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Perhaps it was petty of him, but as soon as the notification came through, he let his secretary know to have any visitors wait until he gave the all-clear for them to come up. Adrian would see it for the power play it was, but it made him feel marginally more in control of the situation.
Sure enough, ten minutes later, he received a message from Katelyn letting him know Adrian had arrived. He gave it a solid half hour before having his brother escorted up to a conference room.
Another power play, but judging by the flicker of annoyance over Adrian’s face, this one hit home.You aren’t worthy of my inner sanctum. You are nothing more than a mild inconvenience.
“Thank you, Katelyn. That will be all.” He dismissed her without bothering to wait for her to offer refreshments, another subtle dig at the unimportance of this meeting.
Adrian didn’t need to know that his heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might burst through his chest. Or that his stomach was in knots, waiting for the hammer to fall.
Doing his best to appear bored by the whole situation, Cyrus stood by the table, not even bothering to take a seat. “What brings you by, Adrian?”
“Business,” Adrian replied, his expression smoothing out once more into the deceptively charming mask he wore on a regular basis. “The family business, to be exact.”
“I am no longer involved in the family business.”
“So you’ve said, on multiple occasions.” The smirk on his brother’s face clearly said he didn’t believe Cyrus had gone completely straight. “But surely you can spare a little effort for your dear brother, can’t you?”
“What kind of effort?” Perhaps he should have cut him off right then. But the more he knew about what Adrian was up to, the more prepared he could be moving forward. And, if he was being a hundred percent honest with himself, his own curiosity had gotten the better of him. Mina was rubbing off on him, it seemed.
“The Guild is going to be overseeing trade negotiations with Antini, a small island nation off the coast of Africa, starting next week. I need those negotiations to fail.”
Biting back his knee-jerk refusal, Cyrus let his head tilt to the side as his mind raced to try and connect the dots. He was well aware of the upcoming negotiations; he just couldn’t fathom why they would interest his family. “And why would you want that? Establishing a relationship with Antini would be beneficial for the entire country. With Madagascar still out of commission from that hurricane, we are hurting for vanilla beans, and Antini can help ease some of that pain.”
“Exactly.” A cruel smile tugged at Adrian’s mouth. “Right now, vanilla is one of my most profitable imports. I have several clients who are able to stay ahead of their competition by paying me absurd amounts of money to smuggle Antini’s vanilla beans stateside. If we suddenly start trading openly with Antini, that line of business dries up. I can’t afford to have that happen, Cyrus.”
“Let me see if I have this right.” Fighting back the rage burning in his chest, Cyrus tugged at the sleeves of his suit jacket. “You expect me to sabotage trade negotiations that could infuse billions of dollars into our economy, simply to keep your bottom line in the black?”
“Yes.”
“And if I agree? What’s in it for me?”
Surprise flickered in his brother’s eyes. “Your new girl have expensive tastes?”
When Cyrus answered the question with nothing more than a raise of an eyebrow, Adrian chuckled. “You always did play it close to the vest. Ten million, deposited into an offshore account in your name as soon as it’s been publicly confirmed the negotiations have failed. Sound fair?”
“It might, if I was inclined to take it.” Letting his expression harden, Cyrus stepped forward, closing the distance between them. “Let me make this very clear for you,brother. My Guild is not here to serve you, or anyone else. We are here to serve the greater good of our country and the world. Do not contact me again.”
“You’re making a mistake.” Adrian’s voice was quiet, lethal, and fear prickled at the back of Cyrus’s neck.
“No, I’m not. Goodbye, Adrian.”
Their gazes met, held for what seemed like eternity before Adrian turned on his heel and strode from the office, his quiet fury radiating off him. Cyrus didn’t draw an easy breath until Katelyn’s message came through, confirming Adrian had left the premises.
He didn’t for one second believe that was the last he would be seeing of his brother. He’d won the first battle, but the war was still coming.
* * *
The best partabout spending the evenings with Cyrus was knowing that her goon squad would be off duty. Even now, standing on his front porch waiting for the door to open, she could feel their eyes on her. Watching her.
She didn’t think she’d ever get used to the feeling.
But then the door swung open and all thoughts of guards and watchful eyes vanished. He must have gotten home well before her, since he’d already rolled up the sleeves on his pale pink dress shirt and he was barefoot again.
Seriously. Why the hell was that so damn sexy?
“Ace.” Eyes dark with some unreadable emotion, he reached for her, pulling her through the doorway and into his arms. “I missed you.”
Without giving her a chance to answer, he lowered his lips to hers. Urgent, needy, as if he was worried she might vanish at any second.
