Darkest Shadows

30) A Temporary Wave of Peace

"For now at least."

♡

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For the fourth night in a row Rhett has been up late working when Ace goes to bed, tonight will be the last of it. "Baby, why can't you do that tomorrow?"

"I'm sorry, there's a lot I have to do for that meeting tomorrow. Ro's job could be depending on my accuracy for this, it has to be perfect," Rhett mumbles back, never looking up from his workbook.

"Why don't you ask Rhea for help? You know she'd help."

"She's got enough going on with going back into the field and the kids—"

"It is rude to talk about someone behind their backs, you know."

Rhett and Ace both jump and spin to see Rhea smiling as she leans against the doorframe a sippy cup dangling in her hand. "Jeez woman, don't you make noise?"

"Ask Gemini," she quips and laughs when the couple gags. "What are you trying to do?"

Rhett glares at his husband for a second before sliding the notebook over. "Rosé is trying to pitch a business deal for her clothing line, the other company wants to see where the profits are mainly coming from and what the probability is of a long-term successful and mutually beneficial partnership is. She normally has Antonio, her marketer and accountant friend, crunch numbers and such, but he had to fly to Australia where his wife is visiting her family because she went into labor, since I'm an analytical worker for business and tech I can understand this more easily, the problem is I wasn't expecting them to want so much information."

"Let me see."

Rhett hands the book and papers off to Rhea who already has her glasses on, she kicks him out of his chair and begins typing on his TelaTop and writing various things down while crossing others off. Her fingers fly across the keyboard so that it clicks loudly as she works, five minutes later she is standing up from the chair with her brow raised. "It is a scam."

"What do you mean?"

"No business is going to need that much information from another company to do an initial business deal, they are not just asking about surface details of late, they want to know the foundational things and that is the easiest way to take a company down. They are looking for weak spots in the company, so they get to tear it down while getting benefits, you need to tell Rosé to cut the deal off. Also, Line A is totally undervalued, that is going for thirteen thousand when it should be for thirty thousand, she is not being aggressive enough with her retailing and pricing and that is why she is getting these scamming businesses looking to take her down. She is vulnerable," Rhea explains.

"Why is anyone in this Highrise working when you can do everyone's jobs better than they can?" Ace chuckles.

"Because I have two kids and I spent years working myself to the bone and doing everything for everyone, it is about damn time that I let others pull their weight. Well, now that I have solved your business troubles you can go to bed with your husband so he stops complaining and waking everyone up."

"I haven't woken everyone up."

"You woke me up, Dad," their son AJ yawns as he joins the adult party, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Can you come sit with me in my room?"

"Sure buddy."

"Both of you?"

Rhett and Ace look at each other with smiles as Ace wraps his arm around his husband's waist. "Absolutely," they both say and take their son upstairs to his room. As it turned out, Ace and Rhett fell asleep on each side of AJ who was contently asleep in between them it was one of those perfect true family moments. Neither man noticed their sisters slip into their room and snap a few pictures of them and no one in the Highrise saw the shadow in their bedrooms that stood atop their beds and watched them sleep in a wave of peace. For now at least.