Page 60 of Threaded Lies

Christ. His selfishness is worse than I thought.

I snort. “Thanks for confirming where your loyalties lie. Friends first, sister last. Got it.” His friend’s heartbreak matters more than my own ever did. I walk over and open my door, trying to give him the hint that this conversation is way past over.

“Do you ever get tired of being so damn dramatic?”

“You’re seriously going to say that to me after the temper tantrums I’ve seen you throw?” I level him with a dubious look. “Let’s hope you’ve had the same talk with Chad, huh?” My words surprise him, his shocked eyes say as much, but when I reach my desk and turn back around, he’s still standing there. “For the record, using a friend to get back at a sibling? That’s something out of your playbook. Not mine.”

“To think I came in here to try and make sure we were good.”

“You’re so full of shit.”

“And so are you. You can’t fool someone you’ve known your whole life, Row. Like I said, something’s going on here. What are you playing at?”

Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to. Weren’t those Holden’s words that are so very fitting in this moment?

And while my brother claims to know me, I know him too and he’s fishing. He’s scared about something and wants to know if I know more than him. His fragile, male ego has been tested with Holden bringing me on.

My smile is quick and cruel. “How to have my cake and eat it too. That’s what I’m playing at. You always have, why can’t I?”

He barks out a laugh, but the nervous little vibrato says that he’s not sure if he should believe me or not. “I’m not on board with this. This whole checks-and-balances thing.”

“Wait. Didn’t you just say you’re the reason I’m still here in management? I think you’d have no one to blame other than yourself for it, then.” I sigh dramatically and shake my head. “Looks like with me as your equal, you just might have to play by the rules for once in your life. Do you even know how to do that?”

“This isn’t funny.”

“You’re right. But you were just bragging about already winning before the election even started so … I mean, you have to have a check to all that privilege somewhere.”

I’m not one who should be talking, but …

“I did all this to make life better for the two of us. The sale of the company. The seat on the city council. Helping Mom and Dad by managing the trust. I’ve put all of that on my shoulders to ensure our family’s continued success. I don’t understand why you continually treat me like I’m screwing you over.”

Does he believe this bullshit he’s slinging? I had my doubts he belonged in politics. Now I do believe he’ll fit in just fine.

“Transparency goes a long way, Rhett, and that’s something you’ve failed at when it comes to this company.”

“I know.” His smile is reticent. “It’s not always easy being the boss and bearing the brunt of stress to make sure all of these people keep their jobs.” I open my mouth, a sarcastic comment on my tongue, when he points to the gift still untouched before me. “That’s probably from Chad.”

“It’s not,” Chad says from where he’s just opened the door and entered my office. “We’re talking about the gift, right? Because it’s not.” He looks from Rhett to me and then back, clearly sensing the undeniable tension. “Everything okay in here? I can’t remember the last time I saw the two of you talking like this.”

I smile, more than cognizant now of how closely my brother is watching Chad’s and my interactions now. “Well, it seems your best friend is reading your fiancée the riot act over whether she really wants to get married and why the sudden about-face. The way I see it, our relationship is none of his business.”

There you go, Chad. Where do your loyalties lie?

Chad looks at Rhett and grins. “You’ve always had my back, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got this one.” He winks.

“She has fangs,” my brother says, repeating a line he used to say when we were kids. The go-to insult he’d throw my way when the boys didn’t want his little sister tagging along.

The three of us laugh but I’m under no impression that Rhett’s throwback joke is in good humor. He’s pissed about Holden’s fast one on the co-CEO thing and doesn’t know how to deal with it.

“Dude, you’ve been on the receiving end of your mother’s full-force planning mode. We’re both a little shell-shocked with everything our moms are throwing at us,” Chad says, unknowingly reinforcing the reasoning I gave.

It does look like we’re compatible after all.

“What is in the package?” Chad says, lifting his chin at it and raising his eyebrows. “Should I be worried you have a secret admirer trying to take my place?”

I laugh but don’t pull it off very well as both of them wait expectantly for me to open it.

I swear to God it better not be something ridiculous from Holden.