2020-02-29 - When You Don't Realize That Your Business Partner and Your Lawyer are Exes.

Uncertain as to whether Easton had the chance to visit the Grand Olympic when it was still under GHPD confiscation or not, Byron's been here a few times during negotiations. He checked the place out, making a list of everything that needed to be done and here they are today! Currently, only those helping with the repairs and set up are let in through that two-lane bridge, though of course the investors and new owners of the casino are given clearance.

Byron had contacted Easton to meet with him at the casino proper as he's helping to oversee the construction as its being finalized. Dressed in his usual business attire, the full suit and tie get up, he carries with him a briefcase with all of the documents that Easton will probably want to see. Unfortunately, there's rain and sleet in the wind, so rather than enjoying the lovely view of the bay from the topmost floor, they are forced to observe it through a window instead.

Luckily for them, some of the restaurants and shops are cleared to be stocked and ready for the casino opening. One of those is a bar, of all things. So with Easton being the alcohol expert (in the nicest possible way), Byron chose to meet with the man there, his tall frame leaning against the edge of the bartop.

Easton definitely did not have a chance to see the casino yet. He is relieved to hear that things are progressing as he's been in limbo on the deal but now that it looks like things are moving ahead he's eager to get a look at the place. He shows up, not dressed quite as business like as Byron. In fact he looks more like a contractor that might be meeting with an investor, rather than an investor himself. He's dressed in a pair of canvas pants over polished work boots with a insulated rain jacket over a pullover.

Taking a look through the place he has to shake his head that this is actually happening. It hasn't actually felt real until now. He sidles up to the bar and upnods. "So.. this is a legit." He then takes a second and asks, "How are you doin? I heard you and Lil had a thing on Valentines. You all good?" Yes there is business to get to, but there are other things too.

Seems like there's a bartender on duty now as well, so while this bar is probably just the first stop of the Casino tour, the pair of them are free to carry a drink for the journey. Byron gestures over at the large array of alcohol being served, "Go ahead, order something. It's not like we're on duty here or anything." Or, at least, not the way the contractors and other laymen were. Pulling out a folder with all the details and the like from the briefcase resting on the bar top, he hands this over to Easton, "And sure is legit. Here, this is for you." He'd ordered himself a Scotch just shortly before Easton's arrival, so he takes a sip of that now.

Then, Valentine's Day is brought up and this takes Byron by surprise. "I've been good. We've been good." He corrects before going in for another sip. Licking at his lips, the glass is lowered, yet still held in hand. "We recently, uh... no, it's all good. Gotta say, They have a warped sense of humor, trying to ruin Valentine's Day like that." He doesn't get into detail about any of that, though, he will bring up, "Isabella?" As in 'Was Isabella the one who told you?'. "After we get our drinks, I think we can wander a bit, so you can see just how grand the scale of this Casino truly is."

"Just a beer. A Sam if you have it." Easton answers quickly and with only a side glance at Byron's drink. He takes the folder and pops it open for a moment before closing it, because that's going to take him hours to go through.

He sees the look of surprise and gives a half-shrug apologetically. "Yea, Isabella." He quirks an eyebrow at all the 'goods' in that response but just nods, "Well, good." His beer comes and he grabs it and pushes off the bar. "Alright, let's have the grand tour Thorne so I can see what all that money is buying me."

Before they depart to wander, Byron sets his glass on the counter for a nice top off, before gathering both the drink and his briefcase up to start on their trek. Even though he doesn't touch upon what both he and Lilith had to go through, he will state, "The Dark Men might think They are ruining lives. Hell, we may be feeding them for that brief moment of torment, but in the end, I like to think that what they're really doing, inadvertently, is pushing us closer." He's obviously talking about his relationship more than what others around him may be experiencing.

Since Easton asked about his well-being, before bringing up the business side of things, Byron does the same, half-turning to briefly look on his business partner. "Yourself? How have things been?" Facing forward as they move out of the bar area and into a large open fancy looking walkway which leads towards the main Casino floor in one direction and back out to the lobby in the other. "My apologies for not reaching out as often as I should in regards to the Casino purchase. There were a lot of things going on. Some having to do with the Casino itself and the other, well, you'll know of it as regular Gray Harbor problems." Something which they are both used to by now.

