17. Blindsided

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Kit is older than Kam, but they look the same age. He also dresses like a playboy, with his dark hair curling around a perfectly clean shaven face, dancing dark eyes, and a dazzling smile that charms anyone.

Well, almost anyone.

"You're in my office," Kam's voice is completely neutral, so Kit isn't sure exactly how his younger brother feels about him paying a visit unannounced. Kit crosses his arms in a mock pout.

"I couldn't get into your condo. Besides, company is a shared inheritance. I didn't know I needed an appointment to see my favorite brother."

"Don't let the other one hear you say that," Kam smacks Kit over the head with the manila envelope.

"Hey! That's what I said. What was that for?"

"You're in my seat."

Kit doesn't argue. He moves to the chair on the other side of the desk, allowing Kam to sit behind the desk. "What's that you've got?"

Kam is careful to give the manila envelope in his hand only a cursory glance. "Work stuff."

"Oh yeah?" Kit doesn't take his eyes off it. "In a sealed envelope?"

Kam sticks the envelope in a drawer of his desk. He'll worry about the puzzle pieces once he's got rid of Kit. "I thought you were staying in Italy for another couple of months."

"I was."

"But you showed up out of nowhere because..."

"I got the car," Kit pulls a set of keys from his pocket and sets them on the desk. "Near-mint condition Bizzarrini GT Strada, as promised. It's in the garage now, but we can move it to the showroom once it's been polished up."

"You came here just to deliver a car?"

"No, Mom wanted me to come check on the dealership." Kit's answer is automatic, which sets off suspicious alarm bells in Kam's head. "It's the riskiest branch of the company."

"Flipping cars is the riskiest branch of the company." Kam and his brother have always been close, which means one can tell when the other is lying.

"Ok, mom wanted me to come check on you."

"I'm not ignoring her calls."

"But you haven't picked them up, either."

Kam cocks an eyebrow. "The player noticed that someone isn't picking up phone calls?"

"You're getting really good at that Eyebrow Thing, you know that?" Kit's face takes on a more serious expression. "We're both worried about you, you know."

"Our company is in the black, so we can pay for my condo here, and the house in Italy, and shipping costs for the cars, and the parts, and all the paychecks, and your travel expenses," Kam ticks everything off on his fingers. "We each have a nice little nest egg. I like what I do, and who I do it with, and so you do you--get that smirk off your face, I mean professionally, not personally--so what else is there to be worried about?"

"The dark circles under your eyes for one," Kit says. "You think I haven't noticed? And don't say it's from making international calls, I'm not that stupid."

Kam says nothing. His older brother pulls a KitKat--the reason for his name--out of his pocket and unwraps it. He takes a bite, not taking his eyes off Kam.

"If you carry those around in your pocket, they'll melt." Kam says.

"That's why I keep them in my jacket pocket." Kit pats the pocket in question and takes another bite of the KiKat. "So? What other reason would mom have to be worried about you, and does it have something to do with the dark circles under your eyes? Or that envelope in your desk drawer?"

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