“No, I mean they blew a giant hole in the side of the building because they wanted to mix the pink and the blue chemicals together, and they are now officially expelled. Also, I will need to write a very big check to the school.” He held out his hand.
I rolled my eyes and pulled out my checkbook.
Owen shook his head. “And I thought your little brothers were bad. I don’t think any of them have been expelled.”
“To be fair,” Walker said, packing up his laptop, “this is a fancy-schmancy private school, and they don’t let things slide like they do at the public school in Harrogate.”
“Back to the Holbrook contract,” Owen said after Walker left.
“I have Tess looking at a way to salvage it,” I said. “Though you know my thoughts on the matter. I don’t want to grovel to them.”
“You Svenssons,” Owen said, clearly annoyed. “Is it Greg? I know he and Hunter hate the Holbrooks, but your feuds cannot affect our bottom line.”
“It’s not Greg,” I shot back. “I just don’t see the point in wasting our time.”
“They do work with the military,” Owen replied, jaw tense. “Federal projects always look good for our company.”
I felt a breeze on my neck.
“Can you come to the park with us?”
I looked down to see Annie.
“I’m in a meeting,” I told her, annoyed. “Didn’t you see?”
“Oh.” She deflated. “I saw Walker leave. I thought you were done.”
“I will see you this evening. Can you please go to Tess?”
“She’s busy,” Annie complained, loudly. Several of the employees looked over.
“Annie,” I said, more harshly than I intended.
She sulked out of the room.
After the door shut, Owen sighed deeply. “Another thing, Beck…”
I set my jaw, knowing what he was going to say. I was not in the mood.
“You need to do something with your sisters. They cannot just traipse around the office.”
“I’ve brought my other brothers here before,” I countered. “And there wasn’t a problem.”
“Yes, as interns. They work,” Owen reminded me. “We can’t be a legitimate company if your little sisters are sprawled out on the floor, coloring. Have you found a nanny?”
“We’ve been blacklisted,” I admitted. “Greg hired someone, and my other brothers decided to dump our other sisters off on the nanny, and when Greg got home, the poor woman was locked in the bathroom. Greg had to pay her off to keep her from suing him.”
“You need to work something out,” Owen said. “Do you need to take a leave of absence?”
“No,” I barked. “I’m fine. Tess—”
“Is a Quantum Cyber employee, not a nanny. You need to work something out,” he repeated.
I wasin a terrible mood when I went down to the lobby. Tess was on her laptop, ignoring the girls, who were arguing loudly with my little sister Luna. Uniform rumpled from fighting, I suspected, she had apparently been haphazardly dumped in the lobby by Walker.
“That’s not how you make a scone,” Annie scolded Luna. “You can’t overwork the dough.”
“I want to make cookies!” Luna shrieked. She was several grades younger than Annie and Enola and did not have their level of maturity and patience.
