“Spare me the bullshit and just get it over with.” I knotted my fingers behind my head, yawning. “And please, try not to come in the process. Your face is giving me preorgasm vibes I never cared to see on my brother’s face.”
That was the part I hated the most. That he was still my brother to me. Not brousin, brother. A fucked-up one, for sure, and yet.
“I very much doubt you are used to seeing people coming on a regular basis. You’re too self-centered to give pleasure,” Julian noted, puffing on his cigar.
“Saw it enough times on your wife’s face.” I rolled my tongue across my top teeth.
His smile dropped. At least now I knew it wasn’t permanently stitched to his smug face. “You’re an asshole.”
“Well, I was taught by the best.”
“I showed you how to be ruthless, not a bastard,” Julian argued.
“I couldn’t pick and choose which personality traits to mimic. Went for the whole package.” I shrugged. It was the truth. Every single jerk move I had, I’d learned from Jul. He was the one who’d come back from college telling me about sleeping around, trying drugs, acting crassly. “Now get to the point,” I urged him.
“I think we both know you’re going to run this company into the ground if you take the CEO seat. I understand Ronan feels obligated to you. You’re his biological son. But I paid my dues—”
“Lay off the biological-son bullshit, Jul. You’re CIO. Chief information officer. You’re a glorified PR girl without the tight skirt. What makes you think you can do this job better than me?”
“The fact that I have something on you.” Julian frowned, as if it were obvious. “You made the entire thing with Maddie Goldbloom up. You’re not engaged. You’re not even dating. Your little cover-up girl is dating my daughter’s pediatrician and can barely look at you. Why shouldn’t I tell Ronan the truth?”
“Because you don’t want to break his heart,” I gritted out. “Because he fucking raised you.”
“He deserves to know the truth.” Julian shook his head. “I’ll be doing him a public service, giving him the full picture. Why shouldn’t he know who his son really is? A lying, cheating bastard. Hand over the CEO title now, publicly, and nobody gets hurt. Checkmate.”
I blinked at him like he was insane.
“You’re giving me an ultimatum?” I wanted to be completely sure before I laughed.
“Yes.”
I chuckled, standing up. I leaned down, patting his shoulder in a patronizing manner. Internally, I was a few heartbeats away from a stroke. My family finding out about Madison right now would be the worst thing that could possibly happen. Katie already knew, but she was going to keep her mouth shut to keep everyone happy, and we’d always covered each other’s fuckups.
Then again, giving Julian the role was letting the bad guy win, and I’d seen enough Michael Bay movies to know Black & Co. wouldn’t have a happy ending under Julian’s reign. Besides, I deserved to become CEO. I’d worked my ass off for a decade while Julian had been busy fighting and making up with my goddamn ex-fiancée, now his wife.
I bent down, whispering into his ear, “You lured us in here knowing Ethan was going to show up. You set us up.”
He sat back, lacing his fingers together. He didn’t have to confirm it. His face said everything there was to say.
“You play a very dirty game, Julian. The gloves are off.”
“Now, that’s the reaction I was expecting after I stole your girl all those years ago.”
“You don’t steal leftovers. You dig for them in the trash.” I smiled cordially. “But now it’s on, and that side of me you just awakened, Julian? You’re not going to like it.”
MADDIE
That night, I tossed and turned in my bed, but sleep never came.
My bedroom was right across from Ethan’s. Chase was all the way at the end of the hall. I’d had the audacity to ask Katie about the sleeping arrangements when no one could hear us. She eyed me and asked, “Are you really dating Ethan?”
“It’s complicated,” I whispered back. She looked almost hurt, and I could see why. Katie had been adamant whatever she was seeing between Chase and me had a future. Not to mention I’d picked up on something between her and Ethan at the table.
“Complicated how?” She raised an eyebrow.
“What I’m trying to say is, Ethan is all yours,” I said, meaning it. “If you’re interested, that is.”
“God, am I that transparent?” She put her hand to her cheek.
I’d laughed. “No, just . . . open in ways I wish I could be.”
Now I needed to reinforce my claim I wasn’t dating Ethan and end it once and for all. I checked the time on my phone. It was half past three. Almost morning. I knew Ethan was asleep. But I also knew that, come morning, things were going to get ten times more awkward if we didn’t talk it out. After Chase and Julian had left Ethan and me, Katie and Lori had appeared from the dining room, demanding to know what had happened. I’d never gotten the chance to talk to him.