Chapter 4
"You're supposed to be on my side," she accused him with a pout of her lips. "Remember? Us against the mighty 'rents'?"
He chuckled at that, tweaking the ends of her hair. "I'm always on your side, but I have to err on the side of caution."
Tilting his head to the side, he considered her lovely face.
"Ask yourself this: is it because you're bored and restless that you have the sudden urge to manage a gallery?
Or are you seriously into art? You have degrees in entrepreneurship, literature, history, and science.
Darling, you're a classic professional student, one who cannot settle on a particular career.
You change your mind at the drop of a hat. "
"If I needed a lecture, I would have gone to the parents." Her lips were sulky and petulant, reminding Landry that despite her twenty-seven years of age, she was still basically a sheltered child. They had been closeted and protected because of what had happened.
Their parents had been forced to relinquish the chokehold they had on him, because he had bucked against it, but she was still in the midst of it. He had to feel sorry for her.
"How serious are you about the gallery?" he asked her quietly, tightening his hold on her hand as she made to move away.
"Very serious." Her expression turned earnest, and a light came into her eyes. "I was talking to Jackson just a couple of days ago and checking out his latest collection of paintings. Landry! The man is magnificent. His style is so damn unique and bold.
"I want to be in that gallery of ours and be able to look my fill. I also want to be able to tell people the selling points. I know enough about art, having studied it in college. Yes, I hop from one thing to another, but that's my coping mechanism." She shrugged her slender shoulders.
"I just want to do this: to do something. I'm not like you." Her eyes pleaded with his. "You've known from the very beginning what you wanted. To be CEO of the company. That's all well and fine for you, because one day you will be in charge of it all.
"I have to skip around until I find my footing, and I think I have. Will you run interference for me?"
His hand lifted to cup her cheek. It had been the two of them all along. When he had found Kady-Ann, he had neglected her, neglected his duties as her big brother.
They lived in a household where there wasn't much love or physical intimacies. She had been known to climb into his bed in the middle of the night if there were 'monsters' in her closet, and they would spend time talking and laughing quietly.
He had to be there for her now. Had to put aside his own worries and tend to hers.
"I will. If you're sure it's what you really want to do."
"I am." Her expression cleared up, the dazzling smile coming quickly. Throwing her arms around his neck, she hugged him tight.
"I know you have your own thing." Easing back, she studied his face. Landry had learned to keep his emotions at bay. He wasn't as easy to read as before. "Are you all right?"
He touched his lips to her brow and rubbed her back. "As I'll ever be."
"Landry?"
"Hmm?"
"Will we ever be happy?"
The question had pain striking his heart. He had been happy years ago, with a vivacious, beautiful young woman who made him laugh and never took himself seriously. She had made him forget the oppressiveness of his home. He had fallen in love quickly and completely.
"Happiness is overrated," he answered lightly.
"It isn't. People are happy. Jackson is over the moon happy, so is his brother Jason. Others at your club are also happy. They've found people who relate to them, and they're making it work." Her eyes met his.
"You were happy. With her. I saw the way you looked at her, the way she looked at you. And I envied you both. Even then, I wasn't too young to see the real thing." She touched his face lightly.
"Someone ruined that. I do believe that if it wasn't for the damn incident that changed our lives, you'd still be together."
He did not want to talk about it or assimilate that painful knowledge.
He could not bear to think of the past or a future that stretched dark and bleak in front of him.
Lately, he was wishing he had not returned, that he had stayed.
He could do his job from anywhere in the globe, remotely, set up office and fly in whenever he was needed.
The thought of confronting her after all these years was strangling him and making him panic.
He had no idea how he was going to react to seeing her face to face. But unlike her, he had the advantage. He knew he was going to see her. She was going to be hit with the full force of seeing him for the first time after years.
"We'll never know." He belatedly realized that his sister was staring at him and waiting for a response. "And it's too late now."
"Is it?" Tipping her head to the side, she eyed him thoughtfully. "I might not be an expert on the topic, but true love has a way of staying its course. And what you had with Kady was definitely that."
He rose abruptly, eager to get away and be alone.
"I will see what I can do in regard to the gallery and your taking over the management role. It's a fairly new one; the clientele is a little eclectic. Are you certain you want to get into all of that?"
"I'm sure." She rose and went on her toes to kiss him on the lips. "Thanks, darling."
"Don't thank me yet," he warned grimly. "Let's see what the parents have to say first." He tugged at the ends of her hair. "I have to go."
She watched him walk from the room and sank down on the edge of her princess-style bed, her shoulders hunching in despair. She had seen the look in his eyes when they spoke of the past, and it broke her heart. Dammit, they both deserved to be happy!
***
His hands were shaking. Damn it to hell, his hands were shaking.
Dropping them, he stepped back and stared at himself in the mirror.
The tie would not do, he decided, dragging it from around the collar of his baby-blue shirt.
He did not want to appear to be stuffy and unapproachable.
Not that what he wore was going to make a hell of a difference, he mused grimly.
But the tie was going, and he was going to have to get himself under extreme control.
He was going to have to go into that conference room and face her and the rest of them with authority. He was in charge, and he was going to have to prove it. He could not afford to lose his cool.
But for him to accomplish that enormous feat, he would need lots and lots of caffeine.
Barely stopping himself from raking restless fingers through his ruthlessly brushed hair, he turned around to get his jacket from the closet. And taking a deep breath, he left his bedroom and went downstairs to arm himself with coffee.
***
Kady dressed to kill. She had spent most of last night going through her huge closet and had settled on a russet-colored sweater and smart-looking black slacks.
The sweater was snug, too snug, she wondered, as she stared at her bosom.
Her breasts were the first things a man saw when he looked at her, and then her face.
She could not help that she had those attributes.
She was born with them and had used them when the need called for her to do so.
Nothing was wrong with getting the edge.
While they were distracted by her looks, she could sneak in the fact that she also had a brain, and a damn good one at that.
Her makeup was flawless. Not too much, because with her skin tone, she really didn't need it.
The color of her lipstick matched the shade of the sweater.
Thin gold accessories completed the outfit, and she had gone for ankle boots of the same color as the sweater.
Her hair was left loose and shone under the recessed lights of her bedroom ceiling.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped back from the mirror and went to get a long, black cashmere jacket.
The meeting was set for first thing in the morning, and she was grateful.
She would grab her go-cup of coffee and be on her way.
Hopefully, within the next few hours, she would be back behind her desk attending to her duties as usual.
Naturally, the new owners would want to speak to her.
Well, she had all the information at her fingertips and in her very concise reports.
Her brother had assured her that she had nothing to worry about. And if she had spent last night tossing and turning because of worry and uncertainty, it did not show on her face. Thanks to foundation and creams, she looked as if she had slept like a baby.
If her stomach was quivering with nerves, then nothing was wrong with that. And no one needed to know.
Glancing at her watch, she turned and left the room.
***
"They're here." Helen marched behind her as she entered her office.
"What?" Fear quickened her heart and had her whirling around. "I'm half an hour early."
"They got here ten minutes ago and are seated in Conference Room B. I just came in myself; I brought you coffee."
"I have coffee." Kady lifted her go-cup and realized her hand was shaking. "Dammit! Why are they here so early? And who's they?"
"I have no idea. It's someone big because the girls in reception cannot stop gabbing about some blonde god," she said darkly. "You know how they are."
Distracted and not really paying attention, Kady went behind her desk. "I need ten minutes."
"You got it. I'll go see to the refreshments."
"Thanks." Taking a deep breath, Kady booted up her computer and started printing out some additional documents. She was going to need all the help she could get.
***