The One I Want

“Maybe. What’d you have to do?”

Sitting forward, I curl my shoulders. “Waste my fucking time, that’s what. It was the reason I was late to work on Monday.”

Chuckling, he shifts around in his seat and rests his arm on the back of the chair. “And look. You lived to tell the tale. Now what was number one?”

“I had to be lying in the grass at 9:17 AM on a sunny day. On a weekday, to be precise.”

With his brow wrinkled, he looks as confused as I still am regarding this list. “Why?”

The liquor has loosened me up, so although I’m not usually the shrugging kind, I do it and then slump back down. “I don’t know.”

“What happened?”

“Was my life forever changed? No. Did I get dog shit on me? Yes. And then the dog’s owner was stalking me.” Rolling my neck to the side, I give it a good stretch. “We had it out on the sidewalk before I lost a jinx and ended up meeting her the next morning to buy her a coffee as payment.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“The debt for the jinx. It was actually quite funny because she—”

“Huh? It sounds a lot like you’re talking about a woman you met while on one of Mom’s missions.”

“No, I’m not talking about the woman. She was cute but kind of weird. I was talking about 9:17 in the morning. It was just a coincidence we met at that time. Like I said—”

Jackson returns and drops into his seat. “What’d I miss?”

I say, “Nothing.”

But my brother has to include the whole world in this embarrassing conversation. “Andrew met someone.”

“How long was I gone? Five minutes?”

Nick laughs. “Not here. He met her the other day.”

“Ah.” Jackson discovers his fresh drink and holds it up. “Well, here’s to meeting new people.”

We tap our glasses together and drink, and then Nick says, “Speaking of meeting people. Some guys just walked in who I want you to meet.”

And just like that, I’m reminded of why I’m in New York, of my goals, and try to forget about the distraction of the female persuasion.

I follow the direction of his gaze, and ask, “Oh yeah?”

“Big money, but they have shit portfolio managers. We could help them.”

“First, we have to land their accounts.”

He stands and dusts my shoulder. “We will. They’re brothers like us. Work together. Play together. Make money together.”

I look behind me. “Who are they?”

“The Everest brothers.”

In my head, that statement should have had a bigger climactic build than it did. Everyone’s heard of the Everest brothers. “Ethan Everest, the tech billionaire?”

“Tech. Shipping. Electric cars. You name it, he owns it, billionaire. That’s the one. And his older brother, Hutton. Impressive portfolio. He holds interests in Europe and domestically. May not be a billionaire yet, but he’s well on his way.”

I take another long pull from the glass and then see them heading our way. “I love landing a whale. Two is even better.”

“I believe the term is a pod.” Nick and I look at Jackson. He clears his throat, and says, “Technically speaking, a pod is a group of whales.”

A chuckle rumbles through my chest. “Let’s land this pod then.”

Nick stands and shakes hands with them. “Man, it’s been too long,” he says. “Where’s Bennett?”

Ethan laughs. I recognize him from the tabloids to Forbes. He even landed on the cover of Time magazine twice for innovations. He replies, “We don’t always travel in a group.”

When I see Jackson open his mouth to correct him, I shake my head just enough for him to get the message. No one wants to be called a pod.

His brother adds, “It’s hard to get all three of us in one place at the same time these days. I just got back from Brudenbourg, and Bennett took off to visit our property in Texas.”

Nick stands to his full height, comfortable standing next to anyone, from a celebrity to a billionaire. “I forgot to mention to Andrew that you married royalty. It’s an incredible story.”

Hutton laughs. “Sure is.”

With his glass in hand, Nick adds, “I want you to meet my brother. This is Andrew and my brother-in-law, Jackson St. James.”

Ethan waves Margie over after introductions are done. No doubt she’ll be all over him since he’s easily recognizable. I didn’t set out to be a bodyguard, but I guess I’ll do what it takes to protect a friend or land an account.

For the past two hours, we’ve talked business over darts and gotten into the details of their life stories. “Fascinating stuff, man.” Six drinks aren’t going to kill me, but it’s going to fuck up my morning. “We should get together and talk about your investment portfolios. I know you’re working with Jenkins & Myers, but I’d like a meeting to show you how we’re different and what we can do for you.”