Page 19 of Nothing to Win

Gia went into her bedroom.Before she could close the door, her father put himself in the way of it.And there was Bram never far behind.

“It’s not a betrayal,” she said.“We don’t discuss business.”

“He must have a reason for this,” her father said to Bram, turning his back to the door, holding it open.“Once he learns she knows nothing about the business, he’ll finish it.”

Bram scoffed.“After what damage has been done?We’ll be a laughingstock!Her charity shit already makes her a weirdo, and she’s shunned some damn good guys to open her legs for this schmuck.”

“Bram!”Offense was pretty obvious.Spurn’s insults weren’t usually so explicit.“There’s no need for name calling.”

“Well, have you?”her brother asked, folding his arms, edging closer to the threshold of her room until only their father separated them.“You have, right?You’ve slept with him.”

She was in contract and hated lying.Break one or take a shot at the other?

Eenie meanie…

“That’s none of your business.”

Good.Neither.

Project confidence.One proverbial eye peek, was it working?

Bram threw up his hands, probably interpreting her discomfort as confirmation.

Good job, Gia.

“Damn it!”Bram exclaimed and appealed to their father.“How can we hold our heads up in negotiations with him now?”

Ignoring her brother’s puffing, she asked, “Where’s Mom?”

Not that she expected her mom to be in her corner.Deference to men was acquired by osmosis from someone.

“Bed,” her father said.“Thank God she doesn’t have to witness this travesty.We should have been keeping a closer eye on you.”

“I’m an adult, Daddy.You can’t ground me or choose my friends.”

“I can while you live in this house.”

Gia couldn’t make any declarations of love.Defending her non-existent relationship could create cracks that would widen later.In eight weeks, Spurn would be out of her life.Her family wasn’t going anywhere.What credibility would she have left then?

“Will you talk to him, please?”she said.Spurn was better positioned to argue with her father.He had more practice, which was a shocking admission given she lived with the man.Her father, not Spurn.“What he and I have is nothing to do with your business.”

Was she lying?Business shouldn’t come into it.Maybe Spurn wanted to destabilize the Sears and there he was succeeding, presence not required.

He’d assured her he had no personal vendetta against her family and had avoided confrontation at her behest.Was this naiveté?Gullibility?Was she assuming too much of a man she barely knew?

Motivation should feature high on the topic-of-conversation list the next time they met.

“You need to sleep on this,” her father said, holding up a stern finger, “we all do.”He took a slow breath.“You have disappointed me, Gianna.Disappointed me greatly.”

That was never a nice thing to hear.Her father and brother departed, close as could be, striding away from her room, sharing their secret whispers.

She’d never been close to her mother either.When witnessing the three of them together, she often was the odd one out.What would it be like to be inside the circle of trust?She didn’t have a ruthless heart worthy of business.That didn’t mean she wouldn’t like to be included sometimes.

Given her relationship with Spurn, that possibility seemed further away than ever.

SEVEN

LUNCH WITH SHANNA was a regular affair.That day was a little different.They grabbed food-to-go from their favorite corner deli, rather than sitting in, because they were on their way to the offices of a PI Shanna found.