Chapter Seventeen
RHOADES
With the letter safely tucked inside my jacket pocket, Austin and I left the bodega after promising Chanan and Vijay I’d keep them abreast of any developments. This negotiation would take some finesse, and I needed to go to my office and do a bit of research. Austin had several items he wanted to pick up in the design district, and Felix and I would drop him off before I headed back uptown.
Austin’s phone rang. “It’s James.”
With everything that had happened between the two of us over the past day, I’d forgotten Austin still worked for James.
James. I rubbed my face. I’d yet to clue Austin in on my complicated family relationship.
“Sure. I can work tonight.” Austin’s face tightened. “No. No, I haven’t heard from him either. If I do, I’ll let you know. Bye.”
Watching him text, his fingers flying over his phone, I ventured to speak. “Bad news? Can I assume about Frankie?”
“Yeah.” He stopped texting and lay back, staring up at nothing.
I took his hand and held on tight. “Care to tell me about it?”
“Not much to tell.” Austin’s devastated eyes were dark pools in his face. “James has been calling him since yesterday and can’t get an answer. I texted him right now asking where he is. I don’t want to call his house and set off any alarms, but I’m scared.”
I squeezed his fingers. “Felix, pull over, please.” I waited for the car to slide to a halt, then took off my seat belt and slid closer to Austin to hold him. “Whatever you need from me, I’ll help you.”
“I don’t know what to do. If he’s with Aaron again, he might not be able to get in touch with me.”
“I have security. I can get them to make some inquiries.”
“Let’s wait and see if he gets in touch with me.”
“If I can help, tell me.” My phone vibrated in my pocket. I ignored it, but it kept buzzing. “Hold on. Let me see who it is.”
James. “What do you want?” I couldn’t help snapping at him.
“To know why you’re with Austin. Care to tell me what’s going on?”
“I wasn’t aware of the requirement to report my whereabouts to you. I do quite well on my own.”
“I can see that.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? And how do you know I’m with Austin, anyway?” Shit. I hadn’t meant to let that slip.
“Technology is a wonderful thing, brother. Embrace it. Did you know I can see where all my contacts are by checking on my phone?”
“Remind me to lose your number.”
“What’s going on, Rhoades?”
“And block you.”
“You don’t mean that. If you’re together, I’m happy for you.”
A snide James I was used to. A sympathetic James? Not so much.
“I have to go.”
“I’ll see you tonight.”
He rang off before I had the satisfaction of disconnecting him.
“Can I ask you something?” Austin slouched against the door.
“Ask me anything. I’ll do my best to answer.”
Fidgeting for a moment, Austin raked his hand through his hair and expelled a noisy rush of breath.
“You and James. You know each other, obviously. Are you friends? Ex-lovers? If so, it’s cool that you guys could still get along. I’m curious, is all.”
I choked back a laugh and watched as Felix in the front seat shook his head.
“No, we weren’t ever lovers, God help us. James is my brother. Half brother, to be exact.”
“What? You and James? How did that happen?” Shock and confusion played over Austin’s face. “Brothers?”
“Half. When we moved to London right after I was born, my father would come back to the States often for business. Only it wasn’t all business as I discovered. He had a lover. And she had a baby. A son.”
“James?” At my nod, Austin’s mouth made a perfect O of surprise. “Wow. When did you find out? And how?”
It had been years, but I could still see him standing in the hallway next to my father. Sullen yet heartbroken over his mother’s death. “When I was fifteen. James’s mother died suddenly. He had no one to live with, and as my father was named guardian, he took him in to live with us. I was on holiday from school in London and had come to visit at the brownstone. James showed up. Neither of us had any idea of the other’s existence.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Astonished, Austin sat cross-legged on the wide leather seat to face me. “What did your father say?”
Foolishly, I’d hoped to not have to talk about this, but Austin wasn’t simply anyone in my life. “My father was a cold man. He brought us both in, sat us down, and had us face each other. He pointed to James and said, ‘This is your half brother, James. His mother died, and now he’s coming to live with us. You’re to treat him as any older brother would treat a younger sibling. Look out for him.’ ”
“You must be kidding. So matter-of-fact? That wouldn’t sit too well with me.”
“Yes. As if meeting a brother you didn’t know existed was an everyday occurrence.” Like yesterday, I could still recall the combination of hurt and fury at the realization my father had lived a double life and was cheating on my mother all those years. And James and I staring each other down, both of us resentful, with hatred in our eyes like enemy combatants.
“It must’ve hurt you very much. And James as well.”
