Page 86 of A Barista's Guide to Love & Larceny
“Did you come here just to make trouble?” Mr. Gianakos snarled at his son. Splotches of red blossomed in Dani’s mind like a field of poppies. “Haven’t you stirred the pot enough this week?”
“Dad,” Dr. Rodriguez said, feverishly indicating Dani with her eyes. Her father had obviously forgotten Dani even existed and seemed irked at the reminder.
“Fine,” he said. “We’ll step aside. Come on, son, we have to make this quick.” He took Kass by the elbow and steered him away from the two women, toward a group of cocktail tables nearby. One of the bodyguards followed them, while the second stayed put, looming behind Dr. Rodriguez.
Can we get an update?Wyatt’s voice came through in Dani’s head.
They’re not on yet, Silva said.Hold for the time being.
Dani knew she should be paying closer attention to the conversations happening over the shell, should be giving them play-by-plays of every move the Gianakos clan was making, but she could only watch as Kass and his father retreated, and Dr. Rodriguez watched her watching them. “Dani,” she said slowly, “how about we talk for a moment ourselves? I can give you a quote for your article.”
Clearly Dr. Rodriguez didn’t want to give her anything, but especially not the chance to trail after her father and brother and overhear their conversation—which, of course, was precisely what Dani wanted to do.
“Sure,” Dani said, thinking fast. “That would be great.”
She was struck with a sudden idea and didn’t give herself time not to act on it; she squeezed her fist around the stem of her wineglass so hard that it broke in two, cutting through the fabric on her glove and opening a small slice on her palm in the process. “Ouch. Fuck.”
“Oh dear,” Dr. Rodriguez said. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I just—” The blood was dripping down her wrist now, the cut smarting more than she’d expected. “Could you grab me a napkin or something?”
Dr. Rodriguez glanced around, her gaze landing on exactly what Dani had in mind: an array of napkins on one of the tables in the area where Kass and his father were now having a heated but low-volume argument. Dr. Rodriguez paused, calibrating, then tottered over to the nearest table, the tight circumference of her skirt limiting her stride. Dani started after her, and just as she hoped, they endedup a few tables away from Kass and his dad—not close enough to hear everything they were saying, but close enough to catch every few words. She strained her ears to listen as she peeled off her ruined glove and tossed it on the table. Dr. Rodriguez flagged down a server to whisk away the broken glass, instructed her bodyguard to go find a first aid kit, then took Dani’s hand in her own and pressed a wad of napkins to the cut.
“—none of your concern,” said Mr. Gianakos. His next sentence was swallowed by the general noise of the gala.
“Sorry,” Dani said to Dr. Rodriguez, with real sheepishness. “I can be pretty clumsy sometimes.”
“It’s not your fault,” the woman assured her, wiping away the trickle on Dani’s arm. “These glasses are atrocious quality. Whoever selected them should be ashamed.”
“—everyone’s concern,” Kass said, his voice rising slightly. “You can’t just keep—”
“Press down here,” Dr. Rodriguez said, passing Dani’s hand back to her as the bodyguard returned with a small first aid kit.
Dani held her thumb against the wad of napkins. “Thanks.” Dr. Rodriguez had opened the first aid kit and was rummaging around for a Band-Aid. Dani was a little surprised at how nice the woman was being to someone she thought could potentially sabotage her company. But then again, shewasKass’s sister, and Kass was a sweetheart, so there had to be some of those genes in her, too. They sure didn’t seem to come from their father.
“Here.” Dr. Rodriguez unwrapped the Band-Aid and waited for Dani to move the napkins before she placed it over the cut. It was a challenge of Dani’s willpower not to stare openly at Kass and his father while Dr. Rodriguez did so—the two men weren’t being particularly inconspicuous at this point. Passersby were starting to rubberneck as their volume turned up a few levels.
“You’ve gone too far this time, Dad,” Kass said. “People aregetting hurt. Are you really okay with that? For what? Another cover story inBusiness Bros Monthly?”
“Don’t you dare disrespect me like that, Lukas,” his father snapped. “I built this company for our family. Forus. What would you have without it? Certainly not our home, nor your place at the university.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Kass shot back, “maybe a father who actually spent time with me? Who asked me what I wanted instead of telling me? Who gave a shit about what I had to say?”
“To suggest that I don’t care—”
“You don’t!” Kass said. “All you care about is that I’m a good little puppet anytime you need me, and that I’m out of sight, out of mind when you don’t.”
“Dani,” Dr. Rodriguez said loudly, in an obvious attempt to draw her attention away from the spectacle. “About your article—”
But even she couldn’t pretend not to be listening to the argument anymore. “Oh, hell,” she said, and waved over a server carrying a platter of champagne flutes, taking two.
“Oh,” Dani said, “I’m okay, actually—”
But Dr. Rodriguez had already drained one of the flutes and started on the other.
“We need to have this conversationsome other time, Lukas,” Mr. Gianakos said, likely realizing how much of an audience they were gaining. “I will listen to you, I swear it. But now is not the time.”
“No, Dad,” Kass said. “If you go up there and tell the world this product’s coming out next year, I’m going to go to the press. I’ll tell them just how fucked it is and how scared the public should be of it.”
