Ethan leaned forward in his chair. “We were both at that miserable brunch last Sunday. You know Dad opened this up to the both of us.”
“Which is a mockery. He set you up to fail. I’m sure Mom put him up to it—pity, probably.”
Ethan smirked. “I think you’re the one everyone pities, Car.” He didn’t get the full joy of seeing his brother’s face go all red, as he was busy in his own thoughts about this disaster. While sitting at their parents’ dining room table last Sunday, their father had presented them this “challenge.” Both sons were invited to present a proposal for what to do with the new property acquisition. Whoever won had first dibs on the business when their father retired. The only complication was that Carson had just revealed that it was Allie’s shelter that was the property in question. He’d have to sort that issue out later. Right now, he needed to concentrate on Carson and shaking his confidence. Their father was a manipulator, and this contest was a fine example of how his mind worked. It was a shitty thing to do to Carson, honestly. Carson had worked with their father from day one, while Ethan had gone out on his own. The company should rightfully go to Carson. He had a sneaking suspicion Carson was right and their mother felt that Ethan should at least be given a chance. Since they all saw the empire he and Jackson had created as inferior, they probably thought “poor” Ethan deserved a shot at the family biz.
“Dad opened this up to the both of us. May the best man win or something like that, right?”
His brother crossed his feet at the ankles and smirked. “Then this should be easy.”
“Then again, I guess if Dad were truly confident in your abilities he wouldn’t have set up this contest. I haven’t had to work a day in my life for Dad. Never had to hear his criticism, kiss his ass, you know, all the fun stuff you do on a daily basis.”
He had the perverse pleasure of seeing his brother’s cocky grin falter slightly.
“Or maybe Dad is feeling badly for you, considering the time of year and everything,” Carson said.
Ethan squeezed the leather armrests on his chair. Ethan had learned from a young age to never let his father or brother see an ounce of weakness from him. He forced his muscles to remain relaxed, and he stretched his arms above his head and linked his fingers behind his neck, not breaking his brother’s stare. “This time of year means nothing to me. It hasn’t in a long time,” he said, lying through his damn teeth. He’d rather spend the day with Dani and discuss fashion over admitting that this time of year did mean shitloads to him, that this time of year haunted him from the beginning of November until December. That this time of year reminded him of how weak he really was. But they had never had that kind of relationship, so he wasn’t going to admit a damn thing to his brother.
His brother shrugged. “Sure. Well, let the best brother win, I guess.”
“But we don’t even own this land yet.”
“No, but we’ll outbid everyone. We’ll get it. Proposal needs to be ready for December twenty-first. Drawings, everything. I’m not sure you even have the means to access that kind of—”
“I have friends in real estate.”
“Really? I thought your only friend was Jason-from-nowhere-Pierce.”
“Jackson.” Ethan flexed his hands into a fist, knowing his brother was trying to get him riled. Nothing like the Dane snobbery to make an appearance. He and Carson came from a long line of money and had attended only private schools with the country’s elite. Outsiders were noticed. He’d never given a rat’s ass about that kind of thing, but then again, he’d been exposed to a different side of life than his brother ever had. Maybe that had been the only good thing that had come of it. “I have other friends.” The problem wasn’t finding a company to do this for him. The problem was doing this at all. Not only would it be bad enough to stand by and do nothing while his family destroyed Allie’s shelter, actually being the one to design the condo project was an entirely new level of asshole, even for him.
“Like who?”
How easily he fell into this competition with his brother. “Hayden Brooks.” He watched with smug satisfaction as his brother tried to hide his displeasure.
“I wasn’t aware you were friends.”
“Went to school together. We keep in touch.”
“Well, who knows if this would even interest him, being out in Vancouver.”
“His company builds anywhere, and I also happen to know that he’s in the province at the moment doing some business in a small town not that far from here. Still Harbor.”
“What the hell kind of business would he be doing there?”
Ethan shrugged. He wasn’t comfortable discussing his friends’ personal lives with his brother. You never knew how Carson could turn it around and use it as ammo. “Personal. Speaking of, how’s your wife?”
His brother squirmed in his seat, his cheeks growing red. Ethan knew full well they were getting divorced.
“She’s fine.”
“What’s this, wife number three or four? That must be making quite the dent in your finances.”
“As lovely as this was, it’s time for me to go. I’m meeting Dad for lunch.” His brother rose. Ethan remained seated. He ignored the silly pang of whatever it was that stabbed him in the chest. He knew his brother and father were close. Hell, they worked together every day. It shouldn’t matter that they never invited him to the club. He wouldn’t want to go anyway.
Besides, right now he’d rather be thinking about Allie. In his home, for days on end. He’d rather think about her in his shower, and about how she’d sought him out in a city of millions. She’d come to him for help, which meant that although she’d been avoiding each and every pass he made, she felt something for him.
His brother paused at the door and turned around to face him. Great. His brother loved delivering jabbing one-liners before he departed, like he’d watched one too many daytime soap operas. “Well, whoever Dad picks for this will inherit the family business. I only hope nothing happens to you between now and then…you know, considering it’s November.”
Nothing like his family to kick him when he was down. Ethan clamped down hard on his back teeth, a string of curses wanting to flow out of his mouth like hot lava. Instead, he held on to them, giving his brother a smile. “Don’t worry, nothing’s going to happen to me. Watching you self-implode will keep me around. Merry Christmas, Carson.” His brother gave him a smirk and walked out.
Ethan stood as soon as the door was shut, and he cursed the entire way to the liquor cabinet. His brother usually got under his skin, but today was a whole new level. The competition. The mention of the time of year and his health. But the worst was what this was going to do to Allie.
He had to tell her that he was going to be one of the guys responsible for closing the shelter.
Chapter Three
Allie hung up the phone, relieved she’d managed to contact everyone she needed to. If her sister would hurry and return from her shopping expedition, then she could get dressed and head out to the shelter. She was determined to salvage a little of the day.
The front door opened and seconds later her sister barged into the room carrying what had to be dozens of bags. “Oh my God, it was the best shopping trip evah,” she screamed, dumping everything, including herself, onto the bed.