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Now they want to take us with them to this house of debauchery. Well. Well.

“Then you know what a great place it is to relax… if you know what I mean.” Lara pats my chest and winks at me. She’s too much.

“What are Kathleen and I supposed to do there?”

Lara laughs. Cackles, really. “After we’re done being entertained, you’ll find something to do.” Her sly smile makes me uneasy. “For example, maybe you could finally get that pesky sexual tension out of the way. Kennedy and I have been gagging on it these past few weeks.”

My lip is twitching, but it’s more important that I keep my decorum with a business associate than correct her. “Who said it was tension?” Oops. Too late.

The smile goes from sly to oh-ho-ho. “That so? Well, you guys make a cute couple.”

I don’t respond to that. “I don’t care one way or the other about going to the Manoir after you hand over the keys. Take it up with Kathleen, though.”

“Why don’t you, since you two are such good pals now?”

Before I can answer, my father signals to join him on the other side of the gutted hotel lobby. I take my leave of Lara and go to my father, who has arranged for his driver to pop around the corner so we can avoid the protestors on our way to lunch.

Apparently, there’s something he wants to talk to me about.

He made that much clear this morning when we arrived at The Ace. Made it sound important, too. I don’t know what the hell it could possibly be, but I’m hoping it’s nothing serious – like disease, a new wife, or one of our businesses going under. There’s been some trouble with a property in Texas that we don’t keep a close enough eye out on.

“Kid,” he begins, while we’re still in the back of his car. His driver politely raises the divider. That man has been working for my dad for decades. Don’t know what we could possibly be hiding from him. “This business with Allen’s daughter needs to be resolved.”

I turn my head. “What are you talking about?”

“Are you dating that girl or not?”

“I don’t know why it’s anybody’s business.” I clear my throat. “Besides, she’s a grown woman and would probably prefer being referred to as such.”

“Don’t you start that with me. You’re a kid and she’s a girl. That’s how it is when you get to my age. Gender don’t matter!”

“Regardless, my relationship with Kathleen is rather complicated. Why? Mom hasn’t gotten to you, has she? She keeps bugging me about marriage and babies…”

“Forget your nosy mother. This is a bigger matter. Namely that you two have been seen together outside of work a few times now. At our office building, at the symphony, at restaurants… for the sake of all that’s good for our business, Ira, people are talking. I’ve had more than one tart come up and ask when the wedding is.”

I roll my eyes.

“Well?” Dad continues. “When is the wedding?”

“What the hell? It’s not like that between us. It’s casual. That’s what I told Mom, and that’s what I’m telling you.”

“Kid, sow all those wild oats if you want. I don’t even care if it’s with Silas’s grown daughter, although keep in mind I would like to maintain a nice relationship with Allen. Rather hard to do if he finds out my kid upset his daughter in such a way.”

“Are you finished?”

“Not at all.” Blast my luck, we’re stuck at a light, and there are too many cars around for me to get out and walk. “What I’m trying to tell you is that you need to be careful with a girl like that. It’s one thing to date a woman from the civilian world. It’s another to court a girl as well-bred as we are.”

I feel like we’re living in some tipsy world. Usually, you hear the opposite of this crap in the media, but no, my father is worried about me dating a girl of good standing like Kathleen.

In truth, I don’t know what our relationship is. When she left Thursday morning, I had come down from my high that told me I was in love with her. It was like any other day seeing her. I found her attractive, I wanted to talk to her and maybe make her breakfast and coffee, but I wasn’t heartbroken when she left. Don’t worry, I’m confused on my end as well. Hence why I’m telling people it’s casual and complicated. God knows it is.

“I’ve invited Silas and your mother to the house next weekend. Lunch. I think it’s time we all sat down and talked about this.”

The car lurches forward. My stomach lurches up in my throat.

“You’re kidding, right? I don’t even think her father knows.”

“He will soon enough. Your mother is the biggest blabbermouth this side of the Mississippi. Trust me, kid, this is in the best interest of everyone. You’re lucky we already know each other and get along. Think of it as a celebration. Not every day our spawn gets together.”