Page 10 of The Good Billionaire
“Yeah, and they’re all looking at Tristan.”
“Jealous?”
I took her hand and my heart leapt when she squeezed it. “Not even a little bit.”
Tristan came back with drinks and walked me and Kennedy through the weekend’s events. A cocktail party and rehearsal dinner on Friday night. The wedding on Saturday. Brunch on Sunday.
We returned to the bar area and Tristan steered us to a set of seats roped off from guests. “We keep these reserved for family.”
I nudged Kennedy’s back. She was still a Hart. Still hadmyheart. She was still my family. I was gonna fight like hell to keep it that way.
ONLY, KENNEDY STOPPEDsmiling after two sips of the red wine Tristan brought over for her. The more Tristan talked about the wedding and the plans, I saw dread in her eyes. All the hours she had to stand at my side pretending nothing was wrong.
It rocked me to think we’d reached a stalemate. Kennedy had a damn good point. Why should she leave her job to follow me?Why wasn’t just being an orthopedic surgeon enough for me? I hadn’t planned to become a celebrity. It’d been thrust upon me when a tennis player with chronic pain and a drug pusher for a manager kept shoving pills at her. The asshole had ignored that his star client had shredded tendons.
I had fixed the pro up and the word spread like wildfire. My practice had been overrun so much that I had to start an entire surgery center. New York had six major sports teams, more than any other major city. Not to mention collegiate sports.
The last few years, I’d been training damn fine surgeons at the center who’d assisted me, but star athletes wanted the star surgeon.
And I had been unable to say no.
“Where’s Luke, Tristan?” Kennedy finally spoke up to ask about my nemesis. In a friendly,love the hell out of your cousinway.
Growing up, we’d felt more like brothers. Luke was the oldest, then me, then Tristan, and years later, Grayson the baby popped out.
Luke and I were ultra-competitive. I went to Harvard and Luke went to Yale. Luke thought he’d won when he flew off to California to attend Stanford Law School while I trekked down to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore to be a doctor like my dad. I’d have never met Kennedy if I’d gone to UCLA Medical School.
Tristan rolled his eyes. “Luke is upstairs getting changed. Another gala tonight. That’s all he does, he goes to parties. I do all the work around here.”
“He’s the CEO,” I said. “That is a showboat title, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, my father gave him that title. I got stuck with COO. Operations. Look around. That’s all this place is. Staffing. Security. Facilities. HR. Events. It’s all operations.”
“What about Grayson?” Kennedy asked.
Tristan just exhaled, giving us the answer. Poor middle child, Tristan. Got slammed with all the work while his brothers partied.
“Are you excited to see your mom?” She followed up with something she knew would make him smile.
“Yes,” he answered right away, that grin reaching his eyes.
“Hart boys and their mamas,” Kennedy cooed.
I grunted in my scotch, figuring talking about mothers wasn’t getting me laid anytime soon. The hum of laughter around me, happy tourists in New York for the holidays annoyed me. So many people giddy while my plan to get Kennedy back was dying a slow death.
“Can I say something?” Tristan broke the aching silence. “You two are not going to fool anyone this weekend with those resting bitch faces. There’s no shame in having problems. Maybe just come clean.”
“No.” Kennedy shook her head. “Not this weekend. I won’t take the focus off Savannah. I know your parents, Seb. Yeah, your mother is in La-La land with this wedding, butyouare her moon, her stars, and the sun in her sky. If she finds out we’ve split up...”
“We haven’t split up,” I grunted. “Yet.”
“If she finds out I’vemovedout, Savannah’s wedding will be napalmed. Your mother won’t be able to help herself. I won’t do that to your sister.” She took a breath and forced a smile on her face. “Is this better?”
“No,” Tristan said. “Now you look scary.”
“Can’t I just be tired?”
Shit, that’s good.
