The Kane Cross (Cross 1)

After Ivy left his office, Baxter called Jimmy on his private phone. He was a hard man to reach without his current number. The entrepreneur changed it at least ten times a year to protect his privacy. The world knew a man very different from his friend. Baxter was still in training compared to the notorious James Sinclair.

"We're going viral."

Jimmy laughed. "I'm always viral. Last week I was engaged to the starlet I said hello to at a party."

"Today, we're not friends, because you and Kasper are fighting over Ivy Krasinski."

"Who is she?"

"Ivy. Tate's friend." Unforgettable. "You flew her to Colorado."

"The quiet blonde? With Bate's palms on her curvy bottom." Baxter's fist couldn't get tighter. "I'd rather the headline be I punched Bates, but my mother wouldn't be happy. Or my father, my uncle, my aunt, her housekeeper. It's tough being me."

"I hear you. So damage control."

"Our whisky bar? What time?" Jimmy sounded giddy. He loved games.

"Can you make seven?"

"I think so. I'll have someone call ahead."

"How many people do you have?"

"A few. They're not like your assistant. I gotta go. Seven."

Whenever they sat at the bar, someone always took their picture. Jimmy would ensure a photo would leak.

Baxter swore when Danielle buzzed his father was on the line. "Who is this girl? What the hell happened with the Bates girl?"

"Priscilla broke up with me because I wouldn't give up scotch. She also had concerns because I acted like a gentleman. Honestly, I couldn't please the woman."

"Who is the woman involved with Jimmy and your brother?"

"She's Tate's friend and a current employee, but she isn't involved with either. Kasper saved her from Bates Junior's clutches."

Philip sat on the Bates Financial board but never liked Jarrod Junior. "Why the hell does he come out smelling like a rose?"

"If I had to answer, I would say he pays everyone off." Bates threw around money like it was candy at a parade.

Philip moved off the safer subject. "An employee? What does she do?"

"Intern in the law department, but she has been sitting in on union meetings and taking notes. She's good at reading the room." He didn't want his father to know the extent of her help.

"You need to do damage control."

"I'll be with Jimmy tonight, and Kasper won't be with her again."

"Some other family needs a scandal to steal the limelight."

"I agree."

Philip said, "I never had these problems."

"Social media didn't exist."

"You need to settle down with a wife. Then the spotlight will go away."

"Right. To Doyle doing lines or Kasper competing for a million dollars he'll never win. I won't marry a woman who I don't love. I have a union meeting to prepare for."

"We can continue this another time." The line went dead. His father didn't marry until he was thirty-five. Baxter had plenty of time even if he didn't choose a younger wife. He always assumed they married for love. Maybe he would ask his mother how she captured the bachelor's heart; she would probably give credit to the damn cross.