Page 95 of Love to Hate You

“I ran it by legal this morning and they said I can and I will. Breaking the NDA was just the icing on the cake. You can go quietly or you can go to court. Either way I will bury you and you know it.” Wes faced the room. “Does anyone oppose me?”

Not single hand was raised.

“As for replacing me as CEO, do I hear any yeas?” Not a one. “Nays?”

Every other board member raised their hand.

“Now since that’s settled, I’m going to find my brother and then look closely at each one of you to see if I need to buy back your shares as well.”

By the time Wes located Randy, he was in his office already packing up his personal things in a box. Wes noticed that the framed photo of them on a skiing vacation when they were little was in the trash.

“So that’s it? You’re just going to leave?” Wes asked, standing at the threshold, not wanting to push himself on his brother, even if his heart was breaking over someone else walking out on him.

“What do you expect me to do?” his brother asked without looking up from his desk.

“Fight. Prove them wrong. Dad didn’t leave you this company, because he wanted to start a war between us, make the rift bigger. Don’t you get it? Even from the grave he’s trying to get in the last painful dig. Keep us apart. Remind us of our place.”

“Well, it worked. I can’t even look at you without thinking everything was a lie.”

“You were right back there—brotherhood trumps any NDA. I was more worried about the state of the company and keeping it in the family than I was about my brother. Now that I’ve stopped viewing things through success-driven eyes I see how much this must hurt you. I betrayed you, brother.”

Unsure what to do next, Wes pulled a play from Summer’s handbook and went to the heart of the matter, with honesty.

He crossed the room and placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I might have omitted the truth, and yes for a time I worried if you could handle running the company, but I was wrong.”

Randy looked up. “So you think I can?”

“The question is, do you want to?”

“Hell no.” Randy collapsed in his seat. He looked so lost and hurt it reminded Wes of one summer back when they were kids and Wes had been there for a rare visit, and he’d found Randy sitting on the curb outside the property gate crying. He’d had a tennis match and lost. But he was crying because he’d overheard his dad say to the winning parent, “You must be so proud of your son. I know I’m not with mine.”

And their dad had done it again, and Wes had played a part in the scam. And for that he was livid—with himself.

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to carve out your own path.”

“I want to do something that I’m good at.”

“You have so many talents. One of them is connecting with people. Which would make you the perfect head of business development.”

“You think?” Randy’s excitement actually broke through his insecurities.

“I know. You’d be able to make partnerships with publishers, authors, vendors like Starbucks. I watched you seamlessly slide into the Russo family like one of their own. You have a god-given talent for making people feel comfortable, a part of the action. I could never do that.”

“You can and you did. Look at you and Summer. You two are the perfect match.”

Wes was a little stunned at his brother’s observation. He’d been trying to hide just how deep his emotions were for Summer, but clearly he hadn’t convinced anyone.

“I’m leaving when this project is up and running, don’t forget.”

“Are you leaving for the next project, or are you running away from the possibility of being happy?” Randy asked. “I know you had the rug ripped out from under you and that happiness isn’t your usual state of being.”

That wasn’t true. This past week he’d been happier than he could remember. Even when he and Summer were arguing he was happy. When they were sharing dark secrets and discussing difficult topics from childhood he was happy. God, and when they kissed he could barely contain himself, which was why a kiss usually led to sex. But not all the time, and even then, with blue balls and all, he was happy.

“I have to oversee the next project,” he said. “You know how hands-on I am.”

“We took care of that today; it won’t happen again. So maybe it’s time you go hands-on with another part of your life. You can work from here. You’ve been managing your company successfully from Connecticut for nearly a year, why can’t you keep doing it long-distance? Hell, move corporate headquarters here if you have to. If she’s worth it, then fight for it. Isn’t that what you just told me to do?”

Summer was more than worth it, and that was the problem. When it came to her he was punching out of his weight class. She wasn’t just beautiful; she was captivating and a breath of fresh air. What you saw was what you got. Only, where she was happy-go-lucky, Wes was jaded.

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