: Chapter 20

I almost expected Ezra to be waiting on me in my office when I arrived on Wednesday morning; I was that sure he’d choose us together than us apart. But I wasn’t disappointed—at least not too disappointed—when he was nowhere to be seen when I walked in. I still had faith he’d come through.

Humming to myself, I booted up my computer, started the coffee, and then checked emails. I glanced over the portfolio we’d been working on yesterday, and scribbled down a few notes and ideas for revision before a yawning, grumbling Brick stumbled into the room.

“Coffee,” he croaked.

I hurried a mug to him, then stepped back so I could shake my head and whistle. “Wow, you look hungover.”

“Not hungover,” he mumbled before sipping. After that first swallow, he sighed and closed his eyes as if relieved. “At least not hungover from alcohol.”

“What else is there to be hungover from?” I asked, squinting, and suddenly feeling too naïve for my own good. Then my eyes widened, hoping he wasn’t going to say drugs or—

“Sex,” he said.

Eww. I cringed, promptly sorry I had asked.

He took another drink, looking worn to the bone. Suddenly, I noticed a hickey hiding just under the collar of his shirt. Nooooo. My eyes. My poor innocent eyes needed to be bleached now.

“I hate to say this,” he rasped before yawning again, “but I think I found someone who’s way too young for me.”

My eyes widened, really not wanting to hear this, and yet immediately concerned for my stepbrother. “Oh, God. Please tell me she’s at least eighteen.”

“What!” He lowered the mug he’d been bringing to his mouth to gape stupidly before growling, “Of course, she’s over eighteen. Jesus. What kind of person do you think I am? I bet she’s even older than you. I just haven’t pulled an all-nighter like that since college.” He frowned like a petulant child, and grumbled, “It made me feel old.”

He seriously looked like someone had just taken his favorite toy… Er, at least his ability to play with his favorite toy with as much enthusiasm and stamina as he used to have. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing outright. But I couldn’t stop myself from saying, “You know, now that you mention the age thing, I have seen a few gray hairs on you lately.”

He gasped—like for real gasped—and immediately went about patting down his head as if he could brush any unwanted hairs away with the proper grooming. “Not funny.”

This time, I really did laugh. I held myself and chuckled, making his scowl grow deeper.

“Fine. Laugh it up,” he growled. “It’s okay. Big brother Brick’s in agony over here, but hey, as long as it amuses Kaitlynn…” He plopped heavily into his chair and kept frowning my way as he started his computer.

Having sympathy on his self-imposed plight, I cooed, “Oh, you poor thing. You know I didn’t mean anything by it.” I went to him so I could pat his hair, or rather rake it into place with my fingers because I wasn’t all that sure he’d combed it this morning. “I’m sorry for getting a kick out of your distress. I’m sure you were still a perfectly fine lover, no matter how much energy it took out of you.”

“Fuck yes, I was,” he muttered, still frowning, even though I saw the hint of placation enter his eyes. “She said I was the best she’d ever had. She screamed it actually, but who’s splitting hairs?”

“Of course she did.” I nodded, laying it on thicker than ever because it amused me. “I should’ve known that. So, how can I make it up to you?” I asked. “Want me to run to that coffee shop on the corner and get you one of those glazed donuts you love so much?”

He glanced away, his jaw hardening as if he wanted to deny me because he knew I wasn’t being completely genuine. But then he said, “With the sprinkles on top?”

I grinned. “Heck yeah.”

Huffing out a breath as if it were a trial to give in, he finally related with a moody, “Fine,” and lifted his hip to pull a wallet from his back pocket.

Glancing away because I was positive I’d burst out laughing some more if I kept looking at him this way, I nodded and said, “Okay. Be right back.”

I grabbed the cash he extended my way, then my coat and purse, and started for the door, only for Brick to say, “Kaitlynn.”

When I glanced at him, I kind of expected a thank you or something to such extent for pulling him out of his mood, but all he said was, “Two donuts.”

