Chapter 5: The Partner's Dinner

Alister's dining room sat twenty, and tonight it held eight.

I wore a dark green dress that Linus had somehow had delivered by noon, and it fit.

Cullen stood beside my chair with one hand resting on the back of it.

The managing partner sat across the table, silver hair and a soft handshake, with his daughter beside him.

She was twenty-four, in the same white dress style she'd worn on the roof, and she wouldn't meet my eyes.

Dean sat at the foot in a rented tuxedo.

The sleeves were half an inch too long.

I noticed because I had hemmed his last pair of pants.

"Mr. Ardmore," the partner said, laughing too loudly. "I'm honored. Dean spoke so highly of the family."

"He's never met the family," Alister said.

The laughter stopped.

Alister poured the wine himself.

"Bowdoin tells me your firm has two contracts expiring this quarter," he said. "Ardmore Holdings holds the paper on both."

"Yes. We're hoping for continued partnership."

"You'll have a chance to earn it."

Linus carried in the first course, a cold lobster salad that he set in front of Dean with a flourish.

"Dean, right?" Linus said, with a wide, terrifying smile. "The man who left my sister."

Dean's fork stopped halfway.

"Your sister?"

"Sit. Eat. Enjoy the lobster. It's the last good meal you'll have in this city."

Bram, across the table, was texting under the tablecloth and smiling.

The partner's daughter set down her glass.

"Dean," she said, "what is he talking about?"

"Nothing, honey."

"Honey," Bram repeated softly. "That's what he calls everyone."

Keep reading free with an account. Start Spoiled by Four Billionaires from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.