Gesturing towards the lobby, he will mention, "From the lobby, there's access to the guest suites. All one hundred and one of them. That's not including the four penthouse suites." Moving forward into the main Casino room proper, he says with a smile, "But this is what you've been waiting to see, I'm sure. Along with all of our wonderful guests who, hopefully, have an enjoyment of throwing away money." He's joking, of course. But that's business!

For the most part, all the machinery has already been installed and the Casino floor is lit up. Despite not having guests around, these games of chance were all turned to give the investors' a better look at how things will go down once the place opens. It's a pretty massive space. "Table games are in that direction." Another gesture is made. "While we have contractors working to set up the security system, I'm looking for someone local who can help maintain it."

Easton raises a beer and says, "Hear hear, I say fuck 'em. I intend to be happy regardless." He has mentioned that intention before, but there's a little bit more oomph behind the intention now. "You don't have to apologize, I understand that there's been a lot going on in general and it seems like we just cleared the hurdles?"

The lobby and talk of rooms and guests starts to make it feel more real that he's about to be part owner of this place. He shakes his head and says, "Not /throwing it away/, no, they'll be buying a top level gaming experience." Yes, he's mocking the marketing talk that he's sure will be coming in droves. The games and lights and gaming floor brings a grin to Easton's face. "I'm sure the expected financials are in here, but holy shit. I didn't realize how much was packed in here." He runs a hand along one of the machines and asks, "What about the other investors? I'm sure it's not just the two of us." Because unless Byron took on way more than 50/50 they were no where near the purchase price.

While Byron might have this bravado about him in regards to the Dark Men, with Easton here now, something else is on his mind, the other man reminding him of it. Perhaps, it's also the Marshall's mention of cleared hurdles or other problems that Byron's mind automatically goes to something which is bothering him. He knows enough that it's not what Easton meant when he'd asked, but he decides to come out and inquire anyway. "There's something that's been worrying me and I'm glad that I have you here right now." His dark eyes stare out across the array of flashing lights, listening to the bells and whistles heard out on the Casino floor. "When did you last speak to Vivian?" A pause, "Dr. Glass." He knows that his ex was involved in things regarding the asylum alongside Easton. So much for letting the Dark Men strengthen their bonds. Then again, in a way, perhaps that's exactly what's happening here with Byron and Vivian.

It's an awkward thing to bring up right now, but Byron needs to know before he forgets to ask entirely and move on to more business discussion.

Easton walks a row of video gaming machines and smirks at the various different ways that are meant to entice people to keep pumping money into them. Normally he wouldn't given them a second glance in the casino, but now he has a vested interest in them, and the rest of this place. He looks up at Byron seriously though when he changes the subject. He prompts him with a nod, that of course it's okay to ask.

"Dr. Glass.." Easton's brow furrows as he tries to think back to the last time he saw her. "I don't think I've seen her since the funeral? I mean that was forever ago." He thinks about it some more and says, "But we texted about a key that..." Fuck. A key that he keeps forgetting about. That ended up somewhere. He gets a confused look on his face and says, "Shit, I can't quite remember. Is everything okay?"

"A key?" Byron asks with an arch of his brow. Wait, he'd heard some mention of it before. "A key to the Asylum? I know that she was helping you look into that." A pause, "With your uncle and all. My condolences..." Easton's response is not one he'd hoped to hear, but it's not unexpected as well. With a quick shake of his head, he tries to reassure the other man, and probably himself, "No. Or, I hope not. It seems like she left town, which is good if she did." That last part he tacks on rather quickly. Though this is the part that is bothersome, "Her.. parents are looking for her." Which means Vivian hasn't contacted them. "Since the holidays in fact. I told them that I'd look into it. Anyway, I'll check up with them and hopefully she finally decides to reach out to them at least." Though it's unlike her to be so irresponsible.

Changing the subject back to the Casino, he looks at his shiny and expensive watch, "My lawyer should actually be showing up soon. Mr. Evans," Who is most likely one of the other investors, "I'll be meeting with him when time permits. He's a very busy man."

Every so often his phone vibrates in his pocket, forcing him to retrieve it to take a look at who it is. He smiles at the message posted sometimes, which probably means it's Lilith Winslow texting him.

