Chapter 14
DEJA
For the first twenty or so years of my life, my brother had been a pretty rational, measured human being. We’d grown up surrounded by wealth and opulence, but Khaled had never let it get to his head. He’d lived frugally, at least by our family’s standards, and he’d given more than he’d spent.
All that had changed when he’d met Ashanti.
While neither of them were wasteful, he liked her to have absolutely anything she wanted and she truly enjoyed spending his money.
She swiped that black card to her heart’s content, using it so much that I eventually started worrying that it was going to melt.
By noon, I was carrying so many designer shopping bags that I could easily qualify as a pack mule, and while I usually enjoyed a bit of shopping, this was pretty extreme—and entirely Ashanti’s fault.
Since she’d refused to take no for an answer, I’d spent a fair amount of my brother’s money right along with her, sporting a fresh mani-pedi, a blowout, and at least three bags hanging from each arm.
To be fair though, as soon as I’d realized that resistance was futile, I’d happily let myself be pampered on my brother’s dime.
“You’re spoiled,” I said as we left yet another designer store. “I’ve never met anyone who can shop the way you do.”
She smirked. “I’m not spoiled. I’m adored. Besides, we deserve this.”
“Do we?” I asked, trying my best not to laugh. “What exactly do you think we’ve done to earn it?”
“Well, you might not have done much, but I have.” She winked. “There’s this thing Khaled likes?—”
“Nope,” I said immediately, grimacing as I cut her off. “I do not need to know and I don’t want to.”
She let out a dramatic sigh as we weaved our way between passersby on the sidewalk, the sheer amount of bags she was carrying sometimes even making it difficult to find a way around people without stepping into the street.
It was still a beautiful day though, despite both of us perhaps having overindulged a bit.
The sky above was impossibly blue and sunshine reflected in the glass windows of all the ridiculous boutiques around us. I let out a content sigh, feeling a little guilty about what we’d put my brother’s card through, but not so much that I was about to let it steal my joy.
“I think this might officially be my happy place.”
She turned to smile at me, peering into my eyes over the frames of her giant new sunglasses. “See? We needed this. Both of us.”
“Yeah, but I hope you’re happy,” I said. “Khaled is going to kill us when he gets his next credit card statement and we haven’t even eaten yet.”
“Let me worry about him,” she said cheerfully. “And stop complaining about food. We’re on our way to lunch. You’ll survive for a few more minutes.”
“I might actually not,” I replied. “You made me skip breakfast.”
“It would’ve taken too long. My mom can’t handle the kids alone for a whole day, so we had to make hay while the sun shines. You know how it goes.”
“Do I?”
She laughed. “Well, you’re learning, anyway.”
Ashanti suddenly stopped walking, looked up, then started skirting toward one of the towering skyscrapers lining the block. Without explanation, she headed straight for the doors of the tall building.
“Where are we going now?” I asked. “Please tell me there’s not another designer store hidden up there somewhere.”
“Nope, there’s nothing up there for us but a restaurant,” She pulled off her sunglasses after a doorman had let us in, but strangely, she seemed a little nervous all of a sudden. “God, this is fancier than I thought. I’ve never actually been in here before.”
I looked around as we crossed the marble floors of the lobby, taking in the chandeliers, the tasteful furniture, and even the gorgeous arrays of flower arrangements sitting in vases all over. “Yeah, it’s a pretty strange place for lunch.”
“It’s not,” she objected, pressing the button for the elevator when we reached it. “This is home to one of the most exclusive clubs in Chicago, I’ll have you know. Only people like your dad and Alex Westwood even have access to it.”
“What about Colin Thayer?” I asked before I could stop myself.
Her dark eyes glittered with amusement just as the low ding of the elevator arriving rang out. “He might be a member on account of being a Thayer and all, but they might’ve had their memberships revoked in the wake of the scandal. I honestly don’t know.”
I nodded slowly, climbing into the elevator as it dawned on me how much further the consequences of their father’s actions had probably stretched. Back home, we held memberships to a lot of exclusive clubs, and while they were all fine, I preferred street food.
Yet, to have those memberships revoked…
It wouldn’t even matter that I rarely visited those places. It would still feel terrible to know I’d been shut out.
As the elevator ascended, I found myself wondering what other ramifications there had been. Just how heavy is the weight they’re still carrying?
A few seconds later, the doors opened and I set my thoughts aside. I didn’t particularly feel like explaining my budding feelings for Colin just yet, and since it was only Ashanti and me today, she would definitely notice if I kept being distracted by him.
We stepped out of the elevator together, faced with an elegant restaurant entrance only a few feet away. Strangely, when Ashanti gave our names to the hostess, we were on her list.
I sighed, suddenly back to feeling like even our shopping spree had been part of whatever conspiracy had been brewing, but curiosity got the better of me, so I followed them through the main dining room, my hackles already rising.
The view from up here was amazing. Floor-to-ceiling windows provided a vista of the entire Chicago skyline and even the lake glittered in the distance. As soon as the hostess opened the door to a private room at the back, however, I forgot all about the gorgeous view.
A group of people were already gathered around the table inside and I knew almost all of them. While I’d thought it would only be Ashanti and me for lunch, Alex, Khaled, and my father were here, along with a guy I didn’t recognize—and Colin.
When the door opened, he looked up, straight at me, and a spark of electricity raced down my spine when our eyes met. For a second, I didn’t even care that I’d obviously just walked into a trap. Colin was here with me and I had a feeling we would be facing whatever this was together.
That helped.
A little bit.
As soon as I stepped into the actual room, Colin stood so abruptly that his chair nearly tipped over, pulling out the seat beside himself for me in the very same motion. Khaled rose as well, his entire face lighting up when Ashanti started moving toward him.
