I was shaking my head before he finished. I was never officially part of the family business, but there was a time when I would sometimes use my feminine wiles to help Bran attract business or encourage potential partners to accept Bran's offer. Mostly it was like modeling in that I just had to smile and look pretty, maybe flirt a little bit.
"The last time I did that for you, I ended up with the stalker who kidnapped another woman, thinking it was me. I'm not doing that again."
"Oh no. You're not pinning that on me. I never wanted Kerby's business. You took it on yourself to deal with him. Besides, it's not that. This is for Anne."
"Not interested."
"What is going on with you lately, Harper? I get that you would piss on me if I was on fire, but this is for Anne."
That wasn't true. I loved my brother and if his life was on the line, I would do whatever I had to do.
Maybe I could talk to him about my aimless feelings or my desire to have something more, but Bran wasn't one who could just listen and sympathize. He was a fixer. He would not only try to give me the answers, but probably force them on me or manipulate things to make them happen. I didn't want that. I wanted to be my own woman, making my own choices.
I stood from the chair. "I told you I'm not interested, Bran." I walked away, heading toward the changing room. I entered, shutting the door and locking it before he could follow me in.
I leaned against the door, blowing out a breath. Something definitely had to change. I was twenty-eight years old and, in many ways, still living like I was twenty-one.
I didn't regret living my life as a celebutante, but it was time to grow up and do something different. When I saw Anne working on her jewelry or building her business, she looked happy.
Bran was right. She was giddy. She had started with nothing and now was building a watch and jewelry brand that was going to make her a fortune.
Of course, she didn't need a fortune because she married my brother. Even after all this time, it was still weird to think of my best friend and my brother as an item, but when I saw them together, there was no doubt that what they shared was a genuine love.
My niece Brandie was the personification of that love. Sometimes when I held her, my heart squeezed and for a moment, I'd think that I wanted what they had.
An everlasting love and family.
But then the party girl inside me would whine about how boring that sounded.
Still, lately, the party girl's voice was subdued. Another voice was urging me to give up that life. Urging me to find something with depth and purpose. If only it could tell me what that was.
CHAPTERTHREE
Noel
The cold shower and three cups of coffee weren’t making an impact on my sluggish energy level as I sat in my home office on a video conference call with Archer and the rest of the team at the downtown Los Angeles office.
“You sure you’re alright?” Archer, the man I had put in charge of the company as I worked on making my exit, asked.
I hadn’t been to the office in the last month. Not since Lupe handed Mo over in the middle of the night on my doorstep. I hadn’t told them about Mo, so chances are they thought I was ill or something.
“I’m fine. But I do have some news.”
“I’m betting it’s cancer,” one of the men said. Scanning the conference room through my computer screen, I couldn’t figure out who said it.
“What the fuck?” Dax blurted incredulously.
“I don’t have cancer. But I have decided that I’m ready to retire. I will retain my financial interest in the company, but Archer will now run the entire show full time.”
Archer blanched. “This is a little soon and sudden, isn’t it?”
Archer was a good man and a good leader. I had no doubts about him, although he seemed to have doubts about himself. He was fine when it came to the logistics of providing security, since as an ex-Navy seal and having run his own security business, he had experience. But he hadn't run a business this size before I bought his business and installed him in the co-CEO chair of Saint Security. Over the last year, he’d proven himself and I knew he would do fine running things on his own. He had earned the respect of most of my men, so they shouldn’t give him any problems.
“It may be a little sooner than I’d planned, but I think it’s time. And I have no doubt, Archer, that you’re going to be just fine.”
“Of course, he’ll be fine,” Dax piped up. I had once fused Dax to spy on Archer, which had put him and Archer at odds for a while. But like me, Dax discovered that Archer had what it took to be a good leader, as well as an understanding of the demands of the security business.
“But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to miss having you around,” Dax finished.