Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 115198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
This feels like a dagger. I swallow, and then have to swallow again to get past the clog of anger and sadness. “Right.”
“I’d love to have some time to talk to you, to perhaps plan the exclusive interview for once we return.”
“The exclusive—?”
“Yes. Your father and I have set an agreement that Forbes will have the exclusive. Does tomorrow morning work?” he asks, smiling warmly.
I am numb. “Tomorrow…”
“Congratulations again, Liam.” With a pat to my shoulder, Ellis nods to Anna and leaves us to return to our dancing.
But instead, Anna pulls me off the dance floor, resting a hand on the side of my neck. “Hey, sweetheart?” I blink down at her, unseeing. “Are you okay?” she asks, searching my eyes. I have no idea what she finds there.
This is a mess. It’s one thing to flirt with the idea of me coming on, to let Ellis dig around a little, but this is an announcement. Turning the message around now would be a public nightmare for the company.
“Shit.” I look up and, as it sinks in, begin searching for someone else now. “Shit.”
But he’s already on his way. My eyes lock on Alex’s as he approaches, cutting across the dance floor, eyes burning. Jake is jogging to catch up to him. “Alex,” he says. “Slow down.”
“Liam.” When Alex reaches me, he roughly pushes Anna out of the way and all thoughts of Weston Foods, my father, and whatever Forbes might have to say about it vanish as a bubble of hot rage explodes in my chest.
“Hey.” My voice is a knife’s edge, and I shove Alex backward. He stumbles. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on here, but if you ever touch her again, I’m putting my fist through your jaw.”
Alex ignores this, coming right back up in my face. “You don’t know what’s going on here? Really, brother?”
“I don’t want this,” I say, low and seething, protectively shifting Anna behind me. “I’ve told Dad a hundred times I’m not interested in that job, or any job in this company.”
“So you said,” Alex says, face crimson. “And yet here we are.”
“Come on, man,” Jake says, pleading, pulling Alex’s arm to get him to step back. “Let’s go outside.”
Alex shakes him off. “Right here is fine.”
We aren’t exactly the center of attention, but we aren’t incognito, either. Alex’s march through the party drew some eyes. My violent shove to his chest drew even more.
“Alex,” I say, inhaling to calm myself down. “No one here is trying to fuck you.”
“Then why am I standing here with your goddamn dick up my ass!”
“Whoa, graphic,” Anna says, coming around to stand between us. She sets a hand on my chest and another on Alex’s. “Okay. Everyone take a breath. I know this feels huge. It is huge. But so is tonight. This is your sister’s wedding reception.” She looks at each of us in turn, though Alex never takes his gaze from my face. “Do this tomorrow,” Anna says. “You’ll get this sorted.”
It takes a beat, but Alex’s face relaxes. And then he nods. “You’re right.”
“See?” she says, exhaling a shaky breath. “Later, okay? Sort it later.”
The problem is, Alex is still nodding, still staring at me. “You’re right,” he says again. “We’ll get this sorted.”
And then he turns, stumbling away.
“It’s fine.” Jake gives my shoulder a squeeze and tosses back the rest of his drink. “He’s upset now but he’ll get over it. He always does.”
“Right,” I say, but I’m not so sure. Despite his posturing, Alex isn’t one for public confrontation. That he approached me here at all shows how blindsided he was. How reckless this has made him.
“Wait,” Anna whispers, her hand clenching mine. “What’s he doing?” I follow her gaze to where Alex is now on the stage with the orchestra, wrenching a microphone free of a stand near a violinist. That’s when I know.
Jake exhales a quiet “fuck” as dread sends ice water through my veins.
“Alex,” I call out, taking a step forward. “Brother, trust me. Don’t do this.”
He taps the mic and the sound reverberates through the room.
“Alex, don’t,” I warn again as Anna exhales a quiet curse. “This won’t go the way you think it will.”
He looks at me with such fury that hope sinks like a stone in my gut. I turn my head, meeting my father’s eyes across the room, and the way his glimmer in the strung lights tells me he’s led us straight here. We walked directly into his trap.
Alex waves an arm overhead. “Could I—?” The speakers squawk sharply with feedback, and Alex clears his throat before leaning back in, breathing heavily. The force of his exhale echoes all around the tent. His hand is shaking. “Could I get everyone’s attention?”
Slowly, with the tinkling of glasses and the decrescendo of conversation, the room stills. Eyes turn to my brother, sweaty and pallid up at the front of the room, and quiet murmurs pass in a concerned wave. Anna presses into my side, and I send an arm around her waist, holding her close.