Page 5

I’ll just have to do the same now.
I tap out a quick text to Vivian, my father’s secretary, to get me Serena’s number ASAP. I’d ask my own assistant, but it’s easier not to open that can of worms until Monday.
“You want me to make you lunch today?”
“No. I’m meeting Connor later.”
“Steak and cauliflower rice for dinner tonight?”
“Sounds good.”
“All right, I’m getting started on laundry then. See you tomorrow morning.”
She exits the kitchen and I take a long draw from my smoothie, contemplating how exactly I’ve found myself in this mess. Sure, Gabriel said he wasn’t into this girl, but goddamn. What prompted him to call the wedding off at the worst possible time? And just when it seemed like we were starting to understand each other a little better too.
I polish off the rest of my meal and head into my home office to catch up on some things before the workweek starts tomorrow, surfacing hours later when I realize I’m running late to meet my brother for lunch.
I stride into the restaurant only a few minutes after I was supposed to, spotting Connor’s dark head at one of the back tables, ignoring the curious glances of other diners as I pass by.
“Archer,” he grins when he spots me, standing and giving me a bone-crushing hug. I return it cautiously, a bit surprised since he didn’t hug me at the rehearsal dinner Friday night. Then again, Gabriel beat me to it.
“When do you fly back?”
“Tonight. Seventeen straight hours of fun.”
I wince, thankful once more Dad sent my youngest brother to the Philippines to oversee our business interests there rather than me.
Taking a seat, I pick up a menu, squinting to see what they have. Why do they make the print on these so damn small?
“Oh, there he is.”
I glance up, following Connor’s gaze to find Gabriel winding his way through the tables to our spot, a frown settling over my mouth.
“He’s our brother,” he whispers.
I wipe my face clear, his gentle chastisement leaving an unsettled sensation in my stomach. “He was also just disowned by Dad.”
“He wasn’t serious about that.”
“Oh, he was,” Gabriel says, pulling out a chair to sit down. “If we didn’t already have plans, I’d have no way to say goodbye.”
“What?”
“He had his goons take my phone, along with everything else.”
Connor’s eyes widen in surprise, but the news isn’t shocking to me. I heard theif Gabriel screws this, so help mespiel from Dad more than once over the last month, enumerating the many things he’d take from him. To be honest, I was a little alarmed with how vindictive he’d sounded. Gabriel’s been better lately, lightyears away from the angry teen after-
Nope, not thinking about that.
“He actually took your stuff?” Connor asks. “So, what, you’re just sitting in an empty apartment?”
“There is no apartment,” I say softly when Gabriel merely looks down at the table. “He was evicted. Dad wasn’t bluffing. He-” I clear my throat. “He said he only has two sons now.”
Tensions were running high when he declared that, though, during a brief moment he pulled me aside at the reception. Maybe his anger’s reduced some in the light of day.
Gabriel gives a rueful smile. “Think he’ll let me keep the last name Bishop?”
Connor cracks a grin, but I’m not exactly in the mood for jokes. He’s put me in a hell of an awkward position.