18
Rowan
Cloud Eight Point Five
And Rowan ought to care about all of that, but all he could think was that Vivian wasn’t telling anyone about him.
Which wasn’t fair. She had only said that she was being discreet at work.
That made total sense. Who wanted to take a new relationship public in front of work acquaintances?
But he couldn’t help feeling like it was a sign that she wasn’t serious about him.
Only he wasn’t supposed to be being serious anyway. It was supposed to be a fling. Right?
His intercom buzzed.
“Hello, sir, your brother, Asher, is here to see you. Are you available?”
“Um, yeah, of course.”
Moments later, Ash came in. Rowan wondered if Ash grew his sandy hair long just to drive Rowan nuts. Half the time, he didn’t even tie it back properly. It was practically down to his shoulders. With his lanky frame and bespoke suits, it gave him a rogue businessman look.
“Hey,” said Ash, dropping into the guest chair and propping his feet up on Rowan’s desk.
Rowan eyed the feet, and Ash grinned impudently, waiting for a comment.
“Hey,” said Rowan, deciding not to rise to the bait. “What brings you all the way downtown?”
“Forest hired a nanny.”
“Oh, thank God,” said Rowan.
“Yeah, maybe,” said Ash. “He called me last night and told me he had to pick up his temp nanny and wanted me to stay with Olly at the house while he went to get her.”
“OK,” said Rowan. “I’m feeling like there’s something you’re worried about in there.”
“Remember when Forest was living overseas, and every pic on his socials was some girl with extra piercings and tattoos?”
“Yes? Wild child was his type. I’ve been relieved he grew out of that.”
“Yeah, the temporary nanny has purple hair and a nose ring. And even though that is not my type, I still thought she was fire on the smoking hot yoga instructor scale. And definitely not wearing a bra.”
“That is exactly who Forest would not want as a nanny,” said Rowan, frowning. “I looked at his ad for the position, and his requirements were... extensive.”
“I saw it too. He wants a PhD in child-rearing or something. It was ridiculous. I’m not saying get some rando off the street, but some of his stuff was absurd.”
“Well, there’s no rule that you can’t have a PhD and purple hair, and Forest has always been uptight as fuck about Olly’s care, so maybe there’s something we don’t know?”
“Maybe,” said Ash, “but I’m just officially telling you that I thought it was weird.”
“And what am I supposed to do about it?” asked Rowan with a laugh.
“Uh... pump him for information next time you talk.” Asher scooped up a pyramid of bulldog clips off Rowan’s desk and began to daisy-chain them together.
“You talk to him as much as I do,” said Rowan.
“Isn’t he handling your house and warehouse remodel?”
“His people are,” said Rowan with a shrug. “They’re doing a solid job, and I know he’s checking in on them, but he’s the CEO. I think the days of him personally overseeing anything are long gone.”
“Oh,” said Ash, looking disappointed. “I guess I just pictured him out there building things.”
“He has over two hundred employees and triple that in subcontractors,” said Rowan.
“Oh,” said Ash, now looking uncomfortable. “I only have three people working for me.” Rowan tried not to laugh. The Valkyrie competitive streak was a mile wide.
“And yet your net worth is about double both of ours,” said Rowan.
“It pays to invest. Speaking of which, want to toss in on one of my projects?”
“What’s the stake?” asked Rowan.
“Mmm, like a quarter mil if you can make it. You can do less, but for that amount, you’d be a primary stakeholder and tripling your money in a year.”
“I’m trying to renovate a warehouse,” said Rowan. “I can’t just move a quarter million around!”
“Well, think about it. I swear it’s going to go big, though. You should definitely put in something.”
“Research is not predictable,” said Rowan, quoting Ash back at himself. Ash stuck out his tongue. “You can’t really know how long it will take to get money back, can you?”
“I’ve been doing this for nearly a decade,” said Ash. “I’m getting better at predicting who is on the fast track. I’ll send you the prospectus for what’s coming up.”
