“Yes, well, let’s hope R&D releases those magic clubs to commercialization sooner rather than later, for all our sakes. All the owners at Last Chance are getting antsy about seeing the turnaround, and the situation is becoming dire.”
The copious pasta carbs and then main dishes soothed the tension as they ate, and by the time Morrissey left for his next meeting an hour later, he seemed fine. “Lovely crossing swords with you. I’m not often kept on my toes.”
When he was gone, Nicole turned to Kingston. “He’s intense.”
Kingston sawed another bite of his meal. “He had a Bloody Mary or two with breakfast on the train. That was happy-drunk Morrissey. You should see him when he’s sober.”
“Well, those Last Chance guys had better not be holding their breath for me to release the Excalibur driver and the Vorpal irons. They’remonthsaway from release, maybe a year or more.”
Kingston’s voice sounded like he was choking on his lemon chicken. “Months?Still?”
Nicole folded her napkin and tucked it under the side of her plate. “Yeah. I mean, signing off on them wouldn’t be right untilthey’reperfect.You don’t build a reputation like Sidewinder’s by slapping together some cheesy clubs and tossing them onto the market for quick cash.”
“Yes, but these clubs have been in development for well over two years. The situation is serious.”
“Rushing things is never the right decision,” Nicole said.
“So you won’t release them for commercialization anytime soon.”
“Ican’t,”she told him.
41
Saving Sidewinder
KINGSTON MOORE
Nicole was asleep in the bed beside Kingston, her breath light on her pillow.
But Kingston couldn’t sleep.
Above the bed, the Baccarat chandelier caught the twinkles from the city outside the glass wall, and he watched sparkles play through the hanging crystals.
He’d been a success as a man that day, squiring his little engineer around New York, showing her the Rockefeller Center in a private tour and then taking inWickedthat night, which she’d loved. His lady was happy and happily exhausted, unconscious beside him, her skin as velvet as rose petals under his fingers that night.
The air conditioner turned on, whispering cool air across his face and into his hair.
His mind replayed the conversation between Nicole and Morrissey, which he’d observed nearly in silence.
Morrissey hadn’t exactly lied to Nicole, but he’d skirted the truth as only a lawyer could and then misdirected her into a conversation about Kingston’s few relationships. The absolutetruth was that Kingston didn’t bring women home to meet his friends.
None of them did, particularly.
But Morrissey’s most pointed comments had been directed straight at Kingston, even though he’d supposedly said them to Nicole.
We’re all on the hook if Sidewinder fails.
Yes, they were. The end of the bet with Gabriel Fish was just over three months away, when the value of the companies would be tallied and the winner determined.
Kingston carefully rolled over, the sheets cool under his hip and legs again.
Nicole didn’t stir, her sighing breath unchanged.
Morrissey had said,We’re overly reliant on our friends, and none of us had proper parental figures.
A double-edged comment the size of a two-handed broadsword.
—My childhood friend who I trust to go into companies that are highly at risk?—
