Chapter 5 #2
That wasn't true. To run Rosebank Capital Management, one had to be like their father.
A ruthless man who never took no for an answer, the type of men Gavin and their cousin Gaige already were.
Even as he gallivanted around the world with her mom, Grant Rosebank never took his eyes off the ball.
He was the type of man that could sit on the terraces of exclusive European restaurants and clink wine glasses with his wife all the while overseeing the acquisition of a new company and liquidating their assets all from the convenience of his phone.
But more importantly, the number one reason Ebony could never ever throw her hat in the ring for their family's company was very simple, her pure hatred for math.
It wasn't that she couldn’t do it, it was that she loathed its very existence. A life of constant statistics, projections, and billions of dollars on the line—no thanks.
"Don't worry, I'll make you my secretary." She patted him on the back.
Gavin's eyebrows shot up. "Good Lord, a secretary? Okay, boomer. We've left the fifties and I need you to get up with the times," he plucked an imaginary piece of lint off his shirt and gave her a haughty little sniff. "I would be an executive assistant thank you very much."
For the rest of the hour they talked, though most would call it bickering.
Since they were both weeks ahead in their class assignments, she put him to work planning some of the details for the college expo the school was hosting in a few months.
They were making calls when she looked up to see him staring at her profile.
The woman on the other end of her phone was explaining what materials the recruiter would bring and explain to the students but Ebony was hardly listening. Gavin's eyes were locked onto her, but not her eyes. The skin on her neck prickled with goosebumps as his eyes traced the curve of her nape.
Frowning at him, she caught his attention but he seemed unfazed by being caught.
Instead, he replied to the person on the phone asking for dates even as his eyes lingered on her.
Ebony's breath caught in her chest at the strange intensity in his gaze.
Why was he staring at her like that? Those splendent eyes of his were absorbing every ounce of her, drawing her in like an imploding star.
Finally looking down, Gavin wrote something on a sheet of paper and slid it across the table.
Agreeing to the woman on the phone, Ebony hung up and looked at the paper.
The tightness in her chest evaporated and her lips curled into a sneer.
On the paper was a simple drawing of a stick figure with a large circle for a head teetering on a short line, and beneath it, the words 'You have a small neck. '
Ebony moved fast, f than Gavin could react, and pinched him. Hard. Gavin laughed and defended himself with one hand as he held the phone with the other.
"Yes, I'm sorry, sir. I'm just experiencing a little bit of domestic violence," he laughed with a pained hiss on the phone as she pinched him again. "You know how it is. Yes—ouch—yes, we'll see you on the eighth. Thank you."
Hanging up, he let his phone drop to the table with a loud thud, giving him two hands to defend himself. Swiftly, he caught her hands into his and pulled her out of her chair and into the space between his legs, forcing her to sit on his thigh.
"Hey now, you can't injure me right before the tournament." His voice was low and gentle as if he was trying to soothe a wild horse which only made her fight his hold more.
His grip around her wrists tightened and his other arm settled around her waist, keeping her seated on his lap.
Annoyed with him, Ebony looked away. "I don’t have a big head," she grumbled, still thinking about his offensive drawing and remembering her mother's disapproving expression regarding her ponytail that morning.
Was that really why she didn't like it? Because her head looked huge and not because she considered it juvenile?
Beside her, Gavin let out a deep chuckle. "I didn’t say your head was big. I said your neck is small."
"That's the same...difference..." Her words trailed off when she met his gaze.
Gavin was staring at her neck. The small black pupils set within the arctic blue of his eyes fixed on her.
Unsure what to do under the intensity of his stare, Ebony pulled at her hands again and this time Gavin released her, allowing her to stand up. Beside her Gavin stood up too, brushing against her as he did.
He leaned over her shoulder, his breath tickling her ear, and she could hear the teasing grin in his voice as he spoke, "The tournament is in a few days. You know what that means, right?"
Ebony suppressed the shiver that ran through her at the warmth of his breath and the contrasting coolness of the room. She kept her eyes straight ahead as her shoulders sagged in defeat at the meaning of his words. She replied, her voice heavy with resignation. "The Feast of Flesh."