A time I hated to recall. While never affectionate, my father had been my idol, the man I looked up to the most. To discover he’d fathered a child and hidden his existence while pretending to be a devoted husband and father to my mother and me shattered my world, but instead of venting my rage, I suppressed it. I also chose to ignore James’s existence, treating him as a stranger every time we’d come face-to-face.
“We didn’t have the best relationship, no.”
“Come on. Let it out. You can admit it to me. You must’ve resented the hell out of him, even hated him. Your father too, maybe even more so. James was as innocent a victim as you were. I know that’s how I would’ve felt if it were me and my father did that.” He cocked a brow. “We both lost out on the parent lottery, I guess.”
I pulled him into my arms for a kiss. “We won in other ways. The ways that count.” I covered his mouth with mine and fell into the oblivion that only Austin could give me.
I left Austin at a showroom he needed to visit and instructed Felix to continue to my office, where I spent the next several hours speaking with bankers and real-estate investors I trusted implicitly to get the job done quickly and with discretion. I also spoke with James, asking him for a favor and to use whatever means necessary to get the information I needed. At seven o’clock I texted Austin, wondering if he’d heard from Frankie.
Yes, they went to the Poconos for a few days. Said he didn’t have cell service.
I sensed skepticism even in the written text, but as long as Frankie answered, there wasn’t anything Austin could do but be vigilant. I understood. If I ever came across Austin’s ex, I’d probably go to jail for attempted murder of the cowardly little prick.
I’ll see you later. I have some business to finish up first.
K.
Feeling a bit grungy, I decided to change clothes. Upon entering the bathroom, I decided to take a shower as well. This meeting would require me to be in top form, and since appearances meant everything, I knew to make certain I looked every inch the part.
Ronald Poole, Esq., wouldn’t know what hit him.
Refreshed, I stood before the full-length mirror in my armor: navy suit, crisp white and blue striped shirt, and royal blue silk tie. Ready for battle. I tugged down my shirt sleeves and checked my watch. I planned on staying an hour and a half with Poole and then heading off to the club to see Austin. My eyes glowed, and a slight flush tinted my cheeks, the result of the prospect of spending another night with Austin in my bed.
“Showtime.” I gave myself a salute and a smile in the mirror, shut off the lights, and left. With his unerring sense of timing, Felix was waiting downstairs, and I slid into the back seat.
“How are you tonight?”
I met his eyes in the rearview mirror before he pulled out into traffic. “Very well. 49th and Third, please.”
We stopped at the light, and Felix half turned to speak. “Are we picking up Austin for dinner?”
With everything I’d had planned tonight, dinner had been left off the agenda. Food was the last thing on my mind. “Um, no. I hadn’t thought about it. I suppose after my meeting I could see.”
“Guess you’re a bit preoccupied these days. Can’t say I’m surprised.” We drove for a few blocks before he spoke again. “I’m happy for you. Austin is very much like you.…And Lance would’ve liked him very much.”
“I’d like to think so,” I answered softly. It didn’t come as a surprise to me that for the past week or so, my sleep had been more restful than it had been in years—or that I didn’t wake up focused on getting through the day instead of living it. Austin challenged me at every turn, reminding me of all the beauty there was in the world.
Maybe it was quick, but not to me. I’d relied on my gut instinct in business as well as my personal life, and it had never steered me wrong. Giving Austin the chance to design the penthouse had never been a risk. I’d known from the first time I watched him dance that he was a man on the rise. A man with a vision of what he wanted out of life.
Now I intended for that vision to include me.
“Here we are.” The car halted behind a line of black cars waiting to pick up their customers. I glanced at my watch. Right on time. “It could take a while, so I don’t know when I’ll be down.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
A last-minute idea popped into my head, and I texted Edgar to make arrangements, then strode inside the glittering skyscraper. The vast granite-and-steel lobby echoed with the voices of people thankful to have finished the day and be on their way home. A husky security guard checked my identification, and after calling to confirm my appointment, pointed me to the correct set of elevator banks.
“Thank you.”
“Not a problem, sir.” His eyes were hidden under his dark-framed glasses, but I sensed his watchful stare as I walked away. It only took a moment before one of the elevators arrived to rocket me up to the thirty-fifth floor, one of the three floors of office space occupied by the law firm of Holbrook and Poole LLC.
The entrance to the suite was paneled in light wood, and a wide marble waterfall desk took up the center of the space. A young man with an eager expression and a serious gray suit and tie awarded me his best smile. “Mr. MacKenzie?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Michael, Mr. Poole’s executive assistant. Follow me, please. He’s just finishing up a call.”
