Alice keeps pace with him, just to his left and a half step behind so they don’t clog up the walkway, fingers dancing across her tablet as she notes down his instructions.
“I’ve got that steel grey Zac Posen,” she offers. “If that doesn’t work for what you’ve got in mind, I’ve got the Elie Saab. It might be a little glitzy next to the Versace, though,” she replies. She already knows she’ll go with whatever Nathan decides, so that they can provide a united front for Providence.
She huffs and flicks to his calendar, the dinner gone in a blink. “Twyla Ryerson. I’ll send your regrets.” Another flick and she’s got the info for the restaurant on the screen. It’s new and hip, fully booked for the foreseeable, but Nathan is Nathan and she knows they’ll fall all over themselves to get him there when she calls. “Should I arrange anything else? Private dining room full of roses? Plane tickets to that little island Remy always waxes poetic about?”
“A showcase of Tiffany’s most tasteful men’s rings?” It might be an overstep, but if it’s not going to happen yet, Alice firmly believes it will, regardless of what lingering reservations Nathan might have. Wade is special and, in her opinion, it’s only a matter of time.
Her earpiece chimes, letting her know she’s got a call, but she ignores it as she takes the card from Nathan and gives him a look. “If I say that the only gift I truly want is for you to delegate your other business a little more often, are you going to make a face?”
Outside his office, at her desk, her personal cell buzzes in the drawer, spewing out some God awful ringtone she doesn’t remember ever setting up. Alice ignores that too, in favour of thumbing at the edge of Nathan’s card. “Because I just don’t think another pair of Loubs is going to give me the peace of mind I’m looking for…”
“Wear the Saab. If people are looking at you, they won’t be looking at me,” Nathan replies.
He grunts and doesn’t deign to answer her tease about the rings. He and Wade have been together for two years this upcoming weekend and while he knows they’re in love, he’s not sure if now is the right time to get married. Wade still struggles with Nathan’s real business, sometimes. Nathan hides it well but there are some nights when he leaves the penthouse and Wade’s eyes are far too knowing.
Business after dark has nothing to do with Providence and everything to do with the criminal empire that Nathan Kingpins.
A muscle in the corner of his jaw twitches. Nathan sweeps into his office and goes around his desk to take a seat in his ergonomic chair. He wiggles his mouse to activate his computer screen and immediately clicks into his emails to begin sorting through the drivel. A lot of it goes through Alice before it gets to him but sometimes, rats slip through the cracks.
“He likes sweets. I’ll pay out my asshole to get a special dessert for him. He’d love something along the lines of those...” Nathan grunts again, “Chocolate sphere things that crack apart to have another dessert inside. Or anything that gets set on fire in front of him.”
Mismatched eyes, yellow and blue, flicker up when Alice makes her request. Nathan’s frown is deep and disapproving.
“Neena has her hands full lately.”
He doesn’t like talking about that business at Providence. He knows that she knows.
“I don’t have anybody else in the roster that I can trust to lighten the load.”
