Page 172 of The Bet
Chapter 49
He locked himself away, stayed in his apartment, and worked. Stayed busy. Hired two new virtual assistants, too. And tried to forget the things Izzy had said to him.
Weeks passed.
He ventured out one Sunday. The Stones were having lunch at The Four Seasons and his mother had told him he’d better be there, or else.
And so he had turned up, and made small talk.
But he’d almost choked when Tobias had casually mentioned that the guy sitting a few tables away was Gideon Shoemoney.
Seeing the douchebag sitting at a table with men in suits had unleashed a tidal wave of anger in him and he didn’t give a shit if the guy was in a business meeting or with friends.
Rage bubbled up inside him like a hot spring. He couldn’t sit by and do nothing, which was why he’d gotten up and walked over.
“Gideon?” he asked, not blinking when the guy turned to him and smiled. It was then that he threw the glass of wine at his face.
“That’s for a friend you molested. You dirty, filthy, slimy piece of shit.” He leaned over, until his face was barely two inches away, and the man flinched as if he was scared shitless, before expressing outrage. One, two, three expletives followed.
“Keep your dirty paws off of your au-pairs, old man,” Xavier threatened, “Or else.”
The mouths of the other men on the table fell open, and Shoemoney turned silent. His face had turned red, and Xavier wasn’t sure if it was the wine or his outrage. Red streaks ran down his face and shirt, and two servers rushed over to him to help wipe up the spill.
He walked calmly back to his table and continued with his lunch as the commotion a few tables away raged on.
“What the fu—” Tobias had started to say, glaring at him over the table.
His mother’s cocktail glass halted in mid-air. “Xavier, what on earth is wrong with you?”
“Son?” his father asked.
Jacob’s mouth had remained fixed in in an O.
“Son,” his father said, again. “Have you lost your goddamn mind?”
“Language, dad,” Tobias cautioned, his face dark, his mouth twisting. It was entertaining, seeing his brother try to resist the urge to explode.
Only Savannah eyed him silently. She had that look about her. The one where she made no judgement, but knew there was more to tell.
“Eat up, kid.” Xavier told Jacob. “I won’t apologize for that.” He pointed his knife at Shoemoney’s table. The head waiter approached. “Is everything alright, Sir?” he asked.
“Everything is perfectly fine,” he replied. Nobody would ever dare tell a Stone to leave. When Xavier next turned to look, Shoemoney had left, but his guests were still digging into their meal.
“It had better be good,” Tobias said, sipping his wine, and glaring at him. “Your explanation.”
“You’ll understand.”
He knew Tobias would.
~ ~ ~
He stepped out into the busy sidewalk and decided to walk back to his apartment instead of jumping into a taxi.
Walking was good. It cleared his mind, helped him to think. Except when his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his jacket pocket and his fingers hovered over the button when Tobias’s name appeared on the caller ID.
He was surprised his brother had lasted a day. Now he wasn’t sure whether to accept the call or send it to voicemail. He answered, bracing himself.
“How’s it going?” Tobias asked, a simple enough question, but one which left him wondering what he was walking into.