“You got it, boss.” Chuckling, I started from the room.

The hall was busier than I’d seen it all week. Everyone was scrambling and preparing to finish their departmental portfolios that each head had to present to the two CEOs on Friday. I glanced around discreetly for any sign of Ezra, but he was nowhere to be seen.

I wondered if a good night’s sleep had helped him decide about us. Something in me felt that the odds he’d fold and stop trying to push me away were good, but there was still that chance he’d hold firm and say it was safer if we kept our distance.

I didn’t like the uncertainty, so I decided to stop thinking about it.

I rode down the elevator with two women who were talking adamantly—aka, pretty much arguing—over a jacket design they were working on together.

“I’m telling you, patched elbows are making a comeback. We need to hop on that train before it takes off without us.”

“No. No, no, no, no. We’re not selling to retired old professors here. The only jackets they need to pick out is what to wear in their casket.” Turning to me, the woman said, “Tell her. Please.”

I shrugged. “With the right model, you could make anything look good.” I thought about Ezra in a suit jacket with patches on the elbows and had to admit, he’d look amazing. Then again, he couldn’t not look amazing. “I mean, Indiana Jones made the bow tie hot, didn’t he?”

“See,” the first woman said, nudging her friend smugly and then pointing my way. “She likes the idea.”

Now, I hadn’t said I was a total fan, so I quickly added, “At least it can’t hurt to try. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen if you tested it out and didn’t like it?”

Both women paused to consider that. With a relenting nod, the second said, “Okay. No guarantees, but I’ll at least consider it with some visual sampling.”

“Thank you! Oh my God, yes. That’s all I’m asking. And heck, if they end up looking all wrong, I’ll be the first person to tear the designs apart.”

“Deal.” The women grinned at each other before turning to me in tandem. “Thanks,” they said together.

“No problem.” I grinned back, feeling good about helping, when the elevator stopped on the first floor to let us out.

I waited for the friends to leave first and then I strode out into the front foyer, only to hear a familiar voice calling my name.

“Kaitlynn? Oh my God, Kaitlynn! It really is you.”

I glanced around, only to see Shyla hurrying toward me, a smile on her face but tears in her eyes.

“Shy—” I started, only to oomph myself out of breath when she plowed into me, hugging me hard.

“You’re back. Oh, thank God, you’re back. I can’t believe she asked you to come back. But I’m so happy. You have no idea how terrible it’s been. Without you around, she’s been a… A complete…”

When she realized she was about to say something terrible about her boss in public, Shyla gasped, her eyes going big before she slammed her mouth shut with a slap of her hand and glanced around to make sure no one had heard her.

Instead of telling her I wasn’t back to work for Lana anymore, I took in her red-rimmed eyes and trembling fingers she held over her mouth. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

She dropped her hand only to shake her head. “No-nothing… Nothing.” Then she tried to laugh it off, only to hiccup a sob.

My gaze went sympathetic and cautionary all at the same time. “Shyla,” I said.

She broke. “I can’t,” she blubbered. “I just can’t make the tea like you did. I mean, I’ve never tried. But I know I’d never be able to, so I just buy it for her every day. Except today…” Her shoulders trembled as she covered her mouth with her hand. “Today, I spilled it, and I need to hurry back to the shop down the block to get more, but she’ll be here any minute, and she’ll be so mad if I’m not there when she arrives, but—”

“Shh. Hey, shh,” I said, patting her hand and offering her a bolstering smile. “It’ll be okay. How about this? I’m already headed to the coffee shop, so I’ll just go get the tea for you. Then I’ll deliver it to your desk as soon as I get back so you don’t have to leave the office at all if you don’t want.”

“Oh, Kaitlynn. Would you? That would be great. You’re the best. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” She opened the top flap of her purse and began to dig some cash from a change purse. “Here’s some money. And she likes the Tung Ting Oolong because of the gentle taste.”

I just stared at the money as she shoved it into my hand.

“Shyla,” I started, looking up at her. “You haven’t been paying for her tea from your own pocket, have you?”

