Sway (7 page)

“Why? Are you ashamed of us?”

Gillian winked.

Gillian had been the first of their

group to get engaged. They’d

watched her fall in love with Adrian

Brown, the father of her son and all-

around Super Hottie McHot Pants

rockstar over the last six months.

Gillian was a very private person

and it had been hard for her to open

her life to Adrian. It had been her

friends who’d continued to push her,

knowing they needed each other.

Knowing Gillian deserved to be

loved.

So of course she got a kick out of

needling Daisy right then.

“It’s only a second date. You guys

are special. He doesn’t get any of you

unless I know he’ll be around awhile.

Otherwise it’s a waste. You’re all

too wonderful to waste. And I don’t

want my lovely dinner to be wrecked

with date angst. Plus, as you’re

finally going to tell us when you’ve

decided to stop living in sin with

your baby daddy, I want to have all

my attention for celebrating.”

Gillian laughed, delighted. “Are

we that obvious?”

“When you came back from Italy

you had a new ring. Obviously he

proposed all official like. And you

both say nothing for a month as we

pester you about it. When you say you

have an announcement we just

assume. Unless you’re knocked up.

Which would also be awesome.”

Gillian blushed. “I’m not pregnant.

We’d like to be at some point. But

he’s got a lot of stuff to deal with

right now. He’ll start recording his

new record soon, the new house is

being renovated. Though for heaven’s

sake my house is just fine.” She

shook her head but affection was all

over her features.

“Just know we expect to meet him

at some point. How else can we

know if he’s worthy of you?” Jules

kissed her cheek and grabbed a tray.

“Ladies,

shall

we

show

this

engagement party just how awesome

Luxe Catering is?”

“Hell yes.”

Busy, she’d said.

Sunday brunch with his family

could not be as entertaining as

spending time with Daisy would have

been.

Unbidden, a smile came to his lips

as he thought of her. Of the way she’d

lured him back to her little house and

had proceeded to get her ass kicked

at cards while she made them

margaritas and ferried snacks in as

they’d played.

She didn’t expect anything from

him. He didn’t expect anything from

her. They just got to know each other

a little and played cards while

listening to music.

It had been a long time since he’d

woken up on a weekend so totally

happy and relaxed.

“I hear you brought in a trip for

two to Mexico, a winery weekend

and some art for the auction lunch

next week.” His mother sipped her

club soda. He’d arrived twenty

minutes before but all his brothers

still hadn’t arrived, leaving him to

fend for himself with Liesl Warner.

He’d get even for that later.

“Yes, yes, I did. Rebecca and

Howie Slaughter donated the house

and plane fare. A local Bainbridge

artist donated a rather arresting

ceramic piece.”

Daisy had let him choose between

several pieces and he’d been unable

to look away from the fragile red

rose wrapped in barbed wire. It was

a small piece. The contrast between

the nearly see-through ceramic rose

petals and the barbed wire was

startling. A piece like that could sit

on a shelf or a table and would catch

your eye when you least expected it.

Truth be told, he had plans for that

piece in his own house. He had the

perfect place for it, a shelf in his

bedroom. Low and near his armoire,

the light would hit it in the mornings.

And it would go wonderfully with the

painting he would buy from her.

“Nice job. You know your brother

and…Gwen will be here shortly. Did

you attend that class you promised

to?” Liesl probably tried to keep the

derision from her voice at the

mention of Mal’s fiancée’s name, but

it rang through anyway.

In the background, his father

laughed and pretended to cough.

“I went to a dance class. My

instructor even offered to write me a

note.” He paused to smile at that. “I

am
capable of dancing at a wedding.

This topic has now been exhausted.

As has my patience. Two years of

this. He’s the one sleeping with her,

so why do I have to do all this

nonsense?”

His mother blushed and he saw the

smile she wrestled back into a frown.

“Levi Warner, you will watch your

language.”

“Ah and there’s my family.” Eli

walked in, pausing to kiss their

mother’s cheek before nodding at

their father.

“Darling, you should have been

here thirty minutes ago.” Liesl gave

her third youngest a raised brow.

Levi flipped his brother off behind

her back.

“Traffic.”

“Funny how you all live in

different directions and yet you’re all

late.”

Luckily, before she could get too

wound up, Toby and Jonah showed

up with roses and a pastry box from

their mother’s favorite bakery on the

Eastside.

“When do we eat?” It was only

that Toby was Toby that he was able

to get away with such things. And he

did it knowing Mal was going to be

in big trouble for being the last late

person.

Their father shot him a look and

Toby only laughed.

“It’s a wonder I made it through all

five of you.”

“That’s because you’re exemplary,

dear.” James raised his glass in his

wife’s direction and they all joined

him.

That’s when Mal stormed in.

“You’re late.”

“Gwen wants me to sign a

prenup.”

