Family Man

in no condition to contain it. “Now, Luke, calm down.”
    “Calm down?” Luke tossed aside the covers and surged to his feet. Seemingly unconscious of his own nakedness, he began pacing the room. “That bastard asks you for a hundred and fifty grand, and I'm supposed to calm down? I'm going to break every bone in his body. How the hell did he expect you to come up with that kind of money in the first place?”
    Katy sighed. This would have been a lot easier to deal with over breakfast, but she knew Luke was not going to let go of the issue now. She sat up slowly against the pillows, holding the sheet over her breasts. “He knows I don't have that kind of money. He had a plan.”
    “Yeah, I'll just bet he did.” Luke stopped pacing and came to a halt beside the bed. “What kind of plan? He wanted you to go to Justine, didn't he?”
    She sighed at how swiftly he had leapt to the correct conclusion. “He wanted me to ask Justine for a start-up loan for Pesto Presto.”
    “And once you got the money from her you were supposed to turn it over to him. Shit. I'll throttle the bastard.”
    Katy winced. Luke had certainly grasped the essential facts of the situation very quickly. She was not surprised. The man was good when it came to money. Very good. “That's about the size of it.”
    “Why does Darren need a hundred and fifty grand?” Luke demanded.
    Katy bit her lip. “Well, I think he's in some sort of trouble.”
    “What kind of trouble?”
    “I'm not sure. Something to do with a real estate development partnership that's gone sour. The purchasers are apparently clamoring for their money. The man who organized the deal says Darren will go to jail if he doesn't come up with the hundred and fifty.”
    Luke chewed silently on that for a few seconds. “So why didn't Darren go to Justine himself?”
    “Don't be ridiculous. He couldn't possibly go to Justine. He's in this mess because he was trying to prove himself to her. The last thing he can do is go to her or his parents. They'll all think he's a complete failure.”
    “He's a goddamned idiot, that's what he is. He's also a damned fool if he thinks he's going to get away with using you like this.”
    “Now, Luke—”
    “Just what in hell did you think you were going to do to bail him out of this mess?”
    “Well, I came up with a plan. Sort of.”
    “Sort of.” Luke rammed his fingers through his hair. “I don't believe this. All right, give it to me straight. What did you plan to do? Ask Justine for the loan?”
    “No, of course not. I knew that would never work.”
    Luke slanted her a speculative glance as he resumed his restless pacing. “Why the hell not? She'd probably have given you the money.”
    “Yes, she probably would have. But I could never lie to Justine like that, not even to protect her from finding out that Darren had gotten into trouble.”
    “Yeah, you're the loyal type, aren't you?” Luke said. “And you think you owe her. So what did you plan to do?”
    Katy decided there was no point putting off the inevitable. She had intended to do this after she'd had time to think about it some more, and she had certainly intended to do it at a more opportune moment. But she was trapped now.
    “I planned to turn the whole problem over to you,” Katy explained.
    Luke came to an abrupt halt. He swung around to confront her. “Me? You were going to come to me about this mess?”
    “Yes. Darren is your cousin. This is a Gilchrist family problem. For the next six months you're responsible for Gilchrist problems.”
    “The hell I am. I'm responsible for putting Gilchrist, Inc. back on its feet,” Luke roared. “I am not responsible for solving all Gilchrist family problems. There's a difference.”
    “No, there isn't,” Katy said calmly. “Gilchrist, Inc. is the family, and the family is Gilchrist, Inc. You are now head of the family. The way I see it, Darren's problem is your problem.”
    “Christ. You want to know how I'll solve Cousin Darren's problem? I'll let the idiot go to jail. That's how I'll solve it.”
    Katy smiled. “You're angry because Darren came to me for the money, aren't you?”
    “Angry? I'd like to tear his head off his shoulders and use it for a bowling ball.”
    “That's a bit extreme, don't you think?”
    “No. It's not extreme. It's only the beginning.” Luke leaned over the bed, planting his hands on either side of her. “No one uses you and gets away with it.”
    Katy touched his clenched jaw.