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“It hasn’t come up.”
Cole relaxed his shoulders. “She hasn’t tried to reach you?”
“Nope. And quit focusing on the decoy. I’m a bad one. There’s something else you’ll find a lot more interesting.”
Camilla set a big bowl of gnocchi on the counter and announced, “I’m goin’ to check on your father and be right back.”
“Take your time, Mom.” Cole knew his mother was worried about his father’s rough road to recovery. It had been several months since the stroke, and Serg still had not made a complete recovery—if he ever would.
When their mother left, Cole turned to Jordan and wasted no time in getting to the point. “What is it?”
“Word is that the job for the new gym at the Pershing School is going to JM Construction.”
Cole’s lips thinned. She’d done worse than get Jordan on board for her fund-raiser.
As far as jobs went for a midsize construction company like Serenghetti or JM, the new gym at the Pershing School was small-fry. However, JM would get the attendant publicity and goodwill.
Damn it. They’d been outbid twice in the past few months by JM Construction. Like Serenghetti, JM operated in the New England region, though both sometimes took jobs farther afield. Serenghetti’s main offices were in Welsdale—at Serg’s insistence—but they kept a business suite in Boston for convenience, as well as a small satellite staff in Portland, Maine.
“You know this how?” Cole demanded of his brother.
“Guys talking down at the Puck & Shoot. If you hung out there, you’d know, too. You should try it.”
“A lot happens at the Puck & Shoot.” Cole recalled that Marisa had found out how to run him to ground from a tip at the bar.
“The drinks aren’t bad, and the female clientele is even better.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t spotted Marisa there.”
Jordan snagged a cold gnocchi from the bowl and popped it into his mouth. “She doesn’t look like the type to be a sports bar regular.”
“A lot about her may surprise you.”
His brother swallowed and grinned. “I’m sure.”
“Jordan.”
“Anyway, I was killing time. Someone brought up my recent ad campaign, so I mentioned an opportunity to do a little local promo for the Pershing School. I asked if anyone was interested.”
“Putting in a good word for Marisa?” Cole asked sardonically.
There was laughter in Jordan’s eyes. “Well, I knew you didn’t want to volunteer. And you’d have my head on a platter if I did the fund-raiser.”
“Good call.”
“But I felt bad for her, to be honest. She was even willing to tangle with you in order to find a celebrity.”
“She knows what she’s doing.”
“She seems like a good sort these days. Or at least her cause is a good one.”
“Right.” Whose side was his brother on?
“Anyway, you remember Jenkins? He graduated a couple of years after you did and played in the minors for a while?”
“Yeah?”
“He said the rumor was that JM Construction had the inside track on building the gym. So he thought it was curious I was mentioning the school fund-raiser to the Razors. He indicated it was mighty magnanimous of me to try to find a recruit for JM’s cause.”
