Page 100 of Bling

Chapter Twenty-Three

It had taken everything in Garrett’s power not to pull Isabelle up and walk her right out of there. He’d spotted his brother chatting her up at the bar. His first inclination had been to scold Isabelle for leaving their table, but he realized that was unfair. If he wanted her on his arm more often at events like these, she had to feel comfortable enough to move around in his world.

He’d finished his conversation with a group of local businessmen as quickly as he could without being rude, but he kept Isabelle in his sights the entire time. His brother was making her uncomfortable, so at least he knew she had good judgement.

Now, he stood behind her seething. When his sweet girl looked up at him, she placed a hand over his as it rested on her shoulder. “I was missing you,” she said with a smile. “I hear the view on the balcony is lovely. I was hoping we could go for a walk before dinner.”

Bless her, Garrett thought, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “Come on then, Doll. We’ll catch up with Maddox later.”

“I’m so sorry,” she murmured as they walked away from the table. “I had no idea who he was. I swear.”

Then he realized she thought he was mad at her. They’d just left the ballroom and he was intent on taking her to the balcony where there was indeed a lovely view.

Instead, he tugged her into an alcove next to the water fountains and backed her against the wall. Gripping her face, he let his mouth ravage hers.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he said when he pulled away. “I’m pissed at him, not you.”

“Why are you angry with him for showing up?”

“It’s so complicated and messy. He brought me here to let me know he’s back.”

“Back from where?”

He knew she was confused and that it was probably time to tell her about his brother.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Come on. Let’s go outside and talk.”

The balcony was large and stretched much of the building. It was dotted with benches and small bistro tables. When they settled at one, he reached for her hand.

“Maddox—or Max—is older than me. He was supposed to be the one running the Oliver Corporation because I was pursuing a career as a political advisor. When he was in college, he got mixed up with a dangerous crowd and got involved in an illegal diamond smuggling ring. If you’re ever curious about how I got into business with David Eastman, that has a lot to do with it.”

His thumb traced the back of her hand as he thought about the best way to tell her the rest of the story.

“Dad got him out of a few legal pickles, but he was still grooming Maddox to be the next CEO. Then, ten years ago, he had a nasty car accident while he was running diamonds. It fucked up his face pretty bad and he had a pretty serious brain injury. At that point, Dad was done. He changed his will and asked me to come back to the company. I still kept my fingers in a variety of political pies, but it was clear that they expected me to step in and take my brother’s place.”

She squeezed his hand. “I’m so sorry, Garrett.”

He gave her a pained smile. “Things have always been tense between Max and I, but when he came out of the hospital and discovered he no longer had a job, he took his trust fund and, for the most part, cut himself off from the family.”

“And you think somehow he’s been playing a long game to get revenge?”

Garrett shrugged. “I honestly don’t know.”

“So how did he get involved in the illegal diamond trade?”

A member of the catering staff came by with a tray of appetizers, so he snagged one for each of them.

“Eat,” he said, shoving the tiny plate toward her.

She laughed. “Don’t try to get out of answering my questions, Garrett. This is affecting my family. I deserve to know.”

He shoved the shrimp tartlet into his mouth to buy him some time to gather his thoughts.

“I’m not trying to get out of answering.,” he said when he’d swallowed. “Our company has a jewelry arm—or had. That’s where Maddox got his start in learning management. In doing so, he got talked into getting into business with some unsavory types who convinced him he could make more money if he got into the smuggling business. When Dad first found out, he pulled him out of the jewelry arm and put him to work running one of our shipping facilities. He thought he’d shut down the mini smuggling operation, but my father was a bit naïve about my brother.”

“This is all so confusing,” she whispered.

He laughed. “Tell me about it. Let me try to condense it for you. The long and short of it is, after I took over, I discovered that my brother still had his tendrils in the jewelry arm of our company, and diamonds were still being smuggled through one of our facilities. I cleaned house and got completely out of the jewelry game. I eventually dipped my toe into the diamond waters again with David, but I use his man-made diamonds for things like blades on industrial machinery, not jewelry.”

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