Page 29 of Marrying the Silver Fox

“Didn’t want me to join you, huh?”

“I didn’t set it up. Dad did. He probably just wanted a chance to get to know Andie properly. One-on-one.”

“Andie,” he repeats after me, a mocking tone to his voice. “How sweet, you have a nickname for her.”

“It’s just what she goes by,” I reply. I can’t rise to his bullshit, I know that’s what he wants from me. It’s what he always wants, for me to get down on his level, for him to be able to prove that I’m no better than him.

“And I’m sure you know her well, hmm?” he remarks, shoving his face close to mine. I can smell the vodka on his breath.

I wince, drawing back. “You’re drunk, Max. Go to bed.”

“Don’t fucking tell me what to do,” he slurs back, stabbing his finger into my chest.

Anger flares at the back of my head. He’s trying to get a reaction of me, maybe hoping that someone is around to catch it so he can prove that I’m not the man I seem to be.

“Max, we’re not kids anymore,” I tell him sharply. “You don’t need to get jealous when I spend time with Dad. Shit, I’m in America most of the time anyway, you don’t get enough of him as it is?”

“You know it’s not about that,” he hisses, his eyes blackening.

“Then what the hell is it about?” I snarl back at him. No point keeping it under wraps now, since he wants to lay it all out. If he has something to say to me, then he can come out and goddamn say it, that’s for sure.

“You’ve been all the way across the world, living your life,” he replies, lip drawn back into a sneer. “And I’ve been the one here. Holding down the fort. Doing what needs to be done where it matters⁠—”

“You think what I’m doing doesn’t matter?” I retort. “I’m expanding the business. Keeping watch to⁠—”

“To make sure that I don’t get a scrap of what you know I’m owed,” he shoots back.

“And what are you owed exactly?”

This business,” he replies, taking another step toward me, clearly hoping that I’m going to rise to the challenge he’s laying down. “You hear me? I’m as much his son as you are, and yet you’ve been handed everything on a silver fucking platter⁠—”

“That’s not true and you know it.” I keep my voice as steady as I can, though all I want to do is chew him the fuck out for daring to speak to me like this.

“What, that he didn’t give you preferential treatment?” He lets out a bark of laughter that I know is designed to get under my skin. “Come on. We both know that’s not true. You were the one he handed over the American business to. I wasn’t even in contention⁠—”

“And have you ever asked yourself why that might be?” I ask, cocking an eyebrow.

“Because you’re always getting what I never do. You⁠—”

“I get what I earned,” I cut in sharply.

Is he really forgetting everything I’ve been through in order to prove myself to our father? All the hard work I put in to make sure he knew that I was ready for it? The contracts I oversaw, the deals I brokered, the territory I watched over for him? Max is acting like I just sauntered into this position after putting in no effort at all, but I’ve gone out of my way to show our father that I’m prepared to do whatever the fuck it takes to make sure this business thrives exactly as it needs to.

“And I didn’t earn it?”

I turn away from him. This conversation is going nowhere. If he really wants to stand there and act like he doesn’t get it, I’m not going to be able to get through to him.

“Hey, listen to me!”

“Max, I’m done here,” I tell him. “My wife is waiting for me.” I make sure to layer a little more weight on that word, making sure he understands that this is as much about her as it is anything else.

“Oh, that woman you brought from America? The one none of us heard about before?” he replies. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you paid her off for this. Tossed a few thousand dollars in her direction so she would stand around looking pretty and keep her mouth shut about what the two of you really are⁠—”

“Be very fucking careful,” I mutter, not turning around, “what you say next.”

And that, at least, seems to be enough to silence my brother. I don’t bother looking back over my shoulder to make sure he’s gotten the point. He knows. He understands that I’m not going to take this kind of shit from him, especially not on the matter of my new marriage.

Even if he came closer to the truth than I would like.