Page 46 of When the Last One Falls
“Brantley-”
“I’m not fucking done!” I thundered.
Resigned, he said, “Of course.”
“Lastly, you will support Beau out of your own pocket or throw him to the wolves, I don’t give a fuck. However, he will no longer be employed by Kingston Industries, and if either of you go near my wife ever again, I’ll destroy you both.”
“No, no, no,” Beau rushed out, finally getting up off the ground. “No, Brantley, you can’t do that. It was all Dad’s fault-”
“What?” I turned around to face my brother, and as much as I hated to admit it, thiswasmy father’s fault; a combined effort between my parents to raise an entitled jackass. Beau was awful because my parents had raised him to be that way.
“I’ll apologize,” he offered. “I’ll-”
I threw my hand up to stop his pleas. “You go to a rehab for three months, get some counseling, get your shit together, and then I’ll think about keeping you on,” I offered because my wife was turning me into a pussy. “But you will stay away from Keris, Beau.” I eyed him carefully. “I can’t stress that hard enough. If you go near my wife again, you can consider yourself an only child.” I glanced between my father and brother. “That woman means more to me than both of you sonsofbitches combined, so if I were you, I’d keep that in mind.”
Not bothering to waste any more time on them, I stormed back out of my father’s office, his secretary and another administrative assistant staring at me with wide eyes, shock etched on both of their faces, the gossip mills about to run wild.
In the elevator, I fired off a quick text to both Magnus and Onyx to inform them not to pack up their offices just yet, promising to explain more later. After Keris and I had made up on Friday night, I had invited Onyx and Magnus over the next day to clear the air and finally introduce my wife to my friends the right way. In turn, she had invited Huntley and Dylan over later on, and it was good for us that our friends just wanted us to be happy.
As soon as I entered my office, Keris stood up from my desk chair, her face marred with enough concern to annoy me. I didn’t like her being upset foranyreason.
“What happened?” she asked, walking around from behind my desk.
“We came to an…understanding of sorts,” I hedged.
Keri shot me a look with those green orbs of hers. “Meaning?”
“Meaning that I still work here, but if either of those two fuckers ever step out of line again, then I’m gone,” I told her. “My father’s going to retire at the end of next year, and Beau’s going to go to rehab and counseling to learn how to be a better human being.”
I watched all the tension leave her shoulders. “I know that you didn’t want to give them a second chance, but you would have regretted giving up Kingston Industries, Brantley,” she said. “Your father would have won if you had walked away.”
I reached out, then yanked her towards me. “So, since you dislike your parents and I dislike mine, I’d say that the holidays are going to be rather cozy from now on.”
Keris grinned. “I actually like the sound of that.” My baby sighed. “Even though my parents brought you to me, I still can’t seem to forgive them. At least, not yet.”
“No rush,” I replied. “Besides, we have better things to do than talk about our fucked-up parents.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”
“I’m about to prove to everyone on this floor just how much my wife matters to me more than anyone else on this fucking planet,” I answered as I palmed her sweet ass.
“Like I needed to ask,” she chuckled, and that sound was fucking everything to me.
Epilogue
Keris – (One Year Later)~
The bag of food landed on my desk, and I looked up to see Faron grinning down at me. To say that this guy was a life saver was an understatement.
“Oh, God,” I gushed. “You’re the best.
“I know this, Shopgirl,” he replied easily. “I saw the signs earlier when you almost slapped that phone out of Chrissy Beaumont’s hand.”
I eyed him. “She can read,” I reminded him. “She knows that she’s not allowed to take pictures of the art without written permission.”
Faron threw his hands up in mock surrender. “Hey, I didn’t say that she didn’t deserve it.”
I reached for the bag of food and almost orgasmed. “Honestly, you’re the best, Faron,” I repeated. “This is the part where I tell you how much I love you.”
