When Empires Fall (16 page)

Quinn took what Linc had shared with her and stored it away, adding it to the small collection of things she knew about the Vassers. But because she could tell Grant was upset, and in turn it had put Linc on edge, she didn’t push for more and instead started to return to brewing his coffee.

Before she could, however, Madison swept into the office, a lovely crystal vase of grassy green ferns and snow white orchids in her arms. For the briefest of moments she paused, her honeyed eyes sweeping over Quinn in a glance that was undoubtedly territorial. That was all it took for Quinn to get the clear message that she was no longer welcome. Yet as quickly as the look had come, it was gone and Madison was greeting her brother graciously.

“Happy Birthday, Grant.” She set the vase on his desk and kissed his cheek as he stood up to face her. “I figured that since the door was wide open and your secretary was nowhere to be found that I would simply let myself in.”

Quinn bristled at the woman’s words, shocked by the acid in the velvet of her voice. But before she could retort, apologize, or do anything, really, Linc jumped valiantly to her defense.

“She was just talking with Grant and me. It’s not a big deal, Mads,” he told her, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jeans in an attempt to keep his temper in check.

“Regardless.” Madison smirked, shifting her eyes to Quinn. “I wouldn’t want Mr. Vasser to miss any important phone calls, darling.”

“Right.” Quinn nodded, but before turning to leave she looked to Grant, determined not to lose face in front of his family. She had her pride, after all, and she wasn’t going to be pushed around by someone other than her own boss just because the woman had some outlandish superiority complex. “Mr. Vasser, do you want me to finish that cup of coffee for you before I go?”

“No, I’ll get to it. Thank you, Miss Taylor.”

It annoyed Quinn to watch him close himself off, his expression unreadable and his stance dismissive. If only she knew what he was thinking, what he was feeling, then maybe it would give her more insight into how to act around him. Just minutes before it seemed as though he had finally opened up for her, at least just a little. But in the presence of his siblings he seemed to throw up his wall once more.

And so she went back to her desk, clicking into her computer to resume the letter she had been typing up before she had been distracted. She kept her fingers busy and her eyes locked on the screen as the three of them spoke quietly in hushed, somewhat angry tones. She couldn’t hear what was being said, but she had a pretty good idea on the topic of conversation.

She realized then that it was the first time she had seen all three of them together in one room. Part of her vehemently wished she hadn’t. The tension and electricity in the air when the three of them came together was almost more than she could bear. It wasn’t like her family, where she and her siblings may fight, but there was always love just beneath the angry words. With the Vassers, she felt like they were in some kind of constant tug of war for control…

After a few moments, they proceeded past her on their way to lunch.

She sensed Madison brush past her first, ignoring her completely, followed by Linc, who managed a brief and edgy smile when she glanced up at him. Lastly, Grant exited his office, turning around to lock the door behind him. He paused at her desk as his siblings went off towards the elevators, his eyes betraying nothing of what he was feeling inside, if there was anything. She met them anyway and attempted a smile.

“Have fun at lunch.”

Grant bit his tongue, knowing he had no words to say to her, despite how badly he wanted to at least say
something
. She deserved that much, didn’t she? But how could he explain to her the complexities of his family, the guarded nature of his sister and the haunting past the harmonica had uncovered that he refused to discuss, even with his own brother? How could she possibly understand the pressure he was under, or how the very need for him to maintain this distance from everyone was a necessary, but at times devastating constraint? She just couldn’t understand, being the kind of person she was. So happy, so positive and full of life…surely she had never had to face the obstacles or the drama he had or stood up under the pressures of being born into an empire that could not be allowed to fail. No, there was no possible way he could articulate those points to her, because he had never been a man of words, and saying what he felt or what he thought had never come easy. Perhaps it never would. And so he would continue to live with the disappointment of holding back, once more.

“Thank you, Miss Taylor.” He nodded to her before leaving the alcove and joining his brother and sister at the elevator just as it opened. Strangely, he found himself having to force his eyes away from watching her as the doors slid quietly shut.

The tension they
carried went with them to lunch.

Grant sat with his family at the best table in
Cherir,
urging himself to relax. It was his birthday, after all, and if he didn’t deserve to relax today, then when did he?

He had to laugh at himself at the very notion. I’ll relax when I’m dead, he thought dispassionately. It’ll be the only time this weight doesn’t hang on my shoulders, this responsibility.

“Of the four of you, Grant was the easiest,” Charlene asserted, smirking at her children as she lifted her martini to her lips for a sip. “The smoothest labor, the least sleepless nights, the most compliments on what a good tempered baby I had.”

“Here I was, thinking I was your favorite.” Linc grinned, winking at her good-naturedly as he bit into his burger. He’d had Raoul make it up especially for him, given that he was rarely in the mood for the fancy crap the restaurant served. He’d take a good ol’ American cheeseburger to a bouillabaisse any day. “Besides, we were raised by a nanny, so you collecting pity for sleepless nights is a sham.”

Kennedy burst into giggles, while Madison slightly relaxed the stiffness in her shoulders and smirked appreciatively at Linc before turning to their mother. “Grant may have been the best behaved, mother, but you have to admit that Linc and I kept you on your toes.”

“You aged me, is what you did.” Charlene sighed, shaking her head. “And there were still sleepless nights. Carlotta doesn’t work every day, you know.”

