Page 19 of Reckless Love

Chapter 8

“If I’d realized you were going to come to lunch right away I would have told you to wait until tomorrow.” I guided William to my favorite booth by the windows in the research cafeteria after he surprised me by appearing in my Monday morning lecture.

“Why? What’son Tuesday?” He jumped out of the way of a student running between tables—probably late for class.

“Food truck. I eat pork tacos on Tuesday outside on the lawn.”

“No food truck on Monday?”

“Nope. Just Tuesday and Thursday. Sometimes Friday.” I slid into the booth and frowned at my chicken salad. Pork tacos were way better. “Oh, and sometimes on Wednesday, but never on Monday.I think the owners take Monday off.” William dwarfed his side of the booth. “Maybe we should have grabbed a table instead?” That way he would have more room.

“This is fine.” He patted my hand. “Trust me, I’m used to squeezing in places.”

I swear his words had a double meaning. Like he was used to squeezing physically into placesandmetaphorically into the box designed by our father.“Well there’s a table over there if you change your mind. I just like how the light filters in here at this time of day.”

He picked up his Italian sub and examined it before taking a bite. “I’m starved. It’s been a wild goose chase to find you. I went to your lab and they sent me to your office. Then the secretary directed me to your class. How many places do work exactly?”

“Matildaisn’t a secretary. She’s the office manager.” Every department had one captain that kept the ship of absentminded professors afloat and she was ours. “And you’ve now covered most of my sales territory. You know you could have just called and arranged lunch. That would have saved you at least a mile of walking.”

“I wanted to surprise you.” He shrugged, studied his sandwich before decidingon tackling a new angle. “Seeing you this weekend...I decided I didn’t want to wait anymore.”

“Wait?” For what?

He shrugged again. “I keep thinking there’s going to be a right time. Asafetime.”

“For us,” I waved between us, “to have a relationship without consequences.” I wondered if Edmund really cared if we spent time together. Or maybe this separation was part ofhis control. Who knew? I certainly didn’t. I just hoped it didn’t hurt William. “Why do you work for him anyway?”

William glanced past me at the room—a move I knew all too well because I’d done it to Leo more times than I could count. Who was watching? Listening? How carefully should we choose our words?

I was so fucking sick of it all.

“There are advantages,” he finally said.

“Financial ones?”

He grimaced, shook his head, sighed. All signs of resignation. “Yes, there are financial advantages to my position. And yes, I do like being wealthy but I have news for you Rosie, I’m fucking good at my job. I don’t needhimor nepotism to be where I am now.”

“I know that,” I whispered because I felt bad. I had a big old blind spot when it came to Edmund andunfortunately in this particular instance that meant being incapable of seeing how brilliant my big brother was. Of course he was. He was smart enough to bust out of our house of joy early. And on top of that, he sped through college, only slowing down to normal human speed when he was in grad school. I heard Wharton did that more often than not. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. I’m just asbad. That’s part of why I wanted to surprise you. I wanted to see you in action. Your lab is freaking cool by the way.”

“Thanks. Did you look around?”

“A little. When I said I was your brother they didn’t come at me with the pitchforks they were holding.”

“The lab is secure.” The data we stored was sensitive and our equipment was expensive. It wasn’t Fort Knox or anything,but you had to badge in once you passed the main offices. And Jolene and Kenneth—my usual graduate assistants at the lab—didn’t like strangers.

“I know that I don’t know you, Rosie.” He took my hand again and it struck me as incredibly odd. Had we ever held hands—even as kids? Affection wasn’t a thing in our house. “And I understand that you don’t know me. I work for Edmund because it’sour family company and because it puts me in a position to understand exactly what our family assets are or are not.”

I didn’t fully understand what that meant. “Our assets?”

“You and I are his only heirs. What happens to the company when he dies? The teams he owns? We both know he’s done things...how much of that will blowback on us?”

“Things?” I played dumb.

He dropped his voice and leaned closer. “The offshore accounts, the mysterious deals, the houses owned by shell corporations. If there’s a backdoor way of doing things he’s done it.” His eyes narrowed on me. “And then there’s Nashville.”

I snatched my hand away. “And what aboutnow?Why is he here?”

---