Page 168 of Beauty
“He should have told us,” he argues, his voice laced with hurt. “We were best friends.”
“Enough,” Beckett snaps. “She’s our sister and he’s your friend. You should be happy about this.”
Brooks puts his hands on his hips, suddenly looking even bigger. “Happy they lied to us?”
“Happy she’s happy,” Beckett retorts. “If I remember correctly, you hid a relationship from us all as well.”
“Right, and Gavin was pissed about it,” Brooks grits out.
“Yeah. Gavin, who also hid a relationship.” Beckett eyes Gav, then turns his scrutiny on Aiden. “You had your own secrets too.”
“Pot meet kettle,” Gavin says, though his tone is light and his eyes shine with understanding.
“Exactly,” Beckett says, straightening. “We Langfields do what’s necessary for the ones we love.”
“Or in order to make them fall in love,” Gavin teases.
Beckett shrugs. “I don’t feel the slightest bit bad about how I won over my wife. I have five beautiful children and the love of the only woman I ever wanted. That kind of love is all I’ve ever wanted for all of you. I want you to be happy,” he says, turning to me. “So yes, I interfered with the settlement you made in Paris. You built that company all on your own, and you deserve to go back to doing what you love. I’ll probably interfere again if I think I can help.” He eyes each one of us. “That goes for all of you. I only want you to be happy.”
“You can’t be a decision-maker when it comes to his contract,” Gavin interjects.
Thank god for that. If he hadn’t interrupted, I’d be a puddle on the path right now.
I wince. “About that…”
He gives me a sad smile. “You don’t want the job anymore, do you?”
“No I don’t. But that’s not the issue we need to discuss. Ezra is the problem,” I admit, my voice shaky. “He?—”
Beckett lets out a low growl. “What the fuck did he do?”
“I thought we don’t say fuck,” Aiden mutters.
By the look Beckett gives him, his joke didn’t land. He knows it too as he holds up his hands and backs up a step.
“He’s trying to blackmail me,” I blurt. “He wasn’t happy when you appointed me CEO.”
“What do you mean he’s blackmailing you?” Brooks is the one growling now.
“We’ll kill him,” Aiden says, his tone pure venom.
Beckett holds a hand up to silence them. “What happened?” His voice is clipped. Deadly.
Cheeks burning, I swallow past the lump in my throat. “He saw me at Allure.”
“What’s Allure?” Brooks and Aiden ask in unison.
A weight the size of an anvil presses on my chest. God, I don’t want to have to explain it.
“Consider it handled,” Beckett says.
“Wait, what is Allure?” Aiden whines.
Gavin gives a firm shake of his head, effectively ending the conversation.
If only it would really end here. The guys will probably google it when they get home. God, this is mortifying.
“You aren’t mad?” I whisper to my two oldest brothers.
