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Wow. I really do wear my heart on my sleeve.
“Who was that man?” I ask.
He takes a seat next to me. “That’s the man who plans on walking away with the investors. Mikhail’s competition.”
I’m talking to people who are all sorts of wrong tonight. “That makes sense,” I admit.
“What do you mean?”
“He was just looking at me funny. And then when I introduced myself to his wife, she got really weird when she heard my name. Do you think she would have tried to trap me into giving her information about Mikhail?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe. They both need this property.”
“But Mikhail will get it, right? He has more money than Ace.”
“Ace?”
“Yeah.” I ponder. “That man?”
“He told you his name is Ace?” Lev’s eyebrows pinch together, creating creases on his forehead.
“Yeah?”
He shakes his head. “It doesn’t only come down to who has more money. It’s about trust. It’s about who will run the franchise more effectively.”
Thank God I didn’t drink. It would have only made this night more intense.
CHAPTER27
MIKHAIL
Itell Eric all the plans I have for his business, and he couldn’t be more pleased. Which is as I hoped. After all, Eric is the most important person to convince. Kevin and Jared are easily influenced by their brother’s decisions, so this’ll work out in my favor.
As I’m walking over to them, Adrian walks up to me, cutting me off. “Giovanni is here,” he says quickly. “He spoke with Sloane. He knows who she is.”
Well, shit.
I knew he’d be here tonight, but I didn’t think he’d get to her this quickly. I wanted to be present when he saw her. I wanted to be able to see his eyes widen and his jaw drop as if it were playing out in slow motion. To see who his sister is and come to the realization he will never have the privilege of knowing her.
He’ll never know how spirited she can be when she talks back. How much her words can mean to a person or even how her smile can make you feel like you’ve accomplished an impossible task.
I think about how their encounter must have gone. Sloane isn’t stupid—she’s heard the name from Max before. But Giovanni wouldn’t out himself to her off the bat. He wants to go about this the right way, just like I did.
Sloane didn’t just fall right into my arms; I had Lev working with Sloane’s father to get a better idea of the situation. Once he left her house, he told me where her brother would be taking her. While she was still asleep, I had Lev go back and get her clothes. Her father bombarded him with questions, but he knew not to take it too far—no matter how much he loves his daughter.
Seeing her in person for the first time felt like a breath of fresh air.
I could see the fear in her eyes, but that fear doesn’t exist anymore. She looks more ... captivated now.
“She knows his name and didn’t question anything?” I ask.
“Lev texted me. He told her his name was Ace.”
“Ace?” I laugh. Of course he’d use that as his alias. He doesn’t know if her father’s told her about him yet.
“She’s with Lev now,” he tells me.
My eyes gaze across the room trying to find Giovanni, but instead I see Sloane talking with Kevin and Jared. “No, she’s not.”
