Page 29 of The Mogul: Leonard

They completely underestimated the amount of work they had to do. Next to me, in my new living room—now full of boxes—my sister chuckles while she points Sven in the general direction of my bedroom. He nods and carries the box of who knows what in the other room. He never talks or complains, but I can see he is as tired as Raphael.

“How did you manage to hoard all these things in a single room?” he asks, putting the box on the pile beside me.

“I honestly don’t know. I was thinking the same thing when I was putting everything in the boxes,” I mumble.

“Well, now you have more room for everything, and you don’t have to share that shitty house anymore.” My sister scrunches her nose.

She was never a fan of my living arrangement. She thinks the guys are immature kids who want to play all day without taking on any responsibility, and I agree with her.

“You know? I’m happy you agreed to work with Leonard,” she adds, glancing in my direction. She knows we don’t get along, but she doesn’t know why.

I shrug. “He made an offer I couldn’t refuse.” And it’s true. The money alone was a massive reason to accept, but the contract for my company is something I can’t let slip away.

“Be patient with him,” she murmurs, and her statement gets my full attention.

I turn toward her.

“He’s grumpy most of the time, but he’s a good man. He is completely losing his shit about that money problem,” she continues.

I’m surprised by the worry in her voice. I never understood why she loves him so much, but I suppose she knows him better than me. Raphael’s friends are tight-knit, and I’m sure they will protect each other to the end. For this reason, I’m happy for my sister.

“It seemed a bit desperate when he made me the offer.” I smile, but she doesn’t reciprocate.

Mine dies on my lips.

“He’s worried about losing that company. I don’t know what he would do.” She smiles sadly. “That company is his whole life.”

“He has another—what? Fifteen? He won’t die of starvation,” I point out.

“It’s not about money. It never was,” Raphael chimes in.

I didn’t even realize he came back with another box.

I don’t know how to respond. Their picture of Leonard clashes with my idea of him. I store the information for later; I’m sure I’ll need it when things get hard working with him. Because I know they will get ugly.

“Can you please not tell him where I live?” I ask. I feel like I need to keep this place my sanctuary, and I don’t want to bring my fights with him to my doorstep.

They frown and look at each other curiously, but they don’t ask for an explanation, and I’m grateful for that.

“Come on! You can’t really be asking us to go through this hell,” Raphael complains, even if a smile is tugging at the corner of his mouth.

They offered to help me pick out furniture for my apartment, or at least, Silver volunteered the three of them to do it. Raphael followed her just because he’s still head-over-heels for her after four years of marriage.

“How will I sleep without a bed? I need a new one!”

“The sign outside claiming they have the best vintage furniture defies the concept of new,” he fires back with a grin.

“You are a smart-ass, aren’t you?”

I walk into a section with couches of all shapes and sizes. I run my fingers over the texture because I want to be sure to choose the most luxuriously comfortable one.

“I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to insult a senator,” Silver points out, chuckling.

I roll my eyes. “Of course, he married the other smart-ass.”

This time, even Sven laughs with us. I admit it’s fun spending time with them. I could have told them to go home, considering they’re tired, but I wanted to be a bit selfish for once and enjoy their company a bit longer.

I plop down on the couch, and my sister sits beside me.

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