Page 95 of Wilder at Heart
Characteristically, Dad pushes back, but rather than us rutting horns, the debate turns into a spirited, heady conversation about just how great the potential of these assets is. The potential to do something fresh. Something that may provea blueprint for overhauling other metropolitan assets around the world. The scale of our business blows my mind, sometimes.
‘Let’s wrap this up,’ Miles says finally, glancing at his watch, and I grin to myself. It’s coming up for five o’clock, and the man who’s a recovered workaholic is clearly champing at the bit to get home to his girls.
Lucky fucker.
‘Give us a minute, will you, Holmes?’ he asks, though we all know it’s not actually a request.
‘Of course.’ He scrapes back his chair, and I hold out my hand to him.
‘Thanks for all your help on this, mate.’
When he’s cleared out, Miles turns to me.
‘Look. This won’t be a quick process. We’ll get things moving as fast as we can, but the first step is to take it to the board. See what they think. We’re awash with cash at the moment, which helps. They’re desperate for us to make some fresh investments, improve our returns.’
I hold my breath.
‘But I think I speak for us all’—he glances at Mum and Dad, who nod—‘when I say I’m impressed by your vision. You want skin in the game, we’ll give you a chance to earn it. And if you want to get your ass over to New York and start hustling, drawing up plans for a club with a founding members’ structure, we can make that happen.’
I flush with pleasure. Achievement.
Until Mum leans forward, a trusting smile on her face. ‘And will Nora be joining you in New York? She’s such a sweetheart, darling. We’re all very taken with her.’
Miles and I exchange glances.
‘No, Mum.’ I drum my pen on the table. ‘She won’t, I’m afraid.’
‘You didn’t even ask her, did you?’ That from Miles.
‘Iwouldn’task her,’ I clarify. ‘I’d never put that on her. She’s built up her own brand over here; she’d have to start from scratch there. It’s not fair.’
‘You’re a fucking moron.’ Miles leans forward. ‘I thought I told you not to let that get away.’
‘We’re still together, for the moment.’ I need to keep our front up till the wedding. ‘But I’m afraid, once the New York thing happens, we’ll inevitably go our separate ways.’
Mum’s face collapses in disappointment. ‘I’m afraid I agree with your brother, Theo, even if I don’t condone his language. You’re making a huge mistake. I think you and Nora are made for each other.’
CHAPTER 36
Nora
Waking up with only Olive in Elle’s beautiful, immaculately redecorated spare room is depressing as hell. I peer down at her as she stands beside the bed on her hind legs, her front paws scrabbling at the base.
‘Come on then, sweetie.’ I pull her up and set her down on the empty pillow next to me.
That’s better.
Theo’s sent me a WhatsApp. I click into it and laugh. He’s shared his Wordle score from today. The bastard got it in two.
Beat that Wilder xxx
Goddammit. The pressure’s on—he’ll be insufferable if I can’t match his score. I stick an extra pillow behind me and settle back, smiling at my phone.
On it
Ten minutes and four lines later, I’m sweating, a doodle-covered pad and pencil next to me. Shit. I could swear there is no word in the English language that contains this particular arrayof letters. I should just shower and come back to it with fresh eyes.
A message comes through.
