I fix my gaze on Edward, "How many times a day do you ask the Lord to forgive you for your sins?"
Edward’s jaw firms. "Rhetorical questions, Sinner?"
"Takes one to recognize one, Father."
Color bleeds from Edward’s face.
"Shit, I didn’t mean that."
"Sure, you did." Edward sucks in his cheeks. "That why you called us here? To rehash the mistakes of our past?"
"What’s your plan?" Saint stalks into the room, drops into the nearest armchair. "You are too smart, Sin, It’s the one thing I hate about you… Possibly the one thing I admire about you too. You’ve managed to emerge relatively unscathed from the incident, put your life back together, the first of us to earn a million."
And a billion... many times since, but who’s counting, huh? I widen my stance, "What do you want in return?"
"50% of whatever profit you are proposing," Saint growls.
"Hold on a second." Weston strides forward, "I am a surgeon, that doesn’t mean I’m going to settle for less than my proportionate share of the profits."
"And I am the most in demand Angel Investor in Silicon Valley." Arpad drums his chest.
"That’s because Jace decided to turn his attentions to philanthropy,” Damian smirks.
He’s referring to our mutual acquaintance JK aka Jace. He is part of a select circle of people that Arpad and Damian have become close to in LA.
"Tosser got married and decided to retire." Damian bounces on the balls of his feet.
"More power to him." I snort.
Losers, all those who follow their hearts and get involved in that emo shit. The result: they lose their killer edge, become soft at their edges. Not something that I’ll ever fall for. Especially since there is one goal on my horizon—to bring down the man responsible for my ruin.
Arpad tilts his head, "Jace and I were never in competition. Besides," he cracks his neck, "I hold the record for maximum ROI in a quarter amongst all of us. So," he flexes his fingers, "I stake the claim to the biggest share of the profits."
"Don’t you want to hear what Sin’s proposing?" Damian aims the ball in my direction.
I snatch it up, bounce it once, then balance my foot on it.
"I’ll tell you, on one condition."
Saint scowls, "Baron?"
I widen my stance, "Fucking Baron."
Arpad’s jaw hardens, "Bastard always manages to insert himself into our conversations without being present."
"He is annoying that way." Edward concedes.
Saint jerks his chin. "The seventh wheel, but clearly, whatever we are planning, he needs to buy into it too."
I tilt my chin up. "He’s in."
"You spoke to him?"
"In a manner of speaking." I’d had to follow the security protocol he’d laid down, which involved old fashioned snail mail, and an unsigned typewritten note, to a PO Box. Apparently, physical mail leaves less of a trail than communicating in a clandestine electronic method. "He’s happy with whatever we decide."
"Fucking Baron." Arpad snaps his fingers, "Always knows how to use his time most efficiently, while the rest of us are working our asses off."
"Not you" Saint snickers. "You’re too busy sailing around the world in that dinghy of yours."
"It's a sailboat." Arpad curls an eyebrow. "And PS, it’s called generating passive income, baby." He spreads his hands, "What can I say? I have a knack for investing in exactly the right start ups… Speaking of which..." he stabs his finger at me, "...you going to tell us what it is?"
"FOK Media."
"FOK Media?" Edward blinks.
"What’s that short for?" Arpad smirks, "Full of Kink?"
"Funny Ornery Kangaroos, maybe?" Damian rolls his shoulders.
I shake my head.
"Oh, wait, let me guess." Saint snaps his fingers, "Fill or Kill?"
"An obvious guess," I make a mock gun with my fingers, point it at him. "But no, it’s Full of Kindness."
Silence descends.
Saint snickers, "You’re joking?"
"No." Not completely. I begin to pace, "After our last unmitigated disaster," I turn to Weston, "because of which we had to sell off our shares, divest our portfolio—"
"Hold on." Weston raises his palms, "I made you a profit. We dumped the shares before the stock market tanked."
"Maybe…"
Weston frowns.
"Your sins turned out to be damn profitable for us, this time." I lower my chin.
"As long as you don't repeat them." Edward tilts his head.
Weston raises his hands, "I never should have been caught on that sex tape… Besides, everyone who is anyone has one of those. And it hasn’t affected business, has it?" Weston steeples his fingers, "On the contrary, it’s brought in a flurry of new patients. Seems the sight of my arse inspires confidence, as much as my success rate in surgeries."
"Win-win situation…" I prop my fingers on my hips. "So we are ploughing in the profits, forming a charity that will invest in a cause—"
"—that gives us legit write offs." Saint drums his fingers on his chest.
"But what’s the real business?" Arpad widens his stance.
I scan the room, "We invest in start-ups, in upcoming artists, in musical talent, medical scholarships, we cast our net wide."
"And the returns?" Saint widens his stance.
"Twenty-five percent of their income streams for the rest of their lives."
Weston hums, "It’s steep."
"It’s fair." I set my jaw.
"It does good." Edward’s tone is considering. "I concede that much."
Not that it matters to me. My soul is going to rot in hell, but it’s not a bad idea to have side benefits.
I'll also say whatever it is these assholes want to hear to get them to agree.
"If it weren't for the incident, the Seven of us wouldn't have kept in touch. This..." I jerk my chin, "shared venture would be a more positive reason to keep us together."
"All the more reason to walk away from it," Saint grimaces. "If I see any more of you guys, I'll end up resembling one of your ugly faces and that's not on my wish list, no offense."
"None taken." I bare my teeth.
"But." He pauses.
"But?"
He drums his fingers on his chest. "You have my interest, I'll give you that."
Fucking cunt.
Damian scratches his jaw, "And we do this meeting... What? Yearly?"
"Monthly." I firm my lips.
"Monthly?" Damian scowls. "You are aware of my schedule.”
"You have a private jet, bitch."
He glowers.
"This way, we meet each month, in person, to evaluate the risks."
Saint smirks, "You’d think you want the strength of the group behind you or something."
I do, but not in the way he thinks.
Makes it easier to keep track of what they are up to. Sure, I have eyes on them, but there’s only so much you can trust what the hired help gets you. Best to meet them face to face, read their expressions, study their body language. Deciphering the unsaid, yeah, that’s my specialty.