“Pretty posh,” said Evan, dropping into one of the armchairs in Ash’s office, the one nearest the huge window overlooking the town. He glanced around at the portraits on the walls. “Think I could get an office like this?”

“Not likely,” said Ash. “This is for people who actually work for a living.”

His cousin leaned back in his chair, looking steadily at Evan. Was his chair higher than this one? That was the kind of cheap psychological trick his cousins would play on people. He probably had one of those books about how to intimidate people tucked away in his desk.

“Didn’t you hear the news?” asked Evan in his mildest tone. “I’m a working man now. Deep in the mines, carving away.”

“Oh, yeah, I know all about your version of work.”

“Dude, it’s not my fault you didn’t get a nice fat check from your dad. Don’t be jealous. I’m sure working for Archie is very…fulfilling?”

Ash narrowed his eyes. “I’m glad he’s got you here now.”

His tone was getting under Evan’s skin. They weren’t kids anymore, and Evan knew how to react (or, rather, how not to react) to Ash’s insistent superiority complex, but it was never easy. He wanted so badly to be better than Evan.

“What do you mean, got me?” Evan asked. “Your dad doesn’t have me. It’s not like I’m trapped in here.”

Tilting his head, Ash said, “That’s cute, cousin. But I’m not here to indulge your psychosexual fantasies about having to work for a living. I had another purpose.”

It was funny, he’d spent his whole life thinking of Ash as just an asshole. Pompous, status-seeking, pushy. But something had changed. Maybe it was Ash himself, or maybe Evan was just seeing him through Simon’s eyes for the first time. Ash could obviously sense Evan’s discomfort, as much as Evan was trying to conceal it. He was sadistically enjoying Evan not knowing why he was here.

“The thing is,” Ash said, “I just heard where they’ve got you, down in that dank little closet with Simon Bowden. That right?”

Something primal in Evan’s mind triggered the red alert: Danger, predator nearby.

“Uh, yeah,” Evan said neutrally.

“You want to be careful around that guy. He’s seriously messed up.”

Evan kept his face absolutely still. He made sure his breathing was calm and steady. Don’t you fucking talk about Simon that way, he wanted to shout. Wanted to put his fist in Ash’s face.

He kept still.

Was Simon right? Had Archie told Ash to summon Evan? Was this the first stage of trying to cause trouble, gauging Evan’s reaction, determining if they were together?

No, of course not. That was paranoid thinking. No one had seen Evan and Simon together. No one had an inkling.

Although…suddenly he couldn’t stop wondering if there were cameras somewhere in the office. Cameras capturing this morning, reaching into Simon’s pants to give his cock a playful squeeze.

He shook his head.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, dude. Simon seems pretty normal to me. My dad loved him. He’s a pretty chill guy.”

Ash barked a laugh. “Yeah, it’s always the quiet ones.”

Evan felt a chill. It was the same thing he’d said to Archie about the ambassador’s nephew.

Like Ash and Archie had compared notes.

“So, Ash. What exactly are you warning me about? What do you expect this guy to do?”

Ash stood up and walked to the window, near Evan. He stared down at the town. “Expect? Hell, I don’t know. I’ve known him since we were kids. He’s a punk, Evan. You weren’t around to get to know him the way I did. Always hanging out with Lucas Phelps and that loser crowd. Yeah, he got in good with your dad, weaseled his way through a job for a while. I’m sure your dad liked him. No offense, but your dad’s head was in the clouds. He didn’t really know people. Couldn’t see what they were up to.”

Evan’s fingers tightened on the arms of the chair. “I’d appreciate you not talking about my dad.”

Ash nodded. “That’s fine. But look, we tried to find Simon another spot in the company, just out of respect. He didn’t work out anywhere. Bombed at everything we offered him.”

“He seems to know what he’s doing in the records department.”

“Please. What’s to know? It’s a bunch of fucking file cabinets and cobwebs. I’m just warning you for your own good, Evan. This guy is going to try to leech onto you somehow. The way he did with your dad. He’s going to try to get some money going that way.”

