Hard Risk by Sidney Bristol
Chapter Three
Orleans, LA.
Daar Suleiman could feel his blood pressure rising.
Cassim had spent how much on that damn watch? And what was it the fucking dogs had destroyed now?
The dogs had cost five grand a piece.
At that price, they should do a whole lot more than shit on the carpet and make noise at all hours of the damn day.
He still couldn’t believe that Cassim had dogs in his house. It was disgusting how they were allowed to go wherever they wanted.
Daar turned his head, looking past Harper to Robin. She caught his eye and smiled slightly then ever so faintly shook her head.
Thank goodness.
Daar would have to sit her down to give him a true account of his brother’s books, but if she appeared this relaxed, then there must not be anything to worry about.
Not for the first time he wished Robin had been born a man. She had a better head on her shoulders than Cassim ever would. Daar might not have liked Cassim’s first wife, but Charlotte had kept Cassim in line. There wasn’t a day that went by that Daar didn’t regret some of the things he’d thought about her. He’d been wrapped up in his business to the point he hadn’t truly understood just how much Cassim needed managing.
If Daar had any idea, he would never have matched Cassim with Saaina. She was a good woman. She would have made a fantastic mother. But she did not manage Cassim in the least. If anything she was complicit in his idiocy. The dogs were merely proof.
What a waste this was.
Daar turned toward Harper.
He was far more intelligent than he let on. That dumb smile of his hid a shrewd mind.
Just who was he? Where had he come from?
Daar wanted the real answers, not what the young man would no doubt tell them.
He leaned back in his chair as Cassim smacked his shoulder. Probably because Daar wasn’t paying close enough attention. Cassim always had been greedy.
Daar pasted on a bemused smile and tuned his little brother out.
They’d played this game for ten years now.
Deep down, Daar knew Cassim didn’t truly trust him. How could there be any real trust between them?
It was a pity.
Daar had always hoped that Cassim would grow up someday and stop being a burden. Too late, Daar realized the truth.
Cassim would continue to suck the good out of everyone and everything.
The dreams Daar had of bringing his brother into his empire were gone. But Robin? Therein lay an opportunity.
She could never sit at the table like her father might have, but with a mind as sharp as hers, she could be of use to Daar. Marry her to the right man and maybe, just maybe, they could have a new kind of family enterprise.
Daar had told the chancellor that he was loyal, but family came first. Things were changing. Skilton’s disappearance was simply an indicator of that. If Robin were to inherit her father’s estate and her mother’s businesses, if she were open to doing his kind of business, maybe they could keep it all in the family.
It was good to have plans. With Skilton gone, there was no way to tell if things would smooth out or if this was merely the first step toward the end.
Time would tell.
Wednesday. Ravenwood Restaurant, New Orleans, LA.
Robin stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She was still fairly numb, which wasn’t uncommon after a family get-together. For once, her shortcomings hadn’t been a topic of conversation. That much was a relief. But nothing had really changed.
Uncle Daar and Dad talked while Robin and Saaina were expected to remain quiet. When Mom had been alive, things had been different. Mom had butted into conversations, she’d spoken over Uncle Daar. He’d hated it. At times things had been uncomfortable. Robin couldn’t recall what was said or discussed, only that she’d sat ramrod straight at the table on multiple occasions staring at her cutlery, willing herself to be invisible while wishing she was more like Mom.
She wished she knew what Mom had been discussing back then. Maybe things would make more sense now. But Robin had been too young then to really grasp what was going on.
Another woman slid into the restroom, reminding Robin this wasn’t her private reflection room. She finished drying her hands then stepped outside.
Harper stood against the wall, hands in his pockets. He looked up the moment she stepped out and smiled.
He winked at her and his smile widened. “I was about to send a search party out to look for you.”
“Sorry,” she mumbled.
“Don’t be.”
He held out his hand. For a moment she just looked at it.
Dad would never debase himself to reach for his wife. Mom had complained about that, about wanting to be chased. So why had she fallen in love with Dad? Why had she stayed with him?
These were questions she would never get answered.
Robin took Harper’s hand in both of hers and let him lead her out the front door of the restaurant. All the rich, delicious food felt as though it were rotting in her belly now.
“Want to talk about it?” Harper asked softly once they’d put some distance between themselves and the parking attendants.
“Wait, the car…?”
He gently tugged on her hand and kept walking. “They’ll keep it a bit longer. Talk to me?”
Robin had thought she was prepared for this. It had been her plan, after all, to crash Dad’s dinner with Uncle Daar. Everything had gone off so well. So why was she out of sorts? Why did it feel as though she’d been a punching bag tonight?
They’d ignored her. She had nothing to feel bruised about.
Harper extracted his hand from hers only to wrap his arm around her waist. “We don’t have to talk about it…”
She needed to say something. Where to start?
“It’s just…hard. Being around them sometimes, I mean,” she said.
