Page 115 of The Bet
“It’s the truth.” Tobias replied, calmly.
“Chad injecting cash into my new venture isn’t aboutyou.For fuck’s sake, Tobias, not everything is about you.”
“That’s because you’re still not clever enough to read between the lines.”
There he went again, lauding himself up. “What happened between you two? Why would Matthias need to go through me to get to you?”
And get to him for what?
Hennessy’s company investing in him had been one of the few good things to happen to him for a while, and he wasn’t going to sit here and let Tobias think the deal was about him.
When Tobias said nothing, his anger exploded. “I’m getting fed up of you having a go at me for something I knew nothing about,” he said, slowly. “And what pisses me off even more, is that you’re still being vague, and I’m still none the wiser as to what went down between you both. I’m not surprised he pissed you off. It’s not difficult to piss you off, Tobias.”
Tobias’s mouth tightened, the usual tell that indicated he hadn’t liked what he’d heard. “You’re not the easiest of people to be around. You can be one of the biggest pains in the butt. People do things for you because they’re scared of you. Let me guess, Matthias overstepped his mark. He went over your head and signed off on a deal you didn’t approve of?”
Tobias glared at him, and still said nothing, which infuriated him further.
“If I’ve told you that Matthias is no longer with the company, that should have been enough for you to butt out.”
“But I’ve signed the deal. I need his investment—or rather his company’s investment, because this isn’t about him or me or Hennessy, but about how we can do business together. It’s not personal.”
His brother’s deadly gaze could have burned a hole through his skin.
“I made the mistake of thinking you had a wise head on those shoulders,” said Tobias, “That despite your desire to show off and brag about what a hotshot you are, that there were some real,” he tapped his head with two fingers, “brain cells up here.”
“That’s right, go back to being your usual condescending self, Tobias.” He looked at his watch. “You think what I do is so inferior? You think because I don’t have a big glass building, because I don’t have a ‘legitimate’ business,” he air-quoted the ‘legitimate’, “you think I’m a loser? That’s your opinion, and you’re entitled to it. You can think what you want. It doesn’t matter.”
“Go to hell.”
“You’re telling me to go to hell instead of explaining why Matthias has pissed you off so much?” This was typical of him. “I don’t know what’s going on with you but this can’t go on. You’re bringing a new life into the world. You should be happy. Not like this.”
He got up and stormed out.
His fingers reached for his cell phone on the elevator down, the temptation to call Izzy was strong.
He was tempted to have a cup of coffee. Tempted to talk. If there was someone right now in his life who understood more about him, it was Izzy.
But, he put his cell phone away. It was her week of exams, and he wasn’t going to contact her.