An old tactic I’d employed often myself. Let the enemy believe you weren’t important enough to make the time for. Don’t jump for them. Because there was no doubt Poole knew I wasn’t coming to play a game of chess.
We were at war, and it was time for battle.
“Have a seat, please. May I offer you some water or coffee?”
“No. I’m fine as is, thank you.”
I expected to be kept waiting for fifteen minutes, and as my instincts never failed me, I was summoned to Poole’s office after that precise time expired. I stepped into the office, the wall of windows showcasing the lights of the city gleaming in the dusky twilight.
“MacKenzie. I’m Ronnie Poole. I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting you before, but of course I’ve heard of your firm.”
I took his hand in a hard grip. His bright smile flashed in his darkly tanned face, and I hated to admit it was a bit disconcerting to see he shared Austin’s blue eyes.
“Poole. Shall we sit?” I didn’t wait for him to answer and took a seat at his conference table. I wouldn’t allow him to view me as either a supplicant or subordinate by sitting at his desk.
“Do you care for a drink?” He held up a bottle of gin.
I grimaced. “No, thank you. This isn’t a social call.”
“Oh? Tell me, then,” he said, the bright smile fading. “What are we talking about?” Uncertainty flashed across his face.
“The Bushwick Avenue buildings you purchased.” I unbuttoned my suit jacket and braced my elbows on the table. “You and your investment group.”
“Is that what this is about? They aren’t for sale.” His smile oozed false sympathy.
“Everyone has a price, Poole.” If this bastard thought I was playing, he was in for a rude awakening. I let that sink in. “Name it.”
“Why do you want those buildings anyway? They’re going to be torn down, and you can’t think to put in luxury homes there for those people. That site is good for nothing but low- or middle-income housing right now. We’re planning to hold on to it until the time is right for development.”
“I’m diversifying to middle-income developments as well as luxury. These buildings fit my needs.”
“Is that so?” He drummed his fingers on the glossy tabletop, and I could see the wheels turning in his head. “There are five properties making up an entire block. We paid thirty million in total.”
“I’ll give you back your investment.” Perhaps this would be easier than I thought.
Poole bared his teeth in a grin. “If you give me fifty million, I’ll be happy to sell.”
Bastard. He knew I wanted them. “Thirty-five million.”
“You’re insulting me.”
He had no idea. “If I wanted to insult you, I could do much better than this.”
With that, the gloves came off, and Poole’s lips thinned. “We’ve never met, and yet you sound as though you have a personal problem with me.”
“Do I? I have a problem with any parent who treats their flesh and blood like shit.” Let him figure it out.
Nonplussed, Poole blinked at me. “What? Flesh and blood?” Then it hit him—I saw exactly when the realization dawned upon him. “Austin. You know him?”
I remained silent, unwilling to reveal anything about myself, Austin, or our relationship.
Sweat gleamed off Poole’s brow. “I did some checking on you, MacKenzie. See, I wondered why out of the blue, Rhoades MacKenzie, millionaire real-estate developer, suddenly wanted to meet with me. It made no sense. Now it does.” His eyes narrowed to slits. “You’re gay.”
I lazed back in the chair and quirked a brow. “I never made my sexuality a secret, but neither do I allow it to enter business dealings. Ever.” For once I was grateful for my British training and my ability to keep my emotions in check. I didn’t blink an eye.
Poole, on the contrary, continued to rant. “How do you know my son?” When I didn’t answer, he continued. “I haven’t heard from that ungrateful shit in years. Did he tell you I was mean to him and kicked him out? Or would you like to know the truth? That he’ll never amount to anything. A good for nothing.”
“You did to Austin what you did to your wife. You got rid of her because she didn’t fit the mold of what you wanted. You couldn’t handle her mental illness, and instead of helping her, you chose to toss her away.”
The fact that I knew so much about his personal history caused him to pull up short.
“My wife was a sick woman who needed help.”
“Your help. You were her husband.” I banged on the tabletop. “But she didn’t follow the nice, tidy picture of an up-and-coming partner’s wife, so you made her out to be so horribly mentally unstable, you were pitied and the authorities threatened to take her child away. And the saddest joke of all is that you didn’t even want Austin. All you cared about is what people might think. She had no chance against someone powerful like you. You played the poor, grieving ex-husband who would’ve done anything to help her, but in reality you’re as guilty as if you’d poured those pills and vodka down her throat.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” But he sounded a bit less certain than a moment before.
After Austin told me his story, I’d done a bit of digging into Poole’s background and spoke to a few old acquaintances who’d left the firm. They were only too happy to tell me what they thought of him. He’d since married a religious Christian woman with a rich daddy and played the part of Saint Ronald Poole to the hilt. Only I knew better.