“Yeah?” Harper paused before continuing. “I noticed you didn’t say a lot.”
Robin rolled her eyes. “Growing up Dad used to tell me women should be seen, not heard. Mom would laugh at him and tell him to stop being… I don’t know. When she died, my uncle introduced Dad to Saaina pretty quick and everything changed. They like to say it’s cultural, that women should defer to men when speaking. But I’ve met enough people from Syria and the like to know that… My dad and uncle are just jerks about some things.”
She swallowed before her mouth ran away from her.
“How’d you grow up around that?” Harper asked.
“Oh, I didn’t. Dad sent me to boarding school. Saaina arrived a week after I left. They got married, and I only came home for a week here and there. Which is somehow my fault, by the way.” She chuckled, but it was a frustrated sound.
Now wasn’t the time to trot out those stories.
It had been unique growing up in a meshed household like theirs. Mom came from Southern Baptist roots while Dad was Muslim. Neither had practiced much, at least that was what Mom had said. Robin’s birth had changed that somehow. But when she went to boarding school, all of that fell away.
Harper didn’t say anything for a moment.
Had Robin said too much?
Shit.
She was still formulating her plan and here she was possibly screwing it up before she’d begun. Maybe she needed to go home, get away from Harper, and hope this all blew over.
Then again, home wasn’t really where she wanted to be right now.
“That’s a lot to process,” Harper said. He swung their joined hands a bit, adding a bit of playfulness to the moment she didn’t know how to respond to. “That had to be incredibly difficult to go through.”
“It was,” she admitted.
Harper stopped and turned her to face him. “Hey? What do you say we get out of here? Want to go dance? Get some drinks?”
Inwardly she cringed. She didn’t do much of either.
He frowned suddenly and reached into his pocket. He pulled out his phone, and she did her best not to look at the screen. But she needn’t have bothered. Harper turned it to face her.
“This your uncle?” he asked.
Robin stared at the screen a moment.
That was Uncle Daar’s number. How’d he get Harper’s contact information so fast?
“Uh… Yeah,” she said.
“I guess he was serious about chatting sometime. Huh.” He pocketed the phone then looked at her. His brows drew down, and a deep line marred his cheeks. “I don’t know how to bring this up, but I speak Arabic. Didn’t seem like the moment to tell your dad that when…”
Robin’s cheeks heated. She didn’t speak any Arabic worth mentioning, but she was used t the snide comments said around her. What had he heard? “Oh my God… I’m so sorry.”
Harper merely laughed. “I think I can handle being called an idiot. But, I should probably volunteer that information at some point. Also…”
His lips twisted into a grimace.
Damn, but what might he overhear if he never told Dad and Uncle Daar?
“I don’t like this whole business, pretending you aren’t there. Is it always like that?”
Robin swallowed and damn if her insides didn’t bubble over with happiness just a bit. “No, thankfully. It’s only like this when Uncle Daar is around, and only when he and Dad are together.”
“I see,” Harper mumbled.
“Sorry, maybe I should head home,” she said under her breath. “I’m out of sorts. Usually, I’m a little better prepared for these visits…”
“No.” Harper edged closer. “I don’t like leaving things this way. Let’s have a drink, or go back to my place? Not for any funny business, just… Whatever makes you feel better.”
Robin looked up into Harper’s eyes. He was being serious for a change and she quite liked this side of him.
He was the tool she needed. Her plan had come together over dinner while watching how he melded with the two other men in her life. Of course, the idea had struck her yesterday, but it wasn’t until she’d seen Harper with Dad and Uncle Daar that she’d really got the vision.
She would never be welcomed into the private chats she wanted to be part of. But Harper could. And he had no qualms talking to her about them.
What would he say if he knew the truth? Would he run, or would he help her?
She couldn’t risk losing him, so he needed to stay in the dark. But for as long as she had him, she’d use him. She’d get to the bottom of who killed Mom.
“Talking to you makes me feel better,” Robin said.
He lifted his free hand and slid his fingers over her cheek then behind her ear. “Then keep talking.”
She licked her lips, but couldn’t think of anything to say. Funny, they’d sat on the benches yesterday for ages bouncing from topic to topic, and yet right now she couldn’t come up with enough words to string together right now.
“Harper?”
“Hm?”
“Thank you. For tonight. I keep trying to repay you, and just end up more in debt.”
He stepped closer still and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Well, I have very generous interest rates and low monthly payment plans.”
She chuckled and her heart fluttered a bit.
When it came to men, she’d never been a very good student. He made her want to put in a couple long hours, but cramming wasn’t really her style.
Harper tipped his chin up and pressed a chaste kiss to her brow. She curled her aching toes in her shoes and blew out the breath she’d been holding. It was sweet and unexpected from the man who dripped sex appeal.
He tugged on her hand. “Come on, it’s chilly. I make a mean Hot Toddy.”
Robin was going to use him, but maybe she could enjoy him, too. There wasn’t a law against that, was there?