Brazen Bossman: A Hero Club Novel, стр. 37

“Pasta sauce. We make it fresh daily. It’s a specialty.” She wraps her arms around her middle and walks farther into the restaurant, toward the kitchen. “Ma?”

“Finally, you’re here.” A male voice sounds from the back before a tall, dark-haired man comes out through a door just to the right. “She’s a mess back there in the office, Pipes.”

“I know. I got here as quickly as I could. I’ll go grab her and we can all sit out here and hash this out.”

“Who’re you?” he says with a thick, Brooklyn accent that Piper somehow doesn’t possess. I’ve even wondered if she was really from this area, but obviously, she is.

She motions for me to come closer. “Nathanial, this is my brother, Ben. Ben, this is Nathanial Lennox. He’s my…” She pauses, unsure what to even say, and looks to me for some kind of an answer.

I extend my hand to his. “Let’s just go with close friend and boss. Seems to be an easier explanation.” I laugh, with my hand still outstretched, but Ben just regards me with harsh eyes, arms crossed over his chest.

“Ben, don’t be an asshole.”

“Why are you with my sister this early in the morning if you’re her boss? You fucking her? AH! Fuck, Pipes.” Piper lands a swift elbow to his stomach.

“I said, don’t be an asshole.”

“You certainly know how to make acquaintances, don’t you?” I say jokingly.

“Who uses big words like that first thing in the morning?”

This time, the voice comes from the main door behind us and belongs to… another Ben.

“I probably forgot to mention that… I have twin older brothers,” Piper says.

Jesus fucking Christ.

“Sorry I’m late. I had… company,” he says with a grin.

“I can’t even go there right now, because I know who your company was, buddy, and this conversation will be happening.” She pokes at his chest then looks at me. “Nathanial, this is my brother, Oliver. Oliver, this is Nathanial.”

She excuses herself, saying she will be right back then scurries off to the kitchen, leaving me alone with her two brooding, built-in bodyguards.

“Hey, Oli.”

“Yeah, Benj?”

They both have smiles on their face, staring entirely at me and never moving their gaze even as they talk to one another.

“Lennox here is our baby sister’s boss.”

“Is that a fact?”

“What do you think he is doing with our little Piper, if he came with her here this early in the morning? Mom did say Pipes was coming from the Upper West Side. She doesn’t live there. Hell, she doesn’t even work there.”

I look between them, not saying a thing, and just scrubbing a hand over my jaw.

“Look, fellas, I appreciate that you are looking out for your sister, I really do, but she’s a grown woman. If she wants to disclose our relationship to you, she will in due time. She was upset and needed to get here fast. I brought her. For now, that’s all.”

Before either of them can respond, the door to the kitchen bursts open and out comes a small, older version of Piper. It’s like a peek into the future.

“You’ll have to excuse my blotchy face. Piper didn’t tell me she was bringing someone with her.” She is wiping her face with a napkin when she stops with her other hand outstretched to me.

“It’s not blotchy at all.” I shake her hand. “You must be Piper’s mother. I’m Nathanial.”

“Nathanial, dear, you can call me Rosa.”

“Mom,” Piper calls from behind us. “Come sit. Let’s hash this out, please. I need to know exactly what is going on. All the paperwork, the notice. Everything.”

The despondent look on her mother’s face sinks into my gut. It was as if just for a moment, she forgot about the reason we were here.

“Yes, of course.” She wipes at her face again. “Oliver, Benjamin, go get coffee for everyone. It’s ready in the back. This is going to be a long conversation.”

***

I feel like I’m interfering in a private, family matter.

I tried to go back to the car so Piper could have this conversation with her family alone, but she insisted I stay with them, motioning for me to sit in the booth next to her.

Mrs. Kingston and Oliver are across from us and Benjamin pulled up a chair, backward, to sit on the side of the booth.

There are multiple pieces of paper scattered across the table.

Utility bills, payroll, mortgage agreements, and a foreclosure notice.

“How many mortgage payments have we missed, Ma?” Oliver asks, pulling the foreclosure notice closer so he can read it.

“I couldn’t go without paying our staff. You know that. I can’t stomach it, so for the past few months, I’ve been making sure they come first. I thought I had everything under control…”

“Momma,” Piper chimes in. “How have you been hiding this from us and why? I knew it was bad considering you were talking about selling, but I thought we could find a way out of that.”

“I’m sorry. You all have enough stress on your own. I couldn’t let this seep in.” Tears begin to prickle at her eyes. “Christ, if I could bring your father back, I’d kill him all over again. Even on our best months here, months that we are packed nightly, I can’t even make ends meet.”

I stay quiet. It’s not my place to say anything, but that doesn’t mean my wheels aren’t turning. Given what I know of the area and the market as it sits, once the bank is in full ownership of this property, it will be sold at the snap of a finger.

“Maybe it’s time we entertain the buy offers that are funneling in.” Benjamin says begrudgingly.

“What?” Piper exclaims. “Absolutely not. What’s that going to do for Mom? Watching someone we don’t know come in here and take away everything she has? And you know that’s exactly what those vultures will do. They are offering pennies to what this property is worth, and that would still leave her with a mountain of debt.”

I can tell