“Oh, yes I do. And I know it doesn’t matter anymore because it was so long ago. But it makes me wonder.” I gave him my most brilliant smile. “If you’ve hidden these facts for all these years, what other secrets do you have to hide?” I already knew the answer. James had dug up some information on hookers who, if necessary, were only too eager to tell their stories for a price. I would use that and anything against Poole to my advantage, but I didn’t want to. Too messy and undignified.
“Why do you care?” Poole snarled at me and pushed away from the desk.
“Because of what you did to Austin.”
“You’re fucking my son?”
“I love your son.”
Lips pursed, he gave me a disgusted look. “Spare me the details of your bedroom.”
Holding my emotions in check was proving difficult with this man. “I have no intention of discussing Austin with you. That wasn’t the purpose of my visit. But make sure you understand this before you let me walk out that door, because this offer only remains on the table as long as I’m present. If you don’t sell me those buildings, I will have no choice but to let your wife know of your extramarital wanderings.” Using a trick I’d learned long ago, I waved my phone in front of him with a picture on the screen. It wasn’t of Poole, but he didn’t have to know it. Risky, yes, but worth it.
He paled to a sickly gray, and I gave him my most winning smile. “Shall we sign the papers now?”
“You bastard.” He reached out to grab the phone, but I snatched it away.
“No, no, no. Didn’t anyone ever teach you not to take what’s not yours?” I tucked it back into my jacket pocket. “And my parents were married at the time of my birth, so I don’t appreciate the slur.”
“You wouldn’t dare go to my wife.”
“Try me.” I lashed out. “You want to take that chance?”
“My son—”
“Is off-limits in this or any discussion I might have with you. He doesn’t know I’m here. He doesn’t even know you’re involved. You lost all rights to be in his life when you rejected him, so don’t think you can use him as a weapon against me.”
Defeated, Poole slumped in his chair, twisting his wedding band around and around on his finger. This was by no means the biggest deal I’d ever done in my life, but it was the most important, and my heart thumped. I let the silence grow between us. The final move was Poole’s.
“Give me the damn papers.” His face flooded with color, and his eyes turned to chips of ice.
I said nothing, merely added in the figures and handed him the documents. Triumph surged through me when the final contract was signed, and even though I knew it would have to be vetted and examined by each of our lawyers, the deed was done. I’d thwarted his attempt to put not only Austin’s friends out of business, but several other neighborhood stores that were a lifeline for an underserved population. My head spun at the complete 180 my focus had taken in such a short time period, and I realized that after this deal was settled, I would have to take a long look at not only myself, but how I conducted business. I’d never before made business decisions based on emotions. I’d sailed through my life without a thought to anyone else, and yet in the past week I’d bought a shelter and now a block of buildings in an area I only knew existed on a map. Austin wasn’t the only one entering a new phase in his life.
I picked up the documents, and leaving Poole sitting at the conference table, strode across the office to the door, where I paused.
“Nice doing business with you, Poole.” The door closed behind me with a snick. Overwhelmed, I rested against the wall. The deal—which had been the reason for the meeting—became of secondary importance when I replayed the conversation I had with Poole and what I said.
I love him. I love Austin.
But how to tell Austin without him running away? Not quite sure where I stood, I left the building and spotted Felix and my car in the same spot as when I’d left them.
“That didn’t take too long.” Felix greeted me. “Are you going to get dinner first?”
“Let’s go back home. I have to drop off these papers and call my attorneys and bankers. I’m sure Edgar can dig up something for me to eat.”
“Will do.” He swung out into the street, and we traveled uptown. My jumbled thoughts kept my mind busy the entire length of the drive. So much to think about…I wasn’t proud of how I handled myself tonight. Resorting to blackmail had never been the way I did business. I’d sunk as low as Poole, and rationalizing that to deal with a snake, I might need to become one left me with an unpleasant taste in my mouth. Did the end—acquiring those buildings—justify the means? Right now I wasn’t sure I had the answer. I hadn’t wanted to talk about Austin with his father either, but in doing so, it forced me to realize what he meant to me.
I was on a roller coaster, holding on for dear life.
“Rhoades, we’re here.”
“Hmm?” I blinked, unaware we’d stopped in front of the brownstone. “Oh. Thanks, Felix. I’ll be leaving again at about ten. Get yourself some dinner, and I’ll see you then.”
“You okay?”
“What? Oh yes. I’m fine.”
I wasn’t. Not really. But tonight after I talked to Austin, I would be. After I told him I loved him.