Chapter 21
MATTEO
Brunch at the penthouse @ noon
What fresh fucking hell is this? The line reads like a fun-filled invitation on a flier, but it's an email from the old man. Short and to the point.
Brunch?
Since when the fuck do we do brunch?
And on the weekend?
It's too much to deal with getting out of bed on a Saturday morning, so I freshen up and head for the gym in our apartment block.
After I finish my workout I sit in the sauna, letting the heat sink deep into my bones. It's blisteringly hot in here, and sweat drips down my face and body. I sink back against the wooden walls, my head full of too much information, and the heat feeling like a punishment that’s good for me.
I told Elizabeth not to bother coming into work yesterday. Told her I'd rather she got completely well enough to enjoy her weekend. Now I’m wondering if she’s well enough to enjoy it, with me.
Thinking about her makes me want to see her again.
It's getting tricky at work keeping my feelings under wraps, because I've got a lot going on. Things are starting to come to a head. The old man doesn’t hassle me about the technical issues as much anymore, but his illness and this not so small issue about him needing a kidney—possibly mine—is an emotional weight I don't need.
Also, ever since Elizabeth suggested there might be a backdoor buried somewhere in the system, I haven't been able to shake the feeling that whoever's behind this knows our infrastructure far too well.
We started with the obvious suspects. Former employees. Contractors. Anyone involved in the major system migrations and upgrades over the last decade. We checked access logs, credentials, termination records, and vendor accounts.
Nothing.
At least nothing that should still be active.
Which leaves a possibility I like even less.
Someone on this floor.
Someone who's still here.
Someone working right under my nose.
That thought doesn't sit easy with me. I pride myself on having a good team, on surrounding myself with people I trust implicitly, and this revelation throws all of that out of whack.
The glitches themselves have slowed, but they haven't stopped. A delayed vendor payment last week. An unexplained permissions change two days ago. Small things on their own that are easy to dismiss, but when viewed together, they form a pattern that's becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
Someone is still probing our systems.
Still testing boundaries.
Still hiding in the shadows.
And right now, I have no idea who it is.
I have problems I need to deal with but being in the middle of donor testing for the old man is proving difficult to ignore. I've already passed the tissue-typing stage and I'm scheduled for crossmatch testing next. I find this oddly reassuring and deeply worrying.
I haven't had a chance to speak to Zach about it, and I'm curious to know how things are progressing for him. Or Jett, for that matter. Last I heard, he'd passed the initial blood compatibility testing, but I don't know where he stands now.
None of us are particularly eager to volunteer a kidney to the old man.
The door opens and Rio walks in, a towel over his shoulder, and one wrapped around his waist.
“Did you hear?” he asks.
“I heard. Why d'you think I'm in here?”
He laughs and sits down across from me.
“This is new,” he remarks. “Brunch, and on a Saturday. Crazy.”
“Say that again. Wonder what he wants.” But I have a feeling I know what this is about.
We have Knight family dinners in the evenings, and they've always been on a weekday, after work.
No one in their right mind would give their weekends up for that.
And whenever we have a Knight family dinner, there's always a business reason for it.
Rio wipes the towel over his face. “You should have heard Dex. The dude was pissed.”
I’d expect nothing less from him. I doubt anyone's happy about this. Even if the old man is ill.
Not even Zach.
We all assumed that because he's ill, the family dinners would be suspended for a while.
We experienced a false sense of relief in thinking that we had a break from being summoned to the penthouse like employees instead of sons.
But no. Even sick, the old man is still running the show, and we're the puppets dancing to his tune.
“We should leave together. I’ll drive,” offers Rio, head leaning forward as sweat drips down his face and body.
“Good idea.” There’s safety in numbers.
***
Rio, Enzo and I take the elevator to the penthouse.
“Can't wait to get this over with.” Rio leans back against the elevator wall. “I had plans to take Raquel out tonight.”
Enzo grins. “You mean your fiancée?”
Rio rolls his eyes. “Haven't proposed yet.”
“Yet?” Enzo and I say at the same time.
Rio ignores us.
“I booked a table at that little Italian place she likes in Tribeca.”
Enzo whistles. “Look at you.”
There's a beat of silence as Enzo and I stare at him.
“What?” Rio asks.
“You've changed,” Enzo says.
“It's disturbing,” I agree.
“Both of you can go to hell. I love her.”
