The news broke on a Tuesday.
Gilbert Pemberton, CEO of Pemberton Corporation, engaged to financial columnist Audrey Sawyer. The headlines were polite, restrained — the business press focusing on the merger of two families, the society pages speculating about the short dating history. Neither Gilbert nor Audrey had commented publicly. They'd simply released a statement through the Pemberton communications office and left it at that.
The public didn't know what the brotherhood knew. They didn't know about the years of separation, the breakup that had broken them both, the slow reconciliation that had taken months of careful rebuilding. They didn't know that Audrey had proven herself to be exactly the kind of steady, unshakeable partner Gilbert needed.
The public saw a short romance and a quick engagement. The brotherhood saw two people who'd finally found their way back to each other.
