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“No deal.” Logan stands to leave and fastens his suit jacket with one hand. “Mads, we’re leaving.”
A deep chuckle breaks free. “Is he always like this?” Sterling asks me.
I open my mouth, wondering if I should apologize on Logan’s behalf. But I’m not his minder. He’s a grown man and if he wants to stuff up this deal by being a rude jerk, that’s up to him.
“Mads,” Logan growls.
I smile politely at Sterling as I push my chair back. “It was nice meeting you.”
Sterling dips his chin and smiles. Then he looks back at Logan. “Sit back down and have a drink with me and I’ll give you the sixty.”
“You want us both to sit again, then the price just went to sixty-five,” Logan growls.
I bite back my gasp as I look between the two men.
There’s silence for a few seconds, then Sterling throws his head back and laughs, slapping a hand on his thigh. “You’re like your father.”
“Thank you.”
Logan places his hand on my lower back, ready to lead me away. Electricity fires across my skin.
“Sixty-five,” Sterling muses, his eyes twinkling as he watches Logan’s stiff posture. “Okay… We’ve got a deal.”
I let out the breath I’m holding. He’s talking about sixty-fivemillion. And judging from the absence of sweat on his brow, it’s mere pocket change to him.
Wow.
Logan’s fingers flex against my lower back, and I gulp as he stares at Sterling, now on his feet, standing and waiting.
Take the deal.I wish I could slap Logan around the head for being such a rude jerk. Here he is, being given the opportunity to boost Vex’s fund, and he’s deathly still, except for the subtle movement of his thumb smoothing over my blouse at the base of my spine.
I swear they must be able to hear my pulse thundering in my veins from the tension swirling around us.
After a long pause, Logan turns back to the table and tips his chin at my abandoned chair. “Sit.”
I comply, my eyes shifting back and forth between the two men. He pushes the chair in for me, his eyes fixed on Sterling.
He takes his seat next to me as Sterling sits back down too, his eyes staying on Logan.
Then the meeting continues. Logan slips back into business mode, relaxing more as they discuss the project. He no longer looks like he’s about to burst a blood vessel. And Sterling seems genuinely excited about it. He’s a nice guy. He asks me about sightseeing in Milan, and I tell him where I went and what was my favorite—Teatro alla Scala.
By the time we leave, it’s as if nothing ever happened.
Chapter 8
Logan
Irollmyneck,groaning as it cracks and brings some release to the stirrings of a headache threatening to form. The meeting with Sterling was a success. But I can’t enjoy the moment. My mind keeps skipping back to Dad. I spoke to him this morning before we checked out in Milan. He’s still adamant that Gabrielle and I marry. She’s back in London now. And Mum’s still arguing with Dad and sounding angrier with him each time I speak to her. Now, I’m equal parts scared that Dad’s going mad and equal parts hoping that he is, because it will explain what the hell’s going on.
At least if this headache does come, I have no more meetings today. I can relax at the house and try and get hold of Gabrielle. Sort this out once and for all. Spencer won’t push her into a marriage she doesn’t want when she tells him it’s a no, right?
It’ll all be sorted by the end of the week.
“Why did you put the price up?” Maddy eyes me across the backseat.
“Sterling can afford it. He wouldn’t have paid if he couldn’t.”
Her lips part, and she stares at me, wide-eyed. “That doesn’t answer my question. Twenty-five million is a hell of a lot of money to increase the offer by on a whim.”
