“I should get you home,” he said softly.
I blinked in surprise, shivering in the abruptly chilly night.
“Yeah...I should get home.”
Chapter 18
Takahari’s golf day was the last big event Marcus and I had until the gala in the Caribbean, so he and I didn’t see each other for the next week and a half. We texted back and forth a few times. Mostly just a cursory, did you see the latest copy of Forbes? (no) and do you have your passport ready? But after the night on the beach, we gave each other a wide berth.
I did, however, see quite a lot of his minions.
Fancy-looking people in fancy-looking suits buzzed in and out of the apartment like locusts, humming with increased activity in the days leading up to take-off. One woman took all my measurements while another delivered a pair of empty suitcases and offered me a spray tan. Some carted in boxes of shoes and asked me some questions about my capacity to scuba dive, while still others offered to sit me down and take me through a synopsis of Takahari’s merger on the off-chance he’d ask my opinion of the finer points of the consolidation. This, I politely declined. I figured Takahari knew I didn’t give a shit about the legalese, and that blatant disregard was part of my charm. Marcus’ robots didn’t seem to find it as endearing as I would have liked, but they held their collective tongue.
They all seemed to be named some variation of Charles—even the women. I handled them as courteously as I could. But by the time the last one swept out of the living room the night before we were to depart, I sank into the sofa with the sinking feeling like I’d maybe gotten in a little bit over my head.
“Are automatons four through nine gone yet?” Amanda called from the next room. She had been about as impressed with Marcus’ entourage as I was.
“They’re gone,” I called back. A second later, she joined me on the couch. “You know, I understand the importance of this weekend for Marcus’ company, I really do. And I’d never claim to fully comprehend the logistics involved in joining two international conglomerates...”
?
??But?” she prompted.
“...but I do not understand what that has to do with the state of my cuticles.”
She nodded wisely. “I lost focus about the time one of them started lecturing me on the merits of kale.”
“Was that Chuck with the mustache?”
“Charleigh with the...well, also with the mustache.”
I pressed my fists into my eyes and stifled an exasperated shriek. “Amanda, what the fuck am I doing here? I don’t want to be responsible for all this!”
She looked at me solemnly. “With great power, comes great—”
“Don’t quote Spiderman at me, I’m being serious.” I stared around the crowded apartment at a loss. “What the hell have I gotten myself into?”
She scooted closer to me on the couch and patted my knee sympathetically. “Bex, you’re going to be fine. Everything going on here—the merger, the company—you’re not responsible for any of it. Marcus asked you to come along for the ride and pretend to be his girlfriend. Drink some cocktails, make the old man laugh with your unsophisticated wiles.” She winked. “And it’s all done in forty-eight hours. It’s going to be a breeze.”
Deevus hopped up onto my lap and waved his tail in my face. “Sure, a breeze,” I echoed with a self-righteous sniff. “All I have to do is convince a resort full of the wealthiest people in the world that I’m supposed to be there. That I’m a mover and a shaker, just like them.”
Amanda considered this for a moment. “Try not to talk so much.”
I laughed and smacked her with a pillow as Deevus leaped for safety.
She chuckled and dodged, but her eyes grew thoughtful as they landed on my empty, unused luggage. “You know, I have to admit—it’s a ballsy move. Especially considering your track record.”
I frowned. “What does that mean—my track record?”
She shrugged. “You look before you leap.”
“As the proverb instructs us...”
“No, I mean...you never actually leap. You just stand there. Like a stunted frog.” She yawned and stretched back onto the couch. “Or like...a startled antelope.”
I watched the wheels turning with concern.
“It’s like if the Brothers Grimm did a series with Lisa Frank. That’s how you see the world. I’m trying to compliment you.” She tossed back her hair and grinned. “This is you taking the plunge. It makes me proud!”