Chapter 23 Ares
“This is good stuff.” Drustan held a glass of red wine high and it caught the light of the golden chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
Across from him, Xander sat with his back against the upholstered seat, with a view of the door.
Ares was on his left, giving him a view of the open kitchen.
He kept track of the executive chef, noticing how efficient she was as she checked plates before sending them out.
Watching Josie’s friend Cecilia work held his fascination more than the conversation did, but Xander kicked him under the table.
Ares raised an eyebrow, but he took a sip of his own glass.
It had been work enough to get Xander to come to dinner tonight.
The fine dining restaurant was a well-known hangout of celebrities and politicians, and it wouldn’t have been Xander’s choice.
But Drustan wanted to celebrate the project’s early projection numbers and have a meal with them before Christmas.
“It’s four hundred dollars a bottle. It better be good,” Ares said, though with how the raspberry taste lingered on his tongue, it reminded him vaguely of cough syrup.
Drustan slapped the table, making their glasses shake. “At least it’s on my dime this time, am I right?”
“We appreciate the invite. You didn’t have to, Drustan.”
“Too bad you hardly ate anything, Ares. I might be offended if it didn’t save me a bundle,” Drustan slapped Ares on the back.
Ares pasted on a smile, giving a shrug, but he caught the heads turning from the table across from them.
A man with a shaven head in a black suit and a woman in a black dress, wearing flats, appeared to be in an intimate conversation. He was sure that was River Stone’s people, keeping their tail on Drustan.
“I have plans later,” Ares said.
“Oh yeah? Do they involve that brunette who walks with a cane? What’s her deal, anyway?”
Ares forced himself to take a sip of the wine because he hated that Drustan had seen Josie.
“She’s a good friend of ours. That’s her deal,” Xander said. His brother had finally surfaced from his anxiety to respond to the conversation.
“Only wondering.” Drustan shrugged.
Ares shifted in his seat, remembering Xander’s reasons for not wanting to get into business with Drustan.
Drustan was known to cut people off if he didn’t like what they did and his father was known for making competitors technology crash, but his brother never raised concerns that Drustan was more than the bumbling alpha hole that he appeared to be.
“When did you see Josie?”
Drustan gulped down half a glass of wine. “Tuesday? You know when I met with you for lunch? She was just leaving.”
Ares’s stomach churned, and he wished he’d eaten more than salad.
This week, he and Josie had hardly spent any time together, but had managed quick lunches and takeout dinners together.
Josie had met him at Axis Management lots of times.
Drustan seeing her meant nothing, but the fact that he brought it up made him suspicious. Xander rubbed off on him like that.
“Do you come here often? I like the interior of this place,” Xander said.
“My father loves it here. Most of the servers know me by name. Did you notice?”
“No, I didn’t,” Ares said. “Thank you for taking us here. It’s my first time.”
“I think I want my office done in these dark wood tones. What do you guys think?”
Ares discreetly checked his watch. He was taking Josie to Club Bandit tonight for the holiday party, and he wasn’t going to be late.
The restaurant, with its upholstered seats, long narrow windows that let in the twinkling Christmas lights from the outside, and hardwood floors felt like an exclusive space.
He frowned, seeing a waiter stride towards Cecilia with a full plate of food. He watched their exchange, tuning out Drustan’s chatter about his sister’s wedding.
This place, with its haute cuisine prices, was only available to those with deep pockets or who wanted to splurge on an occasion. He didn’t understand why Josie wanted to work here. It seemed stressful.
But he wanted to support Josie in whatever she wanted to do. He’d buy the place if it made her happy.
A waiter stopped by their table. “Do you need anything?”
“I want a slice of that cake with the layers,” Drustan said.
“One piece of mille feuille coming up, sir. What about you, gentlemen?”
“Nothing,” Xander said.
The waiter nodded and left the table
“You guys should live a little.”
“I live enough, thanks,” Xander said.
Drustan leaned back into the curved seat, cracked his knuckles. “I don’t know if you guys heard, but my father is in town with my brothers. He’s throwing an epic Christmas party.”
“We already have plans,” Xander said.
Drustan patted Xander’s arm. “No! That’s not what I was going to say. You are welcome to attend, of course, but you have to let me know by the end of the day. There is a chocolate fountain every year and the fleets of brandy are my favourite.”
“Your father is known for his entertainment. So was ours.” Xander leaned forward. The smirk on his face made Ares want to throttle him.
They never spoke about their father. Ever. Even to someone who knew about him.
“I think it’s a different form of entertainment,” Drustan said, his ruddy face suddenly drained of colour.
Ares’s father’s idea of entertainment was throwing bodies down the stairs and seeing if they would survive the fall.
The stairs were off a cliff with a twenty-metre drop into the sea.
Ares trampled down those thoughts, glancing to the kitchen. Cecilia was talking to a chef at the counter, deeply engaged.
When he said that he hadn’t eaten here before, that was true, but he was here three days ago, to meet Josie but she had to leave before he made it because there was a problem with an order that Avery couldn’t figure out. So, he gave Cecilia a wrapped parcel to pass on to Josie.
His mouth watered; he couldn’t wait to see her wear what he had gifted her tonight.
The server dropped off Drustan’s pastry, then left.
Drustan picked up the fork and cut the cake in half, before chewing loudly.
Ares checked the time again. He caught Xander’s eye and nodded, wanting to make his escape. Xander gave him a shrug.
“And because everyone can feel lonely over the holidays,” Drustan said between bites. “I want to bring Ida to my family Christmas party. She’s feeling lonely and isolated. It’ll do her good to be around people.”
