“Alright,” I said.I pinched the bridge of my nose with one hand and then pointed that same hand in Keaton’s direction.I kept my eyes screwed shut as I thought.“Call in Ridley and Ace.Meeting right here until we have this resolved.Tell the sponsor I’d like to speak with them this afternoon but that everything is in hand.That will give us some time.We’ll probably need to order in lunch – none of us are going anywhere today.Did you have plans?”
Keaton stared at me.
“What?”I asked.Could he not see very well without his glasses on?
“Sorry,” he said, a red flush spreading up his cheeks.“I just – I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say that much in one go.”
I narrowed my eyes at him.“Did you get all of that?”
“I’ll arrange everything, just like you said.”He paused and gave me a shy smile.“And I didn’t have plans for lunch, no.I’m happy to stay and work through.”
“Excellent,” I said.
And it was stupid.We were in the middle of a crisis.
But having Keaton work smoothly with me actually did feel excellent.
And that shy smile of his sent that lightning bolt shivering into my stomach again in ways that I couldn’t stop to contemplate.
“I swear to you, Harvey,” Ridley was saying.He sat next to the coffee table with his hands spread wide on either side of him.I’ve always been the biggest man in the room – with the one exception being when I’m standing next to Caleb Coleman.But Ridley Angus gave me a run for my money.Those giant hands spread out wide made a visual impact.“I swear to you on my mother’s grave.I didn’t drink anything.I don’t know what happened.Someone must have slipped something into my drink.”
“Why were you drinking at a bar in the first place?”I asked him coldly.The rage hadn’t abated much.It had only cooled to a blazing-white iciness.
“I was-” Ridley took a breath and started again.He lowered his voice from the shout he’d started with.“I wasn’t drinking.Not, like,drinking.I was only using the sponsor’s product.Trust me.I actually had to hassle the owner of O’Finlays to get them to stock it behind the bar for me.It was that glorified apple juice they sell.”
“Look, Harvey, I know you don’t want to hear this, but I believe him,” Ace said.He stood behind Ridley.It was the first time he’d stopped pacing since I called them both here.“We’ve been out a few times to celebrate deals and he’s never once caved and gone for the alcohol.No matter what happens.People even send him free drinks to show their appreciation for him and he just gives them to whoever he’s drinking with.”
“That’s true,” Ridley confirmed solemnly.
I glanced over at Keaton.I wanted to see what he thought.It was almost an automatic or instinctive move.He was pale and worried.I couldn’t tell if he believed Ridley or not.
It was down to me.No matter what Keaton thought.
But the thing of it was…
I was starting to believe him myself.
“Alright,” I sighed.I sat down in my desk chair.I wasn’t joining them at the coffee table today.I wanted that division to remain clear.They were answering to me.“Say I believe you.Who did this?”
“The same person who planted the fake contracts,” Keaton spoke up.
We all looked at him sharply.
He didn’t blush this time.I wasn’t sure whether to be proud of him or disappointed not to see it.“It had to be the same person,” he went on.“They tried to sabotage your reputation with the contracts first, but we saw through it and managed to diffuse the situation.Literally that same night, someone spikes your drink and tips off the press about where you are so that you get caught on film looking drunk?That doesn’t sound like a coincidence to me.”
I had to agree with him.Even if I didn’t like the way he was looking at Ridley.Like the man was now redeemed again in his eyes.
The man had legions of adoring fans.There was no need for him to have Keaton as well.He wouldn’t miss one more person staring at him with admiration and lust.
Damnit.I needed to concentrate.
“I think you’re right,” I conceded.“Fuck.We needed to get on this before it got this far.Do we have any leads on the person behind all of this?”
“I didn’t see anyone back in the VIP area except my boys and a few wannabe wives,” Ridley said.“No one touched my drink that I saw.It must have happened back at the bar or on the way over.”
Great.No use at all.
“Think,” I said.I pointed at Ridley.Then I pointed at Ace and said it again.“Think.”
