“He wasn’t built that way,” Allan said. “And neither is Kell.”
“Well, he’s going to have to give some ground on this. The days of coming in to a hostile takeover and firing everyone are gone. Especially in our industry. We’ll end up alienating a lot of potential talent,” Dec explained. “Some of the staff here are guys we want making games for us.”
“I get it,” Allan said. “I don’t envy you this job. Why do you do it?”
“What do you mean?”
“We both know you don’t have to work, you never have had to,” Allan said.
Dec couldn’t put it into words, but it made him feel like a real Montrose to be a part of the company. To do his part to help his cousins achieve their goal of revenge against the Chandlers. He’d always been on the outside until that day when he was twenty-three and Kell had called and asked him if he wanted to start a rival game company to beat Infinity in the marketplace. “I’m a Montrose.”
“True dat,” Allan said with a grin. “How’s the Chandler girl you’re dealing with?”
Incredible, Dec thought. There was no way he’d reveal to Allan his true feelings for Cari when he didn’t even have a handle on them himself yet. But as an executive, she was actually doing a good job of giving him the space he needed to evaluate the staff. “She’s good.”
“I know the middle sister, Jessi.”
“You do?” He remembered Kell mentioning a night of drinking and something about Allan and the middle sister. “Since when?”
“About two years now. Her best friend is married to my best friend,” Allan said. “Every time they have a major event, there she is to annoy me.”
“Is she serious about the rivalry?” he asked, because from what he could tell, Cari didn’t really let it bother her too much.
“She’s serious about being a pain in the ass. She had John investigated before the wedding.”
“You’re kidding. He comes from one of the oldest moneyed families in the country,” Dec said. They were distantly related on his mother’s side.
“I know, right? She said that money didn’t make someone a good person,” Allan said.
“Was she doing it just to needle you?” Dec asked.
“Probably. She gets under my skin.”
“I know what you mean,” Dec muttered under his breath.
“Woman troubles? I didn’t even think you were dating anyone,” Allan said.
“I might be dating,” he said as the conference room door opened after a brief knock before he could say anything else. He glanced up to see Cari standing there. Her straight hair was pulled back in the high ponytail she habitually wore it in, with the fringe of bangs falling straight on her forehead. Her blue eyes looked quizzical.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I needed to talk to you about a staff meeting.”
“Glad to have the interruption. Do you know my cousin Allan?”
“I do not,” she said, stepping forward to shake Allan’s hand.
“You seem less hostile than your sister,” Allan said.
“I try,” Cari said with a wry grin. “She’s not overly fond of you either.”
“I was totally aware of it, since she is usually scowling when I walk into a room.” Allan let go of her hand. “You don’t look anything like your sisters,” he said.
“I know. They used to tell me I was adopted when we were little,” she said.
“And I really was,” Dec interjected. “We have so much in common.”
Dec noticed Allan’s glance flicking between him and Cari. “Interesting,” his cousin commented.
“What’s interesting?” Cari asked, looking slightly confused.
“Nothing,” Allan said.
Dec stepped toward his cousin. “Allan, don’t you have to leave?”
“Not yet,” Allan said. “I’m here to observe, remember?”
The situation wasn’t ideal in Dec’s mind. He didn’t want his cousin watching him and Cari together. But he knew there was no way he was getting Allan out of here short of throwing him out.
* * *
Cari had hoped not to see Dec’s cousin, but it served to remind her of the other players in this game. It was hard not to look at the entire situation the way she did when they were building a game. It was easier to think of Allan as an adversary that had to either be swayed to join her team or destroyed.
In her mind she’d clothed herself in armor and a shield before coming down to the conference room and she was very glad she had. She realized that she had to keep the “dating” part of her life under very careful control. There was something about Dec and this entire thing that made her wish the timing was different.