Page 76 of Nothing to Win

More like a punishment than a blessing.

Her shoes and purse were on the floor between the two stools at the head of the kitchen island, she bent to snag them.

“Call me before you go to sleep,” Brogan called as she went down the stairs toward the elevator.

Julius wasn’t wrong.Gia wasn’t fleeing out of fear, she was fleeing because facing the truth would change everything.Falling for Brogan had been the furthest thing from her mind when she’d made this deal.Now?She couldn’t imagine feeling any other way.

TWENTY-FIVE

“WHAT THE FUCK is wrong with you?”Brogan asked, shoving Julius aside after the elevator doors closed.

“What?It’s crazy that you haven’t talked about it.”

Sweeping his Scotch from the counter, Brogan finished it on the way to the bar to pour another.

“Why?”he asked, slamming down the still open bottle.“We made a deal, she gets money for her friend, I get help with the Gault deal.”

“That wasn’t the deal,” Julius said, coming toward him.“The deal was she play your girlfriend for eight weeks.Well, son, in this experiment, there’s more time behind you than in front and you’re about to hit the greatest challenge to it yet.”

He slugged down some Scotch.“You gave me shit when I told you I’d told her everything.”

Julius sat on a barstool.“Because I was surprised,” he said.“I didn’t know you two were that honest with each other.”

“We weren’t back then,” he said, swallowing more liquor.

Honesty came up on their first date.Until that moment of confession in his bedroom, it had been tentative.Now they had—no, he couldn’t bullshit, there were still lies.Shared lies.Like their cover story of quid pro quo; by now, they both knew it was a game.If Gia wanted something, all she had to do was ask.If he could anticipate her needs without her saying a word, all the better.He might taunt her with the game, but her response honestly didn’t matter.Quid or quo was irrelevant, he’d never deny her.

Did he understand it?Not remotely.Did some part of him resent it?For sure.

The woman had an odd power over him.In past relationships and friendships, control was paramount.Every corporate and familial connection rode along with him at the wheel.Most of the time that meant limiting contact or access.He kept himself a distance away from others, protecting himself from manipulation or betrayal.

Trust was a rare commodity.His father taught him how to be, not out of cynicism, out of corporate fidelity.Stefan Spurn believed men should be men, that they should always be thinking of their corporate brand.Having a strong CEO command respect was vital to the company’s strength.For his father, that extended into every area of his life.

The company and its interests came above everything else.Sure, he had a life, as much as he let himself.Truth?Who fucking knew anymore.He’d thought he lived a life until Gianna Sear sank onto her knees in front of him and smiled.In that moment, he learned what it was to be alive.

“You are now?”Julius asked, snapping Brogan from his thoughts.Honest.Right.“Brogan, son, of all the women in the world you could’ve fallen for, Gianna Sear is probably the worst possible choice.Marriage made sense for professional reasons when I thought doing it would mean destroying the Sear family.You were the one who told me to toughen up.”

“Is that what you’re telling me?To toughen up?Or are you telling me to back off and give Gia up?”

“She still needs money for her friend… for your brother.”

“Half-brother,” Brogan said.“And whatever you tell me to do, whatever your advice, I won’t leave Gia high and dry.I’ll break off the deal if you tell me it’s what’s best for her, but I won’t pull my financial support.”

Julius’s laugh took him aback, stalling his Scotch in midair.His mentor opened his mouth and laughed loud, something he didn’t do often, or… ever.

“Shit, Brogan, I don’t think you could abandon that girl even if it meant sacrificing everything Spurn Global ever was,” he said.“I’d never seen you leave the office early until Gianna Sear came into your life.Even for Honey.When Gia walks into the office, you dismiss everyone and do whatever it takes to make her smile.Smile, Brogan, you’d rip yourself open if it would make that girl smile.”

Fuck.This guy was supposed to be on his side.That smirk wouldn’t feel so good if he smacked it to the other side.

“What do you want, Julius?Why bring this up now?You think we shouldn’t bring her to Gault’s?Is that it?”

Julius took a breath and when he exhaled, all trace of amusement left his face.“Do you love her?”

“Jul—”

“Don’t give me excuses,” Julius said, serious.“I’ve known you since you were shitting in diapers and sucking on your momma’s tit… I know you better than any person alive.I’ve seen you with every woman you’ve touched since puberty.I know what I know.I know what I see in you when you look at her… You’re going to stand there and deny it, you’ll come up with some way to spin it.You’re only kidding yourself.”

“Why do you think I would—”