“You want a fucking punch in the mouth is what you want,” Magnus said. Jesus, why did his brother always go off his rocker over a woman at the worst possible times? Why couldn’t he just work like Magnus wanted him to? Was that so freaking hard? “This is a lot of money and it’s our reputation on the line.”
Levi gave him a knowing look. “You want the money?”
“Hell yes, I want the money.” It was five hundred million dollars. Of course he wanted it. He’d be stupid to throw it away. It wasn’t the amount of money or the fact that he needed it—they didn’t need it at all. It was the sheer satisfaction of knowing that someone would pay that much for their intellectual property. That was what drove Magnus.
His brother crossed his arms over his chest. “I want Bianca,” Levi said stubbornly. “Do this for me, and I’ll work. I’ll even let you have all of the proceeds for this particular IP.”
Magnus stared. It was several months of work—never mind all the work they’d already put in. And he was willing to do it for free as long as he got this girl? “You’re serious?”
“I’m serious,” Levi agreed. “If you’ll date Edie to get her out of the picture, I’ll work on your game stuff when I’m not with Bianca. It’s a trade-off.”
There had to be a catch. Magnus rubbed his jaw, thinking. “Edie and I didn’t get along at dinner. She’s not going to think I suddenly changed my mind and fell in love with her, Levi. This isn’t going to work.”
But his brother grinned and hopped to his feet, dashing to his closet. He pulled out a pair of jeans and began to hop into them. “You let me figure out the details. As long as I get the setup, you can move in for the kill. Pretend to like her. Date her and keep her busy. Got it?”
“I’m not fucking her just so you can bag her sister—”
“No one said you had to fuck her,” Levi said, voice placating. “Can’t you just be my wingman on this?”
“If I was your wingman, we’d double date.”
“Can you be my absentee wingman?”
“Can we work in the meantime? Please?”
“We can,” Levi said. “I’m suddenly feeling inspired.”
Well, thank God for that.
***
The whole “dating Edie” thing didn’t come up for another few days, and Magnus was pretty sure his flighty brother had forgotten all about the beautiful but distant Bianca. Instead, Levi had devoted himself to working, sketching out the basic gameplay of the Huns, three other barbarian tribes, and a new twist that had Magnus convinced that his brother was a gaming genius. He was pleased at how the project was coming along . . .
Which meant they were bound to have a snag, of course.
The snag came later. Both Sullivan brothers were working in their shared office. The good thing about the four-story building they’d bought on Park Avenue was that they had plenty of room to stretch their legs. Still, they worked best when they bounced ideas off of each other, and so they shared an office, computers facing each other. While Magnus’s side of the room was controlled order, Levi’s desk was always an absolute mess. Even the maids were afraid to touch it.
Magnus was just keying in a new troop unit when someone knocked at the door to their top-floor office. Usually they ignored it, preferring to work through distractions unless it was an emergency.
Usually. This time, though, Levi jumped up and sprinted for the door, which made Magnus put aside his headphones and get up from his computer. He needed to stretch anyhow. “What’s going on?”
“It’s here,” Levi called after him, noisily thumping down the stairs like an overgrown puppy.
“What’s here?” Magnus yelled. When there was no answer, he threw his hands up in the air and followed his brother down the stairs.
“Oh my god,” he heard Levi say, then laugh. “It’s hideous.”
Well that wasn’t a good sign. Magnus hopped down the last two stairs and headed for the foyer. There, held by Levi’s assistant, was a large pet crate, with Levi hunched in front of it and grinning like a loon. Magnus’s steps slowed. “What’s this?”
Levi turned and looked at his brother, delighted. He gestured at the cage. “This is our ticket to getting Edie and Bianca here.”
A paw from deep inside the cage slashed out at the wire grate, and the creature inside gave a low hiss.
Magnus’s eyes widened. He’d thought—well, hoped—that Levi was going to give up on this whole Bianca thing. “Yes, but why is there an animal here?”
Levi stood up and grinned, rubbing his hands. He looked pleased with himself. “Because Edie is a cat behaviorist and Bianca’s her assistant. So I sent Jenna here”—he gestured at the retreating assistant—“to the shelter to find the most unpleasant cat she could.”
“Why . . . would you do that?”
Levi clapped Magnus on the shoulder. “Because we’re going to have Edie come here and fix it, of course.”
A low growl emanated from the crate.
“And what exactly are we supposed to do with it in the meantime?”
Levi shrugged. “Dunno. You handle it. I’m going to call Bianca and set things up.” His brother dashed away, pulling out his phone, and left Magnus with the damn cat.
Why were they going through with this ridiculous plan? He must have been completely insane. Magnus squatted in front of the cage and saw a bundle of fur huddled in the back, all gray tufted hair and stripes. Two eyes gleamed, and then it yowled and attempted to swat at him again through the cage.
“Jesus,” Magnus said, and stood up again. Not only was he going to be stuck with pretending to like the cat lady, he was also stuck with Cujo the bobcat.
The things one did for family. Or for a full share in a five-hundred-million-dollar project.
***
“I have a new client for you,” Bianca said in her sweetest little-girl voice as she held out a piece of paper to Edie.
Edie ignored her sister, screwing a post into a cat tree for her foster room. The cat tree had sixteen legs and three perches, and it was the most confusing thing she’d ever seen, but her new cat wanted someplace high to perch, and Edie was determined to give it to Oscar so he could relax a bit. Once he was settled in, she could work on getting him comfortable with her. As she worked, two other cats, Dopey and Doc, sat on the crinkling instructions, and Sneezy was curled up against the leg of her jeans as she sat on the floor.
“Did you hear me?” Bianca said, her voice a bit louder.
“I heard you,” Edie muttered. Bianca used her little-girl voice when she was trying to sweet talk people, and Edie had developed an immunity to it long ago. She shooed the cats off of the paper and unfolded the instructions to look at them again. “I’m busy.”
“But . . . it’s work.” Bianca moved directly in front of Edie and waved the paper. “You need money, remember? We both need money. Especially if we’re going to get costumes for Gretchen and Hunter’s big engagement masquerade party.”
Edie made a face at her sister’s back. “Don’t remind me.”
“I won’t remind you again if we go to this job.”
Edie took a look at the paper. House call. New cat, very aggressive. The appointment time was that afternoon. She handed the paper back to Bianca. “Can’t go today. I’m volunteering at the shelter on Tuesdays.”