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up Oliver.

Chapter 3
    Brethren
     
    “ B ourbon, neat,” I requested, sliding off my coat
and grabbing a stool at Morgan’s Bar. Only a block from the office, the place was
my regular haunt. When I looked up after placing my coat down beside me, I
found Caleb standing there, manning the bar.
    “Coming right up,” he called back, tossing a dish towel over
his shoulder.
    From the corner of my eye, I did a peripheral sweep down
the bar and focused on the redhead perched at the end, sipping from her
almost-drained cocktail and directing a smile my way. She was a new face, and a
pretty one.
    “Since when do you escape the office before five?” Caleb
asked, pouring my drink and pushing it toward me.
    “Since I scheduled my brother as my last meeting.” I
lifted the glass and took a swig, savoring the charge it gave my system while
not missing the redhead maneuvering on her stool, crossing her legs in my
direction.
    “I’m guessing we’re talking about Jax.” He snickered. “Little
brothers can be a pain, but yours, he’s something else: crazy, bullheaded, but
talented as hell. Cut him some slack. He’s only a kid.”
    “Talent will only get him so far. If he wants to open his
own place someday, then he needs to learn how to run it.”
    “And when he does?”
    “Then he’ll have my support,” I replied easily.
    Caleb nodded, then moved down for another customer who’d
slammed his empty glass down on the bar, signaling for a refill.
    I used the brief reprieve to scan subtly for any other
prospects hanging around. When he returned, I shot my gaze straight toward the
redhead, my head not swaying an inch. She was the top pick. He caught my drift
without further explanation.
    “So how’s everything else going?” Caleb asked causally as
he turned his back to me, mixing up a fruity concoction.
    “Nothing remarkable to note.”
    He popped in a little umbrella—girls always seemed to
like those in their drinks—and walked it to her. Deliberately slowly, I cocked
my head her way, watching as she lifted the glass up to thank me before taking
a sip. I gave her the slightest hint of a smile. It was all she needed.
    “So how’s the rest of the family? Any other sibling crap
going on?”
    Caleb was in front of me again, overly relaxed. My gaze
shot to him. Since when did he ask about anyone other than Oliver?
    As realization set in, I lowered my head, chuckling. “She
came to you?”
    “Yeah, and I was just as surprised to see her on my
doorstep.”
    My laugh cut off, eyes widening. Julia went to Caleb’s
apartment. My jaw ticked. I was surprised my sister would go to him, since
they’d rarely crossed paths after I crashed their first—andlast—date a
couple years earlier.
    After a loud public scene and a punch thrown, I’d cut him
some slack since he wasn’t aware at the time that the girl he was seducing was
jailbait who’d sneaked out her bedroom window on a school night. But he was smart
enough to apologize, and we became fast friends.
    “Save the look.” His expression was insulted. “You know
I’d never touch her. I have no interest there besides looking out for her as
your little sister.”
    I took another drink. “What’d she have to say?”
    “Oh, you should have seen her.” His eyes lit up. “There
was a whole speech, which I happily sat through.” He looked proud of himself. “She
even provided visuals.”
    My brows knit together. “Visuals?”
    He leaned over the bar, laughing. “She put together what
she called a ‘mood board’ of Harmony.”
    I couldn’t restrain my own laughter as I loosened my tie.
“And your verdict?”
    “Promised her I’d at least talk to you.”
    I gave a slight nod, appreciating him appeasing her. “Good
man, but my mind is made up. She needs the city to help her grow…build the
right connections.”
    He groaned. “Always about connections and business with
you. Thank God the little guy has Jax and me to show him how to live it up.”
    I shot him an