“We know.” Enzo and I say it at the same time again just as the elevator dings, and the doors slide open.
“Tell Raquel we said hello,” Enzo says as we step out.
Rio mutters something in Italian that sounds distinctly uncomplimentary.
“What are you up to?” Enzo asks me.
I hesitate to answer. I was thinking of calling Elizabeth to see how she was. And planning to go somewhere with her. Of getting uninterrupted time together so that we could get to know one another better.
But I don’t tell him that. I’m not stupid.
He’d never stop ribbing me about wanting to get together with my employee. Though Jett has done it, and things have worked out for him. I shrug. “I can think of a hundred better things to do.”
“It's brunch. It shouldn't drag on. We've all got things to do.” Rio sighs loudly. This event sounds like torture, not something to enjoy.
Our father's housekeeper appears and greets us solemnly. “Mr. Knight will be with you shortly.”
Not ‘your father’ but Mr. Knight.
So very formal. It's always been this way. The housekeepers, chauffeurs, assistants, and security staff have all been trained to treat him with a level of deference bordering on reverence.
I never thought much about it before. Now it makes me think of Elizabeth. She told me how lucky I was to have brothers. She's said a few times now that I’m lucky to have so many siblings, and a father. I can almost feel her yearning to have something like that.
Oddly, she hasn’t asked me about my mom.
I realize now, because of Elizabeth, of how I’ve always taken it for granted, having people to celebrate birthdays with, and people to call when something good happens. People who show up because they love me.
This is what Elizabeth longs for. She doesn’t have to tell me, but I see it in her eyes. But, at the same time, she sees family through a different lens than I do.
A hopeful one. A big part of that is because she doesn’t know just how complicated families can be.
I wonder what she'd think if she were standing here now. Watching a housekeeper announce our father's arrival as though royalty were about to enter the room. I wonder what she'd make of the tension in all of us brothers whenever we’re summoned here.
I wonder what she'd say.
Lately, I find myself wondering that a lot.
“Please wait for him in the Great Room. Everything takes a bit longer these days,” she says, leading us there.
The old man has a personal medical nurse on duty at all times.
He has a swathe of people looking after him; butler, personal attendant, a chef and a couple of housekeepers.
All for one man living in his high glass tower, but how the mighty fall; though he hasn't fallen yet.
That depends on whether one of us can come through for him. Jett, Zach, or me.
Still, it's difficult coming to terms with the idea that this man—who has run his empire without the need for sleep—isn’t as invincible as he once believed.
As we once believed.
His fragility must be such a blow to him, and with his kidneys failing, he's going to need more help as time goes on.
We find Jett, Dex and Zach standing around near the window, looking out.
They turn as they hear our footsteps. No one is holding a drink.
Everything about today is different. It's a different time, a different meal, a different mood.
The only thing that remains the same is that none of us want to be here.
Jett glances at his watch. “You took your time.”
“We're on time,” Rio counters. “Didn't see the point of getting here a second earlier than was necessary.”
He high fives Dex who huffs out a breath. “He should have just sent a memo.”
“He did send a memo.” Enzo smoothes down his tie.
Dex frowns. “We didn’t have to fucking come here and eat though.”
Zach pipes up. “I'm not in the mood for brunch.” He’s staring out of the window, hasn’t even turned to greet us. I guess he’s getting ready to face the old man.
“Trust me, it's better this way than a dinner in the evening.” I inhale a deep breath, unsure why my insides suddenly feel shaky. I keep glancing at Jett and Zach, wanting to know, needing to know what they're thinking. What their intentions are.
“What's Dani up to today?” Rio asks Dex.
“Having a lie-in. Waiting for me to hurry up and get back.” He winks.
Rio shakes his head. “Schoolboy humor.”
“Can't remember the last time I had a lie in,” Jett moans.
Enzo grins. “Brooke got you cleaning out the rabbit's cage yet?”
“Luckily for me, she wants to do it herself.”
We all look at him in awe.
“You bribed her? Bro, how much did you pay her?” Dex cries.
“Didn’t have to bribe her. She's got a motherly instinct. No idea where that’s from.”
We fall silent, because the answer dawns on us. Maybe not having a mother made that little girl want to have something of her own to love and cherish.
“Anyone have any idea what this is about?” I ask, just to break the awkwardness, because I have an inkling what this is about.