Chapter 52
He gave a dramatic pause, lips curling just slightly. "Your car is one of a kind. Sleek, custom license plate, polished every week like a prized trophy... Of course, I knew it was yours. So the moment I saw it, I knew—ah, this is the place Oliver came for his little... get-together."
He glanced casually at Cora, giving a short nod of acknowledgment as if her presence had just registered. "Dinner with a friend," he added lightly, before his eyes slid back to Oliver with quiet satisfaction. "So I decided to be generous and handle the bill in advance."
Oliver’s brows twitched, but he didn’t say a word.
William wasn’t finished.
"But just so you know, I didn’t come here because of you," he said, voice hardening just slightly. "I actually had a business deal scheduled to close this evening. Real business. You wouldn’t know anything about that, though, because you don’t want to get yourself involved in the family business"
At that moment he couldn’t help but smile as he continued
"The thing is," William said, "you’ve distanced yourself so much from the family enterprise that you don’t even know where or when deals are being made anymore. You’re too busy building your... private company. That’s fine. But don’t make assumptions about why I’m anywhere. You wouldn’t know because you’re not involved."
Cora’s gaze shifted carefully from one brother to the other, reading the rising tension in Oliver’s clenched jaw and William’s deliberate composure.
William’s smirk returned like clockwork.
"I didn’t come here to fight. I just saw an opportunity to handle a few things at once. That’s what businessmen do. We multitask, you’re not a business man so you wouldn’t understand?"