The sound of heels clicking on the floor could be heard as the tour progressed, the source being a tall, statuesque brunette with her hair in a high ponytail, wearing a navy blue pinstriped power suit and black stiletto boots, familiar to both men taking the tour but for different reasons. She's carrying a folder filled with paperwork that her latest client had requested and she heads towards the pair on tour just as Byron says that his lawyer should be showing up, just as her impeccable timing would have her do. Keeping a cool, calm, detached professional demeanour, she greets the pair. "Good afternoon, gentlemen." She turns to Byron and says, "Mr. Thorne, the paperwork you requested." She hands the folder over with a silent nod.

"Yea" Easton can at least confirm that the key had to do with the Asylum, which is why he was talking to Vivian about it in the first place. But the details after that get fuzzy in a 'was I blackout drunk for a few weeks?' kind of way that makes him nervous to look too closely. He instead gives a confused if appreciative, "Yea, thanks." Because his uncle did die. Except he's still around as a walking rotting corpse over there. Right? Maybe.

"Shit." Easton doesn't look enthused by the news that her parents don't know where she is. That doesn't bode well in a place like this. "I hope's okay, and let me know if I can help?" With what? Who knows.

"Yea, I'm going to need to be sending these over to the family lawyer, they'll be involved since the trust is being used." The family lawyer in this case being a firm, the Marshall's have long since stopped having a single lawyer involved in their affairs. Easton notices the texting but does his best to time his sips of beer so that Byron can enjoy those privately without breaking the flow of conversation. Happiness is good.

It's during one of those sips that he catches sight of Katherine. The beer shoots out his mouth onto the new carpet, some of it out his nose. He coughs and sputters, swearing loudly as he tries to catch his breath. He has to set down the beer and put up a hand, looking up to double check that she's still there. He looks to Thorne as if to silently ask if this is expected, while he catches his breat. Finally red-faced and still with beer spittle on his face he manages to choke out, "Katherine. What a surprise."

It's a masterclass on how to greet your ex-fiance basically.

Speaking of Easton's uncle being a zombie, Byron brings up, despite offering his condolences, "I think I saw your uncle in a Dream recently. Well, over Winter. He was a guest of honor at some gladiatorial games in the Veil. Or somewhere, I don't even know." That's all just side talk, his thoughts on Vivian weighs heavily on his shoulders and while he might try to brush this off as his Ex being flighty, his expression is telling enough of the gravity of her disappearance.

"Sure. I'm checking in with her neighbors, both where she was planning on moving to, I think, and those occupying the offices in the plaza she set up shop in. See if they can tell me anything that I might be missing."

Now that they are back on track again and the conversation does return to the Casino, Byron makes sure to add, ""I contacted several of the restaurant and shop owners who had signed up to set up business in the Casino, originally. Most of them are willing to follow through with that. There are some already making sure that their shops are operational. Some, were a little more wary or had cold feet. Probably were on the fence when they first spoke with Foster and his representatives. I've made a few calls to see if we can fill those spaces. One of my associates from Hawaii will be taking up one of the restaurant spaces here."

Oh look, speaking of Exes and lawyers, Byron's lawyer just happens to show up. "Ah, Miss Kennedy. I'm glad that you are able to join us." He accepts the folder passed along to him, opening it up to take a glance within, "Thank you. I'll be looking this over a little later." And that's when Easton seemingly catches sight of her and... that's not the reaction Byron expected, having no idea that the two of them even knew each other. "Marshall, everything okay?" He asks, before hearing the man utter the woman's name. "I'll assume that there's no need for introductions then?" His dark gaze looking between the two, over the edge of folder which is slowly being lowered.

There is a mildly amused look on Katherine's face at Easton's reaction. Good. She had the upper hand here. Perfect. She looks to Byron and she casually comments, "It's a small world, isn't it? He's just someone I used to know back east before the firm sent me here." She makes sure to deliver the words in her best casual detached tone. Turning to Easton, she greets him in kind, her tone slightly flippant. "I recently took on Mr. Thorne as a client, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to warn you." She's roughly at 75% professional mode, 25% flippant disregard for Easton's feelings. She thinks she's doing okay. "How's the casino looking?" she asks both men in general, reverting back to her professional tone, satisfied at the opening shots. Whether he'd notice or not is not as relevant as her display of her completely pulled together image.

