Family Man
the added weight only made him more imposing. It certainly did not detract from the impact of his brilliant green eyes and patrician features.
Hayden did not fit Katy's private image of a successful artist. But then, it would probably be impossible for any Gilchrist to look bohemian. Their innate sense of drama prohibited such sartorial disasters as baggy, paint-stained pants and untrimmed beards. In the well-cut black jacket and trousers Hayden wore tonight he could have passed for the chairman of the board of a major corporation or an elegant Old World vampire.
“Mother has summoned the family, as I'm sure you're well aware,” Hayden continued.
The edge of his cultivated voice betrayed a hint of his lifelong resentment of Justine. Her failure to applaud his talents had eaten at him for years. No amount of success in the world of art had compensated.
“I understand we're here to welcome back the prodigal grandson,” Hayden added. “Finally agreed to take on the job of saving our asses, has he?”
“That's the theory.” Katy picked up her towel and began drying herself. As usual, she felt puny surrounded by a bunch of Gilchrists. They towered over her, sleek, dark, and predatory.
Darren—lean, black-haired, and green-eyed like the rest of his family—lounged with insouciant ease in a poolside chair. He was dressed in a fashionable charcoal-gray jacket and slacks that suited his aristocratic good looks.
Darren was currently managing Gilchrist's on Lake Union, the newest restaurant in the group. The popular, upscale establishment was doing well under his management. Darren was showing a flair for the job, and he knew it. He was bitter about the fact that Justine had not acknowledged his budding talents and rewarded him by making him her successor.
He was only twenty-seven, but there was already a dash of bitterness, perhaps even desperation, in his eyes.
Darren smiled at Katy with languid charm as he watched her dry the water off her legs. His eyes moved over her bright blue one-piece racing suit and lingered at the points where the snug fabric was cut high at her thighs. She hastily wrapped the towel around herself. There was nothing more than idle male interest in Darren's gaze, but Katy felt uncomfortable under the scrutiny.
“How's it going, Katy? What's it like working for the Bastard?” Darren asked with suspicious blandness.
For no good reason other than her natural instinct to defend anyone under attack, Katy leapt to Luke's defense. “It's going rather well, to be honest. I can feel a change in the organization already. I think Gilchrist, Inc. is in good hands.”
“It had better be,” Eden muttered. “There's a fortune at stake.” At thirty, she was three years older than her brother, but the age difference was indiscernible. As in Justine's case, Eden's blue-blooded features and lean, elegant body would guarantee her an appearance of agelessness until the day she died.
She was wearing a simple black silk sheath and a silver choker. Her black hair curved just above her shoulders in a vampish style straight out of classic film noir . It emphasized the blood-red lipstick on her fine mouth and her long crimson nails.
Eden had inherited at least some of Justine's talent for numbers. She worked as the supervisor of the payroll and accounting department at Gilchrist, Inc.
Remembering Liz's armchair diagnosis, Katy took a second glance at Eden's slender frame. No, she was not anorexic, Katy decided in relief, but there was no doubt Eden had lost some weight. Since her divorce six months ago a strange haunted look had appeared in her eyes.
Another generation of dissatisfied Gilchrists, Katy thought as she covertly studied the coven. The emotional darkness in them must have been hereditary, too.
The genetic explanation did not account for the darkness in Maureen, Katy reminded herself. But then, as she had told Liz, there was explanation enough for Maureen's resentment. Katy knew Maureen had tried hard to be the perfect daughter-in-law, but in the end her husband's talents had been ridiculed and her offspring had been overlooked by Justine.
“I take it Grandmother still refuses to consider selling off any of the company assets,” Eden said, looking annoyed.
“She won't hear of it.” Katy peeled off her swimming cap and shook out her hair.
“She's turned into a fool in her old age,” Maureen declared. “We're going to have to unload the two troubled restaurants, at least. We
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