Shyla flushed and glanced away before wiping the back of her hand across the underside of her nose. “It beats being fired.”

I sighed. “Well, no more. If she won’t buy her own tea, I’ll come and help you brew it by hand every morning until you get it right. Okay?”

“Come and help me?” she asked with a slight twitch in her eyebrows. “But why won’t you just be—”

“And you take this back,” I insisted, pushing the cash at her. “You’ve paid enough for her drinks. I’ll be back in a jiffy.” Waving with a big grin, I turned away and hurried back outside.

I was gone ten, maybe twelve minutes. The shop was a two-minute walk away and there hadn’t been a line for me to wait in, so I thought I’d been making excellent time when I returned with Lana’s tea—a lid securely latched on top so no lint could get into it—and Brick’s donuts.

But as I approached the office, Shyla looked even more frantic than when I’d left. She hovered in the doorway, wringing her hands.

When she glanced my way and saw me, she cried out her distress and hurried forward.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry,” she chanted.

“For what?” I asked, carefully handing the tea to her. “What happened?”

She cringed. “I thought she’d asked you to come back to work for us, and you didn’t say she hadn’t, so…”

I heaved out a breath, already well aware where this was headed.

“When she came in and I told her how nice it was to see you again, she had no idea what I was talking about. So I told her I saw you here this morning, and she growled her son Broderick’s name for some reason before charging out the door and heading toward the stairwell. That was about thirty seconds ago.”

“Oh… Oh no.” Realizing she must’ve figured out Brick was probably the only person here who’d so quickly offer me a job after she fired me, I started toward the stairwell as well, calling over my shoulder, “Thanks for letting me know.”

When I pushed through the doors, I could hear the pounding of high heels on the steps a floor above me. I raced after them. But by the time I burst onto the third floor, winded and my thighs burning from the run, she’d already marched most of the way down the hall and was slowing at Brick’s office. Before stepping inside, she paused and turned her head my way as if she could sense my approach.

Her eyes narrowed.

My pulse jumped into my throat.

But I straightened my back and continued toward her. Not two seconds before I reached her, she whipped her attention from me and glared into the office.

“What is she doing here?”

I followed her into the room as she stepped inside.

Without taking his eyes off the screen of his computer, Brick cupped his hand around his ear and said, “Satan? Is that you?” He lifted his gaze to her, darted it to me, then shifted it back to his mother before he jumped as if startled. “Oh! Mother. Sorry, I thought you were someone else there for a second.”

Lana pointed a finger toward me without looking my way. “If you don’t fire her this instant, I’m cutting you out of my will.”

Brick snickered as he rocked back in his chair. “Thought you said you were cutting me out when I was eighteen and got my first tattoo.” He lifted the sleeve of his suit jacket just enough to reveal a portion of his tattoo on his forearm as if to remind her of it.

Lana lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes. “You’ll regret this, Broderick. Mark my words.”

With a shrug, he glanced toward me. “I don’t know; she makes a damn good cup of coffee.”

Lana sneered at the coffee cup, sitting half full on the corner of his desk, before she swatted out a hand and smacked it to the floor. “You’re an idiot,” she told him, “just like your father was.”

Spinning away, she narrowed her gaze on me.

“You may think no one sees the real you, but I do. You’re not as sweet and innocent as you play, little girl.” She stepped closer, lowering her voice so no one could hear her but me. “But, then, I guess your dad did see it, since he left you nothing but a few stray scraps.”

As my throat closed over the pain of her truth, she smirked knowingly, then roughly bumped her shoulder against mine as she left the office, making me stumble a step back.

Brick waved her good riddance. “Always lovely to see you too, Mother.”

I gaped after her, watching a couple guys in the hall jump out of her way as she stormed past. Then I turned slowly back to my brother.

But he only lifted his hands before wiggling his fingers. “Donuts?”

“Right.” I shook my head, trying not to let Lana’s words get to me or the insinuation that my daddy hadn’t loved me, and I lifted the bag of donuts before stepping forward to hand them over.

