Endless Love: Novella (Elite Heirs of Manhattan #6)

6. Lucian

6

LUCIAN

I vy’s arms were still folded, her now steely eyes narrowed, and I was almost knocked sideways at how insanely hot she was. That no-nonsense, take-no-shit-from-anybody attitude was one of the things that had made me fall for her in the first place.

Miles dropped into a leather armchair while Ivy perched gracefully on the corner of Ari’s enormous desk as I closed the doors to Ari’s study, leaving the three of us in relative seclusion.

“Tell us,” I encouraged Miles, sitting in the chair facing him. He was miserable, slouching, one elbow propped on the chair’s arm so he could hold his head up on his palm. “What happened? What do you need?”

“As you know, Spencer and I have been working together to patent a new device,” he explained. I couldn’t help but notice how defeated he sounded now. There was relief there, too, like he was glad he could drop the act and admit there was a problem.

He sighed, raking his fingers through his blond hair, letting his hand drop. “We have a competitor in California, someone Spencer used to work with years ago when he first got into the tech field. Damian Fields. He’s a real piece of shit, the sort of guy who throws money at a team already on the verge of making a breakthrough, then claims that breakthrough as his own.”

“That’s a pretty common class of person,” Ivy pointed out.

“He’s also the kind of wanker who would stab a competitor in the back if it meant getting the jump on a patent, which is exactly what he’s doing now,” Miles continued with a snarl. “The son of a bitch has dug through my life, looking for something he can use to discredit me. And I’m afraid he’s found it.”

Now Ivy shifted slightly. She was uncomfortable, like me, and probably wished she hadn’t demanded an explanation.

“What is it?” I pressed.

“I’m not proud of a lot of what I did in my youth.” He let out a bitter laugh while his lip curled in a sneer. “That’s putting it mildly. I couldn’t have imagined where I would end up, let’s put it that way. I would have done a lot of things differently.”

Right away, my mind went back to the first night he’d hung out with us when we watched him beat the shit out of a guy for getting aggressive with Aria. He didn’t throw a punch like an amateur. I hadn’t given it much thought until now when I wondered how much fighting a guy had to do to become that efficiently brutal.

He looked Ivy’s way, frowning. “Like I said, I’m not proud. Aria knows about most of it, but not everything. I would appreciate it if you kept this from her, only sharing it when the time is right. I plan to tell her after the wedding.”

Ivy’s mouth fell open. “Hang on. That’s not fair. If this is the kind of thing you don’t want to tell her until after you’re married, maybe she deserves to know now.”

“Poison…” I whispered with a sinking heart. She had a point, sadly, though her blunt delivery lacked tact.

It hit him hard, making his features pinch together like he was in pain. “She’s already dealing with the fire. All I want is for her to have the day she’s always dreamed of. She doesn’t need this.”

“What is this?” I asked. “What is it she doesn’t need?”

“It’s bound to come out soon in the media. Which is why I wanted to talk to you,” he explained. I watched as he tried to pull himself together, sitting up straight and pushing his hair back from his forehead. “I’m not asking for a cover-up, mind you. But I know damn well what he’s going to put out there. His twisted version of the truth.”

After he took a deep breath, he said, “When I was sixteen, I was in a pub in London. Back then, I was always looking for another reason to fight. I was pissed off all the time, wanting to take it out on somebody. I didn’t like the way one of the lads was looking at me. He was posh, and I was anything but. I was raised to hate people like him.” He slid an almost guilty look my way, one I instantly understood. He was raised to hate people like me.

He cleared his throat, then continued, “When he made the mistake of looking at me again, I charged at him and got in his face. Asked him what his fucking problem was. He threw the first punch.” He made a point of telling us, looking back and forth like he wanted to be sure we believed him. “Not that I wouldn’t have if he didn’t beat me to it.”

A lengthy pause followed. I was on the edge of my seat, and Ivy wasn’t much better, her eyes glued to Miles while we waited. “The thing was…” he continued, “… he was practically blind drunk. The force of his swing made him lose his balance. He smashed his head against the edge of the bar when he fell.”

“Jesus,” Ivy whispered, covering her mouth with a trembling hand.

“I already had a record by then,” Miles continued. “Fighting, minor vandalism. And I did start things according to the witnesses who spoke to the police. There was never any full agreement on whether or not I threw the first punch, but everyone agreed none of it would’ve happened if it weren’t for me charging him the way I did. I paid a lot of money for legal counsel to have my record expunged, but money can also be used to hire investigators.”

“So this Damian guy dug up the story?” I asked, wincing when Miles nodded.

“What happened to him?” Ivy asked in a tight voice. “The guy who fell.”

Miles stared down at the hands now resting in his lap. “He suffered a traumatic brain injury. He was studying medicine,” he explained in a heavy voice. “He’s never walked again. He’s only regained the ability to speak a few words. He needs constant care around the clock.”

“Fuck, man.” I sighed. What was there to say? “So Damian is going to use this against you to get the edge? Do you know when he plans on getting started?”

It could’ve been a trick of the light streaming through the window, but he looked a little green. “For all I know, the ball is already in motion. The story as he plans to tell it, of course, is about how I was a young punk who destroyed the brilliant future of a smart, ambitious young man who is now little better than a vegetable. It’ll cause a scandal, naturally. My financial backers will vanish. He’ll swoop in and claim the patent and make a mint. At least, that’s what we’re assuming.”

