Page 2 of Ransom

She's right. I know she is. I'm just acting like a butthurt kid. "Do you ever get tired of being right?"

"Hasn't happened yet." She grins and taps the plans. "Now, about those bids..."

Plans spread over an old grey desk, we pore over the bids, discussing the merits of each contractor. Something nags at me, though.

"Hey, didn't you mention a friend of yours does this kind of work? I don't see her bid here." It stuck out because it's not every day you hear about a massive construction company completely run by women.

Cara's smile falters. "Oh, yeah. Jess and her crew. They, uh... they didn't put in a bid. Some trouble with the business, I guess."

"Everything okay?"

"I'm not sure," Cara admits, wincing. "Jess has been pretty tight-lipped about it. I'm worried, but..."

I squeeze her shoulder, not liking the look on her face. "Hey, if there's anything I can do to help, just say the word."

Cara nods but doesn't say anything more, and I wish she would. Partly because I'm curious but mostly because I don't like it when Cara's upset. Yeah, it was just a wince, but for Cara, that's the equivalent of an emotional breakdown. The woman is absolute ice at work.

But I don't push —for now— letting the silence between us grow while my eyes wander around the space again, trying to overlay the architect's vision onto the bland corporate-horror canvas. It's hard to imagine this place as our work home, but I know it will be. It has to be. I need to keep everyone close. We need to stay together.

"You know," Cara says, breaking the silence, "I think this room would make a killer boardroom. We could put in those fancy glass walls, maybe a bar in the corner for when meetings run long."

"You just want an excuse to drink on the job."

"Please," she scoffs. "Like I need an excuse. You boys would drive anyone to drink."

"Fair." More than one school administrator poured themselves a drink during a meeting. Jonas's principal drank straight out of the bottle once. Just stopped mid-sentence, pulled it out of a drawer and took a swig.

Pretty sure that was after the explosion.

I can't blame him. I've hit the bottle more than once after a conversation with Jonas. The man's mind works in mysterious ways, and it's an effort to keep up a lot of the time. I would never change him, but it would be nice if he'd let me get a coffee or two in me before he starts with some big idea of his.

Cara laughs, wandering to the bank of windows that overlooks a cracked parking lot, with industrial buildings past that.

This place isn't what I imagined. When I first dreamed up a new building for all of us, I had this vision of a campus. Lots of trees, a little park for the kids, and everything brand new. Not that I really give a shit about new, but I do care about comfort, and building something from the ground up means I can do whatever the hell I want. Instead, the timeline’s accelerated, and we’re settling. I don’t like it.

"It'll be great, Ran, really."

"I know," I say simply. Cara's mouth twists, obviously not buying it. "I just pictured something different. And I'm used to getting what I want."

She crosses her arms and leans against the window, the late morning light making it hard to read her expression. "You rarely get what you want. You are the king of compromise, Ransom. When it comes to your brothers, anything they want and need, you're all give."

She's not wrong. "In the end, as long as everyone's happy, it doesn't matter."

"Do you even hear yourself? As long as everyone's happy doesn't seem to include you. You want the new space. But because the rest of the guys don't, it's not happening. You're scrapping the plans."

"It's a compromise I'm willing to make, Cara. Don't make the mistake of thinking that I'm not getting what I want. Because in the end, all I care about is my family staying together. And if this place is going to help me do that, then I'm jumping for fucking joy."

"Yeah," she says dryly, "you look thrilled."

Very deliberately, I stretch my mouth into the widest grin I can. The kind of grin that makes your cheeks ache and looks completely fake. As expected, she groans and laughs.

"Fine. Fine. Let's get down to it then." She moves back to the desk and taps the piles of bids. "Let's narrow this shit down."

I stride into the Brash headquarters, Cara at my heels. The familiar buzz of activity washes over me, and my shoulders relax. This is home.

One of them, anyway.

"I'm gonna make my rounds," I tell Cara. She nods, already distracted by a text on her phone, and heads straight for the elevator.

---