, and representing our interests.
“I know you guys hate them. But they’re an important part of what I do.”
“Does she really have to be the one to do them?”
I ease back on my seat and rub the back of my neck. “Maybe not, but it would be nice to not have
to be the only one going to those fucking things. When I finally got Maya here, I thought I could turn
some of that over. But I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
“Do you really not like going? I thought you did? You always seemed fine going on your own?”
Ransom’s gaze is piercing. I shift on the couch, my suit suddenly feeling tight.
“It’s fine, they’re fine. I know you guys don’t like them.”
“Would everything fall apart if we stopped going? I mean, how much fucking money do we need?”
Kade asks. He’s unbuttoned, too, no tie in sight, but that’s by design. The man can’t stand them. My
brothers chime in with assurances that we don’t need the exposure.
“The food usually fucking sucks,” Colton mutters, patting his stomach unconsciously.
He’s right. It does. The inane conversation sucks. The being paraded in front of people to make
speeches and hand over big checks and pose for pictures, sucks.
“We do a lot of fucking good in the world with our money. Yeah, there are some projects that we
keep close to the vest, but most of the time, the good press is a win-win for the charities and for us.
So no, we can’t just stop. It’s my job to represent us,” I say with a wink, smoothing my tie, “and I’m
really fucking good at it.”
“You are. You’re so pretty,” Nick says, blowing a kiss at me.
“Fucking asshole,” I mutter, hiding my smile. My brothers are dicks, and I wouldn’t have it any
other way.
“It’s your department,” Ransom says, tapping his fist on the desk. “You run it any way that you see
fit. But if this woman can give us a new perspective and help us in any way, she should stick around.
But if it’s too much for you and if you think she’s going to be a problem, then do what you need to.
We’ll handle the fallout.”