“And I will look at it because the last time I invested in you, I got to retire from the Marines and start my own company.”
“You’re not investing in me,” snapped Ash, sounding annoyed. “You’re investing in technology start-ups.”
“That you, with your nearly a decade of experience, are vetting.”
Ash sighed grumpily.
“What’s up, bud?” asked Rowan, scrutinizing his baby brother. Asher hesitated, clacking the one of the bulldog clips to bite the air, but didn’t look up.
“Like I said, I’ve been doing this for a while.
I have piles of research on why I pick the projects I do, but a lot of people act like I’m some Magic Eight Ball.
Which is fine if I pick winners, but I don’t always.
Not because of a failure in the metrics but because sometimes...
shit happens. However, if I act goofy or say...
break up with my girlfriend, there are rumors that I’ve lost my touch. ”
“It’s a lot of pressure being a Magic Eight Ball.”
“Yeah, and it’s the kind of thing that can snowball. One wrong pick, act too funny, and suddenly, I can’t get investors. No investors on this project means no investors on the next one. Everyone says Asher’s lost his touch. Boom. Whole house of cards comes tumbling down.
“If you retired right now, are your finances secure?” asked Rowan.
“Yes, but that’s not the point!”
“The point is that you love what you do, but half of what you’re doing is sales, and that depends on a public persona that took a hit when you broke up with your perfect heiress girlfriend.”
“She wasn’t perfect,” growled Asher.
Rowan debated whether or not to keep his mouth shut. If it were anyone else, he probably would, but he hadn’t liked Emma, and he didn’t want her making a comeback.
“Far from perfect,” agreed Rowan, and Ash looked surprised. “She was a snob. She never liked Forest or me.”
Rowan knew his opinion counted for a lot with both his brothers, and he tried not to take advantage of that, but this felt worth it.
Ash was silent, and then he tossed the clips angrily back on the desk. “Sorry. I wish you’d said something.”
Rowan grabbed up his jacket and took it to the wardrobe to give himself something to do.
“We hadn’t been seeing much of each other, and it didn’t seem like you wanted to hear it.
But these days we’re all in the same city.
And with Olly around... I don’t know. Breakup aside, I liked hanging out with you guys the other night.
The whole point of locating Valkyrie here was that I would be closer to the two of you.
What do you think about doing the holidays together this year? ”
He adjusted the row of shoulder holsters, giving himself the time to straighten his face. The wardrobe now made him think of pink and flustered Vivian and that made him grin like an idiot.
“Can we invite Mom?”
“Sure,” said Rowan, turning back to Ash with a shrug. Of the three of them, Asher seemed to be the one who still held out hope that their mother might someday behave like an adult. “She won’t come, but we can invite her.”
Ash sighed, then smiled. “It would be kind of awesome to watch Olly open his presents. Let’s make Forest host Christmas.”
“OK, I’ll do Thanksgiving,” said Rowan.
“That leaves me New Year’s. This is going to be great!”
“We’ll see what Forest thinks,” said Rowan, chuckling as he went back to his desk.
There was a sharp knock on the office door and Mark leaned in, peering at Rowan over the top of his clear-framed glasses.
“So?” demanded Mark. “Hey, Ash.”
“So, what?” asked Rowan, and Mark groaned as if Rowan was being intentionally obtuse.
“Come on! That was Viv on the phone this morning, wasn’t it?”
“Viv?” demanded Asher, looking between Mark and Rowan. Mark ignored him and focused on Rowan.
“So, was that like... we bumped into each other at the bagel place or let me feed you the bagels from my cupboard?”
Ash gave a chuckle. “Yes. Inquiring minds want to know. What type of bagel are we dealing with?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” muttered Rowan.
“Come on! You know all my dirt,” protested Ash.
“And all of mine,” said Mark.
“You have no dirt,” said Rowan. “Either of you.”
“All my past dirt,” amended Mark.
“I might have dirt,” said Ash. “You don’t know. Who is Viv?”
