Page 49 of Abyss

“Now I know why none of your other temps worked out,” Jett states after the door shuts behind Kavi. He nods in the direction she took off. “None were as stunning as her.”

I hold myself back from pulling him up by his collar and throwing him out the fucking window. Jett’s always known how to get under my skin, and that’s exactly what he’s doing now.

Truth be told, as much of an asshole as he’s trying to come across, he’s not one. His attempt to rile me up has more to do with his own pain than me. He’s hurt that he’s even having to come to my office instead of being able to reach me by phone like he used to.

Regardless, I don’t take the bait. “I don’t have time for your bullshit. Either tell me why you’re here or leave. You’re well acquainted with the exit for this building, as we both know.”

Yeah, that was a low-blow, but he’s not the only one still hurt.

A flash of remorse crosses his features. “There werereasons for me leaving, Hud. Reasons you weren’t willing to listen to.”

“That’s right,” I cut in sharply. “I don’t give a fuck about your reasons, then or now. If that’s all you came here to say—”

“I didn’t.” He rises from his chair, his hands finding his pockets in a similar stance to mine. “I came here because I want to work together again.”

I rock back on my heels. “I’m sorry, what? On which planet did you think that was ever going to be possible again?”

He runs a hand over his clean-shaven jaw. “Congratulations on winning the Rose City deal, by the way. We worked our asses off, but I knew we couldn’t compete when it came to the sheer expertise you have on the team.”

My brain starts to connect the dots. “Ah, so that’s what this is about. Your company wants in.”

He shrugs. “It makes sense, Hud. You may have the raw talent—the best in the industry—working for you, but we have the muscle. I saw the timeline you guys proposed to them. You’re living a pipe dream if you think you can get that shit built by the end of next year without more manpower.”

I don’t deign to give him a response. He’s right that the timeline is tight, but we based it on adding twenty percent more to the workforce in the future just to complete the project. How we’ll add that workforce so quickly? That’s still something we’re figuring out, since most of our work requires niche specializations.

“Look, this could be mutually beneficial to both of us. I’m not asking for an equal partnership—”

“Good, because you already tossed that in the garbage when you had it,” I retort.

He takes a breath. “Let’s table that comment for a moment; I’ll come back to it. Like I said, we’re not lookingfor a partnership, we’re looking for a contractual opportunity.” He pauses. “I’m not going to lie to you. We were banking on getting the airport contract. We’d hired for it weeks before we actually made the bid. We wanted to show them we were serious, but in the end, Silas and his team valued deep expertise over manpower, and I respect that. But now—”

“Now you have a bunch of staff sitting around twiddling their thumbs,” I surmise.

He doesn’t respond; he doesn’t need to. We both know I’m right, and the reason he’s here is to avoid a massive layoff. And a layoff will make his company’s stock look shittier than it has on Wall Street over the past year because of their financial projections.

He licks his lips before his expression turns softer—the way it did when he’d get in serious trouble with our dad for the pranks he pulled and he’d come begging me to bail him out because Dad trusted my judgment. “I’m asking you to think about it. It would be a separate contract between Case Geo and us. We wouldn’t take any of the credit for the work; only Case Geo would. But yes, you’d be helping us save some substantial losses.”

I bite my bottom lip, thinking. But his proposal isn’t all I’m thinking about.

I’m also thinking about the fun times we had. Like the summer after Jett graduated with his MBA, and I took him to Norway before he started working for me. We toured, fished, and camped out to see the Northern Lights. It was one of the best few weeks I’d spent with my brother.

We’d become a team after that. He’d slowly started understanding the business I was running, and I’d given him the leeway to do the things he was great at, like his creativity and staff development. It’s why he was so loved within the company. It’s why he was able to take so many people with him.

“And as for the point about the equal partnership,” Jett says, bringing me out of my memories. “Bro, when did you ever consider me an equal partner?”

My head jerks back. “What?”

Jett huffs out a mirthless chuckle. “I was always your little brother. The kid you helped raise. The one who always got in more trouble than you, who couldn’t get anything right in Dad’s eyes. And despite the fact that you claimed otherwise, you didn’t trust me.”

“What the fuck are you even talking about?” My voice rises, along with the temperature of my skin. “Ididn’t trust you?Me?” I shove my finger into my chest. “Jett, I fucking gave you one of my biggest business units to run on your own!”

“Only because I’m your brother! Only because you saw me as some charity case!” he retorts. “You didn’t give it to me because you believed in me; you gave it to me because I practically begged you! Let’s not forget you still had final approval over ninety-nine percent of my decisions.”

“Because you ran it like Dad would! You let people walk all over you. Your team consistently missed deadlines, your financials were trash, and you were hemorrhaging company dollars on extravagant team events. You had the largest budget, for God’s sake, and you constantly went overboard!”

He runs a frustrated hand into his hair. “And that is why I left, big brother. Because I was fucking tired of having to run things your way. Your focus has always been authority rather than fostering employee morale, but look around, Hud.” He paces the room. “I bet you could count the number of happy employees on one hand,if that. I mean, look at the way you just treated your new admin, dismissing her like she was an ant.”

My stomach drops as I replay my harsh words to Kavi before she left.

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