That should be enough for them, but it wasn’t. Just as much as they wanted me to fit into their mold, they had a mold for him, and he wasn’t quite strong enough in business for their liking. I had a feeling neither one of us would ever be good enough. The difference between my brother and I was that Joe desperately wanted to live up to them, and all my fucks had gotten up and walked away years ago when they tried to use money to keep me in check.
“They look like their mother.”
He beamed. “I know. It’s good for them.”
“I’m glad they don’t have your mug,” I teased.
“Hey, I used to be on the city’s most-eligible-bachelor list.” Which he submitted his own name to, but we didn’t talk about that.
Our food came, and we ate, with him telling me all the stories of the things his kids were doing. As if on cue, my phone rang just as the check was put down, letting me know it was time for me to go pick up the keys for my latest gig.
I grabbed the check. “That’s my call to get to work. Thanks for coming.”
“Seriously? It’s my birthday party, making me the host. I’m going to pay for dinner.” We had this fight every time we went out, and he always twisted it to somehow be perfectly sensible that he be the one to pay. It was something I rarely caved on because I knew the second he mentioned to my dad that we ate a meal together, he would ask about who paid. That man was too focused on money and power. Neither were a good look on him.
“I chose the place.”
“You’re just being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn. I understand why you won’t touch your trust fund, but let your brother take you out to dinner for his birthday.”
“Fine.” I slid it over to him. “Thanks. It was really good.”
“We didn’t even have cake.”
“Because I don’t like cake.”
“Still, birthdays require cake. I’ll remember that for next year.” He wouldn’t. He meant well, but we had this conversation every year for both his birthday and mine.
I hugged him, promising to stay in touch, before heading across town to pick up the keys for my home away from home for the next week, watching two adorable cats who would pretty much ignore me. There were far worse gigs.
Chapter Two
Memphis
The sun rimmed the horizon, red glow appearing between two high-rises to the east. Long, slow strokes carried me through the water, working out the kinks of the night. In more ways than one. An evening at Chained in the little room could involve more exercise than anyone would expect. Especially when Ms. Lily sponsored an athletic competition like last night.
The Little Obstacle Course was in the works for over a month with lots of “training” sessions and planning sessions. In most cases, Ms. Lily handled the event from start to finish, but some of the littles had the idea based on a story time book, and they were allowed to run with it. Usually, the activities in the little room were more about games and crafts, but this one involved moving all the small tables and chairs and craft materials and bookcases into a store room. Ms. Lily did a lot of muttering about how the club needed an outdoor area, but since that wasn’t an option at the moment, we had to make due.
It was the most fun I’d ever seen the littles have in an activity that did not involve glitter. As a daddy without a little of my own, I’d been called in as a volunteer, helping to sneak things from the rest of the club that could be used for the various events. A spanking bench was put to use as where the little had to hop on, scoot down to the other end and off. Some had wanted to stand up and do some turns, but Ms. Lily said the insurance company would not be thrilled with that. Too dangerous, but the scooting and hopping was pretty exciting even so. The littles in actual age were not all young, and we wanted everyone to have a great time.
On one side of the room, we had hobby-horse races. There was a diaper derby that involved crawling. All in all, about eight different stations that the littles had to complete. In theory, Ishouldn’t have so many sore muscles, but the physicality level for the daddies also involved putting the room back together after the awards ceremony.
Every little got some kind of award, and they all went home happy, chattering away to their daddies… I’d been enjoying myself as much as everyone else, but as the room emptied, I soon stood there alone. I didn’t envy them, exactly. Not in the way I would have wished they didn’t have their partners. I loved that my friends had found their persons. But when I came into the little room and saw a daddy helping build a tower so a giggling little could knock it down, or when they were cuddled on Daddy’s lap hearing a story…I felt an ache of loneliness.
But in the morning, when I dove into the heated pool on the rooftop deck and swam, the world felt pretty good. The day held possibilities of all kinds. My angst the previous night could be put aside in the interests of the business that lay ahead of me. Yes, I’d love to have a little in my life, but there was time for that. By the time I climbed out onto the deck and headed for my unit to shower and dress for the office, I’d put my personal life and any hopes for it far enough into the back of my mind to pick up my suit jacket and leave.
On the agenda for today was a deal I’d been working on for three years. Two companies with similar tech products who were competing for the same market, and one investor who could see the value in both of them. Each company was based in a different country, even a separate continent. One in South Korea, the other in Austria. And the investor? Location being held behind closed doors. Of course it would be on legal documents, but this billionaire preferred that no one without the need to know could be aware of his home country.
That factor made things even more difficult, especially as things dragged out over time. One of the firms in question wasmanaged by a founder whose concerns lay more in the new ownership’s office location than the excellent deal on the table.
And the other hated their rival so much, they’d backed out at least four times during negotiations. But, as I arrived in the office, my assistant’s smile told me there were no new hiccups. “They’re all in the conference room, Memphis,” she said. “Just arrived a moment ago.”
“I’d better hustle in there, then, before they remember how much they dislike one another or come up with some other ridiculous demand like wanting their photographs on packaging.” There had been similar issues about a year before.
“I’ve already had coffee and pastry sent in, along with the fruit plate you requested, and yes, go!”
Half an hour later, the former enemies were shaking hands and behaving as if the entire process had been smooth as glass. But then, that was why they had me…if they were not this pleased with the outcome, they would not refer their friends. The investor himself had shown up, something I had not been sure would happen, or really wanted to, but somehow even that didn’t upset anything. The sellers had held out long enough to cost themselves money, and they simply couldn’t afford to continue. They would receive everything they’d agreed to and their companies would meld into one supplier of this specialty tech and live happily ever after or, in terms of their market, for several years.
After they’d all gone their way, I retreated to my office and enjoyed a cup of coffee and a little classical music. Then I went home. It had been by no means a sure thing that this deal would go through, and I wanted one day to rest on my laurels before picking up the next problem case on our books.
