“It’s nothing I can’t handle.” He wasn’t about to tell his aunt that he suspected one of his cousins of corporate spying. He certainly wasn’t going to mention that Louis was a suspect. He’d heard on more than one occasion Roberta talking about how Louis had ridden coattails all his life.
“You’ve lost two clients, and there’s rumors you could lose a third.”
That got his instincts tingling. “Who told you that?”
They were supposed to hear from Lowestone later today. If there was a rumor that they’d lost that, he would like to know who was talking.
“I have my sources, Rene. Don’t think because I’m old I don’t keep an eye on things. I have a responsibility to my family to ensure that you don’t screw things up. Your father was a good head of this family, but I can’t say the same thing of you yet. You have to prove it to me.”
He wanted to shoot back that he didn’t have to prove a damn thing to anyone but his wife, but he knew better. He’d had to prove himself to his family over and over again, and now he had to do it to save his mother’s home.
He had even more at stake since he had a wife now.
“Of course.” He bit back his anger.
“You remind me of your father. He always managed to sound calm, and yet there was always a bite of hate when he talked to me. I respect that,” Roberta said. “We’ll talk at the party. I expect to spend some time with your bride. Good night.”
He sighed and sat back. It was barely four, but it looked like Roberta was an early-to-sleep lady. He would have to make sure he left Sera and Harry the biggest tip, because they would be dealing with a lot.
There was a brief knock on his door and then Ashley was pushing through, a frown on her face. Her brother Gabriel was right behind her.
“Rene, I’m sorry. I told her you were busy.” Gabriel was flushed, as though he’d run to keep up with her.
“I deserve more money for putting up with that nasty old lady,” Ashley announced. “She complained the whole time. The entire time. She complained about my driving. She complained about my clothes. She complained about the music, even though I put it on the old folks’ station like she wanted me to.”
“Well, the good news is you don’t have to drive her back. She was just on the phone telling me to find someone else.” His irritation was starting to rankle. “So I have to do that.”
Ashley stopped, her face going white. He prepared himself to take the full-on blast of her rage. It was what he did. He got yelled at. He got blamed for anything that happened to go wrong.
“But I did everything she asked me to do.” Ashley’s tone was quiet. “I didn’t say anything.”
“She said you complained the whole time.”
Ashley’s jaw was tight, her words coming from clenched teeth. “I only talked to her when she asked me questions. I tried to be friendly, but she’s incredibly rude.”
“She’s also our great-aunt,” Gabriel pointed out. “And you were being paid to drive her, not to piss her off.”
“I did.” Ashley turned to her brother. “I did drive her. I didn’t even tell her that her stinky perfume made me nauseous. I don’t know what I did wrong.”
“You have to put up with it. You know that,” Gabriel said. “That’s how this family works.”
“I tried. I really tried.” She seemed for a moment like she would break down, but then she took a deep breath. “Screw this. I’ll find something else. Keep your money, Rene. I don’t want to owe you a thing.”
She turned and strode out the door.
Gabriel shook his head. “I’m sorry. She doesn’t understand, or she does and she doesn’t care.”
Or she was sick of being treated like crap. “Roberta can be a lot to deal with. Tell her I’ll pay her the full amount we agreed on.”
“Thanks. I’ll go and let her know. She’s got a lot on her mind. We all do.” Gabriel stopped at the door. “You’re not a bad guy, Rene. They make you out to be this high-and-mighty overlord, but you’re a pretty good boss.”
He didn’t know if he should thank the younger man or not. It did reinforce the idea that everyone viewed him as the bad guy in all scenarios. He was about to close the door when he realized Gabriel wasn’t alone in the lobby.
Charles was standing there, his eyes narrowed. He didn’t seem to notice as Gabriel strode past him. His eyes stayed on Rene.
Well, it was obvious he knew something had gone wrong.
“I take it we won the Lowestone bid.” He didn’t want to play with Charles a second longer. “You’ll have to find another place to receive packages from your spy. You need to understand that I’m going to prove that you’re the one undercutting the company, and I’ll use it to strip your shares.”