Chapter 16
Sebastian
I doze off for about an hour with Emma wrapped around me. Her smooth skin feels like velvet draped across my body. I briefly consider staying until morning, but a text from Tim has me getting dressed and slipping out the door before she notices I’m gone.
I call Tim back before I hit the street. “What’s up?”
He answers on the first ring. “You won’t believe who just showed up in the Seattle warehouse.”
“Who?” I push open the front door and see my Uber driver waiting for me. If it weren’t after midnight, I might have called Gentry back to get me. But Priya and her Corolla will get me home just fine.
“Mr. Elias White.”
“Who the— Wait, Eli White? Emma’s brother?” That’s not possible. How is that possible?
“The one and only.” Tim chuckles softly. “I uploaded his picture to our facial recognition database in case he was poking around where he shouldn’t be and…jackpot.”
“So, he’s tracking me?” Fuck. This is exactly what I was afraid of.
“That’s the interesting part.” Tim clears his throat. “I called Ray to see what was up and turns out he knows this guy from Vegas.”
“Seriously? Back then?” Ray manages a warehouse used to transport weapons from Mexico up into Canada. From there, they get dispersed around the globe. It’s another investment in my portfolio that I don’t get involved with on a daily basis, but I like having an arsenal, so to speak. Ray did some business in Vegas about three years ago, so if he knew Eli back then, that changes things.
“Yup. Ray said he called looking for help with some dude he owes money to.”
“You think it was a long con?”
“Nah, I doubt it. Eli’s gonna make a few runs for him, and Ray will help him with this situation in Vegas. Ray said there’s a bounty on Eli’s ass so could just be a coincidence.”
I don’t usually believe in coincidences, but Emma hasn’t been seeking me out. I’ve been reaching out to her. I don’t know if that means she is just a really good actress and this is all part of a much bigger scheme to lure me in and get some cash out of me. Or is she genuinely not that into me. I don’t want to believe either is true, but I’m not sure what a third option would look like. She’s interested but shy? Yeah, now I’m really grasping at straws.
“Will you check into this Vegas debt to see what it’s all about? Find out how much he’s worth and make sure it aligns with what he’s told Ray.”
“I’m on it, bro.” Tim laughs. “Honestly, I didn’t think you’d be back on a chain so soon after Isabelle.”
“No chain.” I shudder at the mere mention of that witch’s name. “We’re keeping it casual. I just like fucking her.”
Tim whistles low. “Yeah, I saw the pictures. I’d like fucking her too.”
“Hey.” I try not to sound growly, but he’s getting very close to crossing a line he shouldn’t be near. “Not funny.”
“No?” Now he’s laughing. “This is more serious than I thought.”
“It’s not.” Is it? I hope not. I don’t want it to be. “You don’t need to be creeping on the poor girl just because you have access to cameras.”
“Damn, Seb. Have you picked out a ring yet?”
“Fuck off.” I try not to smile at his idiocy. He played football in high school. I think the concussions left him a little dense. “Just let me know what you find about the brother.”
“Give the missus my love.” Tim hangs up before I can come back with some smartass retort. It’s probably better since I can’t actually think of one as Priya pulls up in front of my house.
~**~
I’m exhausted as I walk in the door the next morning. Rena is at her desk and gives me a huge grin. “Good morning.”
“Morning,” I say through half a yawn. “Coffee, please?”
“Right away.” Rena stands and moves toward the conference room where a small kitchenette is set up. It was designed for use during meetings, but I know Rena hated walking a floor down to get her coffee, let alone mine when I asked. Once I took over my father’s old office, I insisted on getting a Keurig set up along with a full selection of coffees, teas, and creamers. Rena has been with the company so long, and although neither of us will admit it, I need her more than she needs this job.
If free lunches and a coffee bar at her disposal make her smile, I’ll keep that baby stocked to the brim at all times.
I sit at my computer, tapping the mouse button and listening to the hum of the CPU boot up. My screen pops up to my inbox where several new emails are waiting to be read.
Upon opening the first one, a smile tips the edges of my lips. It’s from Mary in marketing. She’s one of the parents with a kid testing out our new solar lamp. Looks like her kid is enjoying it, and the fabric we picked out seems to be withstanding the daily goings-on of her young son’s life.
Unfortunately, the next two emails are also from parents in the beta test. Their kids haven’t had the same luck with theirs. A 66% failure rate is not good. I won’t accept anything less than a 99.2% error-free rate. Too many kids will depend on these lights to help them get through some rough nights, and I refuse to let the costs of a better fabric or power cell get in the way of making the best product we can.
Rena taps on the door before pushing it farther open and walking a cup of steaming coffee to my desk. It doesn’t take her two seconds to figure out something is amiss. “What’s wrong, Sebastian?”
I pick up the coffee mug and take a sip. Perfect. It’s just the way I love it—two sugars and nothing else. “A few of the test runs on the lanterns aren’t turning out as we’d hoped.”
“That’s not good.” Rena shakes her head. “How many do you have out there right now?”
“Ten, but two of the parents have already complained that the fabric has ripped on one, and another said theirs isn’t charging.”
“Well, maybe the rest will turn out okay…” Rena is trying to be encouraging, but even if the rest receive great responses, that’s still too many failures for my comfort.
“Maybe. But I’ll have to get with R&D and see if we can come up with something stronger so it’s able to withstand the wear and tear a kid will put it through.”
An all-knowing smile graces Rena’s face as she nods in her motherly way. “Well, you’ll make sure everything gets fixed and works perfectly.”
I roll my eyes before focusing them on her. “You have high expectations of what I can do.” I don’t mean for my tone to be dismissive, but the frustration of my first big project not working has me feeling ill.
“You’re right,” she says casually as she steps toward the door. “I do.”
I catch her eye again as she gives me a wink and closes the door behind her. Bless that woman. She’s one of the few saving graces that helps me keep my sanity in this place.