Three more large glasses of wine later and Penny was in full swing to become the drunkest girl at the picnic. Jake had come by on multiple occasions to check in, but every time he was about to sit down, someone else demanded his time. The joys of being the boss, I guess. Not that I minded, as I was enjoying Penny, Eva, and Rob’s company. Moira had disappeared without so much as a word since I arrived.
“So, how long have you and Mr. Weston been dating?” Eva asked, and Penny leaned closer to listen to our conversation, chin in hand and a drunk, lopsided grin across her face. If I had time for girlfriends, I think Eva, Penny, and I would get on great.
“We aren’t dating,” I said sheepishly.
“Nonsense,” Penny said with a push to my shoulder. “He’s been very attentive to you the whole day. You don’t... Oh shh, shh, he’s coming”
“Ladies,” Jake cooed as he sidled up behind me and slipped his hand beneath my hair and rested it against my neck. His thumb brushed my skin, sending tiny shivers down my spine. “Are you enjoying yourselves?”
“Oh yes, Mr. Weston,” Eva answered with a smile and a small nod of her head.
Penny nodded enthusiastically too and added, “Lovely turnout this year.”
Jake hummed in agreement and moved to my side, bringing his hand away from my neck and tipping my chin up with his middle and forefinger. He bent, and against my lips, he whispered, “I’m sorry I’ve not been able to spend a lot of time with you today. People don’t usually want to talk to the boss at this event, but apparently everyone is keen to know everything about the girl I brought.”
He pressed his lips hard to mine and stole the air from my lungs. PDA appeared not to be something he minded. “I will try to make it back to you soon.”
I closed my eyes as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear, and I murmured, “Okay.”
When I opened my eyes, both Penny and Eva were looking at me, then each other, and Penny clapped her hands in delight.
“This is sooo cute,” she squealed, sloshing her wine over her glass as she pulled it from the table, nearly missing her mouth. “I always thought he was gay,” she said matter-of-factly, wiping away the pinot grigio that had missed her mouth and was dripping down her chin.
“What she means is; that Mr. Weston has never seemed to take an interest in commitment with a woman before. Sure, he’s been photographed with countless beautiful ladies of social stature, but we always thought it was for publicity, you know?” Eva commented, trying to save her friend from saying something she might regret once she’d sobered up. “He just spends his time, work or free, with Alton or Victor. So I guess I can see why silly rumours” — she jabbed Penny’s hand again — “can start. Especially with big mouth here.”
I nodded, laughing as Penny shrugged her shoulders in an ‘oh well’ gesture.
“It is a shame, really, he deserves someone nice, y’know.” Penny sighed. “He had such a hard couple of years after his brother’s death.”
“How did he die?” I asked, trying not to sound too eager or surprised that his brother’s death appeared to be public knowledge. After Jake disclosed that detail at the gala, a lot of information relating to his brother’s cause of death had been removed online. Not so odd considering the Westons were a big player in the pharma world and definitely had the means to remove unwanted negative press attention.
“He OD’d,” she said, falling silent for a moment. “Bradley was two years younger and was meant to take over from their father, since Mr. Weston wasn’t interested. But he was spiked with contaminated drugs at a party and his heart gave out.”
And just like that, my heart broke for Jake. Knowing what he told me at the gala about losing his brother was not some made-up story to win the sympathy vote made me ache for his loss. Even after all the pain we suffered, if anything like that happened to my sister, I don’t know how I could continue. I would leave the world of those responsible in ruins. It’s not like I’ve not done that before. But now learning Jake, too, felt that unbearable pain… it cemented how much this man was not like my regular targets, and I was starting to question whether or not I could really help Will with this assignment.
Eva gave me an apologetic smile and started fussing over Penny, waving her arms in frustration, before dragging her by the arm to get some water. I took that time alone to slip my phone from my bag and send Alex a text.
Stevie: Dig up all you can on Alton Kingswood and Victor Critchley, QP and CSO for Weston Pharma.
Stevie: BFFs of Jake.
Alex: On it.
Stevie: Also dig more into Bradley Weston. His brother. We need to find out more about him.