“Vivian Kaye,” said Mark. “Paralegal. Works downstairs. Told Rowan off in the elevator. It was great. She’s great.”
Rowan knew Vivian was great. She was amazing. He wanted to shout it from the rooftops, but she specifically did not want that.
“Soooooo?” prodded Mark. “Jenny will be waterboarding one of us if I don’t come home with details.”
“Fine,” growled Rowan. “Vivian stayed over. Can we not make a thing out of this?”
Because Vivian clearly wasn’t ready to make a thing out of it. Never mind that waking up with her had been the first morning since moving into his stupid building that it had felt like a home.
“Who’s making a thing of it?” said Mark, exchanging looks with Ash. “I mean, you date so much that it’s just another day of the week.”
Ash snort-laughed, and Mark grinned.
“This is why I don’t bring dates anywhere near any of you,” said Rowan sourly. And because usually that much testosterone in one place scared reasonable women away.
“Whatever,” said Mark dismissively. “Vivian likes us.”
“That’s a good sign,” said Ash, trying to balance the clips on top of each other.
“What do you mean?” asked Rowan.
Ash looked up in surprise. “Well, didn’t we just establish that having a relationship with someone who doesn’t like your family is a bad idea? So if she’s down with your crew, then she’s gotta be pretty cool.”
“Yes, but we’re trying not to blab this all over the building, OK? She has to work here,” said Rowan, looking between Mark and Ash.
“Yeah, of course,” said Mark. “But I’m not the whole building, and Ash doesn’t know anyone here. So we’re good. I’m just saying that dating Vivian was my idea, so I want credit.”
“Uh, what now?” demanded Teddy, stopping mid-way through the hall and peering around Mark. “Did this guy just say dating Vivian was his idea? Hey, Ash.”
“Hey, Teddy. He did say that,” said Ash.
“Uh, no,” said Teddy, looking offended. “It was totally my idea. Also, this conversation does imply that he is actually dating Vivian.”
“Yeah,” said Ash, “she stayed at his place last night.”
“What? Way to go!”
Teddy gave a fist pump of enthusiasm, and Rowan glared at him.
“I mean, way to go, sir?”
“Does discreet mean nothing to any of you?” demanded Rowan.
“Who am I going to tell?” asked Teddy.
“Besides everyone,” murmured Mark.
“I’m serious,” said Rowan. “She’s worried about repercussions at work. So, for Vivian’s sake, could you all not behave like the Marine Corps gossip train?”
“Oh, yeah. Of course,” said Teddy, sounding contrite. “But still…” He ended on a massive grin and then sidled out of the doorway. Ash laughed, and Mark looked like he wanted to.
“Glad I have so much privacy,” muttered Rowan, shaking his head.
“You can have all the privacy you want,” said Mark. “As long as you tell us everything.” He added that parting shot as he followed Teddy down the hall, which made Ash laugh again.
Then they both blinked as Doc’s land drone zipped past the doorway.
“Did a remote control car just go down the hall?” asked Ash.
“That is a land drone,” said Rowan.
Moments later Doc went pelting past the door after the vehicle.
“It’s still in the testing phase.”
“You really did it, didn’t you?” asked Ash laughing.
“Did what?” asked Rowan.
“I remember when you were going over resumes. I thought you had the weirdest criteria. You kept keying in on the oddest things and talking about unit cohesion. But you’ve gone to a great deal of trouble to create a team that you want to hang out with all day long.”
“Yeah,” said Rowan, in surprise. “Of course.”
“And this girl is friends with your crew?”
“Well, that might be pushing the parameters of friendship since she took them for four hundred dollars at poker. Which, come to think of it, I believe she used to pay for your breakup donuts.”
Ash’s grin stretched from ear to ear. “Yeah, OK.”
“OK, what?” asked Rowan.
“Nothing. I’m going to go. You’ll call Forest about the holidays?”
“Sure, sounds good,” said Rowan, suspicious of his brother’s dangling conversational thread.
“Great,” said Ash, standing up. “See you later.”
“Yeah, later,” said Rowan.