Don't Touch

-17-

As promised, Sean arrived at Syd's apartment at 8:00AM. When they started working together again, Syd quickly learned that her brother did not sleep.

"Good morning, sunshine!" Sean yelled as he burst through the doors of Syd's apartment and into her room. "Wake up, sis! How the fuck do you run your own business and still sleep past 7?"

"Why the fuck did I give you a key?" Syd muttered, her eyes still closed.

"Because I would've got one either way. Now clean up before breakfast gets cold."

Syd rolled out of bed and went straight to the bathroom without even looking at Sean. "Be ready for an ear full."

Sean went into the kitchen and started setting the table for breakfast. Sean put the food in the microwave to keep it warm while he waited for Syd to come out.

He was happy to have his sister back in his life and felt bad that he left her alone with the Brits and he sure as hell didn't expect Dmitry to show up last night, which made things worse. Growing up, Sean always looked forward to running the family empire alongside Simone as one of the most powerful sibling pairs in the world, but when she left, it hurt him just as deeply as it hurt their parents, even though he didn't show it. So, as much as he hated the circumstances, he was happy to have someone he could fully trust running the business with him. Sean hoped he didn't ruin things by not coming with her on the deal last night - he couldn't bare losing his sister again if she decided the life was too much for her.

"What'd you get us?" Syd asked, entering the kitchen. "Oh wow, you even set the table. Yeah, you're definitely feeling guilty."

"Shut up," Sean replied playfully before walking over to the microwave to get their food. "I got you French toast from that place you like. And for me, I got shrimp and grits." He brought their food over to the table.

Syd took her seat and looked up at her brother smiling as he placed the food in front of her. Noticing the mark on his neck, her smile fell and turned to an angry glare. "I know you are fucking lying! Did you ditch the deal for some fucking pussy? Nigga, are you kidding me?"

"Calm down, calm down," Sean chuckled, hiding his guilt. "I knew you could handle the deal. Take it as a sign of my confidence in you."

"Whatever," Syd grumbled. "What about Dmitry? You thought I could handle that shit too?"

Sean went back to his seat and slouched slightly. "I didn't know he'd show up. But Luca told me you handled yourself well..." He straightened up his posture and smiled. "So... How did it feel?"

"What?"

"How did it feel talking shit to powerful men because you have more power than they do?" Sean was half bluffing, hoping that Syd would give him a positive answer and that she hadn't be too turned off from the lifestyle.

"Humph," Syd sneered. Even though she was an internal wreck most of the night, she did feel empowered knowing she could talk shit to those men because she was the one who truly had the power. Her persona as Simone Davidson was starting to grow on her. "I'm not gonna lie, it gave me a high. I'm pretty sure we inherited shit talking genes from ma."

"Damn straight," Sean nodded approvingly. "Anyway, that shit Dmitry pulled pissed me off. Considering the size of the pickup team, one of them probably told him you were there."

"I wanna start going with you when you meet with the Ivanovs. Gotta show them I ain't no bitch."

"Sounds good to me," Sean responded, trying to hide his excitement. "Alright, so let's go over ma's plan for your new life."

"Right, so I'd come out as Simone Davidson, long lost sister of Sean Davidson, the socialite and business mogul. I distanced myself from the family because of some angsty teenage shit. Easy." Syd shrugged. "Plus, you're like a D- or C-list celebrity at best, so I don't think we'd have to worry about paparazzi and shit, right?"

"Whoa." Sean put his hand to his chest as if offended. "The shade of it all. It's better than your E-list status being behind the camera instead of in front of it."

"Hey, at least the right people know me and I didn't have to worry about strangers being in business up until now. And besides, if you were anything above your current status, there'd be all types of rumors swirling about the real family business.

"You right. And you still get to do your photographer thing since I'll be launching a new fashion line and opening a new club. You'll have plenty of work."

"Yeah... more family work," Syd rolled her eyes. "Oh, there was something else. Would I be able to tell anyone about the real family business? Like the people who I'm closest to. Right now, they just know that you're my brother and since it's not out on the gossip pages yet, they can obviously keep it a secret."

Sean crossed his arms. "You are too smart to ask a question that dumb. What the hell you think?"

"What about Lali -"

"No!" Sean shouted, standing from his seat with hands slamming on the table. Syd's head jerked back surprised. He quickly caught himself and cleared his throat, lowering back into his seat. "I mean, no, you can't tell anyone."

"What about Hector? You know, he and I have been together so long and one day, we might-"

"Fuck no," Sean said, leaning into the table. "I don't like his punk ass, nor do I trust him. Why the fuck did you get back with him, anyway?"

Syd looked down and poked at her food. "Because I love him."

Sean scoffed. "You could easily find someone else."

"You say that because you've never been in love. This is some wild shit."

"You right and I'm glad I've never been, nor do I plan to. That shit looks scary. People get mad dumb over it."

"Cool..." Syd was over the conversation and don't want to get to talking about relationships. "I won't tell anyone... This mean we're all set?"

"Yup!" Sean's face softened into a warm smile to Syd. "I really am happy to have you back, sis, despite the circumstances. It just feels really good to have a partner in all of this."

"I'm happy to be back," Syd smiled assuringly.