Free What I Did for Love by Tessa Dane

because he – and I too – hated the banging about of dishes and doors in busy, less exclusive kitchens. In this restaurant, clatter and noise could get a bus boy or any staff member fired, and tips were too good to let carelessness cost them their jobs. The restaurant wascalled “La Reine Tranquille,” The Tranquil Queen, for a reason. It was a place for quiet dining, low voices, and almost invisible table service.
    Bredon’s appearance at the restaurant caused the usual quiet stir among the staff, the chef peeking out to wave at him, an order quickly given, wine ordered and poured. Once done, the staff disappeared, knowing not to keep coming to the table while we were talking. No asking, “Is everything all right?” or the other nonsensical and interfering things that wait staff were taught to do in most restaurants. One of the staff always kept an eye on Bredon, but from a respectful distance. If something was not right, Bredon’s expression would tell them soon enough.
    I was almost afraid to start our conversation, feeling my brother’s preoccupation with what had to be heavy news about his big gamble. When I made the dinner date, I had wanted to tell Bredon that I was mad about Rand, that I was going to see him tomorrow, that I had seen Robin, and all my large and small news. Instead I focused on Bredon, his air of distraction stirring fear in my heart.
    “Bredon…” I began, and my questions did not need to be asked.
    “Well, Dray, you were right in so many ways,” he said quietly, with a stoicism so different from anything I had seen before.
    “Rand?” I said his name as a question.
    “He’s coming back from India in the morning.” My brother looked at me with sadness and seriousness. “I know you like him, Dray, but he and I have been in the worst possible arguments. His family had a major scare with their investments in India, but he got things set right again.”
    I waited, taking a token sip of my wine, watching my brother as he seemed to think out loud, talking without really seeing me. “Rand is always pulling rabbits out of hats for them,” Bredon told me. “His family takes it for granted that he will fix anything that goes wrong.” My brother gave me a sour smile. “That’s whatfinancial geniuses are supposed to do. But this time, they were pretty shaken by how close they came to losing a major fortune.” Bredon looked full at me. “He wants to withdraw completely from our deal, and if he leaves, a good part of the partnership will collapse, I know it. I have to find new partners, or it will be the end for me.”
    My heart felt like a lump of ice, frozen by fear, aching for my brother’s quiet suffering over making such a wrong call. “There’s my money, Bredon…”
    “Never!” He did not raise his voice. He did not have to. There was no compromise on this, I could see by his eyes, by the set of his face.
    “Bredon, we’re family, we have only each other, whatever I have is yours too, please…”
    “No, Dray, I won’t do that. I have until next Monday to finalize everything. I may still be able to pull it out. I have a lot of work to do, contacting people and trying to re-work this deal. But whatever happens, the money our parents left to you is for
you,
for your future, for your life.”
    “You
are my future and my life, Bredon. I don’t think I could have gone on…” I stopped, having to control myself, to look calm. But my brother’s urgency and sadness and peril made me want to cry, to hug him. My struggle for control had to be obvious to him.
    Bredon’s eyes softened. “There’s still an outside chance, Dray. I haven’t given up. Don’t worry until you have to.” He smiled. “Don’t worry even then.”
    “How could Rand just back out like that,” I said bitterly, feeling all my love and desire for him suffocated by my anxiety over my brother.
    “That’s why we’ve been arguing,” Bredon said with a matching bitterness. Then he gave me an intense