Been There Done That (Leffersbee #1) - Hope Ellis Page 0,103

whiskey, all right.” I extended the wine glass to him. “The whiskey is your price for entry. You keep the wine.”

I risked a gulp, gasping as the whiskey seared a trail down my esophagus.

“Why don’t you keep both. You might need something to wash the whiskey down.” He laughed.

“You were always good at this,” I rasped, when I could breathe again.

He frowned. “Good at what?”

“The people, the politics, the noise.” I waved at the wall, indicating all that was on the other side. “Schmoozing. Pretending to be interested in boring things. Wheeling and dealing. Remember when you used to go with my dad to those conferences?”

“I do. I used to wonder why he insisted on dragging me along to those banking conferences. I thought they were the most boring thing in the world. I didn’t mind humoring him because I liked spending time with him and Walker. Then one day I finally understood what he was trying to teach me, in his own way. He’d explain the objective, what he was trying to maneuver around or accomplish before we went into the event. Then he’d do the post-mortem with Walker and I during the drive home. He taught me some of the most profound business lessons I still use to this day.”

“Like what?”

His temple pulsed. “That the most important element of a sound strategy is knowing your opponent, your own weaknesses, and how far you’re willing to go to get what you want.” He nodded to himself. “Those words, those lessons, helped me start my first company.”

“Dad always said you had a head for business.”

“I owe your dad and your mother everything.”

I shifted, suddenly uncomfortable. The truth, newly unearthed, still smarted. As a grown woman, I understood he’d done the best he could as a scared eighteen-year-old. But it wasn’t quite so easy to swallow the reality that the truth had been kept from me for so long. By him. By my own parents.

“Speaking of a head for business, is your sister running things yet?” I looked up to see Nick’s eyeing me, his face soft.

He understood.

I breathed a bit easier at the topic change. It felt as if I’d lost my footing somewhere in the conversation.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play coy. Out of all of us, your sister was the most creative thinker, business-wise. I know your dad had plans for Walker to rule, but . . .” He trailed off. “Walker . . .”

“Is just trying to fill the role we all expected of him,” I supplied. “Still is. Whether he wants to or not. They have these take-no-prisoner fights—”

“Competition breeds success, separates those who are willing to fight from those that would prefer to watch. Your father knows that.”

I bristled on my brother’s behalf. “I hardly think Walker just wants to watch. He just—”

“He’s not cut out for it,” Nick said bluntly, lacing his hands behind his head. “The same way you’re not. Neither you nor Walker is prepared to hunt down and kill your competitors for food. Now, Tavia—”

“She’ll do anything,” I said, remembering my sister’s tense expression at lunch a few weeks ago. “Whatever it takes. She’s like a comic book villain. She wanted to talk to you, get advice. Benefit from some of your relationships.”

His expression grew cautious. “I’d be more than willing to talk to her, though I’d hesitate to make any promises. Capital and influence, above all else, is what she needs. Those are the most important things, the drivers that will take her and Leffersbee Financial to the next level. She’s not there yet, but with a little more time, she will be.”

I considered this. “Is that what’s most important to you now?”

His face took on a hard cast. “Should it not be important?”

“I don’t know. I guess it’s just not what I expected. The Nick I knew wouldn’t have thought that way.”

“The Nick you knew almost threw his life away because one impulsive mistake. I learned.”

I was almost at the end of the metaphorical limb, but I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to know. “And what did your mistakes teach you?”

“Never to lose control. To always have the upper hand. Show no mercy when the deal is at stake.”

“That sounds a little mercenary.”

His mouth twisted. “Twelve years ago, our lives changed because I couldn’t be the man you needed me to be. I got into trouble I couldn’t get myself out of—”

“Nick, stop.” I couldn’t take it, couldn’t take his self-recriminations anymore. Compassion surpassed my hurt and all I wanted