“Yes,” he groaned, opening the sack, only to pause and inhale deeply before he reached inside. “Perfect.”

“Are you okay?” I finally asked, though he seemed perfectly content, stuffing as much donut into his mouth as he could fit.

He paused, his eyebrows lifted. “Yeah. Why?” he muffled out, looking confused.

I pointed toward the exit of his office. “Your mom just threatened you.”

“I know,” he said as if agreeing before he added, “she must be having an off week to wait all the way until Wednesday. Usually she mentions cutting my inheritance by Monday afternoon.”

“But… But…” I shook my head. “She threatened you because of me.”

“Kid.” He sighed and lowered the donut before shaking his head. “The last time she told me I’d regret my choices was because she was pissed I’d worn a green tie after she told me to wear black. And that was last week… I kid you not. It’s hard to take her seriously when she pulls this shit all the fucking time. Stop stressing so much, okay?”

He went back to eating, and I could only watch the hearty, dismissive way he carried on. “Then why did you warn me to stay away from Ezra? You said she was so dangerous.”

A look of apology entered his gaze. “Because I’m her blood,” he explained in a somewhat soft voice. “She may have been a craptacular parent. She threatens and tries to control Hayden and me nonstop. But she’d never really hurt us, not when she sees us as an extension of herself. Her legacy, I guess. I don’t know. The thing is, she’s never seen you that way. You’re not a part of her. To her, you’ve always been an obstacle, keeping her from controlling Arthur the way she always wanted to. And I think she holds a grudge, still blaming you for that. She wants you to pay for the fact that she could never get him to stop loving you.”

My chest filled with pressure as his words echoed through me. These past few years since his death, I’d convinced myself that Lana had done just that, that she’d stolen my father’s affections from me. But to hear Brick so adamantly claim my dad had loved me all the way until the end made me want to cry happy tears, even as I still kind of doubted his certainty.

Because honestly, if Dad had loved me so much, why had he left me with so little? Why had he left me at all?

I blew out a breath and focused on the floor, watching the coffee from Brick’s spilled mug continue to trickle onto the carpet. Wanting to keep busy and honestly unable to watch the mess spread, I bent down and picked it up before setting the empty mug back on Brick’s desk. After fetching some napkins from the coffee station, I returned to the spill and knelt by it, soaking up as much as I could.

My stepbrother sighed heavily from his desk chair. “You know, you don’t have to do that. Bruno can clean it.”

“But Uncle Bru doesn’t come in until noon. I don’t want the stain to set.” I pushed to my feet. “I’m going to go down to his office and look for some stain remover.”

Brick nodded, his gaze on mine before he asked, “Are you okay?”

I nodded as well, though I’m not really sure what I was. I started to go, only to pause and turn back. “This was the second time she’s been up on the third floor this week.”

Brick took another bite of donut and nodded. “Yeah. Strange, huh?”

“Definitely. It seems like she’s… I don’t know… Unraveling lately.”

Brick glanced at me, his eyebrows furrowing. “What do you mean?”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure really. Maybe I was reading emotions in her that aren’t there. But that day she fired me last week, she was particularly…” I winced before admitting, “Unpleasant.”

He lifted one eyebrow, murmuring, “Unpleasant? My mother? You don’t say.”

I rolled my eyes. “I mean, more than usual.”

Wincing out a shudder, he shook his head. “Is that even possible?”

“Well, she did fire me. She’d never done that before. I always thought she got a kick out of ordering me around and giving me impossible tasks to complete.”

“Hmm. True.” Brick went back to scratching his jaw thoughtfully. “Firing a free intern doesn’t exactly seem her style.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I think something’s going on with her.”

“You mean, like she discovered the boy toy she wanted for herself was already interested in some young, blonde-headed tart?”

“But I hadn’t even met him when she fired me. I think this is something else.”