Ares saw his brother’s face transform from the neutral expression to the cool, calculating one he wore when he realized the intentions of someone weren’t as they appeared.
“No.” Xander’s tone was as chilly as ice.
“You know, I shouldn’t have to ask permission! I’m a grown-man. I can look after Ida!” Drustan dropped his fork, and it clattered on his plate.
Ares wished for a fanciful moment that he could disagree with Xander only for the sake of disagreeing because he was still miffed with his brother about Xander refusing to admit that he made sacrifices.
Ares sighed, sitting back in his chair as the realization hit.
He never sought his brother’s approval.
But now that he had the woman he’d wanted for so long, maybe the only way to go forward was with Xander’s approval.
And looking at Xander’s tense posture, Ares knew his brother would not give him what he needed.
That made a fresh new wave of rage bubble up from somewhere deep in his chest.
“It’s too public an event to take her too, Drustan. You need to see the sense in that,” Xander said.
“I know you two don’t think I’m smart.” Drustan lifted his palms up, then hit the table again. “But I am smart! I have turned a profit every year that I have taken over for my father. With your app Xander, I made you millions. Do you think I am so stupid I’d let something happen to Ida?”
“I never said you were stupid, Drustan. You announced you were taking Ida to your father’s very public and well-known Christmas party, and I can’t let you do that.”
“You just want to keep her locked up!” Drustan raised his voice and a couple of guests looked over.
The Stone Security couple turned in their chairs.
“No, Drustan. We don’t want to keep Ida locked up,” Ares said, but he thought of the woman they were keeping locked up in a very nice villa in one of the richest places on earth. “The security risk is too high.”
“That’s crap. My father has a security team,” Drustan said.
“But your father’s team is not equipped for this situation,” Xander said, the exasperation in his voice clear. “We got Ida out of her country. Part of the agreement we provided her with was that we would ensure her safety. Even if I send a team of bodyguards, the risk is too high.”
“What risk? It’s not like she’s going to be recognized.” Drustan pushed his plate away.
“Even if she wasn’t, we can’t be completely sure that nobody knows we have her under our protection. That nobody knows that she is working for us here.” Ares said.
“So, I can’t introduce her to my family?” The whine in Drustan’s voice made Ares’s skin crawl.
“Not like this and not now,” Xander said.
“I don’t care what you think! I can get my own security team. I’m going to take Ida.”
Ares’s blood heated his vision cloud.
He leaned forward and gripped Drustan’s arm tightly enough until the man made eye contact.
“The moment you leave this restaurant, we will move Ida and you would never see her again. There are conditions we made as part of her employment with us. If you do anything to interfere with the deal we made with her and the risks we took bringing her in, we will destroy you. Think, Drustan. If you really love this woman, then you want her to have the life she wanted. The one where she can use her education and expertise to work on the projects, she feels are ethical-”
“You’ll what? Uninvite me to your exclusive club?” Drustan gaffed loudly. “You should stick to smiling in the background, Ares.”
“And you should stick to managing your father’s money.”
“If you don’t say she can go, I’m going to the press and tell them everything I know about your family!” The man’s whispered threat made Xander tense up. He leaned close, as close to Drustan as he could.
“Try us.”
“Then I’ll make sure you know what it’s like not to have the woman of your dreams!” Even though it was said in a whiny tone, it was still a threat that made a lump appear in Ares’s throat.
“If you take Ida, do anything other than abide by the terms of our contract I will destroy you. Everyone will know about cocaine and the hooker.”
Drustan stood, pointed a shaking finger at Xander. “You can’t! It was one time.”
“Was it?” Ares asked.
“I think the photos say otherwise.” Xander said.
“You guys are despicable.”
“No, we are very good at what we do. Don’t get in our way. You have a good deal with us, Drustan. Think of all the accolades it’s going to bring you once we hit the market. Think of how proud your father will be.” Xander said.
Drustan shoved his hands in his pockets. “Fine, but I hate you guys.”
“That’s fine with us,” Ares said.
Drustan marched away, shaking his head. A few moments later, the security detail followed him out the door.
Xander’s hands trembled. His face paled.
Ares caught the eye of the waiter. “Can I have some water now?”
“Right away, sir.” The waiter hurried off.
“I’m fine,” Xander gritted out. “I need out of here, but I’m fine.”
“Let’s get you home.”
The server set the glass of water down.
Xander grabbed it and sipped. “You have a date.”
“I need to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. Logan and Harper are at Axis Management. Get me there and I’ll go home with them. You were planning to change there, anyway?”
“Yes,” Ares said.
Xander wanted to live close to work, but the number of times they used the office as a stop to refresh, he didn’t know that it mattered.
Ares thought of his house. It was almost finished and he couldn’t wait.
“What security measures do you have on Josie?” Xander’s voice was so low he barely heard him.
“Nick’s tracking app is on her phone.”
“Get one of your sweepers on her.”
“That’s not what their purpose is for, you know that.”
“I know that I might have miscalculated bringing Drustan in.”
“Xander, it’s his usual bluster. Come on, let’s get you out of here. As you reminded me, I have a date.”
Xander nodded, then flashed him a smile. “Exactly what I was saying!”
Ares stood. “Yep, you’re always right.”
“Don’t you know it.”
As Xander followed him, Ares hoped his brother’s record still held. If anything ever happened to Josie, throwing a man off the cliff would look like child’s play to the length he’d go to destroy those responsible.