“And I guess that’s what Spencer was on the phone about this morning?” I asked. “The two of you looked pretty pissed off when he came down.”

“He has people with their ears to the ground, watching and listening. His team out in Silicon Valley is working their asses off to pull everything together for the patent, but they’re afraid it won’t be fast enough, and then there’s the possibility this asshole already got to one of the team members and is paying for info. He has the money to offer just about anything,” he concluded, his anger and accent clipped the words until they were sharp as knives.

“He sounds like a real supervillain.” Ivy winced as soon as the words were out of her mouth. “Sorry.”

Miles only chuckled as he nodded slowly. “You’re not wrong. The worst part is…” he shifted in the chair, uncomfortable, “… the contact Spencer spoke to earlier this morning reported at least one of Damian’s associates was spotted in the Hamptons recently. Some thug on the payroll. Naturally, we’re concerned he’s been watching.”

“Watching for what?” I asked.

“That’s the thing. We don’t know. We only know there’s no reason for him to be out here unless it’s to gain further leverage against me.” He sounded sick and with plenty of reason to. I couldn’t imagine having something like this hanging over my head two days before my wedding, worrying my fiancée would find out.

I looked toward Ivy, who now wore an expression I easily recognized. “You’re already coming up with a plan, aren’t you?” I asked.

“What do you think? Of course, I am.” She chewed her lip, tapping her nails against the edge of the desk she sat on. “Sympathy. We’re going to drum up sympathy.”

“How?” Miles asked, exchanging a glance with me.

“There have been articles posted online about the fire at the store.” Her brow wrinkled in concentration, eyes narrowed, and I had to wonder if she had any idea how absolutely captivating she was.

There was nothing as hot as the sight of her using her incredible brain. All I could do was sit back and let her work her magic.

She pushed away from the desk, pacing in tight circles in front of it. “We share those articles across all of our social media accounts,” she suggested, talking more to herself than us. “We make sure to tag Miles or at least mention his name along with the others. This wedding has already gotten a ton of press coverage. We can play up this little plot twist as a tragedy but an opportunity for love to triumph. The wedding party keeping a stiff upper lip and all that. How nothing can get in the way of true love… I mean, look at this young man who clawed his way to the top despite the odds being against him. If a poor boy from London can find true love with a Manhattan princess, anything is possible.”

“We’ll beat them to the punch,” Miles summed up. “I like it. I like the way you think.”

“It’s sort of my job to understand what people respond to,” she pointed out with a small smile. “I want us to do everything we can to help things go smoothly.”

“And I’ll have team members set up Google alerts on your name,” I assured him. “Their entire purpose for the next few days is to watch for anything having to do with you being shared online. We’ll do everything in our power to drown Damian’s shit out with all this goodwill we’re drumming up.”

He released a long breath, almost deflating like a balloon. “You have no idea what it means to hear you say that. Thank you both so much. I won’t pretend you’re doing this for me. I know it’s for Aria and Valentina and everyone else. Making sure things are set for the wedding. But I’m still grateful.”

“Let Spencer know we’re on it,” I told him, standing, shaking his hand, and patting his shoulder. “And for fuck’s sake, try to compartmentalize a little better.”

Ivy nodded sagely, her ponytail swinging. “You have a terrible poker face.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he replied with a smirk. “I always thought I did, but I’ve never been in a position like this. Thank you. Thank you for keeping this between us. I promise you, Aria will know soon enough about this. Not yet, though. She doesn’t need one more thing weighing on her mind.”

I noticed the way Ivy stayed quiet, the way her frown deepened. Silence spread between us for a few moments after Miles went out to join the group.

Finally, she groaned, spreading her arms in a helpless shrug. “I don’t feel good about this. I’m sorry, but I don’t.”

“You don’t believe him?”

I was glad when she shook her head. “It’s not that. I’m sure he was telling the truth, and the whole thing was an accident. I know how cutthroat business can get too. It’s Aria I’m worried about. She deserves to know about this.”

“And she will.”

“Right. Not until after the wedding. It feels… well, it feels icky,” she concluded. “Like we’re tricking her somehow.”

“I don’t think it’s that serious. But if you don’t feel right about it, I’ll handle things.” Wrapping my arms around her, I added, “All we’re doing is making sure nothing else goes wrong this weekend. Aria doesn’t need to know about this right now. It would only be one more thing to get in the way of celebrating.”

“Just like a man.” There was a lot of love in the way she said it, but more than a little exasperation too. “You think you’re protecting us at times like this. You might know Aria better than I do, but I’m a woman like she is. I’d resent having the truth kept from me like I’m being patronized.”

When she put it that way, I understood. “Let her and Miles work it out for themselves,” I decided, kissing her forehead. “We have to trust them.”

“Fine. I will,” she said. “I hope if all of this is true and that guy did send some thug out here, they aren’t going to cause trouble.”

“Let’s try not to worry about it,” I urged, staring out the window over the top of her head. That was easier said than done now that my imagination was running away with me.

Was I being paranoid… or did it seem like too big of a coincidence for the store to burn down when it did?