Easton has to take a moment to recover from the sight of Katherine, and wipe the beer off his beard. He manages to at least regain his composure soon enough though and mentally run through how she's there and why and what that means. He takes another gulp of beer to wash all that choking down and draws in a breath, bringing his face back to pleasantly neutral. All talk of Vivian and his dead uncle is put aside for the time being and Easton instead answers that, "Yes. We are well acquainted." Katherine is apparently going for business-like and detached, Easton's going for implying things. What, she has the upper hand right now.

"Well, that's great. I'm sure she'll kick ass for you Thorne." The silent implied part being that she would likely choose to have Marshall be on the receiving end of that. But at least for now they're business partners, so yay? Getting back to the casino though is likely a good, safe topic. "This is actually my first time seeing it. It's been tied up until recently." He glances over at Thorne before saying, "But we were just taking a tour of the place if you'd care to join."

It's a small world indeed.

Byron nods slowly to Katherine once those words are spoken, his eyes already shifting over to Easton to better gauge the man's state of mind. The spit out drink was quite a sight to see. Already having tucked the documents that the lawyer handed him into his briefcase, he then reaches for his phone once more to alert a custodian to clean up the mess. Whatever is on his phone at the moment brings this wide smile to his lips as he shakes his head to murmur under his breath, "She's unbelievable, I swear." Tapping out a response to a message, he follows this up by dialing up the janitorial team. "I'm requesting clean up on the Casino floor." His eyes lift up to view what section they are in, "J-25.. Thank you."

With that said, he smiles easily enough to the semi-awkward pair, "I've heard many good things." Is his response to Easton's practically congratulating him on obtaining Katherine as his lawyer. Easton is given another curious look, but he'll move on. No need to make this any more odd than it already is, "There's countless rooms for gambling. Even a section in the back for high rollers. Like I'd mentioned, I'm hoping to have all of the restaurants and storefronts occupied by the time the place is ready for its Grand Opening." He then gestures for the pair of them to follow him, "You've got to see the view from the top floor." That's where he plans on taking them, apparently.

There's nothing awkward, not to Katherine. She feels rather comfortable in her posturing, as if she'd had all the time she could possibly need to prepare for this moment. Her refusal to imply anything further about her past connection with Easton serves only to further her own commitment to show him that she's moved on, despite the reality of whether she has or not. When Byron start speaking about gambling rooms, and high rollers, and restaurant storefronts, Katherine refocuses her attention to the conversation. "I'd love to see the view up there," she replies with a bright smile to Byron, a far cry from her earlier detached expression, though it's only a brief moment she shares with Byron before she reverts back to the default. "So what do we have so far for the restaurants and storefronts?"

Easton is suddenly extra interested in the various gaming machines and tables as he does his best to avert his eyes from double checking once again that Katherine is standing here, and a part of this business deal that he just committed a very large sum of money to. He actually considers for a moment if the video cameras in the casino were just part of an elaborate setup to prank him. "Speaking of grand opening, do we have a date? And what are the obstacles left to clear to hit it?" For just a moment Easton manages to sound like he might be able to focus on the business at hand. But then there's talk of seeing the top floor and he realizes how long a tour of this place could actually last.

"Actually Byron, I'm going to have to bail on the rest of the tour. But I'll review these and get them approved." He doesn't mention the trust now, not with Katherine there. Instead he gives her a friendly if just a touch dazed nod and says, "Katherine." Before taking his leave, the beer is downed and the glass placed on the nearest surface as he makes his tactical retreat.

Byron is already leading the pair through the various aisles of gaming machines on their way to the elevator. "Unfortunately, there's still things that need to be repaired and even altered to better fit the new shopkeeps and their "vision" for their storefronts." This is Byron's response to Easton's inquiry of the Grand Opening date. "But things are moving ahead pretty quickly. I'd like to say I'd give it another two weeks, but we'll see. There are still some spaces that need leasing out. Luckily for us, the damage done here by Foster and the GHPD was kept to a minimal. Unfortunately, the amount of time that this place was under government lock down, that hurt construction progress quite a bit."

Easton Marshall decides to duck out of the tour just as Byron pushes the button for the elevator. "Marshall, you're going to kick yourself for missing the fabulous view." Obviously, Byron has a better view from his own penthouse suite, but this is on the waterfront proper. "I'll give you a call tomorrow or the next day, alright? Talk to you soon."

