Page 11 of On The Edge

I see it and I’m pretty sure Cruz sees it by the sudden startle of his neck. “What is it you’re asking for, Kevin?” Cruz asks, face impassive, eyes searching. But it’s the flicker of his eyes over to Lennox that tells me he’s now concerned about this deal. It’s the briefest break in his façade, but I notice it.

“I need some guarantees before we move forward.”

Cruz’s throat works and he clearly bites back whatever protest is on the tip of his tongue. He glances at his agent and then back to Kevin. “What do you need from me? What’s it going to take?”

“The board needs you to show us that you’re serious.”

“You have to give me more direction than that.”

“No more crazy antics in clubs. No more outrageous parties trashing whatever place you’re at. You need to show us that you have a moral compass. That you’re settling down.”

“Settling down?” Cruz snorts.

“Yes.” Kevin doesn’t flinch. “As in with a serious girlfriend.”

“What the . . .” His laugh finishes his sentence followed by the roll of his eyes and a hand scrubbed through his hair in obvious disbelief. But it’s when he looks back at Kevin and sees the expectation in his eyes that Cruz’s body reacts. His chuckle is flippant until he meets the eyes of everyone around us and realizes this isn’t a joke. “Wait. You’re serious?”

“I am, in fact, serious.”

“That’s total bullsh—you can’t mandate that I have a girlfriend. You can’t—”

“We can mandate anything we want. As a private capital firm, we can create whatever parameters, rules, whatever you want to call them, that we see fit. It’s our money on the line too.”

“What if I don’t agree to this?”

“I’m pretty sure you’re not going to like my answer.” Kevin glances around for dramatic effect. Indifference as apparent on his face as it was on Cruz’s moments ago. Clearly two can play this game. “Then again, maybe you don’t want this deal as badly as it was relayed to me that you do.”

“What the fuck?”

“It’s that or nothing. With multi-million-dollar investments, there is always compromise for both parties.” And the way Kevin says it, there is no room for discussion.

“Both parties? What exactly is Genesee compromising on when it comes to this deal?” Cruz asks.

“Cruz,” Lennox warns, her stare unrelenting.

Cruz huffs out a sigh, clearly resigning himself begrudgingly to the idea.

“So let me get this straight. I sign the papers. I pretend I have a girlfriend to clean up my image. I walk the straight and narrow. And how long exactly do I have to keep up with these pretenses?”

“There is no signing anything, Mr. Navarro, until the board in fact sees that you will take this brand partnership as seriously as we do.”

Cruz thumbs through the stack of papers in front of him, and I think we both realize at the same time that there isn’t a contract mixed in there to be signed.

Oh. Shit. That’s harsh, Kevin.

And the reason why there’s no pen on the table.

A disbelieving smile paints Cruz’s lips as he pushes the stack of papers back toward the center of the table, his demeanor more stoic than moments ago. “I don’t like this.”

“Liking it isn’t a requirement. Simply understanding it and Genesee’s reasons behind it are though,” Kevin says.

“Did you know about this?” Cruz asks Lennox as if no one else is in the room.

She nods. “I did. I spoke with Mr. Reynoso after we talked earlier. I tried to get back in touch with you after, but you didn’t answer your phone.”

No doubt his phone buzzing on the table, I bet.

He nods, almost as if he’s fortifying himself before he says his next words. “Okay. Fine. So I’ll pretend I have a girlfriend.”