Brick only sighed. “It’s always something else with her. To be honest, I’m tired of trying to riddle the woman out. I put up with her because we both work here, and I love this job, but other than that, I feel no affiliation toward her at all.”

That was sad. I’d always felt bad because I’d never been able to have a real mother-daughter relationship with her, but Brick was her own blood. He even admitted Lana saw him as an extension of herself, and they still didn’t have a good relationship. Suddenly, I wished everything was different. Why did Lana have to be the way she was?

For some reason, I wanted to talk to Ezra about it. Even as I made my way toward the basement where Uncle Bru kept his cleaning supplies closet, the urge to head toward Ezra’s office instead was strong. I just knew talking this out with him would make me feel better. Talking to him always felt right.

Ignoring the urge, I returned to Brick’s office, where I cleaned up the coffee spill as best I could. When I was done, I sat at my computer station to print labels for our portfolio. Except I didn’t even have time to reach for the mouse before I saw someone from the corner of my eye enter Brick’s office without knocking or saying a single word.

My heart leapt. I immediately thought it would be Ezra, come to tell me he couldn’t stay away from me, no matter how risky our relationship might be.

But I was wrong.

Sabella from Belts marched straight to Brick’s desk, her eyes narrowed with rage.

“Hey,” Brick started, grinning and standing to greet her, his voice welcoming and pleasant.

But Sabella only glared before rearing her arm back and slapping him across the cheek.

His head snapped to the side. Then he shook it, blinked, clutched his face, and turned back to gape incredulously at her.

She spun away and marched right back out of the office.

“Um… Okay,” I said, making Brick glance at me, his expression full of surprise. “What was that about?”

“I have no idea,” he admitted.

I opened my mouth to say something about his marathon romp he’d had last night. Maybe Sabella had heard about that and was jealous. Oh dear, I wondered if she’d go and slap Adelyn next.

But then, there was Adelyn, appearing in the doorway next. She didn’t step inside, only glared at him through the opening, her eyes full of tears and her teeth gritted in anger before she snarled, “You’re such a fucking prick. I hope your dick falls off and you die from every disease known to man before you spend all eternity burning in hell.”

Okay, so maybe Adelyn hadn’t been the one he’d spent last night with either.

Brick lifted his eyebrows and opened his mouth to respond, but Adelyn had already left, striding down the hall away from him.

He turned his attention to me, his gaze stunned and confused. Falling into his chair and wiping his hands over his face, he asked, “What the hell is going on?”

I cringed. “Well… Someone did just tell you they’d make you regret hiring me. I think she’s following through.”

With a sniff, he frowned. “But what could she possibly tell them to make them so pissed? I made damn sure they both knew where they stood with me, and besides, I’ve already moved on to Grace in—Oh. Hey, Grace.”

Grace—whom I’d never seen before and had no idea which department she came from—stormed into the room to slap her hands onto Brick’s desktop and glare across it at him. “Just so we’re clear, it’s over. Don’t call me, don’t talk to me, and don’t even look at me, you bastard. What you did was sick…and just wrong.”

She swung away to stroll from the office like a boss.

Brick shook his head slowly and let out a low whistle. “Damn. I have no idea what my dear mother told them, but I seriously need to take notes for the next time I want a clean break from someone.”

I sent him a disappointed frown. “Brick! Don’t you feel bad at all that those three ladies are hurt?”

With an unrepentant shrug, he confessed, “I’m probably not supposed to say not really here, am I?”

“No,” I said. “You’re not.”

His grin was shameless. “Oops.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re hopeless.”

His smile only grew as he spread his arms wide. “But a free man once again, it seems. And hell, now I don’t feel pressured to do better than last night with Grace, because there’s no way to beat how awesome I was last night.”

With a laugh, I shook my head. It would bug the heck out of me if Lana had done to me what she’d just done to her own son, but I guess I was glad he had such thick skin about the whole mess. It’d be harder for her to really hurt him now. That was good.

Except this still felt not so good at all. I had a bad feeling Lana wasn’t done yet.