The elevator door opens and Thorne steps to the side to allow Katherine in first before joining her, then pressing the appropriate floor button. "So you're already well-acquainted with Easton Marshall. Small world, indeed." He then goes on to say, his dark eyes mostly observing the numbers on display as they near their destination, "I've known him for a while now. His family used to visit Gray Harbor during the summers as children." Ding! "Ah here we are."

Katherine remains quiet, as Byron speaks and Easton leaves, giving her ex a nod in return, maintaining a detached expression. And then she turns back to Byron, focusing her full attention on him as she listens. The response she gives before the elevator has them at their destination is, "We went to college together. Cornell. It feels like a whole lifetime ago." And it's not until they exit the elevator that she says, "It sounds like you go even further back." She pauses before asking, "Do you really think there'll be enough of a draw to Gray Harbor for this place?"

"I suppose you can say that, yes." Byron agrees about just how far back he and Easton's acquaintance goes. "We weren't friends at the time, but we were sometimes business acquaintances." He makes sure to clarify, "As kids and then high school students." Stepping out of the elevator now, he continues, "From there we lost track, after I'd gone off to USC for college. Found it strange that he returned to Gray Harbor after all these years, but it is what it is." Obviously, he's not going to pry about Katherine's connection with Easton. That's for another day.

During the summer and warmer season, part of this section of the casino would be opened up. During these late winter months, however, while the pool, itself, isn't closed off, they have a covering to protect it against rain. Something that will be necessary for 75% of the year in Gray Harbor. That doesn't mean that the covering blocks any part of the wonderful Bay view. At the moment the water if being filtered as they are in the process of cleaning it out after the Casino's construction was halted this whole time.

There's a bar up here as well as one of the restaurants with ample seating everywhere. While he does't step out towards the railing due to poor weather, he will linger on the edge of where covering. Quietly, he considers Katherine's words, "In truth? Not immediately. But I put together a festival over Halloween, a week-long Masquerade and we had visitors from all over the world curious about Washington State's version of the Carnival of Venice. I'm hoping to make that an annual event. This, however, we may need to go out of our way to drum up interest, which means putting together events and things of that nature. Either way, I believe that it will help the town out with tourism as well as offering up employment to the locals. It's something to work towards, but seeing that Foster believed that Gray Harbor was the perfect place for his Casino, I can see that vision." He then has to laugh, "I own the Bayside Apartments." Which she already knows, "The hotel here will practically rival that." He turns to Katherine when he says this, before returning to admire the Bay view, "I'm hoping the casino is yet another draw to the town and if they enjoy their stay at the casino's hotel enough, that they might seek out permanent residence at the Apartments. We shall see."

Katherine couldn't deny that the casino and what it's supposed to be, the vision behind it, is beautiful. Of course with Byron at the helm, it doesn't really surprise her that the plans are working out as well as they are. The architecture, the decor, every minute detail seems to be carefully laid out and planned. She admires every detail as much as she can as their conversation progresses. The quick history of the friendship between Byron and Easton was laid out as she looks around at the pool area, adept at smiling and nodding, and looking interested in the appropriate moments.

Though her genuine interest appears the moment Byron discusses plans for events to gather interest. "I've been in town for a while now so I know what can pull someone into a place like this," she comments casually, "You know whatever you need, I'll help you out with it. As long as it doesn't jeopardise the work I was sent here to do." She takes a look around at the view and she adds, "This place is ridiculously beautiful."

Having finished the Scotch from earlier and after he's had his fill of gloomy bay views, Byron gestures towards the covered bar. Unlike some of the restaurants and shops within this place, the bar belongs to the Casino and is made available for gamblers and guests alike. So even though there is no bartender present here, Byron moves behind the counter to get himself another drink. He'll leave a note for the bar manager later. "Care for a drink while you're here?" Grabbing one of the glasses beneath the counter, he selects a bottle of whiskey this time to fill his up with. "There's an array of liquor for you to choose from."

As he pours, he just has to grin, "I wish I could take credit for the design of this place. That was all Joshua Foster and his designer." His eyes drift from glass to look upon Katherine with mild curiosity. "If he didn't plan that hit." The murder of the motel owners that went down recently, "My investors and I wouldn't be in possession of this place right now, but I do agree. It's very lovely. Classy even."

