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I nodded at him meekly, worried I'd gone too far.
"Well doctor, let me lay it all out for you." He gave me another long look, but there was no anger in his eyes, just a glimmer of something I couldn't quite put my finger on. "I work all the time because business is what I'm good at. When I started out, I was surprised at how easily it came to me—seeing a company, assessing it, telling early on if it was a good investment. When something comes naturally to you like that, it… feels good. And it's a lot less messy than other things that could occupy my time."
"Like people?" I asked. I couldn't help myself.
"Exactly. Like people. Like my sister." Lucas didn't deny it and he didn't miss a beat. "I don't want to see her inherit all of the trust because she's never worked—she's completely out of touch with the realities of the world. She'll spend the money on outfits and trips to Dubai. Give money to her sorority so they'll name a wing after her. That's what she thinks is important in life."
I wanted to ask more about just him, to dig deeper into why he liked to hide in his downtown office and rule his empire from behind his desktop. But he'd switched gears on me and I had to keep up. "But what's wrong with that?" I asked, focusing on Serena. "I'm not trying to disagree, but it's not like she's spending the money on something terrible, something that's going to hurt someone."
"You're right." He shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with it, per se. But my mother would have wanted some of that money to help people. She left the discretion to us, to donate as we saw fit. But my sister isn't interested in that. She'll give money to her pet projects and her alma maters, but she won't do any actual good with it, which is in direct opposition to my mother's wishes."
"Why won't Serena honor her wishes?"
He scrubbed a hand across his face. "Because she thinks poor people are disgusting, lazy abominations."
"Oh," I mumbled.
"My sister puts the 'ass' in 'class'."
"Ha ha." But my stomach was sinking.
Lucas looked out the window. "My mother wasn't like that. She believed that we had a responsibility to take care of those less fortunate. I believe that, too. Serena simply thinks that poor people or homeless people need to get jobs. She's incapable of seeing the larger picture—in other words, she lacks imagination. She couldn't dream of a scenario where a person might be forced to make choices that are less than ideal."
I shivered, his words hitting home. I could only imagine what Serena would think of me if she knew the truth.
"I know what you're thinking," Lucas said, his voice low.
I bristled. He was starting to get on my nerves with all of his goodwill and insight. That Globe article never mentioned his philanthropic side, which I found disarmingly attractive. "Since when did a reclusive, anti-relationship billionaire like you get so intuitive?" I preferred to keep my own dysfunction, my own problems, below the radar. So I could pretend they didn't exist, like a normal person.
"I don't really like to be around people, but understanding them is part of my business." He loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top buttons of his dress shirt, relaxing against the leather seat. "But back to my sister—talking about her makes me see it clearly. I think we should mess with her. Exploit her weaknesses to our advantage."
Now he sounded like the combative CEO I'd come to expect. "How can we do that? And isn't it dangerous? Don't you need her on your side right now, or at least, not against you?"
"I can accomplish that in part by keeping her off-balance. Serena likes things orderly and controlled. She's not going to get that from us. I'm going to call Elena in the morning."
"Elena? For what?"
He smiled, flashing that dimple. "I'm going to hire some of your coworkers to come out to Vegas."
"Really?" I asked, oddly touched. I hadn't let myself think about it, but I'd been sort of dreading being completely alone at the wedding.
"Really. It'll keep things interesting, and it'll be nice to have some guests on your side of the aisle. And some bridesmaids. But they're going to have to keep up a united front pretending, so that no one knows who they—and more importantly, you—really are. Do you think they can do that?"
I nodded. "They're professional pretenders. That's what they do." I thought of several of the girls I worked with who were a little wild. They could and would pretend to be friends of mine, but that rowdy streak couldn't be disguised easily. "That's really nice of you. But don't you think your sister's going to freak out? With all the, er, riff-raff hanging around?"
A small smile played on his lips. "It wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen to her. But I know what is, and I'm going to do that, too."
"You're full of surprises," I said. "Care to let me in on that last one?"
"First, I'm going to see if I can pull it off. Then I will surprise and delight you with my ruthless ingenuity." His eyes glittered in the semidarkness, and I admired the handsome, rugged planes of his face. I had no doubt in his ability to accomplish what he set out to do.
Not a one.
LUCAS
"Well, good night." Blake and I were in the hallway of my penthouse, getting ready to go our separate ways.
"Are you heading back to the office?" she asked.
