His brother’s grin gave way to feigned shock as he pressed a hand to his chest, his eyes wide. “I’m wounded, Cyrus. Can’t I come congratulate my big brother on landing this incredible opportunity?”
“I didn’t land anything and no, you can’t. Not without some kind of ulterior motive. What is it?”
“No motives.” Hands clasped behind his back, Adrian prowled the room, a panther surveying his territory, looking for prey. “Mother and Father send their congratulations. They had prior obligations, or I’m sure they would have made the time to join us.”
“Well, then, you can report back that you’ve done your duty by them and delivered their message. Have a good trip back to New York.”
“Nonsense.” Pausing beside a smaller version of the statue that graced the courthouse steps, Adrian turned, the smile on his face making it clear he was enjoying this encounter far more than Cyrus was. “I have business in the capital I’ve been putting off for far too long anyway, so I’ll be here a few days. We should have dinner tonight, catch up.”
Fuck. Knowing Adrian, the more Cyrus fought, the more he would dig in his heels. Better to simply have dinner and get his brother out of his city before he could do too much damage.
Not that he would dare cause any kind of public scene, or even draw any unnecessary attention to Cyrus or himself. If there was anything the Banks’s excelled at, it was maintaining their picture perfect public image. But Cyrus had learned the hard way that his family didn’t have to do anything public tohimto cause him pain.
“Fine. Dinner tonight, and then you’re on your way back to New York first thing tomorrow morning.”
“I look forward to dinner. Say, seven o’clock? My treat.”
“Seven is fine. There’s an excellent Asian fusion place nearby. It’s one of the few places that doesn’t require a reservation.” And one of the few places he was relatively certain he wouldn’t be spotted by any of his coworkers. He had enough to deal with having Adrian in town without fielding questions from nosy prosecutors. Or worse, cops.
“Perfect. I’ll go get settled into my hotel and I’ll meet you there.”
It wasn’t until several minutes after the door had shut behind him and Cyrus was tapping out a message to Mina letting her know he wouldn’t be available for dinner that he realized Adrian hadn’t actually promised to leave in the morning.
Fuck.
ChapterFourteen
“Ican’t believe he stood you up!”
Rolling her eyes at Gabby’s dramatics, Mina tugged open the door to the restaurant. “He didn’t stand me up. He postponed. There’s a difference.”
“Poseidon, Neptune, same thing, different name.” Gabby sniffed, insult rolling off her in waves. “He better have had a good reason forpostponingyour celebration dinner.”
“Other than being swamped with learning about how to run the entire Libra Guild?” Mina shot back dryly. Flashing the hostess a smile, she held up two fingers. “A table for two, please.”
“It will be about a fifteen-minute wait,” the hostess informed them, her tone dripping with apology. “But you can have a seat at the bar while you wait, if you’d like.”
“That sounds perfect. Put us down under Ouranos.” Looping her arm through Mina’s, Gabby dragged her towards the long, gleaming bar in the middle of the restaurant.
“Gabrielle! That was rude!”
“Shit. I guess it was.” Glancing back, Gabby sent the hostess an exaggerated smile of apology before refocusing her attention on Mina. “Sorry, I’m just dying to hear what’s been going on with you and your sexy DA. It’s not my fault you’ve been ignoring my calls for two days!”
“I talked to you yesterday, brat.”
“For like, ten seconds! It’s not the same! Now, spill.”
“Can we at least order some cocktails before you start pumping me for information?”
“Fine.” She dragged the word out in an exaggerated whine as she flagged down the bartender. “Two Gemini Spritzes, please.”
“Fancy,” Mina teased, waggling her eyebrows.
“Well, I figured just because you got stood up doesn’t mean we can’t have our own celebration.” Accepting the drinks with a flirtatious smile, Gabby raised her glass in a toast. “Here’s to Mr. Libra’s sexy ass and all orgasms he has, and will, bestow.”
“Oh my god.” But Mina couldn’t deny the buzz of satisfaction Gabby’s toast inspired, so she clinked her own glass against her friends and took a sip of her drink.
Gabby swallowed a gulp of her own drink and set it down on the bar with a decisiveclick. “All right. Now will youpleasetell me everything?”