Page 56 of City of Sin (Men of Manhattan 1)

"Eh. It'll kind of be my money then."

"Still." I didn't want handouts. Especially not from my little brother who hadn't really worked a day in his life. I was sure he was capable of running MAC. He had majored in finance at Harvard to appease my father. But the money was his only motivation. He didn't really want to run a finance company either. I didn't want to live like that. I wanted to prove that I had what it took to make it on my own. My dad would see.

"You didn't answer my question. What does this girl do?"

"She's a secretary at Kruger Advertising."

"Really? Mom and Dad will be thrilled about that," he laughed.

"I don't really care what they think."

"Clearly. Maybe that's why you're falling for her. Because she's the complete opposite of who our parents expect you to wind up with."

"Maybe."

"I knew it! You are falling for her."

"I didn't say that..."

"You kind of did. How much access do you think she has to files at Kruger?"

"I'm assuming she has clearance for everything."

"So, there's your answer."

"What?"

"You're not going to want to take your clients with you from Blue Media. They're a huge conglomerate. Burning your bridges with them wouldn't be helping you. But taking Kruger's clients? That's a different story."

"You want me to use Bee to get access to Kruger Advertising's client list?"

He shrugged. "You said you didn't love her. So I don't really see what the problem is."

I looked down at the dress I was holding. Matt was right. I was already getting Bee to trust me. It would be easy to convince her to get me access to the documents. Or at least I could steal the information from her computer without her knowing. If I had a list of clients, I'd be able to get a loan even without my dad cosigning. I might not even need a loan if I could get one of Kruger's large accounts to sign with me right away. I shook my head. That seemed dirty. Even for me.

"Unless you do love her..."

"No. I don't even like her." But I did. I couldn't stop thinking about her. That's why I was at the store buying her a dress.

"If you say so."

"And that's actually a really good idea. I'm not sure why I didn't think of it." Because I was distracted. Bee had thrown me off my game. And I didn't want to risk losing her over something stupid like that. Matt had no idea how to start a business. His advice wasn't exactly something I was looking for.

"You were blinded by love."

"Stop saying stupid shit."

"When do I get to meet her? I haven't met any of your girlfriends since you were still living at home. Have you even had a girlfriend since high school?"

"No. And you don't get to meet her. Because she's not my girlfriend."

"You do realize that I have tickets to the gala on Saturday, right?"

I cleared my throat. "That's not where we're going."

"Isn't it, though? Every important person in the city is going. Which includes me. And you. And apparently a lowly secretary from Kruger Advertising with a pretty face. It's a genius move actually. Showing her the riches and glam and then wooing her into bed with you. Well played."

Shit. I did not want him to talk to Bee. He'd ruin all my plans. I didn't want it to be just a one night. I wanted to be able to have her whenever I felt like it. "We're actually going to that winter festival thing."

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