Katherine contemplates the offer of a drink as she eyes a bottle of rum. Alcohol was a bad idea waiting to happen, but she's still considering it. She pours herself a shot of rum and empties it into a glass, filling it up with Coke. What the hell? Who cares? It's just her and her client. What harm could it do? Well, she knows the answer to the question, but she drinks anyway, just to take the edge off the encounter with Easton. "So did he figure it out yet?" she asks, taking a sip of her drink, "Why I'm involved in this deal in the first place?"

With the bottle of whiskey being replaced neatly where he'd taken it from, Byron is already tapping out a message to the person hired to manage this bar once it opens. A quick glance is given Katherine and what her poison of choice, documenting this as well. As usual for a man as busy as Byron Thorne, his phone vibrates which each and every text message. And there's quite a few. After taking a long drink, he's reading one in particular, before sending out a quick response.

This is about the time when Katherine mentions how much Easton knows about who his investors are and for a moment, Byron keeps his attention on his phone, treating the whole inquiry as casual as possible. All the while, he gives out a response, "I don't believe so and I'm hoping to keep it that way for as long as possible." Finally, his gaze lifts just as he licks at his lips, tasting the whiskey residue. "Our third investor is none other than Rhys Evans," The manager of the Firefly Club. "Sure, he's just the 'face' and I've been a little cautious because of /his/ association to the Firefly Club," Which Felix is based out of. "I'm sure eventually he'll put two and two together. Marshall isn't stupid. When that time comes, I'll do my best to act just as surprised."

"We need to figure out what reasons he'd have to dig deeper and squash all that before he has a chance to think about it," Katherine points out derisively as she consumes her drink, "I wouldn't be surprised if he never thinks to actually look into it." She takes the rum and coke in a lot quicker than she would even usually take it, but maybe she just wants to drink the bad taste of running into Easton away. "So basically, this whole situation is just a ticking time bomb, just waiting for him to find out about this? I'm not sure I like how this is going to turn out. I'm only concerned about it in how it affects a client's interests, I don't have a particularly huge stake in this by comparison. But I still want to do my job properly." She lets out an amused chuckle. "I'm a lot of things, a miracle worker is not one of them. I learned that the hard way."

Taking another slow sip of whiskey, his eyes lowered to view the screen on his phone once more before pocketing it entirely, Byron murmurs, "Initially, when I approached him and asked if he'd like to be an investing partner, he was definitely far more business cautious than I'd expected. Wanting all the details, all the paperwork-- Mind you, that should be a normal response. It just meant that I underestimated Marshall's eye for business, most likely chalking it up to something that his family usually handles." Byron knows enough about the Marshall family wealth.

His lips tug into an easy enough smile and he shrugs his shoulders, "If it ever comes down to that, we'll handle it. I just like to think that I brought in the business partner that your client," "Monaghan, "Requested. Whatever Marshall does if he ever learns who that client really is, well, I'd advise him to not act rashly. As a friend and business partner. If he decides to withdraw, I might try to buy him out if that's how he wants it. Unfortunately, it's a dangerous game that's being played if he's not willing to play ball." A game that Thorne roped Marshall into. "Evans worked hard on the details of our LLC to keep what needs to be hidden, hidden. You can discuss the matter with him at some point. I'm sure you'll need to."

"I'll need a refresher from Evans since this place has been in limbo for weeks, but I'm sure it's nothing I can't handle."

Katherine shakes her head at the mention of playing ball and she mutters into her drink, "Should have gone into intellectual property law."

Byron seemed like an easy enough client to handle, and definitely someone she felt she could talk to. Straight shooter, but values discretion. Katherine could respect that. Something wasn't quite connecting with her though, and it was Easton's involvement. There was no way he could have gotten in his position being a complete outsider not registered on Felix Monaghan's radar, not the way she understood her client. She did not voice this curiosity though. She opted just to smile through the drink to work towards procuring a second one.

"I hope for his sake that he knows what he's doing here..." she says in a low voice and if you listen hard enough, you might hear the first hints of Katherine actually giving a damn about Easton.