The Feast of Flesh of course was a pre-tournament ritual Gavin had made up years ago when his obsession with his body really started to take off.
A pure torture fest of nothing but protein and raw vegetables.
The few days leading up to every tournament were pure hell for her.
Mountains of fish, lentils, chicken, beef, and salad just sitting there waiting for her at every meal.
Not a carb in sight. Even the school lunch room staff was advised of the diet requirements for all members of the Taekwondo team giving them no respite from the protein hellscape.
It was finally the day of the tournament.
Four straight days of purgatory leading up to it but today it would all end—or she would end herself—Ebony thought sourly as she walked beside Gavin into the Stardust Martial Arts Center.
It was a large building that hosted all local martial arts tournaments and where she and Gavin had trained under Master Chun since they were in elementary school.
The large arena was crowded. Along the sides were bleachers for parents and students, all watching the ongoing matches. Right now, the junior division was performing. Broken into ten sections along the matted floors were coaches, judges, and referees guiding each match.
Brushing past a group of people, they made their way into one of the back rooms. Inside, the older students were lined up along each side of the room waiting to be weighed in.
Everyone was dressed in various degrees of their uniform.
The white doboks were mandatory. Some of the boys were just wearing their billowing pants and no shirts, showing off their muscles to the girls and other opponents while waiting at the last second to put on the wide-sleeved jackets.
But the one thing everyone had on was their belt, proudly showing off their color ranking.
Everyone except her. Ebony was the only one not wearing any part of their dobok. It was pointless at this stage. She would change after, the only thing on her mind right now the large scale in the front of the room the stern attendant lady was operating.
Ebony took a deep breath. This was the moment the four days of misery all came down to.
Behind her Gavin leaned over her shoulder and whispered. "You better not have snuck any cookies when I wasn't looking."
Ebony whipped around and gave him a look that could melt steel.
Gavin held up both hands in defense. "Hey, I'm on your side." Stepping closer to her, he flicked his gaze meaningfully across the room. "I hope to God you're under weight because that giant bitch Winifred is over there and I swear to all that is holy her quads are bigger than mine."
Ebony gave him a reproving look. "Don’t call her a bitch," she said, even as she snuck an anxious look across the room.
She inhaled sharply at the sight of Winifred.
Good Lord, he was right. Winifred Parker was the same age as Ebony and lived in Corpus Christi.
Winifred had also practiced martial arts since she was young but that was where the similarities between them ended.
Winifred was built like a rugby forward: thick, powerful, and built to crush bones.
Ebony could recall each and every time she had lost to Winifred in their tournaments and the accompanying bruises that took weeks to heal.
The last two times they fought was a few years ago and Ebony had scraped by with wins on speed alone.
She knew without a shred of doubt Winifred wanted a rematch—badly.
"Okay fine, how about the missing link?" he whispered, pouring a wealth of sarcasm into his words.
Ebony ignored him. She was too busy praying. She better be underweight or she was going to have to strap some horseshoes onto her ankles and pray she could knock the girl out first.
"Did you or didn't you follow the diet?" Gavin stressed, this time directly in her ear. She could feel his big body crowding her close as they stepped up in the line.
Around them, the room was clearing out as most people got their weight recorded and left to go hang out in the main area.
Fed up with him, Ebony threw him a warning look over her shoulder and whispered back. "Yes, dammit. Now leave me alone. You're making me nervous and pissing me off."
Gavin rested his hands on her shoulders and began to massage.
Pulling her backward until she bumped up against his chest, he let out a soft laugh, the sound vibrating through her.
"Don't worry, I highly doubt you two are in the same range.
And even if she is, I'll put a wig on and go fight the giant-"
Relaxing into his massage, Ebony let her head loll to the side, stretching out her neck. "Don't say anything mean," she reminded him.
"I'll go fight the girl—who I strongly suspect is juicing," he added with a grumble, "my damn self."
Ebony smirked at the mental image of that but the diversion didn't last long.
"Next," the sharp command of the attendant told her she was next.