“Then he picked the wrong target,” Evan said. He really did want to punch Ash. “I don’t have any money anymore, remember? Your dad saw to that.”

Ash rolled his eyes. He stepped away from the window, to the small bar at the side of the office, and poured himself a drink without offering Evan one. “You’ve got a really low opinion of my dad. Which is ironic, because in a lot of ways, I liked Uncle Leonard. He might not have been a businessman, and god knows he wasted a lot of money on you, but he was a good guy. My dad is too.”

“Yes, I’m sure it was the goodness of his heart that made him cut off my money.”

“You know he’s going to come through for you.”

“What? Ash, I know nothing of the kind.”

“Come on. You’re family, and nothing is more important to Dad than family. This whole scheme of his, it’s just to bring you back into the flock. It’s because he wants you to be one of us, not because he hates you.”

It caught Evan off-guard. He’d never heard anyone say anything nice about Archie before. Could Ash possibly mean all this? Did he have that big of a blind spot where his dad was concerned?

“If I’m just a little lamb being shepherded back in, he could stand to be a little more generous. Have you heard about this tiny apartment he got for me?”

Ash got a thoughtful look. “He needs you, Evan. He needs all of us. Look, just between you and me, the company isn’t doing great at the moment. We’re competing against companies that can charge pennies on the dollar. Some of our biggest patents have expired in the past couple of years. We need the whole family to pull together.”

Evan wanted to say something scathing, because he just didn’t care about the business…except, he found, he did. If Cray Reliable went out of business, everything his dad had worked for would be lost. Simon would be out of a job. Everything would change.

He said, “Archie could have just asked, you know. He didn’t have to bluster and threaten and get the lawyers involved.”

Ash shook his head. “Don’t give me that. If Dad hadn’t pulled the purse strings, you’d still be out there drinking the family fortune away. But just sit tight. Do what he says. This isn’t going to last forever. You know he’s not like that. If there’s one thing Dad respects, it’s the relationship between a man and his money. So come to work. Do the job. Once he sees you’re on his side, you’ll find yourself moving way, way up.”

“I’m here. I’m doing the work.”

“That’s right. And one more thing. Stay the hell away from Simon. I’m serious about him being bad news.”

Amazing how quickly that anger could flare again. Evan had just about been lulled into not hating Ash…until he mentioned Simon.

“I’m not saying he’s an angel—” started Evan.

“Look, I’ll tell you a secret about him,” said Ash. “Don’t tell anybody else. I think he was sleeping with your dad.”

Evan’s throat closed off. He could not say a word. His breath came out in a thin squeak. He coughed, tried to gather his thoughts, but couldn’t. There was just a red rage that threatened to engulf him.

“Do what?” he managed, finally.

“I mean, I don’t know,” said Ash. “It’s just one of those things you hear, you know? Maybe it was just gossip. But it makes sense. Your dad was fucking attached to that guy, and we never could see why. Sure, personal assistant, great, but he consulted Simon about everything. They were…close, you know? And people talked.”

Evan got out of his chair. He really couldn’t answer that. Was it true? It couldn’t be. And what did it say about him, that he would even ask that question? They did spend time together, he thought. But of course they did, his dad was endlessly needy when it came to dealing with the real world. This was nothing, it was baseless stupid gossip, and worse, it was malicious, like it was specially designed to get inside Evan’s head.

Would it even matter if it were true?

Well, of course it would, but damn it, this was exactly what Simon was worried about, Archie coming up with something like this, trying to destroy Evan.

Unless Simon was scared of the truth coming out.

He had to stop that. He felt so off-balance, dizzy, like he’d suddenly come down with the flu. He reached for the door.

“Dude, don’t take it too hard,” said Ash. “Maybe it was just a rumor, nothing more. I know it must make you feel weird about your dad.”

It’s not my dad I’m worried about, thought Evan.

He stumbled out of Ash’s office.