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“No. I was banished from bath duty and nighttime reading tonight.” He hangs his head low and shakes it. “The estrogen level in my house is too high. They’re ganging up on me, little brother. I’m losing the battle.”
I laugh.
He joins me.
“Had I known, I would’ve dropped by. It’s not too late. I can be there in five with some beer or something stronger.” I lift my tumbler.
He laughs. “Don’t feel too sorry for me. I wouldn’t change anything in the world. I love my girls and I love my life.”
My brother has officially hung up his bad boy boxing gloves. He’s so domesticated now.
“Are you going to tell me why you wanted to come by, or are you going to keep beating around the bush?” he asks.
“I have a problem.”
His eyes widen in surprise. “Rhys isn’t making any headway in Vietnam?”
I’ve been putting off talking to Rhys about Arianne, but I’m going to have to fess up.
“That’s not it. The workers went back to work. The strike is over—management saw to it. I’ll get the full briefing when Rhys comes back next week. He’s in South Korea right now, looking for backup manufacturers, just in case this happens again.”
“It makes sense,” Holt says. “What’s troubling you?”
I rub my hand over my face.
“Beckett, what’s going on?”
“I just got back from Germany—”
“Oh yeah, how did that go?”
“It was worth my time.”
“I still can’t believe people are willing to fork out that kind of money for headphones,” Holt says.
“Trust me, you have to see it to believe it. Those beauties are a work of art. Even though Rhys and me don’t have any plans to produce a six-figure headphone, there’s a lot I can borrow from Sennheiser and apply to SCORE—things that aren’t obvious from the outside.”
“Excellent! How was it for Arianne?”
“She got a lot out of it as well. She swears she already has a plan she’s perfecting that will explode our sales and set us apart from our competitors—including Sennheiser.”
“That’s incredible! She hasn’t been at SCORE long and already she’s hitting it out of the park.”
“She’s a go-getter.”
“She sounds like it. Did you know any of the attendees?”
“The guys from Cello2Cello were there. So was Gage. I didn’t know anybody else, but I made some great contacts.”
“I’m surprised Jagger didn’t mention anything. Bree is so die hard about keeping up with celebrity news affecting her uncles.”
I laugh. “Most of the coverage was in the business and life sections because of the prohibitive price tag of those headphones and because Sennheiser was making history.”
“I see.”
“Arianne’s dress made the fashion and style sections, though. Fashion bloggers adore her. The press dubbed her, Holy Chic in red. Her dress was exquisite. She was equally breathtaking on the closing night in a stunning emerald showstopper—”
Holt squints at me.
