Page 41 of The Devil and the Dancer
Vivian began cursing him in French. Cormac looked at her, completely unperturbed.
“That’s the price,” he said. “I don’t have to sell you anything. They’re already spoken for, so I’m doing you a favor.”
Vivian stood and walked out of the office, still muttering curses.
Cormac turned to Gavin. “Was that a yes?”
“Yes.” Gavin stood and held out his hand. “Thank you.”
“No problem.” He shook Gavin’s hand and held. “I hope I didn’t overstep.”
“You didn’t. She would have told me eventually when she wanted my help to fix it.”
Cormac let his hand drop. “And will you?”
Normally Gavin would. Gavin always did manage to fix Vivian’s messes when she made them. But this time…
“You know,” Cormac said, “sometimes with family, a little tough love is in order.”
“Tough love?”
“Ramsay won’t hurt her. He’s got other winemakers in his operation now, so Rene wasn’t a unicorn. He’s annoyed with her and making a point. Fuck with me and I’ll fuck with you.” Cormac shrugged. “Just my take.”
“Thank you for the meeting,” Gavin said. “I’ll make sure Renard has your office manager’s number before they leave.”
“Sounds good.”
Gavin walked out of the office and said polite goodbyes before he joined Vivian in the car.
Vivian angled herself toward him. “Gavin—”
“Don’t.” He leaned forward. “Abe, take me to the Bat and Barrel. After you’ve dropped me off, take Vivian back to the apartment.”
“Got it, boss.”
Gavin sat back in the seat and straightened his cuffs. “I’ll get Renard the proper information to contact O’Brien’s office for the casks.”
“Aren’t you going to ask me about Rene?”
“No.” He came to a snap decision that was a long time coming. “I’m not helping you smooth this over with Ramsay, Vivi.”
Her eyes watered dramatically. “You don’t care.”
“Send the human back to London with a kiss and a few cases of red. In a couple of years, Ramsay will forget this ever happened.”
“But you’re friendly with him. Can’t you just—?”
“No.” Once made, the decision was surprisingly easy to stick with, even with her dramatics. “Fix it yourself, Vivian. You don’t need my help for this.”
“You don’t care about me.” Her voice turned bitter. “You don’t care about your own sister. Youronlyfamily.”
“I do care, Vivian, but let’s be honest, you only visit when you want something, you enjoy disrupting people’s lives to amuse yourself, and you lie constantly.”
“You lie too.”
Gavin raised his eyebrows. “Do I?”
“You’re enamored with that little human, and you didn’t even tell me. You think I haven’t heard the rumors at your bar? You think I can’t tell when something has changed?”
