Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
TONY
Michael made excellent coffee. He’d picked up the secret the last time we’d gone to Italy with the family. He tried to show me a few times, but I was always in too much of a hurry to do it the right way.
Today, my brother wouldn’t let me do anything but sit at his kitchen table and wait for his perfect coffee.
It was all I had the stomach for, really.
I didn’t have much of an appetite. Why did I let myself get fooled yet again?
Was I really that desperate that I was blind to younger men seeing me only for my money?
I either needed to find someone closer to my own age with a stable job or give up and get back on Grindr. I shuddered at the idea of random hookups.
I’d done that in my twenties. I didn’t want to go back to it.
I took a sip of the coffee and hummed in appreciation. “This is really good, Michael.”
He sat across the table from me with his own cup. “Thank you,” he said with a smile. “I’m glad you slept late. You needed it.”
I wouldn’t necessarily call what I did all night sleep, but Michael didn’t need to know that. “Yeah. I should probably check in with the private detail people…”
My brother was already shaking his head. “Already done.” He leveled a glare at me. “You’re not the only one who runs this company, Tony. You’re allowed to take a break.”
I opened my mouth to say, I don’t know what, when Michael’s phone pinged with a notification. He looked at the screen and his eyebrows rose to his hairline. “What is it?” I asked.
He slid his phone across the table to me. “My search picked up Scott Bradley at the Ft Lauderdale airport.”
“No shit! That’s one arrogant little asshole.”
Scott Bradley had been on the run since he’d run down our friend Zach’s sister with his car last April. She’d died, leaving behind a four-year-old son whose dad was in prison. Scott had left the country, but apparently, he’d decided it was safe for him to come back.
Michael rose. “I’ll have to run this through my facial recognition software. It looks like he dyed his hair dark brown.”
“Keep me posted,” I said.
My brother turned to face me. “I will keep you posted, but I’m running the show for this one. You need a break.”
“Hold on,” I objected. “I’m not sick. I just dumped a cheating asshole.”
He blew out a frustrated breath. “Tony, the last time you stayed in bed past noon, you had the flu. It’s okay to be hurt. Luke lied to you about things that were precious to you.”
“I can’t lie around bitching and moaning forever,” I retorted. “I have a business to run.”
Michael’s brows drew together in a deep frown. “We have a business to run. You’re allowed to take a moment to breathe.” His expression softened. “You’re always taking care of us. Let me take care of you for once.”
My eyes burned and my throat felt tight. “When did you get so bossy?”
He scoffed. “Between you and Marco, I had to for self-preservation.”
I snorted a laugh. It was true. “But if I’m busy, I won’t have time to think about it.”
Michael sighed and returned to his seat. “Maybe you need to take time to think about it. Maybe you can use this opportunity to step back and look at what you really want in a partner instead of trying to find a new one right away.”
I bristled, ready to object, and then deflated. He wasn’t wrong. “Fine,” I grumbled. I waved a hand in the direction of his office. “Go do your computer thing.”
After he left, I wandered into the living room where the floor-to-ceiling windows offered a fantastic view of Manhattan.
I let my gaze wander across the rooftops to the Empire State Building, its familiar silhouette comforting.
Michael was right. I did tend to jump into relationships quickly after a breakup.
I’d been doing it for the past five years or so.
If I were being honest with myself, I knew it was because I was approaching the dreaded forty.
Realistically, I knew it wasn’t that old, but it felt like I was reaching some kind of expiration date.
The older I got, the harder it was to tell whether the man or woman I was dating was into me or my money.
I’d thought Luke and I would work out. I was beginning to think I was a blind idiot.
I stared out the twentieth-floor window, watching the tiny cars inch along the streets of Midtown.
What was I doing wrong? What could I do differently?
Did I need to find a matchmaker? I shook my head at that notion.
No way was I leaving that decision up to some stranger.
I would do what my brother suggested and take a break from dating until I could get my head on straight.
I was still staring out the window when Michael came out of his office with his tablet in hand. “It’s him,” he said.
I turned to face him. “Excellent. We can finally get that asshole put in prison where he belongs.”
Michael snorted. “If you asked Marco, Gabe, or Nico, they’d say he should be under the prison.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. Wrangling two ex-Navy SEALs and an ex-con with a grieving son required infinite amounts of patience. “No one is putting Scott Bradley under the prison.”
Michael rolled his eyes. “Settle down, big brother. No one is going to murder him, as much as he deserves it. I called our PI contact in Florida, and as long as you’re okay with it, I’ll put her on the case. She’ll get his exact location and his habits.”
I nodded. “That’s fine. She’s a good PI.”
He tapped something on his tablet and went on. “I talked to Marco about it, and he’s handing the whole thing over to Gabe. He’s planning to propose to Liam this week on a boat under the stars, so he won’t be available for an op.”
I sucked in a breath. I’d forgotten about that. It stung a little that my younger brother was going to get married before I did. “That’s fine. I’m sure Gabe will do a good job.”
“Did you want to call him now or tell him tomorrow at Liam’s party?” Michael asked.
Fuck. I’d forgotten about Liam’s thirtieth birthday party. I thought about going for all of two seconds. Nope. I couldn’t do it. “You tell him tomorrow. I’m gonna have to take a raincheck on the party. I’ll give you my gift to take with you. I wouldn’t be good company.”
Michael’s brow furrowed in concern. “Are you sure? It might be good for you to hang out with our friends.”
I shook my head. “I can’t, Michael. It’ll be all couples except you and me.”
“And Dante,” he added.
I huffed a frustrated breath. “And Dante. I don’t think I can handle being around all those loved-up people.”
My brother looked like he wanted to argue with me, but then he sighed. “I get it. I’m sorry, Tony. Do you want me to stay here with you?”
“No way,” I replied with a shake of my head. “Don’t miss the party because of me.”
“But I don’t want you to be alone,” he objected.
“I’m a big boy, Michael. I’ll be fine. I’ll go to a show or something.”
He huffed a frustrated breath. “Fine. But you’re not going to sit around moping on a Saturday night. Tonight, I’m taking you to a piano bar that recently reopened in the Village. It’s a gay bar, so it should be fabulous.”
I glared at him. “I’m not going to try to hook up with some random in a bar.”
“I never said you should,” he retorted. “Just come out with me and enjoy an evening of music and drinks.”
“Fine,” I growled. “But you better feed me first. I hate bar food.”
“It’s a deal.”