There were many powerful men in the world and my brother was certainly one of them, but he never seemed concerned about dignity or decorum when it came to his wife.
She walked right into his arms, planting a passionate kiss on his lips before taking a small step back to show him her loot. “What do you think?”
He beamed at her. “I think you’re perfect.”
“I think those bags she’s holding brings you one step closer to financial devastation, but okay,” I said as I took the seat beside Colin.
Khaled, meanwhile, glanced at the mountain of shopping bags, then rolled his eyes at me. “When I gave her the card, I intended for you two to use it.”
“Well, we definitely did that.”
He chuckled and pulled out a chair for her in turn. “I fail to see the problem.”
“That’s probably because you haven’t seen the statement yet.”
“Maybe not, but I do get the notifications whenever it gets swiped,” he said. “As long as you girls had fun, I’m happy.”
“We had the best time,” Ashanti gushed, raking over one of her bags to start showing him some of her purchases.
As they bent their heads together, I noticed a little smile on my father’s face, but Colin looked pale.
The men seemed to have already eaten, but his food sat untouched on the plate in front of him.
He also didn’t even seem to be aware of Ashanti when she launched into a detailed account of our shopping spree, leaning in to murmur to me instead. “Have you eaten yet?”
“Nope,” I replied just as quietly. “I was kidnapped before I could even have breakfast.”
Without another word, he slid his bowl of fruit toward me. “Here, have this. It should tide you over until we can get some real food into you.”
“What about you?” I asked. “It doesn’t look like you’ve eaten either.”
“I haven’t, but I’m fine. My appetite seems to have abandoned me.”
“Any particular reason?”
He shrugged. “Just business.”
“Right,” I said, but the tight expression on his face suggested the real answer was a lot more complicated than just that.
Before I could ask, he lifted a hand and waved over a waiter. The man appeared as if he materialized on command and I wondered then if Colin was still seen as someone important in this city.
It didn’t matter to me, but the waiter’s instant attention and the respect he showed Colin made me suspect the Thayers’ membership might not have been revoked.
I felt strangely relieved about that, knowing that despite everything else he’d been through, at least there were still some places where he could exist without constantly being reminded of his past.
“Can we get another menu?” he asked.
The waiter nodded and disappeared just as quickly as he’d arrived. Less than a minute later, I was studying my options while Colin quietly made recommendations. “Their French toast is good.”
“I already had that yesterday,” I murmured, still keeping my voice down even though everyone else was laughing at something Ashanti must’ve told them about our morning. “Who’s that?”
I inclined my chin toward the only stranger at the table and Colin’s cheeks flushed just the tiniest bit. “God, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. It just didn’t occur to me that you hadn’t met him yet. That’s Isaac, my brother.”
“Ah.” I smiled, looking over at the guy and immediately seeing the family resemblance. “You guys look a lot alike.”
Isaac’s hair was lighter, though. A dark blond as opposed to Colin’s rich brown. His eyes were different too, a crisp, clear blue instead of gray, but they had the same almost oval shaped faces and the same striking bone structure.
“How about the omelet?” Colin suggested, drawing my attention back to him. “They’ve also got a turkey sandwich that’s pretty famous.”
“It sounds like you come here often,” I commented lightly. “Ashanti mentioned that it’s an incredibly exclusive club.”
“It is, but I do actually come pretty regularly,” he replied. “A lot of meetings happen right here. No idea why, other than to prove that they can.”
“Of course.” I sent him a small smile. “What’s a meeting if not a pissing contest?”
He chuckled, and somehow, the rest of the room faded into the background. The conversations around the table and even the skyline beyond the windows became blurry and insignificant, and suddenly, it was just Colin and me existing in our own little bubble of calm.
“What about the eggs Benedict?” I asked, glancing up from the menu again. “I’m between that and the smoked salmon platter.”
Colin opened his mouth, but before he could get a word out, someone cleared their throat loudly, and when I looked up, my father had risen from his seat. He lifted a champagne flute, prompting a flurry of waiters to appear with bottles, filling glasses around the table.
Colin visibly stiffened at my side, his spine snapping straight so suddenly that I felt it happen. I frowned. That feeling of dread I’d been having intermittently since we’d gone to dinner at Jane and Alex’s spread through my veins like wildfire.
I wasn’t sure whether it was just an instinctive reaction to the discomfort of the man I was definitely taken with, but it suddenly felt like he and I were right on the edge of a precipice, only moments away from being pushed right over.
“Ladies, thank you for joining us,” my father said once everyone had champagne in front of them and the waiters had once again vanished into thin air.
“I would like to raise a toast to all of you, everyone here who has been working together on making this happen. Here’s to new partnerships and the promise of a long and prosperous future for GlobalStar and Thayer Steelworks, and with Colin in particular. ”
As I watched my father sip his champagne and sit back down, the conspiracy shattered and I suddenly realized exactly what was going on here. Around the table, glasses clinked. Alex and Khaled both smirked like they’d just achieved world domination, but I couldn’t bring myself to move.
For a long time, I just sat there, staring at the man who’d obviously decided to follow an age-old tradition without telling me. Finally, I turned to look at Colin, but he was already looking at me.
Dad smiled at us. “Once you’re done eating, Colin and I need to have a conversation. Alone.”
The urge to reach out and grip Colin’s thigh under the table in silent solidarity was strong, but I didn’t do it, not wanting to give my father another excuse to start fuming.
Colin inhaled slowly after he nodded, then rolled his shoulders like a man preparing for battle.
In many ways, however, he was exactly that.