As he nurses his whiskey, Byron scans the horizon for a scant moment, before he turns back to idly study one of the four penthouse suites built within this Casino. He's into real estate and has managed the town's luxury apartments, he has an interest in anything housing and rental. However, something that Katherine says draws his attention fully back to her. It now seems like he may be studying her as well from over the rim of his tipped glass as he goes in for another sip.

He could take her comment regarding Easton in two ways as he notices something special about her. Yet, he's finally state, "About the Casino?" He's only clarifying. And this brings out a soft smile, "Before we were tasked to invest in this Casino, I'd taken a trip with Marshall to Las Vegas. So when I was told to speak to him regarding investing, well, I knew he had an interest in various games of chance. And this way, I guess, if all goes well, he's hoping to make something of his life. Save for his future. Or retirement." Whatever Katherine's relationship was with Easton, Byron will still say, "He's a good guy, despite our past." Seems that Katherine's not the only one that has a rocky past with Easton Marshall. "So for his sake, yeah, I hope all goes well. He was pretty excited about this endeavor as he should be. This whole operation," He gestures around him, "It's a pretty big deal."

It might be the alcohol. It might be Byron's words. Or maybe a combination of both. But something seems to cause Katherine's detached strictly business demeanour to crack and eventually fade into something a little more...human, maybe? She reaches for more rum at the bar and more coke, because what the hell? Certainly, she becomes more relatable as her posture relaxes and she takes in the fact that there's more to Byron's relationship with Easton than meets the eye. Gone is the detached look in her eyes, replaced with a complex cocktail of emotions. "I guess I have a lot more reasons than I started with to help make sure this goes off without a hitch," she comments, her casual tone disconnected from whatever hot mess of emotions her eyes were displaying.

For a hustling (and wealthy) entrepreneur who dresses like any fast talking city boy, Byron's humble beginnings often comes through in his speech and demeanor. Sure, he's wearing the suit and tie and he has some sort of pomade slicked back in his hair to go with his neatly trimmed beard, but he's a Gray Harbor boy through and through, which is something many people forget. Flickering coal black eyes look from Katherine then lower to view the new drink she's concocting for herself. He'd known her for at least a month as it is, always on a professional level, but he's a charismatic and gregarious guy who has a knack of talking to everyone.

"I take it that the two of you were friends back at Cornell?" It's an innocent enough inquiry, his gaze rising again to make contact with her own for a brief moment, before they shift once more and he takes another drink from his glass.

For the first time in the entire month they'd known each other, Byron can pick something up as he finds a crack in Katherine's composure beyond the cover of professionalism. Unlike Byron, she was born and raised in the city, she was conditioned to maintain a certain stoic professional demeanour. But the small town is starting to wear her down, pushing her to be in touch with herself more and be in touch with the world and people around her, and as much as she wants it to, Easton is not entirely to blame for it. "Yeah," she replies quietly, "Something like that." The drink. She brings her glass up to her lips.

Katherine doesn't have to say any more, Byron already picked up on the odd vibe between the two, though mostly on Easton's part. And here he was talking Easton up and making him out to be a good guy, which is probably true. Seemingly satisfied with this knowledge that there was a sort of relationship between the two, Byron tosses out a humorous enough question, his attempts at keeping the conversation light: "Was he a douchebag back then too? Or was he already transforming into the guy he is today?" He then goes on to say between sips of whiskey, "Full disclosure because you are my lawyer," He's also joking about this part because it probably has nothing to do with their own working relationship, "He was a huge asshole when we were kids. It's a good thing that kids grow up and we move on." Byron's not going to say anything about forgive and forget, though it almost sound like those words are about to spill out from his lips. That's not the mantra he ever used.

Shifting his weight from one foot to the other, he adds, "After this drink, we should get a move on. There's a whole lot more Casino to see."

As Byron makes his attempts to keep the conversation light, talking about how much of an asshole Easton had been as a kid and all that, Katherine lets out a noise that sounds like a mix of laughter and choking sounds. She makes a point of taking a moment to recover before she says with utmost sincerity, "He was a work in progress when I met him, he was heading towards the man he is today...he just...he lost his way for a while." She clears her throat and adds in a semi-joking tone, "If you tell anyone I said that, I will fuck you up." She finishes her drink and follows Byron for the rest of the tour.