Liesl laughed but it was sharp

enough to draw blood. Levi sighed

and caught Jonah’s eye. As the two

oldest they should really corral their

mother. But they’d let her wind down

a little before they stepped in.

Liesl shook her head. “Why are

you arguing with that? We’ve been

telling you to have her sign a

prenuptial agreement for months

now.”

“I don’t want to go into this

marriage planning to fail. I won’t do

it.” Mal’s mouth hardened and the

brothers gave each other a quick look

and stepped in.

“You are worth a great deal of

money, Mal. If you two divorce, you

would stand to lose half of it. It’s not

planning to fail.” Levi shrugged and

walked past, looking back over his

shoulder as he did. “It pains me to

say this, but I agree with Gwen here.”

“I’m not worried. She’d never do

that to me.”

Their mother set her glass down

and Jonah hurried to intervene.

“Malachi

Warner,

stop

fucking

around and do what you need to do.”

“Jonah!” Their mother put her

hands on her hips and glared at him.

“Mom, I’m sorry but this is basic

man stuff. Sometimes you need to say

the F word.” He turned back to Mal.

“Anyway, nut up and sign this thing.

Be

an

adult.

You

have

responsibilities to your family and

your future. You have to stop this

philosophical bullshit about how

you’re planning to fail. Fuck you,

Mal. Did you think it would be easy

to do this? Being a grown-up is

hard.”

Levi watched Mal slowly buckle

against Jonah’s stone-cold, big-

brother scolding.

“Do you have it? The contract?”

Jonah circled back and Levi took

over.

“At the very least, let us look at the

thing. No harm in that, right? Where

is she? Why don’t you call her and

tell her you’re here at dinner and

you’ll see her later. That way she

won’t worry and you can cool off

before you see her again.”

“You guys are dicks. Sometimes

it’s okay not to look at life like a

business

arrangement.”

Mal

grumbled it, but he moved to pull the

contract from his bag and hand it to

Jonah.

“Apologize to your mother for

being a butthead.” Toby handed Mal

a glass as he passed by on his way

toward the dining room.

Mal took their mother’s arm and

escorted her. “I’m sorry I lost my

temper. And I’m sorry you had to

hear Jonah say that filthy word so

many times.”

Levi kept his head down as he

stuck back with Jonah to read over

the contract.

“Why do you think she pushed it?”

He didn’t trust this sudden burst of

concern from Gwen.

“It has occurred to me that perhaps

the contract might be far more

favorable than a standard prenup or

even a generous divorce settlement. I

don’t trust her. It’s all those big white

teeth. She’s a chipper fascist.

Nothing worse.”

Levi snorted and watched his

father keep an eye on Mal. James

Warner was no idiot; he was thinking

the very same thing he and Jonah

were.

“These

percentages

and

timelines,” Jonah paged through,

“seem off. But I don’t know what the

standard is. Not my area. I know a

few family lawyers in the building.

Maybe one of them could take a

look.” He kept his voice down as

Mal excused himself to call Gwen.

Levi had a better idea. “Better yet,

I know a guy on Bainbridge. Cal

Whaley. I can see if he or one of his

people can take a look tomorrow. If

it’s standard, they’ll see it right

away. If not, they’ll need more time

and we’ll know. And he’s not here in

town. Mother will calm down if

that’s the case.”

Jonah handed the contract over and

Levi popped out to tuck them into his

case and leave a message with his

assistant to get with Cal that next day

if possible.

His mother sent him a look when

he returned and sat across from her.

“It’ll be fine,” he murmured.

Liesl knew her sons weren’t

perfect. Loved them all in her own

fierce way. But she had expectations

of them. Their standing in the

community was important to her,

something she considered a great

accomplishment. They were expected

to work hard, use their status and

money appropriately, to give back

through charity work and to avoid

any sort of scandal.

She was protective and ruthless

when it came to her family. An

admirable, if annoying at times,

quality in a woman.

As much as Levi disliked Gwen,

he hoped like hell that feeling in his

gut that she was up to something was

wrong.

He came home and stood in his

bedroom looking out over the water

for a long time.

Ten years ago he’d had a wife. A

wife and a house big enough to start a

family in. And then two years after

that he’d had an empty house and a

train wreck of a life to clean up. So

he’d sold the house and come out

here to Bainbridge. Though so close

to Seattle, he could walk down the

street and no one would look at him

and think about what had happened.

He could fucking live without the

history of his life weighing him down

so much he could barely move.

Bainbridge had been a good

choice. One he hadn’t regretted since

the first night he’d stood there and

looked out, knowing it was his view,

knowing it was his house, knowing

his future had a clean slate instead of

the debris of a fucked-up, shitty wife

who drove drunk up the off-ramp and

hit someone else head-on, killing her

instantly along with the baby she’d

been carrying.

He shoved away from his place