“Carlotta still makes me French toast for breakfast every morning,” Kennedy chimed in, crunching happily into a toast point slathered in goat cheese.

“Too bad you’ll miss out on that once you go to Princeton, snotface.” Linc reached over to playfully ruffle her hair with a devious grin. “You’re gonna have to be a big girl and learn to cook your own food.”

Kennedy tried to pout but ended up smiling instead, as always enjoying the time she spent with her favorite brother. “That’s what McDonald’s is for.”

“Oh, Kennedy, please don’t tell me that you’re going to eat nothing but fast food while you’re away,” Charlene gasped, rubbing her temple agitatedly at the idea. “I won’t allow it. I just
won’t
allow you to ruin your health that way.”

“She’s right, Kennedy,” Madison put in, focusing on her little sister disapprovingly. “The sodium content alone will destroy your complexion, not to mention what the saturated fat and cholesterol will do to your blood pressure.”

Kennedy shot a mean look at her sister before rolling her eyes. “Whatever. Forget I said it.”

Madison’s eyes narrowed slightly, but other than that her expression displayed none of the hurt she felt from her sister’s disregard for her advice. Then again, it had been a long time since Kennedy had shown anything remotely resembling affection towards her. In a way, perhaps it had been her own fault that her sister couldn’t stand her. Kennedy was soft and naïve, and therefore susceptible to manipulation. Madison only wanted to protect her, but apparently her “tough love” approach over the years had done nothing but drive a wedge further and further between them.

She let the issue be and turned instead to her oldest brother, who was seated quietly beside her, his mind clearly on other things.

“How is the lamb, darling?” Madison asked, wishing she knew what he was thinking. She may have known him better than anyone else in the family, but even she could be shut out from his thoughts if he saw fit. It was just like him to keep his troubles to himself.

Grant looked up from his lunch, startled to find his family watching him expectantly. What had they been talking about? He hadn’t heard a word any of them had even said. No, instead of spending time with his family, his mind had been on Quinn. Damnit, Grant. She’s nothing, absolutely nothing to you but an employee, and it has to stay that way.

But then why could he not get the image of her face, her smile, from his thoughts?

“The lamb is fine,” he assured his sister, attempting a smile for his family. “Thank you all for coming today, for my birthday.”

“If only Marshall could have joined us,” Charlene sighed wistfully, pouting a bit at the thought. “But he had that funeral to go to. Some woman from Queens, Maggie something-or-other. I’ve never heard of the woman, personally.”

“You know Marshall, he’s got friends everywhere,” Linc reminded her, polishing off his burger.

“Regardless, family should take precedent over some woman he barely knew,” Charlene sniffed, clearly upset. “But I’m sure when he returns later this afternoon he’ll stop by to see you, Grant.”

“I’m sure he will.”

“So, Grant, how does it feel to be two years away from thirty?” Linc asked suddenly, leaning back casually in his chair and eyeing his brother. He still hadn’t forgotten how carelessly Grant had brushed off his gift earlier, as usual too afraid to even feel the slightest bit of emotion. It was pathetic, Linc figured, to run away from your past when it was so obviously what defined you.

He didn’t like running from things, nor did he like ignoring his own ideas and ambitions for the sake of keeping the peace in the family. Damnit, it was time he pushed back against the family hierarchy that left him helpless at the bottom of the totem pole. He was sick of not being heard, and maybe now was not the right time to bring it up, but he’d be damned if he would sit on his hands any longer. And Grant’s dismissal of what had been a very thoughtful gift only served to fuel the fire.

Grant eyed his brother cautiously, his eyes narrowing at the tone in Linc’s voice. He could tell Linc was still angry with him for his reaction to the harmonica, the hasty way he had brushed it off as though it had meant nothing. But of course it had meant something, he had just been uncomfortable with expressing the emotions his brother had needed at that moment, just as he always was. He just didn’t have it in him to deal with things of that nature without shying away from it callously as a purely instinctive defense.

“You should know, Linc. You’re three years away from it.”

“True, but you know, that one year makes a hell of a difference, doesn’t it? I mean, you’re the natural assumed leader, the one we all look up to and turn to for guidance.”

Grant’s brows furrowed as he continued to stare at his brother. “What are you trying to say?”

“What I’m saying is that maybe the rest of us have some good ideas for the company, and that those ideas deserve to be seriously considered.”

Grant blinked, caught off guard. But because he remembered what had happened the last time a similar subject to this had been brought up, he fought to keep his voice neutral and indifferent. Linc was in a fighting mood, and Grant refused to take the bait. “This is not an appropriate time to have this discussion.”

“Like hell it isn’t,” Linc shot back cheerfully, his mouth curving into a grin that was hard and bitter around the edges. “Just hear me out, Grant. That’s all I’m asking.”

Grant was silent for a moment, all eyes on him as he battled with the guilt and his propriety; warring over the authority in his head and the sympathy in his heart. When he spoke, his voice was as purposely devoid of emotion as ever. “Alright.”

Linc wasted no time launching into his pitch.

“I think that we should try and broaden our market share, expand into the three-star or business market instead of being exclusively luxury. The economy’s crap right now, and you know people are looking to save money if they’re gonna travel. Hilton did it years ago, and look at how well they’re doing. With our reputation for excellence, we can branch out and capture that middle class market that’s looking for impeccable quality but at a reasonable rate.”